Homemade Hummus & Pita Chips

Yesterday, while I sat in the hair salon waiting for my 13yo to get blue streaks in her hair, I picked up a copy of Family Fun magazine, and found a recipe for homemade hummus and pita chips. I copied the main parts of it into a memo on my cell phone, and my mouth has been watering ever since.

I did a surprisingly good job interpreting my phone memo, because I tried it today and it turned out very tasty! Basically, it was just a can of chickpeas (drained & rinsed), juice from a lemon, tahini, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, a little olive oil, some water, cumin, and a sprinkling of salt - all whirred together in the food processer. Then, I guess because it looked pretty, a very small amount of olive oil drizzled on the final product.

The pita chips were made from cut up whole-wheat pita bread, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with garlic powder, salt, and Italian seasonings - and then baked in a 400 oven for about 6 minutes. They turned out very light and crispy and tasted perfect with the hummus!

 

Edit: I found the actual Family Fun recipe online here.

How to Eat Mexican Food in Pittsburgh

It is hard to find really good Mexican, or Tex-Mex, food when you live in Pittsburgh, but I'm a Texas girl and I have my ways. It's also hard to keep Mexican food low-cal, but it is possible! How's this for today's lunch...

 Two Chicken Tacos: 335 calories

1. Go to the Strip District downtown and buy freshly made corn tortillas and a small block of chihuahua cheese at the Mexican grocery store.

 

2. Shred some boiled chicken and chop a very small onion. Grate just a little bit of the chihuahua cheese and set aside. Fry 1/3 cup shredded chicken and 2 tablespoons chopped onion in 1 teaspoon of olive oil for a few minutes. Set aside and keep warm.

3. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a small pan. Fry 2 tortillas until they start to bubble and are soft (just a few seconds).

4. Fill tortillas with the shredded chicken and onion, 2 tablespoons grated cheese, 2 tablespoons chopped tomatoes, and as much cilantro as you like. Roll up and eat.

Yummy! These two tacos are only 335 calories. Believe it or not! No extra seasoning required, either - they are delicious because of the chihuahua cheese and cilantro - which means, very low sodium content also! See calorie breakdown at the bottom of the page.

5. If you have a glass of non-Mexican cabernet sauvignon with your meal, add 100 calories to the total. :)

Calorie Breakdown:

2 corn tortillas: 100
2 teaspoons olive oil: 80
1/3 cup shredded chicken breast (skinless, boiled in water): 90
2 tablespoons chopped onion: 10
2 tablespoons grated chihuahua cheese: 50
2 tablespoons chopped tomatoes: 5
Cilantro: 0

Total: 335 calories

My Runner Girl

It was a beautiful spring day today.

 Emma had a ton of pent-up energy and wanted to GET OUT. This was just her warm-up before we went running together this afternoon.

She ran up and down the street a few times...

I don't know if her feet ever touched the ground. I love the look of pure joy when a child runs.

Gotta love the running outfit I bought her at Target last fall. This was the first time she was actually able to wear it.  Check out the little girls' size running skirt! Well, it's actually a "skort," so she was able to climb the monkey bars when we stopped at the school track.  I didn't take my camera on our run, so no pix of that.

Go, Emma, go!

Then, before we left, she got excited because she noticed our tulips have bloomed!

Notice she still has the jingle bells and race chip in her shoe from the Jingle Bell 5K?

No "Easy Run" For Me

Getting back in shape after the flu (or whatever it was) has really been a challenge!! I have struggled to just run for 2 straight miles without stopping to walk for a minute. I know I can get back, but it is really hard for me, and is going slow. I'm in my 40's, I'm a new runner, and there is no such thing as quickly bouncing back.

I'm already a slow runner as it is, and even when I am in shape, it can be frustrating to read about a runner going for a "4-mile easy" run, or to read a training schedule and see that you are supposed to do an "easy 3-miler" on Mondays. There is no "easy" run for me! Not even a 12-minute mile is easy. A hard run for me is at a 10-minute mile pace - and that's when I'm in good shape. There's been a few times that I've been able to run a mile in 8 minutes, but never 2 in a row. Walking is easy. Not running. Not jogging. Every run is a challenge. Every mile is a challenge. But I just make up my mind to do it, and like Nike says, "just do it." That's the only way I ever managed to run the half-marathon (13.1 miles) without walking last year. I did it then, and I'll do it again.

Some runners say that all people are born to run. I disagree. There's no way I was born to run - but I really do enjoy it. That said, I am proof that even someone who has not been born with any talent or natural inclination for running can still fall in love with it, and be a runner. Put your mind to it, and if you want it badly enough (and are physically able), you can be a runner too. I will run as long as I am able - even if it means I slow down to a 4mph pace when I get older!

Time for Some Catch-up!

I can't believe I haven't blogged since New Year's Day - and four months into the year, it's not even "new" anymore. Here's what's been going on...

