Hummus...cause I like it

So, as Sharona will tell you, I am horrible at multiple things, but one of those things is doing anything with any sort of repetition, schedule or longevity, and that includes blogging.  I do it sometimes, when the mood strikes me, and when I think I have something of value to share.  The reality is, I think I rarely have anything of value to share.  That being said, I thought I would share this little tid bit that I learned recently that has made a drastic improvement in my......hummus.

Now, for anyone that reads this and knows who I am (which I think might be 1 person....possibly 2, and that includes me and my wife, knows that I like food, and I like to cook.  One thing that I like to make is hummus...that delectable smooth bean paste with hints of lemon, garlic (sometimes more than a hint), and sesame seeds.

As anyone that knows food can tell you, food is not just about flavor, it is also texture, scent, appearance, all those things that we appreciate, but perhaps don't identify until after we analyzed.  Well, in the years that I have been making hummus, flavor wise, I have always enjoyed it.  And the pleasure of making something from scratch is always nice....but I had the displeasure of knowing that my hummus was a little more grainey than store bought hummus, and it sort of irked me, but I got over it.  Then the other night I was reading a blog and they had a suggestion about hummus, and it is fantastic.  To think such a small change could bring the smooth buttery texture that I had been craving all this time.

What is it you say?  PEEL THE GARBANZO BEANS!  What?  You didn't know the garbanzo beans had a skin on them?  Well, they do, and if you pop them out of the skins while making hummus, you get that smooth buttery texture.  Who would have known.  Anyways, for those of you that like hummus, are interested in making hummus, and want the texture you get in packaged hummus, I will write the recipe below.  If you don't care about the grainy texture, don't peel the beans...it will save you 10 minutes.

Recipe:

2 15oz cans of Garbanzo Beans/Chickpeas (they are the same thing)
1 clove of garlic
1 tablespoon of lemon juice (usually 1 cap per can of beans)
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 tablespoons of Tahini (I like the Krinos brand, but it isn't always easy to find)
Salt/Pepper to taste
Olive Oil
Water

Drain the beans.  Peel the beans....peel the beans....peel the beans.  Then throw them in a food processor or blender (both work fine).  Blend it up.  Peel the garlic and toss it in with the beans...keep blending.  Throw in the lemon juice and the cumin.  Start to slowly add water until it starts to get a bit of a paste like consistency (maybe 1 cup of water).  Once everything has come together, add a bit of olive oil for flavor and/or texture and voila....hummus.  All in all, it takes about 15 minutes to make, if you don't peel the beans, 5 minutes.

All of the ingredient amounts above are fungible depending on your personal preferences...enjoy!

Pepsi Update

So, I have successfully been without Pepsi since my last post, despite the fact that I have a personal supply in the fridge at work.

However, I did have a drink of Coke at a pizza party at school, and I've had rootbeer on the weekends with Ben (we really like rootbeer floats), so I haven't really given it up. Indeed, I do have very little self-control. But I DID abstain from Pepsi after my workouts. It's progress, right?

To Pepsi or Not to Pepsi

Me: I think I need to give up soda. The government is trying to put a tax on it because its so bad for our health. And it has all those preservatives. And football players and athletes don't really drink it because it messes with their performance.
Ben: Why are you always saying you have to give things up completely?
Me: I don't "always" do anything. I said that this time, though. So maybe I just need to drink it less. I drink it like 2-3 times a week right now. So less. I think I should drink it a lot less.

I have never had any inclination in my life to give up things that contain sugar. I love sugar. And I maintain that sugar loves me too. But the questions roll inside my head: "Could I live without soda if it really were that bad?" "Is soda my cigarette?" And then the ultimate question: "Do I really lack that much self control?".The answer to that question in my head is always a resounding, "Yes. I really do lack that much self control." But that's mostly in regards to the idea of sticking to any food restriction or diet. Despite the fact people think I am a healthy eater, I usually eat.. pretty much whatever I want. And the minute I say I can't have something, it kinda makes me want it more.

But soda -- it's only one thing. What about that? Couldn't I deny myself the Pepsi I usually reward myself with after I go to the gym? It's kind of an odd, unhealthy reward for such a good, healthy behavior anyway. Shouldn't I be able to take it or leave it? I wouldn't have to NEVER drink soda... just not on any kind of regular basis. I could do that, right?

Well, I don't know. It's been a week. Though I might not have had any last week either. But it's been deliberate for only 1 week. Last week may have been accidentally soda-free. Today, on my way back from the gym, I had sushi instead of Pepsi. Go figure.

The one thing I don't think I'll get away from -- I really like Pepsi. But maybe I can do without it as a part of my regular drinking regimen. Maybe. Judging by my own confidence in my ability to control my food cravings, if I were a betting woman, I'd give myself another week to go. I'll have accomplished something real if I can actually make it through 4 weeks.

