Hum, Hum, HUMMUS!!!!

For anyone struggling with healthy snack ideas for the kids, Hummus is a great place to start. I tested this out on my public school students who are not used to eating "Healthy" snacks while at school. In fact, most of the time Donuts, cookies and cupcakes are brought in to share. And then you have the "everyday" snacks that they get from the vending machines, which include Doritos, Cookies, Chips and pretzels.

So today, I created a presentation of "HUMMUS BOATS!" It was an idea I received last night from my friend Dawne. It's very simple to do and makes for lots of great conversations! Simply cut a Red Bell Pepper in half, and fill the cavity with Homemade Hummus. Then add sliced carrot sticks for Oars, Organic Pretzels for the Pier, Cucumber slices for pads, raisins for people and serve on a bed of Kale!!! Sound yummy? They thought it was. They used the veggies to scoop out the hummus, and then we cut up the red peppers so that each student had a slice. I couldn't believe how fast it all went and just how much they enjoyed it! Mission Accomplished!!

Here's the recipe for Homemade Hummus:

4 cloves of Fresh Garlic (finely chopped)

15 ounces of Organic Garbanzo Beans (Soaked overnight and cooked for approx 1 hr)

2 Tablespoons of "Organic Tahini" by Once Again

1/4-1/2 cup of filtered water

2 tablespoons of Freshly squeezed Organic Lemon Juice

1/2 tsp gluten free, Organic Tamari, or Soy Sauce

1/2 tsp of Organic Cumin

1/4 tsp of Organic Ground Coriander

a dash of Cayenne pepper

Optional: 1 Tablespoon of finely chopped parsley

Add all the above ingredients to a High Powered Blender, and blend until creamy! You can eat warm or chill in the fridge for an hour. When taking out of the fridge, allow the hummus to thaw until it reaches room temperature.