Wordless Wednesday

Foodie Friday

I'm a big fan of chickpeas, a.k.a. garbanzo beans. I mean, I really love them...on a salad, in chili, on pita chips in the form of hummus, and the list goes on. Except...well, the list doesn't go on because I haven't found all that many different ways to enjoy my beloved beans. So, when I heard about ROASTED chickpeas, I was quite excited.

The especially good news about this recipe is that, not only are garbanzo beans very good for you, but the roasted ones are oh-so-easy to make. Plus, when making/eating these, you get to feel multi-cultural, as roasted, spiced chickpeas are a popular snack in Turkey called leblebi. :)

Here's what you do:

• Rise and pat dry one can of chickpeas
• Toss the beans in a little bit of oil (I used olive)
• Season to taste (the options are endless, but I tried garlic salt for my first attempt)
• Spread the seasoned and oiled chickpeas on a cookie sheet
• Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, shaking the beans around every 10-15 minutes
• Increase the oven temperature to 400, and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes
• Remove roasted chickpeas when crunchy

Viola! Roasted garbanzo beans!

My roasted chickpeas were crunchy and good! However, if you don't love these beans as much as I do, I think you'll want some more seasoning, as I did feel they were a bit bland. Some ideas I'd like to try in the future are cajun seasoning, chili powder, and garam masala.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Foodie Friday

I had so much fun making Christmas cookies this year, that I'm almost starting to think I might like baking! ;-) Here are two of the recipes and a couple pictures of the goodies since, unless you live in my neighborhood, you probably won't get a taste of these (Sorry Christy!).

Flourless (Gluten Free) Peanut Butter Kisses

2 cups peanut butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1.5 tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients together, shape dough into 1.5" balls, and roll in sugar. Bake at 350 F for about 9 minutes. Gently press Hershey's kiss on top of warm cookie (or just place the kiss on top, and it will melt a bit, as cookies have a tendency to crumble.). Makes around 3 1/2 dozen.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Cream Cheese Filling

(based on this recipe)

2 (18.25 ounce) packages spice cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 container of whipped cream cheese frosting

Blend the first 4 ingredients together, and drop quarter-sized balls of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 F. Let cookies stand on cookie sheet for 5-6 minutes before placing them on a cooling rack. After cookies have completely cooled, spread cream cheese frosting between 2 cookies. This recipe easily makes 4-dozen cookies (or 2 dozen "sandwiches). So you could definitely cut it in half and have at least a dozen servings, especially if you actually used "quarter-sized" drops (most of mine were 50% larger than that and required 12-14 minutes of baking).

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday