Hummus & Pita Chips

Yesterday I made hummus for the first time. It's not my first time to eat it, but I don't remember the stuff I've tried in the past being this flavorful! My friend over at goodfountain hooked me up with her recipe and it's really awesome~my whole family likes it. And I decided to bake up some pita chips to eat with it, just because I love pita chips:)

goodfountain's hummus
2 cups garbanzo beans (chickpeas), reserve the juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 Tbls. tahini*
1 tsp. sea salt
2-3 cloves garlic, halved
dash of paprika
1 tsp. parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
*****
Blend all ingredients together, mixing very well. (goodfountain recommends a food processor, but I don't have one so I used my blender. I'm pretty sure a food processor would be easier, but the blender finally got the job done). If the mixture seems too dry, add the reserved bean juice 1 Tbls. at a time. The flavor will improve after chilling in the fridge for a while.
*In case you're like me and need to google *tahini* to even know what it is: it's sesame seed butter. You know, like peanut butter or almond butter? Well, this stuff is made from sesame seeds. After looking in a few different stores, I finally found some in an organic foods store.

Next, buy yourself some pita pockets and grab your Greek seasoning and make yourself some delicious chips!

First, cut your pita pockets into 8 wedges with a pizza cutter.

Then take each wedge and separate the two layers and place them on a baking sheet inside side up.

Brush the wedges with a little olive oil and sprinkle with Greek seasoning. I was out of Cavender's so I found a recipe online that used stuff I already had.

Greek Seasoning
3 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon*
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg*
1/2 tsp. thyme
*****
Blend together. Yields 1/4 cup.
*I think next time I'll use less of these, if any at all.

Bake the chips for 10 minutes or so at about 400F~just keep an eye on them and take them out with they start getting browned.

Let them cool and then you can keep them in the pita pocket bag.

Enjoy!!

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

Fun With 4th of July Crafts: Part 3

I love my new patriotic front door wreath!! I had fun putting this together, although I must admit this is more of an adult craft than one for kiddos. I was inspired by this article in Family Fun magazine. I didn't have quite everything I needed for this one, but all I had to purchase was a few sheets of scrapbook paper and some double-sided tape. Then all I had to gather up were some scissors, regular Scotch tape, a ruler and some cardboard. First I cut four (5"x 6") pieces of each paper. Then by placing a piece of double-sided tape on one of the short ends of the papers, I rolled them into cones, pressing the seams together well. Then I cut a 10" circle out of cardboard and began to stick the cones on it. I used another piece of double-sided tape to stick the cones on, arranging them in a circular pattern. Next I used regular Scotch tape to attach them on the back to the back of the cardboard. After getting all the cones on, I was ready for my centerpiece. He...

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