Mr. Jones And Me ... Make Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

If you haven't guessed from my cheesy blog title, my 90s music marathon continues. I was still humming Live songs yesterday morning so I created a Live-inspired Pandora station to listen to at work. I couldn't believe how good it was. I was hearing old Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots, and one of my all-time favorites - Counting Crows. August and Everything After was another one of those albums I listened to over and over and over and over...

I saw them in concert once too - in the late 90s. We actually got to go backstage and meet them thanks to my good friend Nikki's outgoing (and now famous soap star) cousin, Adrienne Frantz. I still remember awkwardly mumbling something to Adam Duritz about being his biggest fan and that was about all I could get out. I was so starstruck!

Anyhow, as soon as I got home from work last night, I dug up that old CD and put it on while I tried out a few new hummus recipes.


I love hummus - it's flavorful and healthy. It comes in lots of flavors and it's really good for you. And  you can eat it with veggies, healthy crackers, brown rice cakes, on toast - you name it! One of my favorite flavors is the cilantro jalapeno one they sell at Costco. There aren't many perishables I can get at Costco, but that is one I can always finish in time. It's so good!

I made hummus a few times in the past, but always the basic kind. I've been wanting to try and make some different varieties so a few days ago I cooked up some garbanzo beans using this cool "speed soaking" method I found on the Frugal Living blog.

I made enough garbanzos for two batches of hummus so I decided to make the one mentioned in the Frugal Living blog too. It calls for roasted garlic so I chopped the top off a head of garlic, drizzled it with olive oil and threw it in the toaster oven.

I followed both recipes pretty closely. For the cilantro jalapeno one, I went easy on the jalapeno, cilantro and garlic at first and then added in more after tasting until it tasted just like the Costco one! So exciting!! The Frugal living one also turned out really well. It has a milder, rich flavor.

I was so excited to dig into them when I got home tonight. Great pre-dinner snack!

Man, listening to all of this 90s music has been really interesting. It brings me back to my early twenties - a time of lots of fun, but also lots of heartache and hard times. Working and going to school and living on my own for the first time was tough! But it was all of those experiences that got me to where I am today. My life is so much better and easier and more balanced now! Yay thirties!

"Mr. Jones and Me are gonna be big stars..." Or eat hummus until we burst!