Those pita chips look yummy.
It reminds me that we have served Naan Bites with hummus. It was for a company, and I bought them and the hummus at Sam’s. I recall that one guest especially liked the combo.
This $4.48 tub is a good deal. But I have to freeze some of it because my husband doesn’t like hummus and it takes me a long time to go through 32oz.
Most often I make my own or buy fresh made from a middle east market locally.
In a pinch I’ll do store bought - I have found one that is decen- it has lots of spices and hot honey on top - so not as “clean”!!
Hummus is sooo easy to make. It’s a simple dump-and-pulse-in-the-food-processor recipe, so you can control the amount you make and the flavors you like. Here’s my basic recipe:
1 can drained gabanzo beans
3-4 garlic cloves (or more)
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp tahini (or a bit more)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground red pepper (skip if you don’t want any heat)
Plus any flavorings you want. Our favorite is sun-dried tomato (add about 1/4 cup) or roasted red pepper (half of a drained small jar). Another favorite is lots of fresh basil (instead of parsley) with chopped kalamata olives served on top. Follow your taste buds.
Pulse everything in the food processor while pouring in a mixture of 1/4 cup warm water + 1/4 cup lemon juice until hummus is desired consistency.
I agree! Here’s what we make. So easy even H can do it.
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas drained (save the liquid, see below)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, about 1 large lemon
1/4 cup well-stirred tahini
1 small garlic clove, minced (we use more)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (I don’t add because I don’t like cumin)
Salt to taste (don’t add because H has a low sodium diet)
2 to 3 tablespoons aquafaba (the liquid from the chickpeas) as needed to get desired consistency
Dash ground paprika, sumac, or Za’atar for serving
Recipe says to pulse in food processor, but I just dump everything in a bowl and use my immersion hand blender to mix it up. Inexpensive and easy peasy!
Here is the OK-list (which includes items I do not even think of as processed):
whole grain bread
lightly sweetened whole grain cereal
peanut butter
lightly sweetened greek yogurt
single-serving bags of popcorn
canned beans
trail mix
This recipe was surprisingly easy and good. (Summary - toss chunks of eggplant and broccoli with olive oil and chopped garlic. Bake at 400deg 30 min.)
I happened to have a medium sized eggplant and a medium bunch of broccoli (used heads and some of stems), googled for a recipe. In addition to the simple recipe ingredients I added some chopped cippolini/small onions and black pepper. I baked it in a glass lasagna dish, stirred it half way through.
This would make a nice sheetpan dinner with addition of boneles chicken chunks. In my case I wanted a hearty side to go along with leftover pork chop (split for two).
I had a package of chopped napa cabbage I got at TJ. Intent was to use it for stir fry, but I sautéed it in a mix of olive oil and butter with some garlic, salt, and pepper. Added a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar at the end and served as a side with leftover ribs for lunch.
Lol I totally did similar for dinner tonight but just a regular green cabbage. I can eat piles of good cabbage!
I will have to look for chopped napa cabbage next time we go to TJ (not in our town but we get there every month or so). I always get an eggplant there because they are under $2 and look appealing.
I also get a few packages of TJ dried seaweed ($1)…. limited appeal, ha no risk of it getting eaten by anybody else.
I can eat lots of cabbage, too! 
I fixed sheet pan chicken breasts topped with sun-dried tomato pesto for dinner tonight but, really, I just wanted the roasted veggies.
Same at my house. The protein is usually on the sheet pan to appease the husband - the veggies to appease me! (exception, italian sausage which is delicious in a sheet pan recipe)
I track my food pretty carefully, and I’d no meet my moderate protein goal (60g, .5g per lb) without meat at dinner. But yesterday’s 2g of porch chop, along with various other meal/snack choices, happened to be enough to get me to 61g. But ha, that’s more a topic for the Protein thread.
What really impressed me about the broccoli/eggplant combo last night was how my husband liked it. In general he’s just not as interested in healthy eating as me. But it tasted good. I wanted to stick to the simple recipe this time, but I’ll try adding more spices in future. And perhaps add other veggies on hand. And maybe potato or canned chickpeas.
The recipe isn’t really specialized so there is no reason you can’t add different vegetables as long as you keep the chop size somewhat similar. I see that it roasts at 400 - I often like to roast at a high temp - 425 at least - to get better coloring on the veggies.
For those of you that like Adora (small disk of chocolate, calcium supplement), there is a reason it has become hard to find in stores. Their website mentioned production issues, hopes of getting back on shelves this spring.
Per discussions elsewhere, lots of us are looking for more sources of protein. (My suggestion today was shrimp.)
Tried something new this week. I got mine at Sam’s (regular size, not mini) but also available in Safeway, Target etc. They were in refrigerated cooler with cheeses, but I store them in freezer.
They are ok, but when time permits I prefer stirring up my own mix of plain nonfat greek yogurt plus various combos of “stuff” (banana, berries, nuts, peanut butter powder, coconut, chocolate chips…)
I like a bar now and then but it astounds me the # of bars out on the market right now - and I wonder how much adults - and kids - are consuming them. Not saying they aren’t worthy but I find them quite expensive!!!
(makes me laugh when I see influencers pantry shelves and they have BINS of bars - I know they often are gifted them for promoting them but I look at that bin and say, geez, that’s a gold mine of $$ there!!)
I agree about all the bars. Though we do have an assortment ourselves in the pantry. Normally I have boxes that I buy on sale, have a variety of choices (for snacks… I don’t do them as meal replacement). But now my husband does long bike rides, and he’s experimenting with different kinds… “non-melty” requirement.
My example above I bought thinking of it as more of ice cream treat / dessert. Not good enough for a repeat buy (unless I find a good sale on the minis).
I’m often food prompted by posts/videos I see on social media. Yesterday I was prompted to find a healthy breakfast “cookie” recipe.
I ended up making these. The simplicity reminded me of @sushiritto and the 2 ingredient banana pancakes. 
These are very forgiving! I did not have bananas so used pumpkin, one of the substitute suggestions. Also added a splash of maple syrup, vanilla, pumpkin seeds, pecans, dried cherries and dates and of course the choc chips, mostly dark chocolate. Sprinkled with a little flaky salt when they came out of the oven.
I really like them with my coffee - or milk! Not too sweet, just the sweetness of the dried fruit. I will freeze them today and take out as desired.
I’ve made something similar when I’m in a pinch for an after dinner sweet treat (I can whip up a 2 cookie batch in my small air fryer in 10 minutes). I like to add a bit of almond flour to the mix to help bind them a little better.
