Things...

I took a ride on the new TTC today! It's so bright and shiny. I was only on it for like 5 minutes, but it was glorious.

I've come to realizations about certain people in my life... and it's made me really think and be critical about who I surround myself with. I want to be happy and not constantly griping about others. So, I made the conscious decision to stop associating myself with people who do not agree with this paradigm. All in all, I think it is working out well. I believe there is a mutual understanding too, so it's not just me.

I am back on the healthy eating bandwagon. This past week I've been kind of bad -- I ran out of groceries and then just started eating bread with peanut butter :S oops. The good news is that my mom brought me some stuff, AND I went grocery shopping today for salad and stuff to make hummus with, so it's all good. I made White Kidney Bean and Lentil Hummus today and I'm going to have it with baby carrots and broccoli florets tomorrow, along with a mixed greens salad with red pepper, tomato, avocado, and deli turkey. :) I am excited. A note on Hummus-making: add liquids slowly. I made the mistake of adding in a lot more water than I needed for blending the beans and ended up making a very watery bean soup, so I had to add in the lentils to thicken it up. The recipe I used (my own):

White Kidney Bean & Lentil Hummus
- 1 can white kidney beans (drained & rinsed)
- 1 can lentils (drained & rinsed)
- juice of 1 lemon
- a couple of TBSP of plain, non-fat yogurt (about 4 Tbsp... 1/4 of a cup)
- water (I added maybe about 1/4 of a cup or something.. too much)
- salt/pepper to taste
- garlic powder to taste

I blended up the first 6 ingredients in the blender first (I used the Magic Bullet Blender), and then added the garlic powder after. I used the Club House Garlic Powder which has a shaker top, so I didn't really measure how much I put in... I just put in a few sprinkles, blended, tasted, and added more until I was happy with it. *shrug* I'm very much a "go with the flow" kind of cook.

Anyway, I love this hummus. I like to add yogurt because it adds a creamy tartness.

For the most part I've been watching what I eat -- I've been a little careless in the last week, but starting from now on, I'm watching it like a hawk again. Today I made a good choice for dinner -- I had a Greek Salad from Jack Astor's. It had feta, romaine, red onion, olives, cucumber, and grilled chicken, and it was really good. One of the better restaurant salads I've had (comparable to what I make at home... BTW did I mention I'm a salad snob? I hold Salads in very high regard and make them beautifully at home).

Anyway. It's been a long day. May update tomorrow.