Homemade Lebanese Hummus

I finally got around to organizing my kitchen cabinets so as to make more room for my food processor. It was previously in it's box in the closet, up high on a shelf I could barely reach and I got really tired of having to take it down and out of the box every time I wanted to use it. With my food processor in easy reach now, I got the urge to make a lot of things, one being homemade hummus, and by homemade, I mean everything from scratch (not the cheat way using canned garbanzo beans).

I had a recipe in mind and made a few changes to my liking and it came out fabulous. I took some home to my parents house and it was all gone within a day, so that's saying something :D 

Note: this recipe is very easy, but just takes a day in advance to prepare.

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
• 4-5 large garlic cloves, crushed (see below for how to crush garlic)
• 1/2 cup tahini paste (pureed sesame)
• 2 tbsp Olive oil (or more to taste)
• 1/3-2/3 cup of fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

• Clean the chickpeas to remove any small stones.
• Rinse the dry chickpeas to get rid of any debris and then allow them to soak overnight (12-24 hours) with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.  Fill the bowl to completely cover the chickpeas. They will expand in size, so make sure to keep enough water to cover them. The baking soda also helps soften the beans quicker.

• Next day, empty the soaked chickpeas in a colander to get rid of the water and then rinse the beans with fresh cold water.
• Add the chickpeas to a cooking pot with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and then add enough water to cover the chickpeas (about 6-7 cups).
• Bring it to a boil on high heat, then let it simmer on low heat for about 1 hour with the pot covered.
• Check up on the chickpeas after 45 minutes. To tell if the beans are done: try to crush a chickpea with your fingers, if it crushes easily and feels smooth then it’s done.

• Once the chickpeas are cooked, and while still hot, add them immediately to a food processor with 1/2 to 1 cup of warm water and grind for 3-5 minutes at low speed.
• With the food processor still going, add the salt and garlic.
• Slowly add in the Tahini paste.
• Next, add the lemon juice and let the food processor run for a couple more minutes. 
• Add the paprika and olive oil and continue to allow the food processor to run.
• Taste the puree to see if it needs an adjustment of salt or olive oil. 

FYI: To crush garlic, here is a neat trick I learned:

 Mince the garlic into tiny, itty bitty small pieces and add a pinch of salt.

Then, using the edge of the blade of a knife, with firm pressure on the blade, drag the knife across the garlic back and forth, crushing the garlic so it's smooth like a paste.

 And voila, you have crushed garlic.

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RECIPE:

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans)
• 4-5 large garlic cloves, crushed (see below for how to crush garlic)
• 1/2 cup tahini paste (pureed sesame)
• 2 tbsp olive oil (or more to taste)
• 1/3-2/3 cup of fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon Paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Directions:

1. Clean the chickpeas to remove any small stones.
2. Rinse the dry chickpeas to get rid of any debris and then allow them to soak overnight (12-24 hours) with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda.  Fill the bowl to completely cover the chickpeas. They will expand in size, so make sure to keep enough water to cover them. The baking soda also helps soften the beans quicker.
3. Next day, empty the soaked chickpeas in a colander to get rid of the water and then rinse the beans with fresh cold water.
4. Add the chickpeas to a cooking pot with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and then add enough water to cover the chickpeas (about 6-7 cups).
5. Bring it to a boil on high heat, then let it simmer on low heat for about 1 hour with the pot covered.
6. Check up on the chickpeas after 45 minutes. To tell if the beans are done: try to crush a chickpea with your fingers, if it crushes easily and feels smooth then it’s done.
7. Once the chickpeas are cooked, and while still hot, add them immediately to a food processor with 1/2 to 1 cup of warm water and grind for 3-5 minutes at low speed.
8. With the food processor still going, add the salt and garlic.
9. Slowly add in the Tahini paste.
10. Next, add the lemon juice and let the food processor run for a couple more minutes. 
11. Add the paprika and olive oil and continue to allow the food processor to run.
12. Taste the puree to see if it needs an adjustment of salt or olive oil. 
13. Serve with more paprika or olive oil. 

Bon Appetite :)

Ramadan Mubarak

Today is the first day of the holy month of Ramadan for all muslims around the world! See my post last year on a brief explanation on this month.

The arabic word for Ramadan means scorching heat. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) said: "Surely, the month of Ramadan has been named so because it scorches away the sins." Kanz al-Ummal, H: 23688

One of the distinguishing features of Ramadan, beside fasting, is forgiveness.  The Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) explained in one Hadith that Ramadan is a month whose beginning is mercy, whose middle is forgiveness and whose end is freedom from the hellfire.

