Courtesy almoko, flickr

The bad news has been causing us to lose sleep over here at PureBebe. You see, we’re moving host providers this weekend and they don’t make moving our subscribers over to the new host very easy. We’ve been worrying that we’ll lose you, our beloved subscribers, during the migration over to our host provider.

Courtesy Lawrence Whittemore, flickr

Please save us from more restless nights! Come back on Monday and re-subscribe! If you don’t receive anything by Wednesday, please give us a shout at purebebeblog@gmail.com. We love you all and wouldn’t be much of a blog without our amazing readers.

Many wishes for “pure” living,
Heather & Jasmine

And the best part? It was easy peasy! Gathering all of the ingredients was the hardest part about this recipe, but don’t let the long list fool you. Once you cut the meat and dredge it in corn starch, the rest is as easy as apple pie. Dinner will be served in a matter of hours.

Now I’d be lying if I said that this recipe is ultra healthy. There is some sodium given the soy sauce and vinegar. But compared to ordering mongolian beef at a Chinese restaurant, this recipe is hands down healthier. Plus, you can always exchange some of the ingredients for low sodium alternatives, like the soy sauce.

This recipe feeds 3-4 adults.

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds flank steak
4 cloves of garlic, minced
4 sliced green onions (one for garnish)
1/2 fresh onion, diced very small
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup cooking sherry
1/2 T white wine vinegar
1 t sesame oil
1 t molasses
1 t ginger
1/4 t black pepper
1 t red chili pepper flakes
1/2 T peanut butter (if someone has allergies, you can use black bean paste)
3 T brown sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch (to dredge meat beforehand)

Preparation:
Slice your meat in thin strips like this:

Place in a Ziploc bag with cornstarch. Set bag aside.

Meanwhile, add all of the liquid and dried spices to your crockpot (including the peanut butter), and mix well. Add garlic and three of the sliced green onions. Add fresh onion.

Place meat on top of juices, and toss gently to coat the meat.

Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Flank steak cooks very quickly, as mine was done in exactly 4 hours. Make sure to begin checking your steak after 2.5 to 3 hours. The meat is done when it is no longer pink in the middle and has reached desired tenderness.

Serve over brown rice and with your choice of vegetable. I thought it was really tasty with fresh green beans.  Garnish with freshly sliced green onion.

Bon Appetit!

Original recipe (I have changed it slightly) from crockpot365.

Related Articles:

Homemade Margherita Pizza – Pizza Crust and Sauce Recipes

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Slow Cooker Chicken Posolé

Homemade Banana Bread

Mustard-Roasted Salmon With Lingonberry Sauce

And to top it off, the EPA has warned that a significant portion of our water infrastructure network is beginning to reach the end of its useful life. A 2002 analysis by the EPA concluded that systems would need to invest about $100 billion over the next 20-year period to ensure clean and safe drinking water. And given the economic constraints our country is currently facing, this will be no small task.

So what can you do to ensure you have clean and safe drinking water for you and your family? You can start by finding out what is in your water and invest in a good water filtration system for your home.

In order to choose the right water filter, you’ve got to understand where your water comes from and what is in it. To check your water quality, we suggest getting your hands on the most recent water quality report published by your water utility. By law, water systems must publish an annual water quality report often referred to as a Consumer Confidence or Right to Know Report.

These reports are required to be distributed by mail each year by July 1^st and, for large water systems (those serving more than 100,000 people), they must be posted online. Check your water utility’s website or give them a call. You might also stop by the Environmental Working Group’s National Drinking Water Database, where they have compiled data they’ve collected from 2004 to 2009 on water quality testing around the nation. Enter your zip code and then select your water utility to see detected contaminants and violations history. Based on this data, EWG has rated 100 big city water utilities. How does your city stack up?

Once you have a copy of your water quality report, take a look at this brochure from The Campaign for Safe and Affordable Drinking Water has published. It is chock full of information to help you understand your quality report.

A couple of things you may find in your water quality report that might impact your decision to buy a water filter:

(1) Pay attention to where your water comes from. Surface water systems are directly exposed to the elements and will have more contaminants and require more treatment than a ground water system.

