Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Since Sonny introduced me to hummus, I have become addicted! It's delicious with a number of things: pita bread, pita chips, raw veggies, spread it on a deli sandwich. I even had it on a cheeseburger once instead of mayo...it wasn't too bad. Awhile back Kroger had hummus on super sale for $1.25/container! Normally hummus runs about $4/container, so I stocked up. Hummus is delicious, healthy and taste so good! Sadly my hummus supply is now empty, and I can't bring myself to buying it at full price.

Sonny and I finally tried making hummus. Most of the ingredients were already on hand. We only needed to purchase tahini, garbanzo beans, and roasted red peppers. Tahini was harder to find than I thought...AND expensive. When it goes on sale at my local Kroger it doesn't stay on the shelf long, but it hasn't been on sale for awhile. We were able to find some (finally) at Meijer though. To our surprise tahini keeps for awhile in the pantry...HOORAY! In this particular recipe we (mostly me) put in extra garlic. It's a good thing we like garlic because you sure can taste it. No vampires are going to attack us tonight! I suggest using 2 cloves of garlic if you don't like/want an overpowering taste of garlic.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus - adapted from www.ourbestbites.com

1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained

4 large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 c. roasted red peppers

1/3 c. tahini

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

2 Tbps. extra-virgin olive oil

Place all ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor. Process until smooth, then add the olive oil and continue to process until desired consistency is reached. Chill for an hour before serving. Serve with pita or veggies.

Delicious Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Veggie Southwestern Egg Rolls (Baked)

I am always looking for new recipes to try. Thanks to Pinterest, my list of recipes to try keeps growing and growing. These egg rolls have black beans, corn, spinach, green chiles, cheese and spices wrapped up inside. I love the fact these are baked and not fried. I enjoy egg rolls, but I don't enjoy the grease that usually comes along with them. You can easily make these meal worthy if you serve them with Spanish rice and refried beans. Chips and salsa would also be a nice addition. These egg rolls were delicious, although next time I might leave out the spinach. I was not a huge fan of the spinach in the mix. For variety, I might add some cooked shredded chicken.

Southwestern Egg Rolls - from Annie's Eats

2 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed
2 c. shredded Mexican cheese
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles
6  green onions, chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 pkg. egg roll wrappers (my package made 19 egg rolls)





Combine everything together except the egg roll wrappers, and mix well. Place an egg roll wrap on a flat surface with a flat edge facing you. (I wrapped my egg rolls differently than most people....this is probably why I struggled wrapping them! Usually a corner point towards you.) Place 1/4 c. filling in the middle of wrapper. Fold the edge closest to you over the mix, roll slightly, and fold the side edges towards the center. Continue to roll the wrapper until a small part of the edge is still free. Dip a finger in water and brush it onto the free edge, finish rolling and create a seam.

Heat the oven to 425 F. Lightly coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Place egg rolls seam side down on the baking sheet and brush the tops lightly with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly brown, turning halfway through baking.

Easter Centerpiece and Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy Easter! I have very fond childhood memories of Easter. Waking up and going down stairs Easter morning felt a lot like Christmas morning....with a few differences. Instead of a Christmas tree and stockings, there were Easter baskets and plastic eggs "hidden" through out the house and backyard. Before we went to church, my siblings and I would dash through the house picking up as many eggs as we could find and claim our prizes, change or candy waited inside. It has been a long time since I participated in an Easter egg hunt. Now it's my nephews' turn to explore my parents' backyard in search for grandpa's spare change. I love seeing their faces light up with excitement when they find an egg. They shake it, to hear the change jingle inside, before they place it in their basket. Then they zoom off to find another egg. I don't want to forget to mention coloring eggs. I LOVED coloring eggs as a kid. I didn't care too much for hard boiled eggs back then, but I had a ball dying them. My favorite part of coloring eggs was getting to dip one egg into all of the colors to see how it ugly it would turn out. 

This Easter I tried tapping into my creative side. I saw a few pictures of centerpieces made out of peeps, jellybeans and flowers. They looked great and easy to do, so I gave it a try.

Not too bad for a VERY last minute idea. Looks pretty good and it took no time. Seriously, this was an after thought as I was leaving the store. Here's what you will need: flowers, jellybeans, peeps, vase, and glass bowl.


1. Arrange the flowers in the vase and set inside the glass bowl.

2. Place the jellybeans around the vase on the bottom of the glass bowl, evenly. Place the peeps on top of the jellybeans.

Along with Easter, my family also celebrated my brother's birthday at our get together. MMM birthday cake...chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting! My mom made the cake and I made the icing (with help from my sister). The frosting turned out surprisingly well compared to my last tango with making homemade frosting. The cake was delicious and a big hit! I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday spent with family and friends.

