Saturday in the Kitchen- Part Deux

Something that I can't make enough of and tastes oh so much better homemade than store bought is hummus!
If you like hummus this is much cheaper and flavorful than buying it, sorry Athenos! I make mine in 6 oz Ball Mason jars because in our house we all like to grab a container and go. This recipe makes 7 of those containers.

Base:  2 cans of Garbanzo beans a.k.a. chick peas- I use generic which are about $.78  a can, drain them, put into a food processor, add 3 table spoons of good quality EVOO. Don't use the cheap stuff you picked up at the dollar tree because it will separate and break down. Add the juice of a fresh lemon, 1 tbsp of minced garlic, cracked black pepper to taste. 1/2 minced onion, (I use green onion and chives) let this sit in the food processor.

Next chop 2 medium sized red, yellow or orange peppers, and I always keep dehydrated tomatoes that I make once a month in my dehydrator, Odds are you don't have any so if you like, use sun dried tomatoes from the store.

Throw into a skillet with a 1/2 tbsp of EVOO at high heat. Let pepper mix sear, not burn!

Throw into food processor for 60 seconds on blend or grind. This is a consistency issue and I like mine smooth not gritty so you will have to experiment based on your taste buds.

I will add to jars and then I typically will add hot sauce to the last two jars along with 1/8 of a ground up Jalapeno because Katie likes hers with a bit of fire.

I have also found that when putting the ingredients into a food processor for homemade hummus, you get a better consistency if you added the EVOO first.

This is a pretty basic recipe I created and if anyone is interested, I  have 12 other recipes for different flavors that I am happy to share. We eat hummus with crackers, celery, pita chips, cucumbers, and tomatoes. This recipe costs about $4.00 to make 42 oz and is much cheaper and healthier than store bought hummus. 

Saturday in the Kitchen

 Having a four day holiday and not having to be back at work until Tuesday,Saturday was a bit of a lazy day with nothing much on the agenda except puttering around the kitchen. The first thing was making corn tamale cakes with a spicy sour cream drizzle.

Ingredients:
3 ears of  fresh corn scraped or 2 cans of corn
1/4 cup of sweet peppers
1 tsp sugar 1 cup of corn meal
1/4 tsp kosher salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs seperated
1 cup of cheddar cheese
Garnish:
Chives, green onion, cilantro

Sour Cream drizzle:
8 oz - 16 oz  Sour cream, pureed red peppers, black pepper, 1 dry pack of your favorite salsa mix

Mix: corn, pepper, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking,powder, and egg yolks

In separate bowl mix egg whites to a peak and fold in above mix

I don't fry with oil and I don't immerse foods in oil when I do infrequently cook fried foods, I coat my griddle with 4 tbsps of olive oil and heat to medium then drop the batter with a large wooden spoon on to the griddle and flatten with a spatula. 2 minutes per a side, remove from heat then sprinkle with cheese .

Mix the spicy sour cream drizzle : Sour cream, pureed red peppers, black pepper, 1 dry pack of your favorite salsa mix

I added a 1/8 of a cup of milk to mine and put mixture between cakes and the top and then garnish.

This recipe makes 12-14 corn cakes and I serve them stacked three high.

RUDE IS often spelled F-R-I-E-N-D

It never ceases to amaze me that those we call our friends often disappoint us the most! I think it should be common sense that if you invite someone to something, they should at the very least ask you before inviting others and if they put you in a spot to where you have to say "NO", then that should be that. I am a planner and thus am the central force of organizing my friends and the events we do, and while I love doing that, I often wish some people would understand the effort and either pitch in  or say "thank you". Mooching or freeloading has always been a pet peeve of mine and I shake my head at those who always expect a hand out, a freebie, or only think of themselves.
I have gotten adept over the years of dropping people who engage in these rude practices and now I perfecting the art of telling people, they are rude before I drop them and you know what? It feels good! Rudeness is not a disease so I have cease to overlook it in people.
I think we all would do well to remember  that others have feelings and that we could all stand to appreciate those around us and what they do for us and not take advantage of others. Kindness is not necessarily weakness and the fountain can run dry.
Love one another and say thanks to those who deserve it :)

Sorry to have passed you by, open my eyes Lord, and open my heart....