(2) How your water is treated. Most water utilities add disinfectants to your water to kill bacteria and microorganisms. Of those that disinfect, approximately 98% use chlorine or chloramine (a combination of chlorine and ammonia) because not only are they very effective at killing bacteria at the treatment plant, but they are able to remain in the water distribution system to prevent regrowth.

Some things you should know about disinfectants:

• Disinfectants produce byproducts (trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids) which are potentially carcinogenic with long term exposure at high levels. These byproducts can be ingested through tap water as well as inhaled and absorbed through your skin when bathing or showering.
• These byproducts are regulated, but the amounts in drinking water can vary day to day, depending on the season, water temperature, amount of chlorine added, the amount of plant material in the water, and other factors. Test results are also based on averages of quarterly samples and averages of locations, so some homes may have higher levels than others, possibly even at amounts exceeding the health standards. Levels rise as for homes further from the plant as the byproducts build up as water travels through the pipes.
• Surface water sources are likely to have higher levels of byproducts than ground water sources; private well systems are not likely to have any.
• Chlorine and chloramine byproducts are toxic to fish and other aquatic life in aquariums.

(3) Is your water fluoridated? Fluoride is often added to community water systems as a public health measure to reduce tooth decay; however, the health benefits of fluoridated water are debatable. Some studies have shown no difference in tooth decay between communities with and without fluoridated water. Children who receive too much fluoride can suffer from dental fluorosis – a condition which causes streaking, cracking, or pitting of teeth. According to a 2004 survey by the CDC, 41% of our children have dental fluorosis and that number was on the rise. Consequently, the government has this year recommended a reduction in the level of fluoride in drinking water.

(4) Is there lead in your water system? In some areas of the country, older water systems may still have lead pipes either in the distribution system and the same may be true for older buildings and homes.

Choosing a water filtration system

Now that you know a little about your water,  you’ll need to start by determining what is most important to you as well as what your budget and space constraints may be. Water filters typically fall into two categories: point-of-use or point-of-entry.

Point-of-use filters include pitchers, integrated-refrigerator filters, faucet-mounted or faucet-integrated, counter top, under-sink, and bath/shower filters. Point-of-entry is a whole house filter that will connect to your main water lines. Point-of-use filters are generally less expensive and require less space than a whole house filter, but you will probably find that you will require more than one filter to meet your household needs.

A whole house filter is generally effective at removing chlorine, rust, sediment, and other minerals; however, they won’t be effective at removing other contaminants – at least not without trade offs in water pressure and maintenance. If you’re truly concerned about trace levels of contaminants in your drinking water, a whole house water filter is not going to be your only solution. You’re probably going to find yourself interested in a whole house filter combined with a point-of-entry filter, such as a reverse osmosis filter.

Before you go any further, there are a few concepts that you need to understand:

• Microns – Water filters are given a micron rating (size) which indicates the pore size, or level of particle that it filters. Research the contaminants of concern to you to determine what micron size is needed. The lower the micron level, the more contaminants caught and filtered.
• Carbon filtration – Many filters use some form of active carbon filtration method, in block or granular form. You can read more about carbon filtration here. Essentially, carbon block will filter more contaminants because it has a smaller particle size and more uniform pore structure. Granular carbon filters are generally referred to as “taste and odor” filters because they are much less effective at removing trace contaminants. Carbon filtration is often used in conjunction with other technologies such as reverse osmosis.
• Certifications – When shopping for filters, make sure it has been independently certified to remove the contaminants it claims. Look for certification by third-party organizations like the National Sanitation Foundation International (NSF), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), or a government agency. Some states have water filter certification programs that require filter systems to be certified by a state regulatory body in order to be sold in that state. These states include California, Wisconsin, Colorado, Massachusetts, and Iowa. Be sure that a product actually certified with the agency it claims and is not just certified or tested “in accordance with the standards” of the agency. You may see filters touting the Water Quality Association’s Gold Seal certification – just be aware that this is a trade organization and the seal is based on industry standards.

So how do you choose among the thousands of filters on the market? There is an excellent table over at cyber-nook.com to help you identify the best type of filter to address contaminants of concern. For instance, if you are concerned about removing chlorine from water throughout your house, the table indicates that the best filter option is a whole house filter with a granulated active carbon filter. By the way, there’s a lot of other very helpful information on this site. It’s one of the few independent (i.e. not sponsored) websites out there providing drinking water quality information. NSF International also has a consumer resources area on its website that has some helpful information as well.

