know your calories & oil free hummus recipe

Knowing your calories keeps you accountable.

For instance, this morning I had enjoyed one of my green smoothies at about 280 calories.  My darling husband offered to stop by my office and bring Starbuck - Humm....black coffee or a Chi Tea Soy Latte? The Latte did sound like heaven - Google Nutritional information at Starbucks = 310 Calories. "Black coffee please!"

Thanks to the internet you can now search out your meal/or drink before going to the restaurant you're heading to.  What a great way to do your homework and be well informed AND accountable to your diet. More and more companies are not also showing their calories on their menus and menu boards (Starbucks will be doing so this week).  Do you think it will keep customers from ordering their favorite high calorie meals?  I am really curious if it will make a difference.  I know for me, I will be reading them!

Remember if you are having a hard time losing weight, try journaling your daily calorie intake.  It is amazing how those calories can sneak in there and before you know it you have gone over your daily intake limit!

Make smart choices - do your homework!!

On to yummy hummus heaven.  I have loved making my own hummus sooooo much more than buying it.  Normally my hummus has always involved olive oil, but this time around as we are cutting it out of our diet I thought I would give non-olive oil hummus a try.  The out come? Didn't even notice it wasn't in there!

Oil Free Chipotle Green Chili Hummus

 Ingredients

2 15.5 Cans of Chick Peas (Garbanzo Beans)
2 T. Garlic (I use canned)
7 oz. Diced Green Chilies
1 T. Soy Sauce (low sodium)
1 T. Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning Blend
2 Chipotle Peppers (more or less depending on how hot you like it)
Vegetable Broth (or water)  as needed

Using a Vitmix or food processor, add drained chick peas, garlic, green chilies, soy sauce, chipotle peppers, Mrs. Dash and blend.  Add vegetable broth (or water) as needed to make smooth.  Refrigerate for two hours. 

I made this Sunday afternoon and come dinner on Tuesday night, well what's on my plate is what was left!  However, now that I think of it I did use some in my Edamame-Potato Salad Mix. 

Since I am talking about dinner last night - OMG!  I enjoyed my Oil Free hummus with some fresh veggies and a Spicy Mexican Veggie burger I made up Sunday night on top of some spinach!  This was one of those dinner plates I looked at and it made me say, "I love being a Vegan!!