April 4th 2011

Well hello hello, my apologies to anyone who may take interest in this blog and noticed that I failed to finish writing about the cooking marathon and  actually have not written in over a week.  I actually just started crossfitting  (not that that is any excuse) and have been kind of wrapped up with that.  So as I have already said, my deepest apologies goes out to Ashley(Hootie) and my lil sister Amanda because you are my two wonderful readers and followers. (thank you for humoring me, hahaha)  Anyway, like I said, I've been crossfitting my derriere right off and I'm loving every minute of it.  My wonderful boyfriend is a crossfit coach at High Altitude Crossfit here in Gypsum Colorado and I have an uncle that has a crossfit gym of his own in Tucson Arizona(Crossfit Full Throttle) and I thought it was about time I joined the gym and saw for myself what all this crossfit madness was all about.  For those of you that aren't familiar with crossfit it is a core strength and conditioning program built from functional movements, performed at high intensity and constantly varied.(check out www.crossfit.com for more info.)  It is my second week and I am very sore(in a good way;)) and am very excited to continue to crossfit my way to a healthier me.
          Like I said before my boyfriend Cassidy is a coach at High Altitude Crossfit and they recently had thier one year anniversary,  YAY!!! They had a potluck/barbecue for this wonderful anniversary, and I, being the (wonderful, beautiful, ect.) girlfriend of a HACF coach get to attend with him.  So as said earlier it was a potluck so I whipped up some grain free almond crackers and I dug up a wonderful hummus recipe.  I was extremely nervous to attend this event due to the fact that I knew no one, and for those of you that know me, believe it or not I am actually very shy until I get to know you.  I also had never actually made the hummus recipe before(time is never on my side).  The recipe its self sounded great but to take it to a party without having time to try the recipe out or even taste it before having to present it is a little nerve-wracking.  Thankfully it turned out a big fat freakin hit and I must say to all you High Altitude Crossfitters out there, I have never met a more positive bunch of people and am overly delighted to be apart of this.  You all are amazing!  But anyhow......back to the hummus and crackers.....Amazing, and totally worth tie time and effort put into them.

                 Red Pepper Hummus
       Needed Ingredients

• 2 Medium Zucchini, peeled and quartered
• 3/4 cup Tahini (ground up sesame seeds)
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 medium/large cloves of minced garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
• Food Processor or High Speed Blender
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red and green peppers
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• a little salt and pepper to taste

   Process

• Peel and chop zucchini and place in food processor.
• Add in Tahini, Olive Oil, and fresh lemon juice, and blend.
• Add garlic, cumin, and salt, and blend thoroughly.
• Saute chopped peppers and red pepper flakes in olive oil until tender and simply add to the hummus mixture, blend thoroughly.

YUMMY YUMMY HUMMUS!!!( found the original recipe on www.primalpalate,com )

Next....a side of crackers for dipping.

                    Almond Crackers

Ingredients:

•       1c. almond meal   (if almond meal is not readily available simply grind up raw almonds in a blender or food processor, I actually find this method easier and cheaper )
•      1 egg white

Process:

•   preheat oven to 350
• mix almond meal and egg whites together
• place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and place almond egg mixture on top of paper.
• Place a second sheet of parchment paper on top of mixture and roll mixture out with a rolling pin.  For those of you that need literal terms, (you know who you are...) the almond mixture should be IN BETWEEN the 2 pieces of parchment paper.
• Roll it out to about 1/4 of an inch thick.
• Remove the top piece of parchment and bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

A quick tip:  If you've ever smelt burnt almonds you know its a horrid smell so DO NOT LET THESE BURN, you will want to keep an eye on this cookie sheet of ground up almonds because the edges of this flat almond mixture will cook faster than the middle.  As the edges nicely brown I just brake them off into little squares(or however shape they brake off) and remove them from the oven so the uncooked almond muck can continue to brown at its own pace.;)

Simple but purely amazing! Let me know what you all thought.  Thanks for reading:)