Once you decide on the type of filter for you, a great place to start is with NSF International. The website provides a database of NSF certified drinking water treatment units. You can search by manufacturer, product type, or product standard as well as specific product claims by contaminant. NSF has 6 product standards that apply to water filter methods. For example, those certified under NSF 42 are certified for aesthetic effects (i.e. taste, odor, chlorine) and those certified under NSF 53 are certified for health effects (i.e. contaminant removal). The Environmental Working Group also provides an excellent guide for choosing the right water filtration system for you. Those listed in EWG’s database have been certified by the California Department of Public Health.

My personal research seems to indicate that the ideal combination of filters to meet my needs – pure drinking water, and chlorine removal for bath and shower – is a whole house filter with granular activated carbon filtration and a reverse osmosis filter with carbon filtration as well. A reverse osmosis with carbon filtration system is said to create some of the most pure water.

Most reverse osmosis filters have a micron rating of .0001 making it very effective at removing protozoa, bacteria, viruses, and most chemical contaminants, and even most radioactive particles (most are greater than .0002) – consult the filter’s data sheet to confirm the contaminants it is rated to remove and its micron rating. One claim against reverse osmosis filters suggests that they also strip natural minerals such as salt, calcium, magnesium and create a more acidic water which is potentially unhealthy; however, claims on the other side indicate that you find and absorb these minerals more readily in foods and that the slightly more acidic water has no health effect. I don’t have the answers on this yet, but it’s something I intend to research further. There are osmosis filters that do offer options to re-add minerals to your water – not sure if this is pure marketing hype or a necessity, but I’ll let you know what I find.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section! I’ve done far more research than could be included in a single post, so I may just have the answers and/or resources to help.

-Jasmine

Additional Resources:
Cyber-nook.com
Environmental Working Group, Health/Toxics: Our Water
Consumer Reports Water Filter Guide
Water Filter Comparisons.com
CDC Resource on Drinking Water
CDC Guide to Household Water Treatment Technologies

Related Articles:
Bottled Water vs. Tap Water: Making a Healthy, Informed Choice
Erin Brockovich Moment: Is Your Water Safe?

As parents, we have a lot more control over the health destiny of our children than we realize.  Although food plays a tremendous role in this epidemic, so does exercise, or the lack thereof.

If we, as parents, prefer to sit on the couch with a bag of Ruffles, guess what our kids want to do, too?

Yesterday, I woke up at 5am, on a Sunday, and drove 45 mins. to compete in a race.  I haven’t run in an organized race since my oldest, now 3 years old, was 10 months old.  So, it’s been a while.  The George Washington Parkway Classic is a 10-mile race that begins in Mount Vernon and goes along the GW Parkway and Potomac River, to Old Town, Alexandria.  I finished the 10 miles in 1 hr, 31 minutes, roughly 9 minute miles.  I definitely didn’t win any awards for my pace, but I felt great stepping over the finish line.

And the best part?  My kids and husband were waiting for me at the finish line.

Super corny photo of me after the race

My kids saw their mommy sweating (profusely, by the way), and taking part in something really big. They were just as captivated by the camaraderie of the thousands of runners, spectators, and music, as I was.

When I saw my family waiting for me at the finish line, I ran over to them. With an enormous grin on her face, my 3 year old daughter yelled, “I want to run with mommy!”

So you know what we did?  We took her out of her stroller and let her run around a bit.  And when she gets old enough, I’ll start taking her on runs with me.

It’s just as important for her to see me running and exercising as it is for her to do it herself.  

-What’s your favorite way to exercise?

-How do your kids like to stay active?

Heather

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Think Organic Groceries Are Too Expensive? Our Comparison Shopping Results…

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Our videos today highlight three 18 month old darlings (at least that’s the age we estimate for these three sweet babies).    Check out the cutie in our first video.   Is she adorable or what?!

We meant to post our next video last week, but forgot to include it. So in case you haven’t yet seen these two 18 month old twin boys having a very engaging conversation, you must check it out.  My 19 month old thought this was hilarious. Maybe she knew what they were saying?  

