Home Made Hummus

My family loves hummus! and I didn't realize until recently how easy it actually is to make. So now I am making it all the time....I never was a fan of the store bought kind, I just usually went to my favorite Mediterranean restaurant to buy it because it just tasted fresher...But you can't get fresher than home made!....So here is how I make mine.
I took half of my regular batch and added roasted red peppers to it,  because that is my hubby's favorite so you can do that if you like also.
I am also adding my YouTube video demonstrating how I make it....Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 can Garbanzo beans

2 Tablespoons Tahini paste

2 Tablespoons Olive oil

1/2 Lemon (squeezed)

1/4 teaspoon Salt to taste

2 Cloves Garlic (minced)

1/4 Cup Water or more

Roasted red peppers (optional)

Olive oil and Paprika to garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Add all ingredients in order to Food processor and Pulse until smooth or desired consistency.

Enjoy my video below on how I put this together!

Mexican Lasagna

One of my favorite and most popular Crock Pot recipes is my Lasagna...I was looking to do a Mexican version of it for a Taco party I was having, so I came up with this version and everyone loved it!...First was coming up with the sauce ..it couldn't be Italian tasting like my original lasagna so I decided to add Salsa and enchilada sauce along with tomato sauce the last time I made it I also added a can of Tri-Bean blend to it which was a good addition...I have also added green chiles which can be optional...You could even add corn to sauce if you like...You can make this spicier also by what salsa you want to use..A lot of Mexican lasagnas call for using flour tortillas as your layers but I like using regular lasagna pasta noodles, you also add them uncooked....I have also made this with gluten free lasagna noodles and it was amazing!...This took less than 4 hours to cook on low which I do to prevent burning on the bottom..Next time I am going to make my Mexican Pizzas along with it...It could be a MexItalian night!...Here is how I made this...Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

SAUCE

1 pound ground sirloin

1 small onion diced

1 Jar Salsa (I used Chi Chi's mild)

1 can enchilada sauce ( I used mild)

1 can tomato sauce or petite diced tomatoes

+ 1 can of water

1 can tri- bean blend 

1 small can green chiles (optional)

LAYERS

1 box lasagna noodles or Gluten free version

1 can re fried beans

Shredded Cheese ( you can use your choice, cheddar, fiesta cheese or a combination)

you may need 1-2 bags

SAUCE

1. Preheat Crock pot to low

2. Ladle sauce in bottom to cover

3. Add uncooked lasagna noodles to fit

4. Drizzle more sauce over noodles then spoon half the can of re fried beans on top

5. sprinkle cheese over beans then cover with a layer of sauce

6. add another layer of noodles then repeat with the rest of the re fried beans then cheese

drizzle more sauce on top

7. You will end with a layer of noodles covered with sauce making sure all noodles are covered

8. Cook for 3-4 hours on low then top with cheese

Serve with Sour Cream if you like

**If by chance you don't end up with enough sauce to cover you can always add more enchilada sauce on top..you also want to make sure top layer stays submerged in sauce while cooking so it doesn't dry out

This is what it looks like finished...you can slice then scoop portions out

Peanut Butter Cookies (flourless)

So, what do you when you have three  jars of peanut butter in the pantry.... You make peanut butter cookies of course!..... And when looking through some of my old recipes I did not want to use granulated sugar.... So I thought I would replace with confectioners sugar and brown sugar and they turned out great.... Here is what I did.... enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Peanut Butter

1 beaten egg

3/4  cup  Confectioners Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Baking soda

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350

Mix all ingredients together

Scoop about a Tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball

Place on cookie sheet and flatten dough into a circle

Mark with a fork (I used a silicone fork worked great!)

Bake for 8-9 minutes until lighly golden

00 Flour Artisan Bread

I have never really been a fan of making yeast breads for the simple fact that I am intimidated by yeast!...and also because I try to stay away from gluten as much as I can...so if you can relate to this, this bread is for you!... I have recently been introduced to this 00 Flour from Italy that I ordered off of Amazon....it is Caputo's 00 soft wheat flour...00  is the rating that is given for the way the flour is milled....00 is the finest grated rating they give... the French also use this system....it is believed that this makes it easier to digest....it has lower protein and lower starch which means lower gluten....this is what makes it different from American bleached all purpose flours....So I decided to try this Artisan bread with it and I was pleasantly surprised on how simple this was...This dough is literally put together in 5 minutes but you will have to be patient because it needs to rest for 8-24 hours before baking...8 being the least amount of time and 24 being the most it should be left resting...here is what I did....Enjoy!

