Tag Archives: Food

Hummus Made Easy – Quick, Fit Meals

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Over the last month, I’ve proposed an extra dedication to exercising more and eating healthier. With summer practically here, it’s now or never! It’s super hard-working a desk job, maintaining a blog as well as all of the other life and day-to-day activities that come up. To say the least, time is scarce which makes it a little more difficult to keep on top of this goal. I want to share a few tips that help keep me on track and I would love to hear some of your tips as well!

My goal is called “Project Carrie Underwood”. Do I want to look exactly like Carrie Underwood? Of course not. Do I wish I had her legs? Sure do! Am I going to get there tomorrow? Definitely not. What I can do is give myself small goals to help me get in shape, feel better about myself and keep me motivated day to day.

Eating habits This may be the most difficult part of all of this. What’s even tougher is having a huge love for carbs and sweets. It doesn’t really go with the whole “weight loss” project does it?! SO I’ve been trying pretty hard and have come up with a few tips that help keep me on my journey.

Portion control. It’s pretty amazing what looking at labels for portions and dietary concerns can do to a mindset. For instance, something that may look like one serving may actually be two (or three – gasp!). Paying attention to nutritional labels may save us that extra sweat in the gym!
Meal Plan – Plan ahead and never go to the grocery store hungry. This will help you keep on track of your healthy meals (and avoid temptation).
Work off the good foods you LOVE! My favorite. There’s certain foods that I LOVE that are good for me. For instance, I LOVE hummus. It’s great to include as a snack or in a meal. It’s also SUPER easy to make at home.

Bush’s (the same family that makes the beans we all love) has come out with Bush’s Hummus Made Easy which may be the easiest and most delicious appetizer I have ever made. For less than what you can buy pre-made hummus in the grocery store, we can all make hummus at home, just how we like it. What I loved even more – I knew what every ingredient was that was going into the hummus! No preservatives or ingredients that I didn’t know how to pronounce! Yes please! How many products can we say the same about?

Current flavors: Classic, Roasted Red Pepper and Southwest Black Bean (found at Walmart next to the beans). YUM!

As little as two ingredients: the pouch flavor of your choice, one can of beans (as suggested on the pouch).

One step: Mix the pouch flavor and can of beans (drained and rinsed) in a food processor until the consistency desired.

At the first attempt, I was pretty excited and nervous. Honestly, now I’m hooked and will be making my own hummus from here on out. One, it’s cheaper and it makes more than the small pre-made packages in the store. It’s DELICIOUS! It’s pretty good freshly made but let it cool in the fridge for a few minutes and the flavors really blend together! Finally, I can get creative! Add extra ingredients to really kick it up a notch! Trust me, you’ll be hooked!

Eat as an Appetizer!
Use as a snack paired with your favorite veggies, crackers or chip pretzels.

Incorporate into a Meal!
As soon as I tasted the Southwest Black Bean Hummus, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into a burrito. Midweek, it was pretty tough for me to go to the grocery store so I made due with what I had available and voila, a healthy single-girl burrito!

Ingredients:
Bush’s Southwest Black Bean Hummus
Flour Tortillas
Grilled Chicken
Optional: Any fillings of choice: veggies, cheese, guacamole, salsa, etc.

Warm up a flour tortilla and spread Bush’s Southwest Black Bean Hummus.
Add a layer of guacamole and salsa (and any other ingredients at hand).
Add grilled chicken.
Top with a little bit of cheese.
Roll into a burrito or eat as a taco.

This is a super easy meal which can easily be portioned controlled. Filled with protein and whatever ingredients are easily available in the kitchen, this meal has turned into my go-to midweek dinner!

What’s your favorite way to eat hummus? What flavor do you want to try first?

Search #HummusMadeEasy for more amazing recipes!

For more amazing product and recipes ideas: Bush’s Hummus Made Easy |Pinterest Hummus Made Easy Board

A Recent Recap – Fun, Fun & More Fun!

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Lately, I’ve been giving a lot of updates on our recent trip to Fredericksburg, Dripping Springs and Austin but we’ve been up to a whole lot more than that! If you follow me on Instagram (because you really should), you’ll see that we’ve been up to a whole lot more! Here’s a little recap on our adventures, new recipe successes and sights seen along the way!

Spicy Cajun shrimp in a garlic cream sauce! Holy moly!!! This recipe comes from Damn Delicious and it’s exactly that – damn delicious! It’s also super easy! The only adjustment was using creole seasoning instead of Cajun (it’s the same thing, isn’t it?!). We’ll be making this again. So good!

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Weekends are meant to be explored! There’s so much to do! Here are some sights from the past couple weekends.

FORE!!!! Early morning golfing.

The Southside area of Fort Worth hosted Open Streets. Magnolia Street was closed off and local businesses lined the area featuring the best of Fort Worth. Restaurants, small businesses, grab a beer and bit to eat, walk, explore and listen to music. What an amazing day and definitely a family fun filled event.

