Hummus is a lifestyle!

I have what I believe to be an unnatural LOVE of hummus. I could eat it morning, noon, and night. With rice crackers, veggies, or straight from the container with a spoon. And the nice thing is, it’s a tasty, healthy snack. It travels well (a plus for us midwife types) and, with the help of a few baby carrots, it is easy to eat one handed. Many a container of hummus has been devoured in my car while I have been racing around town catching and weighing babies. My friend’s husband (a meat and potatoes kind of guy) teases me about my hippy ways, and says “Hummus isn’t food, it’s a lifestyle”. Well Scott, it’s a lifestyle I am happy to embrace!

And now, thanks to Angela over at Oh She Glows, my love has been upgraded to obsession. I adjusted her recipe just a smidge to make it less lemony and more garlicky. We have been making this hummus every couple of days!

[It helps that I have started canning my own beans, so I can get a can of organic chickpeas for what works out to be about 60 cents!]

So, here’s the recipe – so super easy! The longest part of making it is peeling the garlic I think….

HUMMUS:

2 cups cooked/canned chickpeas, liquid reserved and set aside
1 tsp sea salt (more or less to taste and depending on if your chickpeas are salted)
3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup tahini
4 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)
2 tablespoons reserved chickpea liquid
4-8 drops of hot sauce (I use Franks Red Hot)

Olive Oil for drizzling
Paprika for garnish
Things to eat it with: rice crackers, pita, carrots, bell peppers (or eliminate the middleman and just use a spoon!)

Directions: Throw everything into a food processor or Vitamix. Blend well. Be amazed at how easy this was and how good it tastes.

To serve: Spread out on a dinner plate, about 3/4 inch thick. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with paprika. Garnish with a couple of kalamata olives if you’re feeling really authentic! The olive oil and paprika really make all the flavours pop!

Makes about 2 cups that will theoretically keep in the fridge for 4-5 days in a sealed container. Ours has never lasted that long because we just don’t give it a chance!

I heart my Vitamix…and more

Since getting my Vitamix three days ago I have used it at least twice a day – and it really is all it’s cracked up to be. I have made some very tasty (and healthy) smoothies for breakfast (lunch and dinner). And we have also tried out the soup feature which is AWESOME. The first night I got it I threw in some broth, tomatoes, avocado, half a lime, some garlic, cilantro, black beans and corn. Fired it up and 6 minutes later we had steamy hot avocado and black bean soup. So tasty and even a little bit healthy!

We tried soup again the next night, but we didn’t have all the ingredients we needed so it didn’t turn out so well – but let me be clear: this was OUR fault, not the fault of dear old VM. Instead, I had a smoothie for dinner! My friend Nat was trying to tell me that I can’t just live on a liquid diet, but I don’t see why not. She probably thinks that ’cause she hasn’t used VM for herself or tasted the love that it pours forth!

In other news, how am I feeling?

All in all, I’m feeling well. The last few days have been a bit funky because I got my period and that usually wreaks no end of havoc on my system. All symptoms were present and accounted for, but not as severe as they have been in the past. I’m still feeling a bit bloated but things are on the upswing.

Energy wise, I’m feeling alright – though it’s tough to say exactly because I’ve been busy busy busy. Lots of babies and the requisite assessments and visits that go with them.

To date, no known cheats – though there was one incident where the corn chips I was eating actually did contain some wheat (I guess that’ll teach me to read labels before I stuff something in my mouth).

What am I missing? Nothing. Seriously and truly, this has been pretty easy so far. For that I’m thankful.

Appointments: I had the follow up to get my MRI results last week which were (unfortunately) everything I expected and more. I’m not keen to go into too much detail just yet but the shitty news is certainly giving me great inspiration to keep at this diet and do it well. Other than that, no decisions are being made just yet – I am just in the process of information gathering. This week I saw my naturopath, my family doc and an endocrinologist. In a couple of weeks I see a gyne specialist. Then back to my GP and potentially off to another specialist for a second opinion as needed.

Can I just say though, you know I’m with the right family doc when she says to me “I think surgery is a bit drastic, maybe lets just stick to these dietary changes to reduce all this inflammation and see if your body can’t heal itself”.

I heart her too.

A Successful Week

It’s been just over a week and nary a morsel of gluten nor animal product has passed my lips. Yay me! Only 12 more weeks to go.

Oh, and I celebrated my first week by ordering a VITAMIX – it arrived this morning and I am already in love love love! I was up at a birth all night, so when the knock on the door woke me up, my first thought was “go away, I’m sleeping”. I was just about to drift back to sleep when the vitamix-obsessed part of my brain yelled “it’s here – go get it”! So, out of bed I flew, jammies, sleep mask and all, and ran to the door – poor delivery guy! I happily signed for the order and took it back to bed with me – we snuggled for awhile, getting to know each other for a little bit and then I put him to work – and he made me the most wonderful, velvety green smoothie ever….*contented sigh* I’m sure there will be many happy moments between us.

The rest of the week was fine – had one brief temptation on Saturday night. We had tried to have a neighbourhood BBQ (to which only 4 of the 10 confirmed guests showed up) – I had bean burgers and Karina’s awesome dairy free potato salad. Later we went to a friend’s house to play a game and drink some wine – and then he pulled out the candied salmon….mean trick! Even the wine wouldn’t let me fall off the wagon though, and I not-so happily watched the others enjoy their tasty treat.

That’s ok though, ’cause now I have a vitamix!!