Tomato Hummus, Sweet Rice patties, and upcoming giveaways

Sitting here with some coffee and freshly baked whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I'm ready to write a post.  And on top of that, it's 78 degrees outside!

Just got back from a friend's birthday lunch (Happy Birthday, Dave!!) at Emeril's.  Will be posting about that in the next day or two.  Back to work tomorrow, for a few days before we are officially off for the holidays.  My goal for this break is to get back to sprouting.  I know, it's a small goal....baby steps......

I had a coupon for an Eden product, and so I bought a can of garbanzo beans in the store the other day (I tend not to buy cans anymore, but these are BPA free).  So I thought I'd make some hummus, and as I was making it, I realized I wanted to make it more interesting than plain ol' hummus.  Here's a recipe I came up with (for some reason, it DOES taste like there are olives in it, but I still like it-I hate olives-S also thought there were olives in it!) Weird.

Tomato Hummus:


1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1/2 tomato
2 tbsp tahini
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1 tsp of minced garlic

1 tsp Creole Seasoning (or cayenne pepper, black pepper, plus salt)
2 tbsp sundried tomatoes (soaked for about 10 minutes)
1 tsp olive oil (optional)
1/2 cup chopped/sliced zucchini (optional, but I like it!)
1/4+ cup water for creamier texture


Put everything but the water in a food processor and blend well. You still may have little bits of sundried tomato in there, but that's ok.  Add the water as necessary for creaminess and blend.


I'd like to talk a little more about coffee on my blog, because I love the stuff (as I do beer).  While in Atlanta earlier in the year, I went to Trader Joe's and found this:

It's REALLY good!  I love it...not too strong (I'm not so into French Roast). It's a nice breakfast coffee. And I'm almost out. Booooo. Hey TJ, wanna send me some more?

On another note, I won some great stuff from Lindsay over at CookVeganLover blog during her 12 days of giveaways.  Thanks!! Can't wait to try all this stuff from Lucini:

Speaking of giveaways...I will be doing a Tasty Bite giveaway very soon! That will be a whole box of goodies (yes, they sent me two by mistake, so I'm giving one to you!).  AND....I've contacted Bob's Red Mill and asked if they'd like to do a giveaway (this is my first inquiry to a company about this kind of thing) and they agreed! They're a great company and I just made an order there for my oat groats, whole wheat flour, etc...so check them out, because there will be THREE winners for that one :)

Stuff I've been eating:

(Roasted potato wedges with rosemary and Creole Seasoning)

(one of my Indian dishes, you can find them here)

(this morning's all whole wheat oatmeal choc chip cookies)

(Sweet Brown Rice patties with edamame)

Recipe:

Leftover sweet brown rice (seasoned with Seasoned Rice Vinegar) and Vegan Furikake. 

Mix together and form into patties. Brush on soy sauce.  Fry up in a skillet.

Will be crispy on the outside, but still soft and sticky on the inside.

I think that's it.  I need to go enjoy the warm weather and do more walking, although I'm pretty sore from yesterday's lower body workout! Oh, and of course I need to finish my cup of coffee and cookies first :)

Eat smart,

T.