Today I was walking in the University Center and this girl was propped up by the bathroom crying. I passed her trying not to make her feel awkward and trying to pretend I didn't see her. I went to the bathroom and while I washed my hands I asked myself.:Why am I trying to not make her feel awkward...I'm the one that's making this an awkward situation because I know I need to see if I can help. I think we seek to avoid situations that might make us involve ourselves especially when we are busy . If should love my neighbor as I love myself, then why am I avoiding this person who is feeling pain and hurt? Why am I too busy to offer an ear, a word of encouragement, or give a bit of my time?

And now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. -1 Cor 13:13

Friends and Tailgating Vols vs GA 2011

There is nothing better than spending time with friends :)

A Rant for the Fall!

We have been so busy with life the past month! Whew! Where has the time went? Katie has been busy with soccer three times a week, student government,and projects. I have been blessed to not have a huge work load with college this semester just a lot of hours (18) which is double full time for a graduate/law student. My assignments aren't too difficult so that has been a huge help. One thing I really wanted to blow off steam about is parents. I had a horrible set as many people know but that really didn't affect the person I wanted to be, it just drove me to be successful and to try my best to break the cycle and be a better parent. One of the things that upsets me so much is that the "mother's clique" at Katie's soccer games tends to be comprised of some of the nastiest, hatefulest, and ignorant people I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. They insult their own daughters and ridicule their skill level, yell over the coach and attempt to coach from the bleachers over the Coach and yell instructions not encouragement the entire game.They seldom encourage their daughters to be good sports, or even promote team dynamics because they all want their child to shine. Steve and I often sit with another group of parents who cringe at these women. Katie had the misfortune to be teamed up with one of these so called" ladies' daughters and despite Katie asking the little girl for 2 weeks to bring her her part of data from a 1 month project, I had to call the mother the day before it was due. She informed me her daughter hasn't been home all weekend and they are" too busy with decorating for the school dance, church, and shopping for Christmas to worry about school assignments" And we wonder why some kids today are failing and have no priorities. I informed the woman perhaps she should worry about school instead of social things and she asked "Are you calling me stupid". Umm, Yes you are stupid!
Her daughter finally emailed the project info at 1030 pm after Katie was in bed with no time to make a presentation.Thank God for understanding teachers! Katie HAD BEEN COMMUNICATING WITH THE TEACHER FOR THE LAST WEEK AND TURNS OUT THEY HAD ALL HAD A MEETING Friday WITH THE LITTLE GIRL PROMISING TO MAIL IT BY SATURDAY MORNING AT THE LATEST TO US AND WE GOT IT SUNDAY AT 1030 PM!!!!!!!
So the lady wrote me 5 emails today about how I was a horrible parent and should mind my own business and not worry about what my daughter was doing and that the girls should just fail. I finally had to quote Tennessee stalking and harassment law to the woman and emailed her a directive to "not contact us via phone or email or I would take legal action". And the WITCH STILL CONTINUED TO EMAIL ME! SO I think tomorrow I am going to file a police report against the woman.
People are crazy and I am beginning to think people should be screened and be given a permit to have children because so many parents are not fit to be role models and be entrusted with life. What normal person could not place education before Christmas shopping and school dances and expect to email a child of 12 at 10:30 at night and expect them to stay up 3 hours for a project due at 8:30 am?
I am glad that I have the common sense to parent even though I did not have had the best parents with any redeemable qualities to influence and teach me. Much of my parenting skill derives from the desire to seek what is best for my child and to help her in her quest to grow and learn. I applaud all those who tirelessly devote time to their children, give them encouraging words, and have high expectations. To all those people who call themselves parents who shouldn't be left alone with a tomato, I stick my tongue out at you!

Thompson Square

Had a great time with Katie last night at Thompson Square. We were in the 10th row and had a great view. Afterwards we met the band and Shawna and Kiefer Thompson were so sweet and spent some time with Katie. The band did some cover songs from Bon Jovi and Aerosmith. I was pleased that KP was rocking out to both bands and knew all the lyrics to them, very unusual in today's youth :) We wrapped the night up with fried Twinkies and Filipino food. An amazing night with my KP!