Therefore, the month of Ramadan is a great time to ask God/Allah (swt) for forgiveness of our sins as well as a time to open our hearts to others, let go of grudges, and cleanse our hearts of anger and hatred - forgive others for any wrong they have committed towards you. The path to connecting with God is always paved with difficulties and tests and the only way to gain any form of spiritual uplifting is to pass those tests through dealing with hardships and rising above them.

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong". Mahatma Gandhi

This month is also a time to seek nearness to Allah (swt) through abstaining from worldly distractions and to purify our minds, body and soul and to take advantage of the blessings this month brings through nearness with the Almighty.

"When you fast, all your senses - eyes, ears, tongue, hands and feet - must fast with you."

• Eyes: Keep your eyes off unlawful things and objects; spend this most precious gift of God in good cause and pious acts and read the Holy Quran and Du'as.

• Ears: Abstain from hearing unlawful gossip, lies, false statements, music and obscene topics. Pay your attention towards sermons and topics of learning etc.

• Tongue: Do not tell lies or useless tales; do not spread rumours or, damaging gossips about other persons; keep aloof from falsity. Use the power of speech in spreading the word of God; in creating goodwill in the society.

•  Hand: Do not inflict injury upon others by your actions; instead strive to help them as far as you can.

•  Feet: Do not go towards forbidden places, like bars and cinemas. Do not run between people creating strife. Go towards those places where God is remembered; and your movements should be to bring people together.

•  And above all, your heart and mind must be with you in fasting. Because fast in its real sense, will not be complete unless your thoughts, your emotions, your actions - in short, all aspects of our life - become pure, clean and free from blemish. " - Adapted from: Islamic Occasions 

My resolutions for the coming month and year (I was pretty good about following through with most of my resolutions of the month of Ramadan last year, so again, here it goes):

• Read the whole Quran from front to back.
• Read Dua Iftitah every night of the month of Ramadan - one of my favorite duas.
• Make a habit of going to the mosque as much as possible.
• Watch my intake of too much sweets and unhealthy food. Since fasting is a means to keep ones desires in check, what better way to follow through with this than watching my desire for sweets.
• Less TV...more like no TV, however Suits is starting July 14th...maybe can exception can be made :D
• No shopping for myself of any sort during the month of Ramadan. 
• Stay away from gossiping, curb my tongue, watch my road rage, learn to forgive.

Wishing all those a wonderful and blessed month of Ramadan! May all your prayers be answered!

New Aquarium Mates

Fishi has a few new friends - welcome Albino Bristlenose Plecostomus (algae eater) and Ghost Shrimps (x5).

The algea eater is a baby right now, but it can get up to about 6" long, as big as Fishi herself and the ghost shrimps will stay small, about 1" long. The algea eater is not the best looking critter and it will definitely grow up to be even uglier (sorry algea eater...it's the truth), but as long as it does it's job, I'll be happy. 

The shrimp are really hard to find in the tank as they are translucent and blend in with the rocks, and they have been hiding in the corners of the tank and amongst the leaves of the plants.  Their main role is to clean up the uneaten food that fish don't eat. They don't have a very long lifespan, 2 years at the most, but I hope I don't kill them before that. 

I was worried fishi would have a heart attack with these little guys there, and at first she did, she started to flip out (literally) and swim crazily back and forth while they were floating in their bags in the tank, and it took me a few minutes to calm her down, but eventually she did. I was also worried she would try to eat them...I didn't think she would, she's really gentle, but you never know. 

A few days ago however, I couldn't find the algea eater anywhere. I looked in every corner of the tank and it was no where to be found.  I pulled the plants back and nothing, looked in the filter...nothing, and finally I realized she must have eaten it.  I started to ask her if she had eaten it and where it was thinking there would be pieces of it if she had eaten it and most likely she would have been injured...I mean, it's a really bony fish and not very tasty (so I'm told).  After a few minutes of accusations, she started to get really annoyed with me (does this turning her back on me thing in the corner where I am) and finally she moved towards where the statue was and started to circle around it, moving back and forth between the corner where I was and back around the statue and it started to slowly dawn on me she was trying to say something, so I got my arm into the tank and lifted the statue to find the algea eater inside. Oh THANK GOD! Fishi ignored me the rest of the day, lesson learned...don't accuse your goldfish of eating its aquarium mates. 

Four days later, they are all alive and well and Fishi doesn't seem to be bothered by them. They leave her alone and she leaves them alone. All is well in Fishi's world.

I'm considering another fish...maybe another goldfish or some other fish that will stay small. We'll see.

