Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

Trader Joe’s & Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

Well today I woke up with no clue on what to make for breakfast. I was so hungry that I didn’t have the energy to exercise. I guess I will do that later today, especially since I didn’t do anything yesterday. But it’s still early, so I may not, still not feeling it today. It’s a lazy Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, you’ll find that when the weather cools, I tend to cook more, so you may get more recipes on this day, then any other day of the week. I’ll try not to over whelm you.

Ok, back to breakfast. I looked for something to eat, and I wanted something quick and easy. On one of my recent trips to Trader Joe’s, my husband suggested I try Farina, since I like oatmeal, I’ll probably like Farina. I haven’t a clue what Farina was, so I figured ok, I’ll try it, what do I got to lose. So this morning, I tried it.

Well my first thoughts were, only 3 Tbsp.for one serving, that doesn’t seem like much. But I cooked it according to direction, which was 1 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil, add 3 Tbsp. of Farina, bring to another boil and then simmer for 2 1/2 minutes. I was impressed how thick it got. After reading the side of the box it said I can add nuts, fruit ect. So I thought I’ll eat it like I do my oatmeal.

I added some blueberries, a dollop of peanut butter and granola. The Farina tasted ok, but it didn’t seem sweet enough. So I added some Maple Syrup. Then it was perfect! Farina I think is cream of wheat. It reminded me of something I had as a kid at my Grandmother’s house. I think this would be good with brown sugar and maybe some apples. So the real test of Farina is, will it tie my over till lunch? Guess what it did. I was quite full from this breakfast. It was good. I will definitely have it again, it’s a nice switch from oatmeal.

I wonder if I could make this in advance and keep in in the fridge over night? I do that all the time with oatmeal. It’s perfect the next day! I love how oatmeal grows bigger and bigger. I make a big batch and I’m set for the week for breakfast. I’ll share that recipe sometime soon. Have you ever had Farina or Cream of Wheat? If so, what did you put in it?

So after my breakfast I ran to Trader Joe’s!

I love, love, love Trader Joe’s! I tend to do all my shopping here. I like to shop early in the morning, since there’s no one in there and all the fresh produce is out. The only con is there sample section doesn’t have anything good. Today’s sample was cantaloupe. Boring!

So I bought some goodies, and of course flowers. I love there flower section.
This vase goes on my kitchen table and the other one goes in the living room.

The vase is from my good friend Diane. She bought it for me for my birthday. I always make sure I keep it filled with flowers. It’s my favorite vase. Isn’t it pretty?

Tomorrow is my Co-workers birthday and we are having a pot luck. So I thought I could make some hummus, since we have allot of vegetarians and vegans in the office. This is my Roasted Red Pepper and Sun Dried Tomato Hummus.

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can of garbanzo Beans (no sodium) (reserve some of the juice from the beans)

1 Red pepper roasted – I have grilled mine, but I was to lazy, so I bought a jar from trader Joe’s
1 clove of garlic
1.5 Tbsp of sun dried tomatoes (I used Trader Joes)
5 basil leaves
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 Tbsp of Cumin
1/4 tsp of Onion Powder – basically a dash
Salt – dash

First thing you do is peel your chickpeas/garbanzo beans. This is optional, but it really gives the hummus a nice texture, kind of like mashed potatoes. I also think it takes away the grainy texture that people don’t like with hummus. This is time consuming and just plan weird. It took me about 20 minutes to peel one can of beans, but it’s worth the effort in my opinion. All you do is squeeze the bean like you would be shooting it across the room. See the skin on one side and the clean bean on the other?

Throw all your ingredients in the food processor. I used a mini food processor. it does the job! But I do recommend in putting it in this order:
Garlic, Basil, and Pepper on bottom and then Sun-Dried Tomatoes then the beans, that way everything gets chopped. If it gets to thick add a tablespoon or two of the reserved chickpea juice. This will make it easier to process and makes it creamy!

That’s it your done! This goes great on wraps, sandwiches, pita’s, veggies and if your like me, a spoonful straight to the mouth! The stats are pretty good on this to! This recipe makes about 1.75cups. Each serving is 2 Tablespoons. Enjoy!