-What are your fun plans for the weekend?

Related Articles:

Fantastically Funny Friday (4/1/2011) – Guilty Baby & Workout Dog

Fantastically Funny Friday (3/4/2011) – Babies Eating

Fantastically Funny Friday (2/25/2011) – Brilliant Baby

Fantastically Funny Friday (2/11/2011) – Talking Animals

Fantastically Funny Friday (2/4/2011) – ‘Super’ Guys

Fantastically Funny Friday (1/28/2011) – Babies & Dogs

Fantastically Funny Friday (1/21/2011) – Grapefruit, baby!

According to this Washington Post article, “In the early 1990s, FDA and Canadian scientists found that Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, the three most widely used dyes, were contaminated with likely human carcinogens. And while many foods, such as M&M’s and Kellogg’s Hot Fudge Sundae Pop Tarts, include as many as five different dyes, even today the carcinogenic potential of such combinations has not been tested.”

Additionally, the British government funded two studies, involving a total of nearly 600 children. They found that artificial food coloring, in combination with a common food preservative, could “make even children with no known behavioral problems hyperactive and inattentive.” So, “Health officials in the United Kingdom urged manufacturers to stop using the six dyes — including Red 40, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 — involved in those studies. Next, the European Parliament required that foods containing those chemicals bear a label warning that the dyes ‘may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.’”

Last week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a meeting to review whether there is a possible association between artificial food dyes and children’s risk of ADHD.

The FDA voted 8 to 6 NOT to ban synthetic food dyes and NOT to require that products containing dyes warn of a possible risk of ADHD. Instead, the FDA recommended that further research on food dyes and hyperactive behavior be conducted.

For the most part, I avoid buying foods with artificial food coloring. As I have mentioned in prior posts, we mostly consume an organic diet these days. But, as you know, it is impossible to control everything that our children put into their mouths, especially when they attend child care outside of the home.

So, I pulled all of the items that I could find with artificial food coloring from my pantry, once and for all, and here is what I found:

Food dye in children’s Pedialyte? I was shocked. This is something that I have given to my children on several occasions, when they had diarrhea and/or a fever and I needed to hydrate them. Nothing like giving our children chemical-laden medicine when their bodies are in the most need of nourishment.

Fortunately, the foods below are some of the healthier, dye-free ‘replacements’ that I also had in my pantry. The Pedialyte pictured below does not contain artificial food coloring, and I will continue to buy the variety below for this reason. I even started buying my children organic loli-pops, since they don’t contain either food dyes or genetically modified high fructose corn syrup.

-What and how many food items do you have in your pantry that contain artificial food coloring?

-Heather

Related Articles:

Are You What You Eat?

Think Organic Groceries Are Too Expensive? Our Comparison Shopping Results…

Simple Steps To Begin The Organic Food Journey

‘Health Food’ Exposed: The Dangers of Soy

(Later, after reading several pizza dough recipes, I determined that I accidentally killed the yeast with nearly-boiling water).

Fast forward six months later (yes, it took me that long to attempt pizza dough again), I’ve realized that the secret to making really good pizza indeed lies in the proper use of yeast. My in-laws came to visit a few weeks ago and I once again found myself toying with flour and yeast. I am happy to report that my mother-in-law raved about the pizza and even said that it was some of the best that she’s ever eaten. Can’t get a better complement than that from someone you love and admire!

And the best part is that this recipe does not need any fancy equipment. I didn’t have to pull out my KitchenAid mixer. Most of the mixing/kneading is done the good old-fashioned way – by hands!

What I also love about this recipe for pizza dough is the fact that it makes enough dough for 6-8 medium sized pizzas. So you can ball up whatever you don’t want to immediately use and freeze for later use. When you’re ready to use your frozen pizza dough, simply remove it from the freezer and place it in the refrigerator for a day or two.