Pepsi, oh Pepsi. Breaking up is so hard to do. I miss you. Boo hoo. Too da loo.

Quirky

Step 1: First, separate fruit snacks out by colors.
Step 2: Take away fruit snacks from each color group so there are the same number of fruit snacks in each group.
Step 3: Eat the "extra" fruit snacks.
Step 4: Eat the remaining fruit snacks, 1 from each group at a time, so as to keep the number of fruit snacks in each color group equal for as long as possible.
Step 5: Eat the last remaining fruit snack from each color group in the order in which I wish to experience them.

As I was going through this almost daily ritual today, I realized that this might makes me kinda weird. How did I come up with this process? And, better yet, why? Sometimes, I wonder about myself a little bit.

Coincidentally, this picture is exactly what the fruit snacks I eat look like -- at least the fruit snacks I have right now. I had no idea I'd be able to find such an accurate visual aid. Go Google.

Making History

It's been a long time -- at least 10 years. Maybe more. Every year I ask my mom to make me "gumboats" for my birthday. But she never does. It's not because she doesn't love me. She has good reason. 1) Plums, a key ingredient, aren't in season in October. 2) They take a freaking long time to make. 3) It was really a dish Opa used to make. So while she may know how, it's not like it was HER tradition to make them.

However, this past Sunday I decided I had waited long enough. I wanted those precious plum dumplings (called "gombocs" in Hungarian). And I wanted them soon. Well, the stars finally aligned because plums were in season and I had the wherewithall and time to do them myself.

The making of them was quite an experience, as cooking with any of my mother's self-written recipes is. The fun began as I started to read her instructions. My mom's cooking instructions are often a little confusing, or missing helpful details, or containing some instructions in a nonsequential, unorganized manner which is other than what one might otherwise have expected. Unless, of course, you were expecting a recipe from my mother.

The hilarity continued as I tried my darndest to follow the instructions. Once you've mashed all the potatoes (the base ingredient for the dough), you're supposed to add 3 cups of flour. I had halved the recipe, so I had set out 1 1/2 cups of flour to work with initially. The instructions said to "work as much flour as you can into the potatoes". As instructed, I worked as much flour as I could into my mashed bowl of potatoes -- about 3 to 4 cups worth. Uh oh. Maybe I mis-measured my potatoes? In the end, I figured as long as it looked like potato dough, I should be good. Right? Right. Moving on...

Then there was the advice column. "You don't want to put too many into the pot at one time. Sticking them together is a tragedy, and having them split open is another!" Tragedy?!?! I did't want tragedy. No way. Only perfectly nonstuck, non-holy, yummy dumplings were coming out of MY pot!

Well, try and try as I might, I had tragedy with about 1/2 of my dumplings. Holes everywhere. Note to self -- don't lay the dumplings on top of each other in a bowl as you're waiting to add them to the pot. Lay them out separately on a flour-covered counter top. You live and learn, I guess.

My other favorite instruction, "You may want to lift one out and taste it, which usually won't be any big sacrifice, to determine if the batch is ready." I did in fact taste a holy dumpling and was grateful to discover it was no sacrifice. And it didn't end up being as tragic as I was expecting. Apparently "tragedy" is a relative term in this recipe.

Reading the recipe was almost like having my mother in the kitchen right there with me. It was delightful and hilarious -- very accurate for working with my mother in any kitchen. And below are pictures for evidence of this most delicious Hungarian family tradition. I may need some practice with this dish. And while it may take a while to make them, I also consider this to be no big sacrifice. Yum Yum Gumboats!

A Notable Occasion

Today marks an unusual day. Just moments ago, as a matter of fact, I experienced something that hasn't happened in many moons, ... possibly even a year or so.

Let me set it up for you. See, I was hungry, but had already eaten lunch. I haphazardly decided my hunger was substantial enough to warrant action. So, on my way back to the office, I stopped at 7-eleven to see what might appeal to my unsatiated appetite. And then it happened.

Suddenly, I found myself inexplicably drawn to the glass-encased shelves in the front of the store. It almost never happens, so the attraction came as a complete shock to me. But it was also undeniable. I, sharona, who has tofu tastes and fears saturated fat and deep-fried anything more than a child fears Chucky or Freddy Kruger on Halloween, wanted a donut. So I got one. It was a white donut with white icing and sprinkles. I think I would have liked it better if they had just had a glazed one, without the icing. But it was delicious.