Ingredients

3 Cups Flour (I used 00) regular can also be used

1 teaspoon Salt

1/2  teaspoon Yeast

1 1/2 Cups warm Water

Directions

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix until combined...it will look like a sticky mess but that is ok

Cover with plastic wrap (I Mark with the time so I don't forget)

Leave on counter at room temperature for 8-24 hours (I did for 12)

It will start getting bubbly

Once the desired rest time is done you will need 90'munutes before serving

Once rest time is up you will need to preheat oven to 450

And you will need to preheat your Dutch oven pan

Then take your dough and turn it into a floured surface

Knead into a ball and let rest for 30 minutes

I formed onto a piece of parchment paper for an easy transfer into Dutch oven pan...if you don't use parchment you will need to grease the pan

Add the dough to your Dutch oven and cut an x on top before baking

Bake covered with lid or foil for 30 minutes

Then bake uncovered for 10 more minutes to brown the crust

Let cool 15 minutes before cutting... An electric knife or a serated one works well

This bread has a nice crisp crust with a chewy center

This is the flour I used

Lazy Lasagna (Crock-Pot Ravioli)

Well.... I thought it couldn't get any easier than my Crock-Pot lasagna recipe....which is one of my most popular recipes pinned on Pinterest....it looks like this may be even simpler by eliminating the step of adding ricotta, because it is already in the ravioli...brilliant right?....I used frozen ravioli, but you could also use the refrigerated kind....I also used my home made meat sauce, I highly recommend using a great quality sauce or one you really like...this would also be great for a large crowd...I used 2 bags of frozen cheese stuffed ravioli and it made a nice amount....you can easily feed 6 or more....next time I am even going to try it with gluten free ravioli!...well here is how I assembled this...Enjoy!

What you'll need

2 bags frozen ravioli (cheese stuffed)

Pasta sauce

Shredded Mozzarella

Parmesan cheese

Pre heat Crock-Pot to low

How to assemble

Add sauce to bottom of Crock-Pot

Add a layer of ravioli

Add more sauce

Add Mozzarella and sprinkle with parmesan

Keep layering ending with Mozzarella and parmesan

Cook on low for 3-4 hours

Cucumber - Lemon water (detoxifier)

Ok so it's Monday and I always have good intentions of starting a detox to undo everything I did to my body on the weekend!.. So on this day I decided to add cucumber to my lemon water..we all know the benefits of 🍋 lemons which help your body fight infection and cleanse your kidneys not to mention reducing inflammation and bloating...so why add cucumber?.... Cucumber can soothe your skin from the inside out maintaining a healthy complexion and even aid with acne..it can also help lower your blood pressure and it can also curb your appetite!...So why wouldn't you add it....I found another use for my zucchini spiralizer and took one small cucumber and siralized it into my lemon water...I let it marinate for about an hour before drinking....Enjoy!

Lentil Crock-Pot chili

I always love to make a pot of chili in the Fall....And I usually have all of the ingredients on hand to make it....except for the beef sometimes... good part about making it with lentils is I would always have on hand to make this in a pinch.....Now if you like you could also add Quinoa along with the lentils....you could also add green or red pepper if you choose to....and feel free to season as you like if you have a favorite chili recipe....here is what I did.... Enjoy!!

Ingredients

1 medium onion diced

3 carrots finely diced

2 cloves garlic minced

Green or red pepper diced(optional)

Salt and pepper

Saute the onion, carrot till soft...add garlic, salt and pepper

Add to preheated to high Crock-Pot

Then add the rest of the ingredients

1 can corn

1can black beans

2 cans kidney beans

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cups of lentils ( if you would like to add Quinoa add 1 cup lentils and 1/2 cup of Quinoa)

5 cups chicken broth

1 Tablespoon of cumin

3  Tablespoons of chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8