White bean Hummus

Well after a few weeks of sticking to some of my favourite recipes and eating simply...

I felt it was time to be a little adventurous again.

I've still been pretty much sugar free and almost totally unprocessed.

I generally find it easy...satisfying and enjoyable.

I have had a few splurges....I noticed they have always been when I'm sleep deprived or stressed...

I've craved that pick me up....and I've weakened....then regretted it when I feel less than great afterwards.

So this week I made a batch of white bean hummus...

White bean Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 can cannellini beans... drained and rinsed
• 1/2 clove garlic
• 1 large squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoons of tahini
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• some fresh thyme leaves
• a smidge of paprika if you desire.
• 
  
• Directions

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth....add a little olive oil if its too thick.

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

 I also made a yummy batch of crackers.
(The crackers I made this week were delicious....and were a recipe from my friend Tamars blog..... big thanks to Tamar for such a a cracker of a recipe.... excuse the pun...haha)

I love the hummus / cracker combination for work....
so I packaged up some hummus and popped it in the freezer for later.

I always love to have a little sugar free  treat item tucked in the freezer for those evenings when I just need to satisfy the hankering for a comforting sweet with my cuppa'

Just a slice or even half a slice shared with hubby feels like a lovely end to the day.

This week I made Vegan banana and walnut bread ...a recipe I found on the gorgeous Scandi Foodie Blog

This was a total hit....its delicious....

I did use dairy in place of almond milk but otherwise made it to the recipe.

I will definitely be replacing this one when it runs out in the freezer.

I even bought myself some new tea to accompany it....

I wasn't that fussed on the tea to be truthful....but it gave me an excuse for another piece of bread.

I don't know about you....but I've found I use a LOT of stock in my cooking....

so I figured it was time I made some myself...

this was just a vegetable stock... which I then bagged up by the cupful and popped in the freezer.... its already measured and set to go. No additives....no preservatives.... just vegetable.

(I always figured it should be clear.....but mine isn't.. which is fine by me)

There are stacks of recipes available on the web..... I just grabbed a basic idea and then added in the vegetable I had on hand.... the key ingredients of course being carrot....celery and onion.

I also made time for a couple of different meals.... its always easier when there is only hubby and I at home.... it means less noses being turned up if it doesn't work quite to plan.

I made this spinach and ricotta gnocchi from the Vegetable Bible cookbook.... it was nice....but the tomato sauce was a bit on the tart side.... and my gnocchi were more like golf ball size than the traditional size....I would make it again.....but with a little modification perhaps.

I also made Teresa Cutters

Zucchini linguini with salmon and lemon parsley basil salsa 

which was absolutely scrumptious....Teresas recipe has a parsley mint salsa.....I swapped the mint for basil and it was perfect.

This recipe got a big tick of approval.

 This week will include snow peas and radishes after a lovely visit to the farmers market.... plus some beautiful fresh silverbeet from my garden.