Hummus

I've been looking at hummus recipes around and about, and decided I'm going to try one tomorrow, keeping the ingredients I like and nixing the ones I don't. Here goes:

Ingredients

5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups cooked chick peas (or one can)
1 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup tahini
3 lemons, freshly squeezed
1 T olive oil
½ tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions
Combine all ingredients, blend until smooth.

My parents have a lemon tree, which might have some fruit on it right now. I'm not sure where my pepper is right now, as I just moved, so I'll need to find that. And tahini...I guess trader joe's might be the best place to find that? Not sure. I'll also want some pita bread :)

Will update this post after I've tried it.

Here's the nutrition information for a 2 tbsp (1/8 cup) serving

So I just finished making the hummus and it's delicious. It was a little difficult to get it fully blended; I was using my Magic Bullet and it was mixing well in about half of the vertical volume but the mixing action didn't reach the other half, so I kept reaching in there with a spoon and trying to integrate the layers. It seemed to work out in the end.

Very yummy!

Whole Wheat Muffins

I am trying to incorporate more whole grains into my diet for better health. This recipe for whole wheat muffins uses half white flour and half whole wheat. I decided to make these tonight because my niece gave me some silicone muffin cups for Christmas and I wanted to try them out. No more scrubbing muffin pans for me!

Ingredients
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 cup milk
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1 egg

Directions
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with baking cups.
2. In a medium bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder and salt; mix well. In a small bowl, combine milk, oil and egg; blend well.
3. Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 minute before removing from pan. Serve warm.


I calculated the nutrition info for this using the loseit! app, note that this is assuming nonfat milk:

These were really great warm out of the oven. I used a little yogurt spread, and voila, yum!

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

I tried this recipe for the first time last week. I was having my parents over for a celebration dinner (I just moved into a new place). Neither of them is really into fish, but they both said they loved it, and kept taking a little bit more. Here is the recipe I was loosely following:

Ingredients
* 3 tablespoons honey
* 3 tablespoons soy sauce
* 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
* 1 clove garlic, crushed or to taste
* 2 teaspoons olive oil
* 4 (~6 ounce) mahi mahi fillets
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions
1. In a shallow dish, stir together honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic and olive oil. Season fish fillets with salt and pepper, and place them into the dish. If the fillets have skin on them, place them skin side down. Cover, and refrigerate for 20 minutes to marinate.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove fish from the dish, and reserve marinade. Fry fish for 4 to 6 minutes on each side, turning only once, until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove fillets to a serving platter and keep warm.
3. Pour reserved marinade into the skillet, and heat over medium heat until the mixture reduces to a glaze consistently. Spoon glaze over fish, and serve immediately.

This basic recipe is from allrecipes.com; I was working with still semi-frozen fillets (didn't realize it takes so long to defrost!), so I cut them into 1-inch cubes, tossed the fish along with all the marinade in a pan, and stir-fried it that way. Yummm. Maybe I'll try it the traditional way next time!

Oh yeah, here's the nutrition info: