One of the things that I have been trying to do since I am home more now is to actually make food. Real food from real ingredients. I'm not perfect, we still certainly have processed foods in the house, but I've been having fun actually making things. In the last two weeks, I have made my own hummus (coincidentally a day or two
before the massive hummus recall that just happened), my own almond butter and my own peanut butter. They were all so delicious and just fresh and REAL tasting. When I first tried some of the peanut butter on a spoon, I was kind of taken aback. It didn't taste like what I was expecting... what was it that it tasted like?? Oh, peanuts. It just tastes like peanuts, because that's all that is in it (2 cups of plain peanuts and a dash of salt). And it is amazing. We've eaten it on toast and on graham crackers and it's just plain delicious. And the almond butter - I flavored it with maple and cinnamon, from this recipe on a favorite blog of mine and it is amazing. Lexi and I have been eating it on toast this week and we love it.
For the peanut butter and almond butter, I used my Vitamix. Did you know you can get a reconditioned Vitamix for a reduced price?? Yes, they still cost a pretty penny, but they are so worth it in my opinion. We use it almost daily for smoothies, and now I have also used it to make these two nut butters and I even used it to grind a bag of coffee beans that I purchased a while back to make my iced coffee when it was nearly 100 degrees here for a week.
The hummus was a recipe from a friend. I left out the tahini because I couldn't find it at the grocery store (after about 5 attempts). Side note, the very next time I went shopping after I made the hummus, I found tahini when I wasn't looking for it. The hummus I made was flavored with a bit of lemon, which I just happened to have in our CSA box of fruits and veggies last week, so that was fresh and organic too! The recipe is:
1 can rinsed garbanzos
2 Tbs. Tahini paste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/8 Cup EVOO plus more if needed for consistency
2 1/2 Tbs water
Put all ingredients in blender or food processor and mix.
This is just the basic recipe and you could obviously do all sorts of different mix-ins - roasted red peppers, jalapeno, garlic, or basically just about any spices. Yes, it's using canned garbanzos and obviously it would be better/less processed if I used non-canned, which I will try in the future, but this is still a step in the right direction.
The kids and I have been greatly enjoying experimenting with making our own foods. The girls love to help out by pouring ingredients in or pushing the buttons on the blender or processor. It's a great time to talk and experience life together. Then we have a yummy creation at the end.
before the massive hummus recall that just happened), my own almond butter and my own peanut butter. They were all so delicious and just fresh and REAL tasting. When I first tried some of the peanut butter on a spoon, I was kind of taken aback. It didn't taste like what I was expecting... what was it that it tasted like?? Oh, peanuts. It just tastes like peanuts, because that's all that is in it (2 cups of plain peanuts and a dash of salt). And it is amazing. We've eaten it on toast and on graham crackers and it's just plain delicious. And the almond butter - I flavored it with maple and cinnamon, from this recipe on a favorite blog of mine and it is amazing. Lexi and I have been eating it on toast this week and we love it.
For the peanut butter and almond butter, I used my Vitamix. Did you know you can get a reconditioned Vitamix for a reduced price?? Yes, they still cost a pretty penny, but they are so worth it in my opinion. We use it almost daily for smoothies, and now I have also used it to make these two nut butters and I even used it to grind a bag of coffee beans that I purchased a while back to make my iced coffee when it was nearly 100 degrees here for a week.
The hummus was a recipe from a friend. I left out the tahini because I couldn't find it at the grocery store (after about 5 attempts). Side note, the very next time I went shopping after I made the hummus, I found tahini when I wasn't looking for it. The hummus I made was flavored with a bit of lemon, which I just happened to have in our CSA box of fruits and veggies last week, so that was fresh and organic too! The recipe is:
1 can rinsed garbanzos
2 Tbs. Tahini paste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/8 Cup EVOO plus more if needed for consistency
2 1/2 Tbs water
Put all ingredients in blender or food processor and mix.
This is just the basic recipe and you could obviously do all sorts of different mix-ins - roasted red peppers, jalapeno, garlic, or basically just about any spices. Yes, it's using canned garbanzos and obviously it would be better/less processed if I used non-canned, which I will try in the future, but this is still a step in the right direction.
The kids and I have been greatly enjoying experimenting with making our own foods. The girls love to help out by pouring ingredients in or pushing the buttons on the blender or processor. It's a great time to talk and experience life together. Then we have a yummy creation at the end.