Recipes: Guacamole and Hummus

I tried out the tumeric as an egg dye this past weekend and it worked great!! The eggs were a really nice yellow color. The only problem we encountered was pouring the leftover liquid down the drain, my parents have a white sink and it was temporarily stained yellow :) But don't worry, it came out! I also made the Apple Tart Recipe for my family and it went over great :)

I am on the search for recipes that are simple, require few ingredients, use natural and raw ingredients, and little prep time...I believe as our family grows (and I have less time) that will become even more important, so I am starting now!! I like to make appetizers and snacks to bring to different parties and get-togethers, but sometimes it's hard to find healthy choice. My favorite ones are items that can be made easily, but are still healthy and fresh.

I fell in love with Guacamole at my BIL and SIL wedding down in New Mexico. I had never thought of myself as a big fan of avocadoes, but they had this amazing guacamole at their recepetion and I was hooked! I bought it in the containers for awhile and used those little prepacked mixes, but one holiday my Aunt was making it and she showed me how easy it was to make (plus it tasted way better than the others!).

You can easily make as little or as much as you want. I'll start with using 1 avocado and you can easily just use more for a larger quantity. By the way, I try and pick fresh avocadoes that are somewhat darker skinned (unless you plan to wait to use them for awhile then choose greener). They should be relatively firm, but have a little give (if they are too hard, they might never ripen up). But they shouldn't be too squishy, else they are probably bruised and black on the inside.

Natural Mama's Guacamole:
1. Avocadoes
2. Salsa
3. Lime (or lime juice from bottle)

Just cut the avocado in half, peel the outside off, and take out the seed. Mash up the avocado with a fork (or you can also puree it in a food processor or blender). Then add a little salsa to taste (start with a little less than 1 tablespoon). Then add some lime juice also to taste (or about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon). See, that was easy!! Hope you enjoy it :)

My Favorite Hummus Recipes:

Low Fat Hummus Spread http://www.recipezaar.com/152291 I would recommend using a little less garlic than it calls for and I subsituted olive oil. This is a really easy and cheap option for hummus that I've made in my blender several times now.

But if you want a really genuine Hummus, imo, try adding tahini, you can find it in the natural food sections usually, but it does add to the total cost. Here's a favorite recipe using that: http://www.recipezaar.com/11424

Now, what to eat the dips with?? Well if you are searching for healthy chips make sure to read the label and opt for ones with no hydrogenated oils. I thought it would be nice and cheaper to make my own chips from corn or flour tortillas...but have you ever looked on those labels? I've had an extremely hard time finding tortillas that aren't made with partially hydrogenated oils/ lard. So I decided I will make my own, it actually looks pretty easy and will be a great deal cheaper.

Recipe for corn tortillas, haven't tried it yet, but it looks easy!http://www.recipezaar.com/50820 And then to turn them into tortilla chips, follow this recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/4378

Hope you enjoy!