Ingredients:

2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 16 oz. can chickpeas

5 tablespoons tahini (you should find this in the international aisle at the grocery store or Commissary)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (juice of 1 1/2 to 2 lemons) or in a pinch, use ReaLemon juice (found in juice aisle at Commissary)

2 to 3 cloves garlic

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (make sure it's cold pressed)

1/4 cup water or cooking liquid

chopped parsley, for garnish

paprika, for garnish

extra virgin olive oil, for garnish


Directions:

Place chickpeas in a food processor or blender with tahini, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Blend until smooth. Add water or cooking liquid from beans a little at a time to get desired constancy. Garnish with chopped parsley, paprika or olive oil, if desired. Stores well refrigerated for at least a week. Makes about 3 cups

This can be served with cut up veggies or whole grain crackers.  My favorite is whole wheat pita bread that's been toasted and then torn into bite size pieces! :)

So my husband is home with the flu.  Mandatory "quarters" for 72 hours.  Doesn't say a whole lot about me keeping my family healthy.  Interesting though that he was the one who got the flu shot!!! Anyway,  his being sick and pitiful inspired me to write this blog and share my easy chicken soup recipe.  Who doesn't love homemade chicken soup when your head is aching and your sinuses are all stuffed up?  My mom made this for me and now I know how much love was put into each batch.

                                                    Mom's Easy Homemade Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1 whole, fresh chicken - feel free to add the giblets! 

4 celery stalks, sliced - including leaves

4 carrots, sliced into half moons

1 onion, diced

salt and peper to taste

These are all approximate measures - have fun playing with adding more or less of something or add something different for your own flare!

Directions:

Put chicken in large pot, cover with enough water to add veggies and to have a decent amount of broth.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium until chicken is cooked through.  You'll know this when chicken is floating, skin breaks and there is no pink showing.  Make sure to skim the scum off the top of the water as it cooks.  Once chicken is cooked, carefully remove chicken with a large spoon and transfer to another dish.  After letting the chicken cool somewhat,  you will then de-bone the chicken with your hands (this is the fun and therapeutic part).  You then return the chicken meat to the broth and voila!

At this point,  you can eat as is,  put over noodles or make dumplings.  When I'm feeding this to a "sickie",  I prefer sticking with the basic chicken and broth.  The steam will clear up the sinuses, the liquid will replenish fluids and the chicken is the perfect type of protein to get your loved one back on their feet again.

With the smile my husband had on his face after eating this,  I'd say it seems to be working for mine! :)

Now that I've started a blog,  I realize that I actually have to keep up with it.  So I'm back at it...  

I got a Vitamix about a month ago and I still look at it and wonder - what do I do with this thing?  Did I just buy a glorified blender or is this thing going to make a huge nutritional difference in my life?  Well, I can't really answer that question just yet,  but I will say that  I am loving my green spinach smoothies and thought I'd share my oh so easy recipe with you.  

Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, and vitamin B6.  It's also a very good source of dietary fiber, copper, protein, phosphorous, zinc and vitamin E.  Now who can argue with that?!

I basically take a few handfuls of organic spinach (cleaned well and roots removed), throw them in the Vitamix (or other heavy duty blender) with a couple of handfuls of red grapes (preferably with seeds) and about a half cup of water.  Blend and voila!  Green healthy goodness in a glass!

Try this recipe or any other variation and I guarantee you'll feel clear-headed and refreshed.