Latest "why the hell have we been paying this much $ for this" discovery:

[eyesroll]

Hummus.

The hummus at the grocery store was $3.49 for a little tub. My SO and I thought about it for a few seconds, and decided to make our own.

Ingredients:
1 giant can of chick peas (Goya brand, $1.50.)
Juice of one lemon (50 cents)
About 3 tbsp tahini (about 15% of a $5 jar; so 75 cents)
A bunch of garlic (pantry item)
Olive oil (pantry item)
Salt (pantry item)

Stick it all in the food processor and puree until smooth. (This did remind me I "need" a better processor than the off brand I got at the thrift store for $4.)

Total = $2.75 plus pantry items for two to three times as much hummus. Total prep time? About 7 minutes, and half of that was figuring out the proportions.

Next time, I might roast some red peppers or add some olives.

[wryter2000]

1. Mmmmm

Roasted peppers and hummus.

[The empressof all]

2. It's better when you make it at home IMO

I add roasted eggplant or zucchini and some crushed red peppers sometimes for a spicy baba ghanoujsh.

[Wordie]

15. Oh yeah...the prepared brands all use cumin, for some reason.

I don't think cumin is a traditional ingredient, so I'm not certain where the idea that you had to put it in hummus started. Maybe it's because, at one point ages ago, it seemed that almost all "health foods" seemed to have cumin in them for some reason, so maybe it's just a holdover from those days.

At any rate, it's much better without the cumin, imho, and when you make it yourself, you can add the amount of garlic and lemon juice that suits your own taste. It's not that I don't like cumin, really, but it does tend to dominate.

But I still sometimes buy hummus at the store.

...mostly, I think, when I go to the grocery store hungry. :)

[Tab]

3. I made it a few weeks ago

when I got my new blender.

Only problem was I put in too many chickpeas at once and gobbed up the blender, but after a little scraping and fiddling, it came out pretty well, and I like being able to pick the spices I want.

[vademocrat]

4. Costco has delicious hummus for $3.00/lb - my thing is bread

Since getting a bread machine for christmas a year ago, I haven't bought bread at the store - I make basic whole wheat, oatmeal/wheat, raisin...

Also, the C/B forum inspired me to buy a kitchen aid mixer last summer - I use it for making rolls and pizza dough...

[eyesroll]

5. I just made some pizza dough this afternoon!

It's the one bread I routinely make in the Kitchenaid -- I prefer to hand-knead otherwise, but my pizza dough recipe is sticky as hell.

[vademocrat]

10. Mmm - homemade pizza! Do you make the dough new each time

or do you make a bunch & freeze some? I've started school and am crunched for time - wondering if I could make several batches and freeze them.

[eyesroll]

12. I use Alton Brown's recipe -- he says if you want to freeze, par-bake the

crust. Don't freeze the raw dough. His recipe makes enough for 4 big personal pizzas. I used 1/2 the recipe last night (I made one GIANT pizza -- mushrooms, onions, red peppers, black olives and just a little parmesan), and the other half's in the fridge for later in the week.

I've seen other recipes get frozen, though, so you may want to look around.


And I'll be starting law school in the fall, so I hear ya about time...I'm determined not to live off ramen and take-out, but I know I won't have a lot of time for cooking, either.

On edit: If your bread maker has a dough-only cycle, it really won't take you too much time to make the crusts fresh. (I have a kitchenaid mixer that makes it quick for me.) Just add the ingredients and set it to go, and a few hours later, you'll be able to make pizza.

[vademocrat]

16. Thanks for all the helpful info!

I've made pizza dough twice - used my kitchenaid mixer even though my bread machine does have a dough only cycle. I may give it a try although I had a bad experience with yeast dinner rolls last fall (they rose WAY too fast and ended up all over the place...) I'll have to check Alton Brown's recipe - I'm using one from the Moosewood cookbook.

Law school will be intense - good for you for doing it! I'm taking an accelerated BS program (4 yrs in 29 months)...

[NMDemDist2]

8. why you little C&B lurker you!

I haven't bought bread all winter either :rofl:

[vademocrat]

9. Hey - I'm just busting out all over!

I love walking past the $3-$4 "homemade" loaves of bread in the store!

This year I want to make a cheddar bread & olive bread - I've had these from specialty stores and they're really good.

[Tab]

6. Well, you're paying for convenience

When two quarts of soda is $0.99 but a 20 oz bottle is $1.29, it's clear you're paying for convenience, not for soda. Same with hummus, pizza dough, etc.

But it's funny how accustomed we've become to paying for things that are actually quite simple to make ourselves - but between convenience and a gradual shift away from home cooking, people forget that dough is basically flour and water, with some yeast and whatnot tossed in, or that hummus is just a $0.59 can of chickpeas blended up with some olive oil and seasoning.

[grasswire]

7. yeah!

I usually add some parsley, and sometimes a bit of green onion. And sometimes a spoon of water to lighten it up a little.

Delicious.

[NMDemDist2]

11. so DH thinks he doesn't like "Hummus" what should I call it to get him

to try it?

[eyesroll]

13. Garbanzo dip?

Flavor sauce? (Simpsons)

Or, tell him that he's a grown man and as such, he's obligated to actually try something before he dismisses it out of hand? :D

[pdxbecca]

14. I love home made hummus

You could add spinach and call it spinach dip. That is what I do, add spinach to it. Or call it garlic dip if he likes garlic, you can add lots of different things to hummus and rename it. I like the cilantro hummus from Trader Joe's, I might try adding cilantro next time I make it.

[babylonsister]

17. I got to go to Israel and it's a staple there; how 'bout

Israeli Garlic puree? :evilgrin: I load the garlic in when I make hummus, and even use it as a spread on sandwiches. LIverwurst & hummus; yum!

[Cobalt Violet]

18. Yummy!

It's amazing what you find by searching random journals.

[NMDemDist2]

20. LOL

:hi:

[bettyellen]

19. oops.

.