Ingredients


8 oz. cream cheese
1/3 c. butter, softened
1 1/3 c. powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions


In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Then add the butter and beat until well blended. Add the powered sugar and salt...beat into the mix, scraping down the sides. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until mix is smooth.

*You may need to add more powdered sugar to get frosting to desired consistency.

Cupcakes, Cookies, and Almond Milk

I have been busy in the kitchen making delicious treats. I have been head-over-heels for the Raspberry Lemonade cupcake from Cardinal Cupcakes since the first bite, and I've wanted to make similar cupcakes. I also wanted to try substituting almond milk for regular milk in baked goods. I did some digging and found that almond milk is a healthier choice. But would it make food taste different? I've been eating cereal with vanilla almond milk (thanks to Sonny), but I never tried it when I cook/bake. I used the original almond milk, not the vanilla flavored almond milk, and found no difference. Now if there is no "regular milk" on hand at Sonny's I don't have to run out to the store...as long as there is almond milk on hand.

My baking adventure started with Raspberry Lemonade cupcakes. I found the recipe I used here. I couldn't wait to make these cupcakes and share them. The cupcakes turned out beautiful. They looked great and smelt wonderful. The frosting was another story. I ended up with A LOT of "extra" frosting. My frosting making skills needs work and I needed to add a TON more powdered sugar. It was thin and runny...I think I needed to pack the powdered sugar instead leaving it loosely packed. I kept adding more powdered sugar and kept beating the icing, but I just couldn't get the icing to fluff. I iced the cupcakes anyway, added a fresh raspberry on top, and took them to Sonny's office. Despite the icing, they were a hit!

The next day I made some chocolate cupcakes, in attempt to use up the rest of the frosting. I did try and thick up the frosting some more by adding even more powdered sugar. Even though I didn't get the frosting to fluff, I did get it to thicken up! I'll count that as a win. But I still had a TON of icing leftover! What do I do now? Make sugar cookies! Raspberry iced sugar cookies!

All three raspberry iced desserts were delicious! Try making the raspberry lemonade cupcakes...they are great! I look forward to trying the icing recipe again in hopes of getting it to be fluffy and not be thin/runny.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/8 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. milk (almond milk)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with liners and set aside. In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, soda, cocoa, and salt...set aside for later.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy and well mixed. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat into the meat. Slowly add the flour mix and milk, beat well. Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake cupcakes for 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. For mini-cupcakes, bake at the same temperature for half the time (7 to 8 minutes), or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Stuffed Peppers

Growing up, I never remember my mother making stuffed peppers. I don't remember trying them at a friend's house or with another family member. So it's safe to say I was never exposed to stuffed peppers until I got to college...and I had two not so-great experiences.

My first meeting with stuffed peppers was not pleasant, of course nothing in a college dining hall is really pleasant. They didn't look appealing at all. The pepper was hallowed out and everything stuffed inside. I had no idea what was in there. Fast forward a few years...I'm still in college only I'm not at the campus dining hall and I have no other option for dinner (except to not eat). So I gave them a try...and was not a fan. I don't remember what I didn't like about them...just that I didn't like them.

Now here I am, four years later, making them myself. My taste have changed and I find myself trying more and more new/different foods. (And liking them!) The idea came from a pinterest post and a recipe from one of my cookbooks. I combined two recipes together to make this delicious recipe! I'm very pleased how these peppers turned out AND how low-cal and filling they are. I only ate half a pepper and a full pepper is around 325 calories. I served the peppers with chips and salsa....some refried beans would be good too! Even though my first encounter with stuffed peppers turned my nose, I now enjoy them!

Ingredients

4 large bell peppers (I used green, but you can use whatever kind of sweet bell pepper you prefer.)

1 lb. ground turkey (or beef)

1/2 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin, divided 

3/4 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 c. cooked rice (I used brown rice.)

1 c. frozen corn

1 small tomato, diced

1/3 c. fat-free sour cream

3/4 c. Mexican shredded cheese

1 c. warm water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove all the seeds. Set aside for later use. 

In a skillet, brown the ground turkey (or beef). Drain any fat when meat is cooked. Add onion, garlic, 3/4 tsp. cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper to the meat and saute until onions become soft and clear.

Add the rice, corn, tomato, sour cream, and shredded cheese to the meat mix. Mix ingredients well and stuff into peppers. In a separate container, mix the warm water and remaining 3/4 tsp. cumin together. Pour this into a casserole dish large enough to fit all peppers inside. Place the stuffed peppers in the dish and cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.