January

My sweet daughter and cutie pie grandson

- My oldest daughter Whitney and her little family came up from Texas for a week-long visit. Since they couldn't make it for Christmas, we had a second Christmas with them, opening gifts and enjoying a another huge Christmas dinner.  We also had some friends over so they would get a chance to see them. Had a great time, and it was hard to say good-bye!

- My 15yo son started public school for the first time, after being homeschooled all his life. He loves it, has made a ton of new friends, and is doing great. He's making straight A's so far - and I've threatened him that he better keep it up!

- Found out I am going to be a grandma - again! Whitney and John are expecting a new little one in October.

- We have two January birthdays in our family - Andy and Whitney, so we celebrated!

Yep, the candles say "44"! Old man!

February

- Pittsburgh went to the Superbowl - how many times is that now? We wore big ugly Steelers jerseys to church, but apparently that didn't bring them good luck since they didn't win.

- Celebrated my husband's promotion to Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force at a special promotion ceremony in San Antonio. Whitney flew in again so she could stay with the younger kids for us, while Andy & I flew down to Texas.

It took me 45 minutes to curl my hair for that evening! 45 minutes!!!!!

- We found out we will be transferred to Tacoma/Seattle area of Washington State in July. I've never even visited the Pacific Northwest, so it will be an experience.

- I got sick the morning of the ceremony! Sore throat, cough, aches, terrible chest congestion, and fever. I drugged myself up and attended the ceremony; as soon as it was over I went straight to my hotel room, swigged down a dose of Nyquil and went to bed. The plane ride home the next day was horrid. And then...

EVERYONE got sick! Yes, our entire family, including poor, pregnant Whitney. Not only that, but morning sickness kicked in - all-day sickness in her case. She was in no shape to fly home. We made some phone calls and extended her stay, changing her plane ticket home to April 1, with the hopes that morning sickness would be gone by then. The illness hit me the hardest - I was unable to run because of my chest congestion and cough for several weeks.

March

- My 12 year old turned 13. I now have TWO teenagers in the same house. Lord, help me!

That's my Sky-Baby with a Texas Sheet Cake - the yummiest and easiest cake ever!

- Finally started to get well toward the end of the month. This illness really put me behind on my training. I officially changed my registration for the Pittsburgh marathon to the half-marathon, since I missed about 6 weeks of running. Getting back out there at the end of March was almost like starting over. It was terrible and is still a challenge.

April

- Whitney made it back safe and sound to Texas. Her morning sickness is much better now, but she did have a difficult month in March. I'm glad we were able to be here for her, and it was great having River here for so long! He loved the attention from his doting grandparents and aunts and uncle! Hopefully, we didn't spoil him too much. :)

Pretty boy!!

- Finally, I'm back to running and training! It's taking some hard work to get back in shape. I've gained a few pounds and it's depressing. But, I'm glad my cough is almost completely gone, and I'm able to run again. The weather is getting nicer too! I actually ran in short sleeves yesterday!

- And that said, I hope to be back to blogging again.

HAPPY 2011 TO YOU!

Last night, we celebrated the last hours of 2010 as a family.  First we went out to eat at TGIF. I had the Sizzling Chicken and Shrimp, and oh my gosh, it was soooo good.

 
I nearly cleared my plate, and I don't even want to think about how many calories I consumed!! At least I had skipped lunch...my oh-so-clever game plan for eating dinner out. After coming home, the girls and I made chocolate chip cookies - only instead of just chocolate chips, we also added chopped up Reese's peanut butter cups, Hershey's bars, and M&M's.

 And some chopped pecans for added protein, of course.

 Hey, if I'm going to make high-calorie, butter-laden baked goods, I'm going all out. These were the best cookies ever.

Then we set up the basement (our "Texas Room") with the essential snack foods for celebrating.

 We got our party supplies ready...

We spent the evening playing games with the kids...

watching Times Square on TV by the fire...

playing with laptops...(I think the kids were actually chatting w/each other online...probably saying things they didn't want us to hear...)

That Emma's got some dance moves.

and eating too much junk food.

How do you like my pajama pants?

We counted down the last seconds wearing top hats, and when the 2011 arrived, we blew noise makers

and toasted each other with champagne.

I really need to buy some champagne flutes.

Yes, the kids had tiny little shot glasses with sips of champagne, because their mother forgot to buy sparkling grape juice for them.

"And I thought communion wine was nasty!"

 They did not like the champagne at all. But we did!

Then after lots of hugs and kisses, the kids went to bed, and Andy and I went outside to smoke our annual New Years cigar. My brothers started this tradition about 18 years ago, and even when we're unable to spend New Years together, we all still have our cigars.

I ended up chosing the Swisher Sweet. It's yucky but cigars are yuckier.

This morning we woke up and had a sausage-egg casserole for breakfast that I had prepared last night.

It's unbelievably warm today for Pittsburgh...I can't believe it's January and I actually have the windows open! Weirdness.

Well, there is supposed to be a cold front moving in later this evening, so I better enjoy the warmth while I can. Hubs and I are getting ready to go for our first run of 2011, and then I've got to fix our New Years Day dinner, which must include collard greens, black eyed peas, and cornbread. HAPPY NEW YEAR!