the return?

Dare I say it??? THE HUMMUSPHERE IS BACK! For now, at least.

It's been way too long, my fellow food enthusiasts, but due to popular demand (a.k.a. my own boredom and guilt at having let this thing fall through the cracks), I will once again be detailing my foodie healthie life-ie adventures for your viewing pleasure.

This summer, I am staying at le university to do research and am currently renting, along with a couple wonderful compadres (who will no doubt be making many a guest appearance on these pages) a cute little house just on the border of campus. The best thing about having our own abode is the kitchen!!!!!! and I've made myself very much at home indeed.

Backtrack a little though- for the past two weeks I've actually been at home and have been flexing my budding culinary muscles (ha!). Alas, any skill or experience I had in this department had sadly atrophied over the last semester, as I was studying abroad in Panama. That is in itself a whole 'nother story...but moving on.

I didn't take a lot of pictures at home, but the things I did manage to grab a few pics of a few concoctions:

Cran-goji-nut oatmeal cookies!




These super chunky babies contained:

• 1.25 cups whole wheat flour
• 2.75 cups old fashioned oats
• 0.5 stick of butter
• 0.5 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup goji berries
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine wet and then dry ingredients, bake at 375 for 10 minutes and voila!

(Gasp, butter??? I got over my fear of butter and sugar - a little butta goes a loooong way especially in making crisp, delicious cookies.)

Caribbean Island Lime Shrimp


Modified from this recipe.

I didn't have orange juice, any of the alcohol, or turmeric but it still turned out awesome! The fam enjoyed it as well :).

Other things I experimented with but unfortunately didn't get to photograph include:

• Kale chips
• Roasted veggies (cauliflower + cabbage)
• Pad thai!!! <=This is the most amazingly comprehensive tutorial for making pad thai EVER. If you are a pad thai fan, you MUST check this out!
• Various simple household Chinese dishes

And since moving into our little house on campus, the food adventures have continued! Behold, the spread for our first housemate dinner together. Dawwwww.

Whole wheat spaghetti + fusilli with Muir Glen Italian Herb pasta sauce, sauteed spinach, sauteed marinated Crimini mushrooms, and Chardonnay. Classy ;).

I picked up the pasta sauce on sale at the local organic grocery store and it was awesome!! Full of flavor and tomato chunks, definitely recommend it! The spinach and mushrooms were bought at the local farmer's market last week (be still my heart!) and were amazingly fresh. I love good wholesome food!

Lunches and breakfasts have been more casual - the standard oatmeal/toast concoctions and salads/hummus for lunch. For example:

EPIC salad with arugula, herb salad mix, a carrot, red bell pepper, drizzled with Annie's Goddess Dressing.

I've been meaning to try this salad dressing that everyone raves about and was happy to see it on sale. It's good, but a little too salty for my tastes? I think I prefer my salad dressings slightly sweeter but the strong temari flavor wasn't bad at all.

Tonight, I've got something SPECTAAACULAR planned (well, at least I hope it turns out that way) and I'm really excited to see how it turns out! (HINT: it involves cabbage and eggs and is vaguely pancake-like. haha, sounds great, right???) I'll be sure to take lots of photos and hopefully return to the Hummusphere with news of gastronomic glory. Until then, have a nice day and happy eating!