Anti-Bucket

My recent musings come from a late night experience I had last week. I was home playing a game of spider solitaire on the computer and having my near-daily dose of ice cream. Now, I'll be honest. Spider solitaire has become an obsession. I finally had to delete it off my work computer because it was SO distracting. And I don't admit to people how often I've been playing it because I think it's ridiculous. It's one of the few things that will draw me to the computer when I'm not at work -- that and selling things on Ebay. And I'm not sure why I play it because it actually frustrates the crap out of me. Is the difficult level really winnable every time? Because I can only seem to win every 20 times or so. It could just be that I suck. But I prefer to think that winning would be impossible. It makes me feel smarter. :)

Anyhow, before I sat down to my love/hate computer game, I got a bowl of ice cream. As I mentioned previously, I've been in the habit of eating ice cream almost every day lately. So, on I went about my daily business. As I was scooping, I noticed I was starting to reach the bottom of my stockpile. Normally, when this happens, the only thing I'm thinking is, "Oh no! Must buy more ice cream!" This time, however, I was disconcerted for an entirely different reason.

This particular container of ice cream was a large bucket -- the kind that when you get to the bottom you risk getting your whole arm sticky trying to dig down to its plunging, vat-like depths. Those buckets are GINORMOUS. They would feed entire villages for weeks in third world countries if they could afford the expensive temperature-controlled shipping costs to get them there.

By the way, I don't normally buy ice cream by the bucket. We happened to have this bucket left over from some event my mother had been a part of. And I'm all about left overs and free food. It was about half-full when I started (that comforts me slightly.). But the facts were, and still are, unsettling. My parents hadn't been eating any of this. So, I had only me, myself and I to hold accountable. I had, all by myself, eaten all the way down to the bottom of the bucket. And there I was. I'd hit rock bottom. Or bucket bottom. Whatever. If there were an ice cream rehab, at that moment I would have been motivated enough to admit myself.

All at once, I was keenly aware of the genius of those bite-sized Ben & Jerry cartons that look big enough to satiate an ant, and the liberation in Haagen Daz and other fine ice creams who only deal in smaller portions. The naked truth is you will never, EVER get to the bottom of the bucket with these ice creams. You may, indeed, consume just as many calories with all those wholesome, high-quality, full cream, more fat than exists in an entire cow ingredients, but it will be pint-sized calories. So, at least mentally, you'll feel much better.

Okay, so I was only somewhat traumatized, considering I ate my bowl of ice cream that night, regardless. And there is still a good serving or two left in the depths of the bucket. But it's been over a week and I can't stomach going back and finishing the bucket. It's a BUCKET for pete's sake! I may secretly over-indulge in spider solitaire, and maybe even shopping. But an ice cream bucket is where I draw the line.

Weekly Word: Smoothie

What is a smoothie to you? This past week and a half or so, I have had the ever-challenging task of feeding myself. What to eat is a HUGE topic. Americans everywhere read about it, write about it, think about it..... The effort we must all put into feeding ourselves is a challenge, for many different reasons. Some of us feed too often. Others forget too often (I still haven't figured out how these people do that. I never forget.) Many of us struggle not with how often, but with WHAT to eat. In my case, I have a hard time digesting dairy. And things with lots of oil. I even had a long period of time where I couldn't eat veggies and other "ruffage" type food. I have an aversion to eating a lot of meat. This made about 80% of the food found at the supermarket useless to me and I quickly acquired an aversion to grocery shopping. Freak, I know. The digestive system is a beast. A picky beast.

But alas, I have found a safe haven. I have found this in the beauty and simplicity of "The Smoothie". Healthy. Has Fruit. Has yogurt. I can add "boosts" to it to make it even more healthy. It's got ice (as good as a glass of water), it's cold, and I find it very filling and satisfying. The perfect summer food. I have had one almost every day since my parents left town and have caused me to have to fend for my own meals. All other meals are either grubbed off of somebody else or consist of whatever random things may still be in the fridge and cupboards of my kitchen ( I ate gold fish and ice cream for dinner one night).

I am but a few days shy of reverting back to yesteryears where all I ate was peanut butter & jelly and burritos from the freezer. For months. But I still think it would be worth the price of my cherished smoothie. With using these food rations, I can afford to get my lovely, delectable smoothie pretty much every day and still not spend ridiculous amounts of money on food. In reality, I could go to the grocery store. But then I would have to give up my smoothie.

The Smoothie is my new love for food. It is every wish I have for in a summer meal: sweet, cold, fruity, easy, drinkable, nonfattening, easily digestible, guilt-free, fast, affordable and accessible. It comes in many varieties and the whole fruit kinds are not TOO sweet. MMMMM MMMMM Good. A smoothie is my reason for taking lunch. It is my thirst quencher. It is my tide-me-over happy food till the folks return and actually bring real food around the house.

What's your smoothie?