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Red Dirt Roads (via 95.9 FM The Ranch) has been hosting their radio show live from Magnolia Motor Lounge the last few weekends. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon listening to some of best musicians and songwriters this area has to offer. I’m a little short so this was as best as I could get (hands and phone/camera as high up as I could hold it). IMG_9797a

Another recipe – Cauliflower pizza. I’ve been wanting to try this for a while and it was pretty tasty! This recipe is fit for about a personal sized pizza so if this is for more than one, double it up! Looks good doesn’t it?!

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Weeknight date night! Whoohoo! Mr. S. and I don’t live in the same town so we usually spend the most time together on the weekends but when the schedule allows we have weeknight date nights! It’s so nice to have a date night in the middle of the week. We get to relax and just hang out, enjoy either a good home cooked meal (thanks Pinterest!) or find somewhere local to check out. It’s a great breather to our hectic schedules!

In the future I’d love to start a weeknight date night series showcasing great local deals during the week. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

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This week we headed over to Rodeo Goat in Fort Worth (West 7th area) for burgers! Did it ever hit the spot! Recommendations: The Whiskey Burger and some hand-cut perfectly seasoned fries. Maybe not on the diet list but during the week, this is the place to go. On the weekends, there’s a line out the door and around the corner. Weeknight – no line, seat yourself, enjoy the food and company!

I love sending cards even though I don’t do it nearly enough. This is the latest doodle! Do anyone ever color or doodle? Completely therapeutic!

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Finally, maybe the highlight of my week. This is the second time I’ve seen this. This past Wednesday, the Medal of Honor was being delivered to a recipient. Traveling from DFW airport to an unknown location, Highway 114 was closed down in the Southlake area. This is the route I travel on a daily basis. All along the highway, people were spotted showing respect and on the overpasses, local firefighters and police officers saluted. To whoever the recipient of this award was, to their families and fellow service members – thank you for your dedication, sacrifice and your service. We are forever grateful.

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And once again it’s Friday! What will this weekend bring for adventures? No one knows, we shall see!

What’s on your agenda this weekend?

The Hye Market and the Best Sandwich of Your Life

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Down in the Hill Country, on Highway 290 between Johnson City and Fredericksburg lies the small town of Hye. If you blink, you may miss it. Trust me, you don’t want to miss it.

Hye first caught my attention a couple years ago. I was given this incredible picture of an old truck and tractor out (I LOVE those trucks and tractors) in front of a Post Office. There was a little description by the artist on the back stating it was based in Hye, Texas. The Curious George in me started researching. This location holds a lot of history, especially with President Lyndon B. Johnson. I had to find this place and that I did (read more about it here – Hye, Texas).

Most recently, we took a trip down to Fredericksburg. I knew we were going to drive by this old locale and I was curious to see what became of the building. Low and behold, it is now a market with the best damn sandwich I’ve ever eaten!

The Hye Market is perfection. Bringing together the old and the new. They focus on featuring the best locally produced items and it shows in their products. Walking in, it’s hard not to notice the creaking floors, antique fixtures, amazing ceiling and a charm that you can only find in one of these old buildings. I will admit though, sometimes when I walk into one of these places the thought crosses my mind – “Am I going to want to run out of there?”. Maybe it’s those scary movies I’ve been forced to watch. Not the case here. Kick back and relax!

The food! What’s this “best damn sandwich”?! I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a sandwich so fast. Before I knew it, it was gone and then I was a little disappointed. Even now, I wish it was closer so I could swing in and grab one everyday.

The Levi Local – this great sandwich brings choices. I’m still trying to figure out what made it so damn good. Was it the herb aioli that was finger-lickin’ good? The turkey? Was it because it was served in an old pie dish? I’m still trying to figure it out but all I know is I wish it was closer. I’d order another!

The Levi Local – Honey Roasted Turkey, Swiss Cheese, Local Herb Aioli on wheat bread. Holy moly!

The deli area and the main dining area are in two different rooms. The deli area sits alone with a few extra chairs, some antique relics.

The adjoining room is the main dining area. This same room is also town’s post office and I’ve heard Lyndon B. Johnson’s post office box is still there. Filled with microbrews, wine and local items to purchase, have a seat and enjoy your meal. Be sure to look up and take in the old tin ceiling that is only found in these old buildings.

The main dining area leads out to the front porch which houses rocking chairs to observe the traffic and take a breather but more importantly plaques that showcase the historical importance of this spot. President Lyndon B. Johnson grew up down the road. It is here that he claimed to have sent his first letter in the mail. More importantly, the front porch is the very spot in 1965 where President Johnson appointed the United States Post Master General.

The front porch is also the perfect place to sit back and relax after that delicious meal!