A Very Green New Year

I have grocery shopped at stores near and far,
Even shopped at Costco without a car.
But upon moving to New Orleans I shed a tear,
Oh no! No Trader Joe's is here!

How I miss their rooibus tea,
Give me their frozen vegetable tamales I plea!
Without TJ's Tuscan Pain bread my heart is cold,
I miss their blue cheese with its lovely mold.

$1.99 for greek yogurt was a brilliant deal,
On weeknights their lentil soup was often a meal.
I yearn for their brie wedges and pickled beans,
And life would be easier with their pre-washed greens.

But here I sit in the Crescent City,
With no TJ's near me - such a pity.
So if I want these treats in my mits,
I must remake my favorites using my wits!


Does Trader Joe's still made edamame hummus? That stuff was good enough to eat with a spoon. OR SO I HAVE HEARD.

In any case, after receiving the cutest little food processor you ever did see from Erik, I test drove it with this recipe. I'm in love with the color - who doesn't need something bright and green on January 2nd? So you had too many spritz, indulged on that pre-dinner cheese tray a little too hard, you sprained your ankle and haven't moved at a pace faster than a shuffle in a month. NO MATTER. Eat this green stuff with some carrot sticks and all will be forgiven.

Now there are a lot of recipes out there for what basically amounts to smashing up soy beans with olive oil and spices. Try to think of it like that and do not be afraid to EXPERIMENT.

Edamame Hummus with Roasted Sesame Seeds


1/4 cup sesame seeds
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups edamame (if frozen thaw through first by heating them in boiling water for about 3 minutes)
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (I used dehydrated minced garlic from Penzey's)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Optional: other spices (I used 1 tablespoon of Penzey's Sunny Paris)
Water as needed

Place sesame seeds on a baking sheet and roast at 350 briefly. Make sure seeds don't brown and shake the few times - this should only take about 3-4 minutes so be careful!
After sesame seeds have cooled combine them in the food processor with the rest of the ingredients. Turn on your food processor and just let it run, scraping down the sides if necessary to keep everything moving. At this point you may need to add some water to get the thickness how you want it. It takes several minutes to get the mixture smooth so be patient and hope your neighbors aren't aiming death stares at you through the wall.
When the mixture is smooth taste again to make sure the salt/pepper/spice level is right.

My Sugar-Free Week In Review

As of last night I made it one week sans sugar. And it was... not too bad? Not as bad as I thought it was going to be at least. Here are some notes I made during the week.

Sunday: Not too bad. Was almost thrown off course at the start of the morning when I went to add honey to my tea as if on autopilot. The second waver came when Erik waved strawberry cheesecake jelly beans under my nose. I stayed strong. Also if I am going to eat leftover easter candy it is obviously going to be Reese's peanut butter cup eggs. Duh.

Monday: Yawn, yawn, yawn - all day long. Had a very filling, healthy dinner. I am hungry less than an hour later and want a piece of cake! Or a sliver of pie. Or even just a crumble of cookie.

I always believed that hummus was one of those things you just had to buy - but no more. It is hard to get hummus smooth and creamy when you are using beans from a can. I find the secret is to cook dry beans and then puree that.
My "recipe"
Combine cooked beans/lentils/split peas, a squeeze of lemon juice, spices (pepper, penzeys seasoning, hot sauce, whatever.), saltiness (e.g. sea salt, miso, bouillon, soy sauce). Blend it up until very smooth. Add a small amount of liquid if too thick.

The majestic peaks of Mt. Hummus

Tuesday: Had peanut butter for breakfast that after observing the label has a ton of sugar in it. Also you can't trust ketchup!

Spring is finally defying the winter overlords.

Wednesday/Thursday: Didn't note any specific troubles. Perhaps I am past the worst? My study group passed around starburst and I didn't even consider them!

In the blender: Frozen cherries, beets, strawberries, spinach, frozen banana

Friday: Brushed my teeth after dinner and didn't even think about having a sweet snack!

I have never liked cottage cheese that much (except when my mom made pear bunnies with cottage cheese tails!) but I bought some this week to try as an alternative to greek yogurt. I made a "dip" with it that was actually pretty good with tortilla chips. I just mixed plain, non fat cottage cheese with Penzeys Chip and Dip Seasoning.

Yummy but still can't completely get over the texture.

Saturday: Almost broke this morning. We went for a long walk since it was nice out, and stopped by our neighborhood diner for frozen lemonades. I knew this would be breaking my rules, but I wanted one because they are AMAZING, not because I was craving sugar. But alas, I was protected from myself. The diner's frozen lemonade machine was broken, and thus I was kept from slushy lemonadey goodness. The walk was still nice however, we did about five miles and walked by the ocean.

First toes in the sand of the year.

Erik even busted out his boat shoes.

With iced coffee and not frozen lemonade :(

I ran around in a field of dandelions doing impressive leaps and cartwheels, but the photographer was unable to capture the magic. Ahem.

Not a good action shot.

Since Laura tells me it can take three weeks for sugar to leave your system and this week didn't kill me I am going to try to keep it up. I have finals this week so I'm not making any guarantees. You have to confront the EVIL tricks the finals monkey throws at you with whatever defenses you have - sometime that means ice cream sandwiches.

I hope everyone had just the best week. And happy mother's day to my awesome mom who made pear bunnies with cottage cheese tails for me when I was a kid :)