Saturday, February 4, 2012

Holy Guacamole!

Not a creative title, I know. I'm out of steam tonight, though. I just spent my last bits of creativity on making an AWESOME guacamole for tomorrow's festivities! What's so exciting about my guacamole recipe? I came up with it! haha It's very basic, but I'm proud of it. It was my second attempt at making it, and my first attempt without using a spice packet!

Here's what you'll need:

2 large avocados, pitted and mashed
1 medium tomato
Spices of your choosing. I used:
Cilantro
Red Pepper
Salt
Garlic Powder
Pepper
Jerk Rub Spice Mix (Pampered Chef makes an awesome one)

I ended up using only about half of my tomato, but I also only used the firm, outside edges of it. I kept the softer interior and had a snack. :-P I didn't want my guacamole to get all mushy and gross from the juicy tomato seeds!

I put the guacamole in my blender since I don't have a food processor. It came out kinda chunky, but it worked for me. I added my spices (about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of each - I didn't really measure, sorry) and then added the diced tomato pieces. The jerk spices actually made it a bit sweeter than I expected, but it tastes pretty good!

My dad always told me it was hard to cook if you measured your ingredients. Up until recently, I never agreed. In certain cases, he's wrong - you need directions and measurements to make sure everything comes out perfectly! Today, not so much. Its really a "to taste" kind of recipe.

Hubby's actually impressed. My "to taste" recipes always end up awful. Looks like I'm on a roll!

Cheers!

Chocolate Hummus

I found this awesome recipe on a blog by a woman named "Chocolate Covered Katie." Google her. Her blog is awesome. She calls this "Dark Chocolate Brownie Batter Dip." I call it "Chocolate Hummus." My recipe is SLIGHTLY different from hers, but it's essentially the same thing.

I don't have pictures of my concoction, but she's got a few on her blog. It turned out FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. Even Hubby likes it! Granted, he's not a picky person, but he's not a huge fan of hummus.

Here's the recipe:

1 can Garbanzo Beans (chick peas, just in case you have a brain fart like I did)
4 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
2 Tablespoons Soy Milk
1/4 cup peanut oil
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3c sugar

Mix in blender or food processor until smooth. Serve with grahams, Nila Wafers, and/or fruit.

Yes, it really is that simple.

Just make sure you drain and rinse your chick peas very well. Obviously you can substitute as you see fit, which is what I did. Katie said to use "nut butter" instead of the oil, but the only "nut butter" I know of is peanut butter and I didn't want that flavor today. She also uses Almond milk, but I like Silk better.

I used Nestle cocoa powder when I made this, and I know it doesn't have quite as bold of a flavor as Hershey cocoa powder does. You could probably get away with using less than 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder if you use Hershey's. Your call, though - in my opinion, the more chocolate the better!!

Cheers!