Hummus Habromania

I have finally perfected my hummus recipe. I've been working on it since January when I went to this fabulous restaurant:

I was down in Arizona for a work conference and we just happened to wander into this joint. It literally was love at first bite. We loved it so much we went their twice in three days. So, if you are ever in Arizona, go. Now, back to my point, they had the most amazing jalapeno-cilantro hummus! I loved it so much that I looked up the recipe the moment I got home and have been perfecting the recipe ever since. So without further ado, my to-die-for hummus recipe:

{this isn't the hummus, yours will be better blended and greener, YUM!}

1. One 16 oz. can of garbanzo beans, you can also use chickpeas...maybe they are even the same thing?

2. 4 TBS. of liquid from beans.

3. 4 TBS of lemon juice. If by chance your hummus ends up being spicier than you prefer, just add a little bit of lemon juice. It cancels some of the intensity out.

4. 2 cloves of garlic. I love garlic so, depending on my mood, I sometimes add an extra tiny one.

 Just a random fact: I recently purchased my first garlic press, love it, can't believe I lived without it!

5. 1/4 cup of EVOO, if ya don't know what that is ask Rachael Ray

6. 1.5 TBS of Tahini---note: I have never made hummus with this before because I didn't quite know what is was. I decided today to venture to the grocery store to find it. After looking by myself for 15 minutes and then asking 4 different people (and someone thought I said Tahiti and told me it's next to Australia) I finally called Melinda and she told me exactly what is was:

So, for those of you who are just as food savvy as I am (not at all) it is kind of like sesame seed butter and it is with the oriental food...except for Smith's, they don't have it, and apparently they thought I was asking if they carried "Tahiti" in their store.

7. One jalapeno pepper. Cut it up and remove about 90% percent of the seeds, that puts it at a medium spiciness. I would just advise to start small and add as ya need it, and remember the lemon juice helps cancel some of the spiciness.

8. About 1/4 of a bunch of cilantro. I just use the leaves and take off the stems, they're kind of a pain. I'm not the biggest fan of plain cilantro, so if you really like it, you might want to add more

9. OPTIONAL: sometimes I add one roma tomato to the mix, just to change it up.

So, blend it all up in the food processor in the order that I gave you and enjoy! 

Some of my favorite things to put hummus on includes, but is not limited to: chicken, pita chips, bell peppers, tostitos, salad, fish, steak, rice, tacos, you get the idea I LOVE IT!

Even if your not super into hummus, try this. I could change your life forever! Tell me what ya think, it you make it!

the skin you're in

Remember when I told you about the MAC Cleanse Off Oil?

This is my follow-up review. I've been using it for a little over a month and I still love it. It take off EVERYTHING. I've also found that it moisturizes more than I thought it would. If I'm being lazy and skip to moisturizer {which is bad, I know} this keeps my skin from feeling super tight, even in Utah's super dry winters. I think getting the extra make-up off my face has really helped clear up the couple of acne-prone areas on my face that I thought I had just about given up on {my cheeks and between my eyes, and hairline}. It's kind of gross to think that it was because of left-over make-up. If you don't believe me, they have a $10 travel size bottle that you can order online. You can't beat $10, and if you don't like it, give it away, to me.

One more thing, I just wanted to update on one of my new years resolutions, the weight loss one, the most unfun goals on the list. As of today, I've lost 6 lbs since January 2nd, and I have two things to give credit to.

1. Your Shape Fitness for the Kinect - 

{amazon}

Okay folks, I'm going to be honest, I despise video game systems with almost every fiber of my being. J got one for his birthday this year, and it just about killed me. Well, being the poor people that we are right now, we decided to skip out on renewing the gym membership for this year. Que the Kinect. It was my last ditch effort to get some kind of decent workout. To my surprise, I love it! I didn't think it would be legit, but it gets my heart rate up and the sweat rolling. PLUS, I actually have fun doing it. Last night I spent the evening latin dancing, jump roping, and boot-camping, burning a total of 550 calories {and I promise it's real, I wore my calorie counter band/watch thing}. I can officially say I'm converted, to the Kinect -- nothing good comes out of using just your thumbs.

2. The Look Better Naked diet.

{amazon}

I'm sure you're thinking a few things: naked girl on the front: classy, 6 week plan to your hottest body: yeah right, etc. Am I right? I thought the same thing too when I saw it, but it's actually quite different than I thought. The thing that I like about it is that it gives you a meal plan and structure, of which I lack both. The book gives you 5 meals a day; breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner. The menu changes from day to day and week to week, and it's stuff that I was already eating like shrimp, tilapia, hummus, bell peppers, peanut butter, quinoa and POPCORN {the most important}, plus about a million other things. What sold me the most is that  if I didn't like something I could substitute. If I didn't like the lunch menu I could swap for another one and even repeat meals during the week. It has been a lifesaver! On Saturdays I look at the weeks menu, make my substitutions, copy it over to a grocery list, and get all my food for the week. No junk food, no temptations, and honestly, not many cravings either. Probably because I'm not depriving myself of anything. The meals are even "normal" enough that J will eat them with me. HALLELUJAH. 

The book also has work-outs and some other {kind of awkward} things, but I mostly just got it for the meal plans, and that alone is worth it. If you want to borrow it in a month or so, let me know!

I know in my goals that I said I would keep the weight loss talk to a minimum, so I'll leave it at that.

Happy Wednesday!

Post Vacationisms and Steamy Hot Vacay Part 1

We started our vacation in St. George, checking yet another thing off of the bucket list, for my cousin's homecoming. We're glad to have him back! Of course there was mucho shopping involved at the outlets. It wouldn't be a family outing without it, right? At least not one of ours.

The queen mom and I single-handedly tried on everything in the gap -- a very successful venture if I do say so myself. I talked queenie into some killer yellow pants. We're kind of twins now. Meaning, calls will be made before I venture over to her castle in Ogden wearing them. Then we headed over to old navy and waited hours for queenie M and Micah to try on their whole inventory. It was two big scoops of nice and relaxing with a cherry of smashfries on top. 

Now to the lovely ailments that I have so fondly named post vacation-isms. Have you ever noticed when you get back from a vacation, and not just any vacation, but a roadtrip, and how you feel, um, not so fresh afterwards? And the not so fresh coming from all of the junk food, fast food, and soda you've been drinking, all of the heat you've soaked in, and the lack of sleep.Just me maybe? I bring to you ism #1 - the stomach rebellion of 2012. Mine is not happy with me. at all. It's like we're not even friends anymore. I can basically eat fruit, veggies, and hummus. Do you think it's maybe trying to tell me something?

Ism #2 - I also have lovely dry itchy red spots ALL over my body. They tend to flare up when I get too hot or I try to work out. I'm going to attribute this heat rash to the 10 hours I spent in a car that was sporting a 100 degree temperature.I like of look like I'm battling a bout of leprosy. You should see my students faces when they walk into my office. I can see their mind reeling, trying to decide just how close is too close. Did I mention I was itchy? TMI, to start off your Tuesday. Welcome!

Okay, I thought I had more, but basically it's just my innards and outtards that are just not cooperating. I don't know if they just want to be back on the beach in California or if they're teaching me my lesson and strongly encouraging me to get back into my routine ASAP, or else! I'm thinking the latter.

Well, too bad body, I have girls camp next week. The next two weeks will be anything but the norm.

Maybe after that...