Hummus

My youngest child and I are in love with hummus. We eat it all the time. We have it for a snack with some great veggies, or we will have it in a wrap for lunch. Sometimes we will just eat it by itself.

 All by it's self....with just our fingers.

 We are in love with hummus. 

Everyone else in the family? They all hate it and can't see how we eat it so much.

I always bought hummus for the two of us. I knew that it was a little pricey for such a little helping of it, but I always chalked it up to the fact that it was just for the two of us, and well really, there are worse things we could be spending our money on. $4 for a container of hummus or $4 for candy, or soda? I was not about to tell my little one that she couldn't have something that was good for her. 

Then, I started feeling guilty, and honestly, a little concerned. See, the youngest is severely allergic to tree nuts. She had allergy testing when she was 3 years old when we couldn't get her coughing under control and she had pneumonia in the fall and winter more than she didn't. We were desperate to make our little girl healthy again. So, when the allergist suggested allergy testing, we said sure. What did we have to lose? When tree nuts (along with maple and eggs and a long list of other things) came up, we have been very diligent about not letting them come close to her. The allergy was so severe that he prescribed us an epi pen. 

Let me tell you, the epi pen is scary stuff. 

Seriously scary stuff.

 I knew that she couldn't have the one with the pine nuts in them and in the back of mind I knew that the ones made with the pine nuts were also processed in the same facility with the ones without. I just didn't let it bother me, but slowly my mommy brain was winning the battle over my lazy brain. It would be NOTHING for a container to be cross contaminated. She hadn't had any allergic reactions to tree nuts, ever, but I didn't want to start. I knew that making this wonderful dip/spread would be easy to make. I also knew that it would be cheaper to make too. Plus, I could monitor what was going in it better. This stuff has replaced so many not-so-good-for-you dips/spreads for her, that I would be horrified if I knew that I caused a reaction in my daughter and she then would refuse to eat it ever again-not to mention-the scary thought of an anaphylaxis reaction. 

So, I took to the internets and decided to see just how hard this would be. You know what, it's not. It's super easy and I have to say, way better than anything you buy at the store. It takes all of 10 minutes to prepare. I'm not sure how long this will last in the refrigerator because my little one and I eat it all in about 2 days. 

This is a very basic hummus that you can change and add into. A very, very building block of a recipe. Experiment with it, try on different things. Eat it just the way it is too.

Hummus

1 can, drained, chick peas (or garbanzo beans-they are the same thing)

1/4 c. olive oil

1/4 c. water

1/4 c. sunflower butter (you can use tahini instead, but we like this better)

1 tbsp. minced garlic

3 tbsp. lemon juice 

salt to taste

Add everything together in your food processor or blender and mix until smooth....presto, it's done! 

I usually put it in my fridge for about 30 minutes before eating.

******* If your processor or blender leaks, you can adjust how you add the ingredients in. First, the chick peas with the garlic and the olive oil. Blend for a few and then add the sunflower butter and the water. Blend for a few and then add everything else. Sometimes, it's a little to much liquid for your appliance all at once. Especially if there isn't a great seal. *******