Ingredients for Pizza Dough:
7 cups strong white flour
1 T fine sea salt
2 (1/4-ounce) packets active dried yeast
1 T raw sugar
4 T extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and make a large well in the middle. In another bowl, mix the yeast, sugar and olive oil into the water. Let it sit for a few minutes, then begin slowly pouring the liquid into the flour well. Using a fork, slowly mix the flour in and swirl the liquid into the flour. Keep mixing, drawing larger amounts of flour into the well. When it all starts to mix together, use your clean hands (make sure to dust them with flour first) to finish mixing the flour with the liquid. Knead the dough by hand until it is smooth and has a spring-like feel.

Place the ball of dough in a large flour-dusted bowl. Flour the top of the dough ball and cover the bowl with a warm, moist cloth. Place in a warm room for about 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size.

I had a hard time getting the dough to rise b/c my kitchen is not ‘warm.’ So I turned the oven on to 200 degrees (lowest setting), and placed the dough into an oven-safe bowl, and applied more flour to the top and made sure that the towel on top stayed moist. Within a few minutes, I shut the oven off and within 10 minutes, my dough doubled in size. Make sure to keep checking the dough every couple of minutes so that you don’t prematurely cook/bake it.

Place the dough on a flour-dusted surface and knead it. This process forces the air out of the dough.

At this point you can either use the dough immediately, or freeze it for later use. Either way, divide the dough up into smaller balls, 6-8 in total.

Roll the pizzas out 20 minutes before you want to bake them. (Avoid rolling them out and leaving them for hours – they will dry out). If the dough was previously frozen, leave them out on the counter until they become room temperature before rolling them out.

Roll the dough out into circles, about 1/4-inch thick. Wa-LA, they are now ready for pizza sauce and toppings!

Ingredients for Pizza Sauce:
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t salt
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 t sugar
1/8 t pepper
1/2 t oregano
1 T olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. This recipe makes about 1 1/2 cups of pizza sauce, enough for 2 pizzas. I have also frozen the sauce for later use, in glass containers.

Other Ingredients Needed:
Fresh basil, clipped and rinsed under water
Fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

Spread 3/4 cup of pizza sauce onto your pizza. Arrange fresh mozzarella cheese slices.

Uncooked Margherita Pizza

Place pizza in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese becomes bubbly and the dough has baked through.  Spread fresh basil on top of the pizza after you remove it from the oven.

I usually use a pizza stone, which gives the bottom of the crust a nice, hard texture, and keeps the pizza toasty warm for your second…third…fourth slice of pizza!

If you don’t have a pizza stone, you can usually find them on sale from time to time. I have three (can you tell we like making pizza?!) and prefer to use the stoneware pizza stones best (as opposed to this type of pizza stone). I have bought several stoneware pizza stones for my kids’ teachers at school (as gifts) when they go on sale at Williams Sonoma Outlets for ~$10-15.  You can also use stainless steel cookie sheets, as lots of pizzerias use those to cook their pizzas.

Bon Appetit!

-Heather

Related Articles:

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Roast & Store Your Own Red Peppers

Slow Cooker Chicken Posolé

Homemade Banana Bread

Mustard-Roasted Salmon With Lingonberry Sauce

Without further ado, below are a few signs that you’re married with children.

1. You find your spouse insanely attractive when they use both a coupon and giftcards to pay for a date night meal.

2. An exotic vacation is no longer a trip to the French Riviera or the Greek islands, but instead a road trip to the Outer Banks with a week’s worth of food and toilet paper.

3. Date nights are called putting the kids to bed on time and then lounging around on the couch in PJs watching the latest episode of “Modern Family.”

4. You’re out to dinner at your favorite restaurant and suddenly realize that the last time you ate there was almost an exact year ago.

5. You look in your pantry one day and instead of finding Ruffles potato chips and Pop Tarts you find Organic Os and veggie sticks.

6. The most exciting thing you do all weekend is either go to the park with the kids, or make a Costco or Target run.

7. You use your attached-to-the-bedroom bathroom one morning and realize that a two months’ supply of toilet paper is staring back at you from the bathroom shelves.

8. You find yourself vying for the coveted grocery store run on Saturday instead of staying home with the kids.

9. You no longer offer to drive your colleagues to lunch because you don’t want to bother removing all of the carseats.

10. You realize when you hop into bed at the end of the day that you haven’t showered in three days.

-What signs have you come across? Leave us a comment below, let’s keep this list growing!