 Bristlenose Algea Eater

Ghost Shrimp

 

The Best Blueberry Coffee Cake

I've had my bundt pan sitting in the bottom drawer under my oven for quite some time now and only remembered I had it when I was trying to pull out my cooling rack for some brownies that I made. It reminded me that I have wanted to make a budnt cake for a while now but just never got around to it. So I finally did! Here is a recipe for the best blueberry coffee cake I've ever had!! It was so moist and fluffy and absolutely delish!

The original recipe by Heather Christo came with a brown butter vanilla glaze which was not too much to my liking, so I opted for a simpler glaze. Also, to note, since I had quite a few ask me, a coffee cake is a cake you usually eat with coffee and not a cake that has coffee as an ingredient. :)

*Recipe from Heather Christo and posted at A Cup of Jo. 
Serves 8 to 10

*Cake Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh blueberries

Glaze Icing:

Depending on how thick you want it, you can vary the amount of sugar and milk. For this cake, I opted for a thinner glaze.

1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2-4 tbsp milk
½ tsp vanilla extract


Cake Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Note: grease and flour the heck out of a 10" bundt pan.
• In a bowl, beat together the butter and the sugar until well incorporated. Add the eggs and the vanilla and beat until fluffy. Then add the sour cream and beat until the batter is smooth and fluffy.
• In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients, and then add the dry ingredients to the batter and partially mix together. Add the buttermilk and beat until you have a smooth batter.
• Using a spatula, gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer the batter to the prepared bundt pan and bake at 350F for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes before turning over onto a cake plate. While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze.

For the glaze:

• Measure the sugar into a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of milk and vanilla extract.
• Stir until it forms a thick, creamy paste.
• If desired: for a thicker, hard glossy shell, add more sugar (2 cups) and less milk (2 tbsp).
• When you have turned the cake out onto a cake plate, drizzle the glaze over the top. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

Bon Appetit :)

Washi Tape Plumbing

I love washi tape...I totally need to get me a handful of different colors...oh the things I could do with them. 

Megan from Honey We're Home came up with a fabulous idea for hiding your ugly plumbing under the sink. I'm so tempted to do this...
  

Before:

After:

Oh it's soooo pretty! I am in love with it! This is on my definite to do list someday when I have my own house. But, I can hear my civil engineering father now..."and what happens if the pipe gets clogged and you need to open it"...that's what back up washi tape is for! :D

Organized Sink Caddy

I used to have a really nice soap dish with sponge holder that made my sink area very tidy, but after about a year, the soap caddy started to leak (there was no crack...so beats me why) and it was a soapy soapy mess. I ended up returning it (yay for Bed Bath and Beyond) and got another one that looked a bit sturdier. Well...the STAINLESS STEEL rusted after about 6 months and it got tossed. Ever since then my sink area has been an eye sore. I couldn't find anything I liked that also seemed to organize until now. Oh TJMaxx you are my BFF!

Introducing my new sink caddy :) Umbra - Cove Sink Corner Shelf

 

I needed something that would not be in the way, that would hold all my things (soap dishes, sponges, brush, magic eraser), that would air out my sponges and ideally drip the excess water into the sink. Well this does all of the above! It sits a bit awkward on my sink...because my sink is just awkward, but it doesn't get in the way at all.

Little tiny drain :)

Yay for tidiness :)

DIY Cord Organizer

I hate messy cords (well anything messy really) and I hate not being able to ever find a cord that I need, when I need it. Our cords were spewed across various drawers and I just couldn't take it anymore. I decided that it was time to organize the cords (chargers for kindle, ipod, external hard drives....) all into one nice and neat box.

Oh, it brings tears to my eyes...it's so organized!

All you need:
A box (mine is 8" x 8") or any size box that will store all your cords
Cardboard box to cut into size as inserts
Pretty paper
Ruler
Glue/tape
Scissors

 My nice little box

I cut 3 inserts from a cardboard box to make 6 slots in the box.

 All inserts were 4.5" high x 8" wide. Cut 2 slits into all three pieces so that they fit into each other nicely.

Cover with pretty paper or cardstock.

 Fit into the box like so... 

 Organize your cords from this:

To this:

and....Voila...a beautiful masterpiece of organization!

All nicely put away on the shelf for use when needed.

 

I used these velcro self gripping strips/cable ties to organize the cords. A packet of 100 (comes in a total of 4 rolls) was $7 on Amazon and they're reusable and work for all shapes and sizes of cords. They're wonderful...I've already used one roll on all the things I could find in the house that could use wrapping.

They are pre-cut 8" long strips that come on a roll. You just need to peel off a piece and you're good to go.

Happy Organizing!