-Heather

Related Articles:

Life From the Eyes of A Three Year Old

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5 Things That I Can’t Believe My 2 Year Old Said

Our first video this week has quickly become one of my all-time personal favorites. I have watched it at least a half dozen times, and have laughed every time. I shared it with my two young daughters this week, and they, too, enjoyed it. My 3-year old didn’t quite understand why Denver was sad, but she thought it was cute and funny nonetheless.

And speaking of Denver, she has become quite the internet sensation. She even has her own Facebook fan page. Really. (I admit, I have checked out her page).

Our next video will knock your socks off. At least, they did mine. Kind of made me want to get up off the couch and do some squats. This one is impressive. Seriously.

-So what have your kids done (either human or animal variety), that’s resulted in this same pitiful guilty expression?
-Have you trained your dog to do something really cool?

In my search for a homemade hummus recipe, I stumbled upon Pinch My Salt, a beautiful food blog that is now on my short list. Nicole’s roasted red pepper hummus recipe, which I adapted, earned rave reviews amongst everyone in my house, including my littlest one!

If you’ve never tried or heard of hummus, it’s a Middle Eastern dish – a spread whose key ingredients are chickpeas and tahini. Chickpeas, often referred to as garbanzo beans (its Spanish name), are surprisingly good for you. They are an excellent source of molybdenum, an essential trace element in human nutrition that helps rid the body of sulfites. Chickpeas are high in fiber and thus can help lower cholesterol and improve blood sugar levels. They are also a good source of folic acid, manganese, protein, and minerals such as iron, copper, zinc, and magnesium. AND they contain no saturated fats. Tahini, on the other hand, is a sesame seed paste which when combined with chickpeas provides all 8 essential amino acids – amino acids that our bodies cannot produce naturally and must be acquired through diet. Add the health benefits of red bell peppers, and this hummus makes a powerful snack!

Now, not long after I gave this recipe a go, an episode of Alton Brown’s Good Eats aired starring chickpeas. One suggestion he made was for a truly creamy hummus, you should start with dried chickpeas and a long soak; however, he suggested shortcutting the process by cooking them on low in the slow cooker overnight. Doing so is supposed to soften the outer skin and hydrate and cook the starches inside resulting in a much softer interior than you might find in the canned goods aisle of your grocery store (oh yeah, and no BPA from the can lining either). Unfortunately for me, after over 10 hours in the slow cooker my beans were still dry and hard on the interior. So I did a little research, and from what I can tell soaking beans is really a process of trial and error. What works for some may not work for others, one factor being the hardness of one’s water. So I defaulted back to the traditional soak and found the following approach produced a much more desirable chickpea with a soft, creamy interior.

Preparing Dried Chickpeas

Rinse dried chickpeas, and then soak for at least 24 hours in a bowl filled with filtered tap water. Ensure that the water level is a few inches above the beans as they will expand, and just cover the bowl with a towel. Drain the water. Bring a pot of fresh water on the stove to a boil, and then bring it down to a simmer. Add the beans, and cook at a low, steady simmer for about 40 minutes. You may need to cook them longer – just test along the way, and let your mouth determine when they’re done.

I found that 1 pound of dried beans resulted in roughly 35-40 oz cooked beans.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Ingredients:
15 oz. cooked chickpeas
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, and seeded*
1 tablespoon chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tahini
Juice of 1 lemon, about 3 tablespoons
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sriracha**
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt

*Earlier today, I published a post on roasting your own red peppers at home. Take a look!

**Sriracha is a red Thai chili sauce that can be found in most grocery stores; however, look for brands that do not contain preservatives.

If you want to spice your hummus up a little bit, I found that more sriracha didn’t quite give the kick I was looking for, so I added a little more than a teaspoon of adobo sauce after reserving half of the hummus for the kids, and the chipotle flavor nicely complemented the roasted red pepper for a good spicy flavor to please the hubby.

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

Yup, that’s it! So easy a child could do it.

Serve it up with some warm whole wheat pita bread or toasted pita chips (something else I intend to experiment with making at home), and enjoy!

– Jasmine

You might also like:
Roast & Store Your Own Red Peppers
Slow Cooker Chicken Posolé
Homemade Banana Bread
Mustard-Roasted Salmon With Lingonberry Sauce