Roasted

 "You can do anything, but not everything."

After a crazy weekend out on the town drinking too many vodka waters, dancing with my lovely friends and neglecting my healthy eating habits at the wee hours of the morning I am happy to return to my daily routine. How the heck did I go out every weekend in college and survive? My weekend eats included some of the following:

Don't worry I did throw in some strawberries and a homemade taco salad to the mix on Sunday. I didn't have a huge appetite this weekend, but probably should have stayed away from the late night McDonald's run on Saturday after the bar. One day I am going to start a fast food chain that is healthy and open til 3 am on the weekend so this can be avoided.  Now I just need to find out where they sell pill versions of the stomach flu - just kiddddinnn'.

On another note! I won Oats and Spice's Nutridel Cookie giveaway! I am looking forward to getting these bad boys in the mail! I think the best part about winning this giveaway was the fact that none of these varieties are chocolate... that means more for me and less to give away to Chris ;-)

And the cherry on top of my Monday Sundae was walking out my door this morning to find a package sent to me from Erica at LÄRABAR to review. 4 delicious bars I am so excited to try and tell you guys about! Stay tuned for that post later this week!

After hitting up the grocery store and only picking up the essentials {yes, I made a list and stuck to it} I decided to make another version of homemade hummus. If I could eat garlic on everything and not scare away others by my breath I would. In fact, I do... and this is why I always have gum handy.

Roasted Garlic Hummus:

3-4 large garlic cloves
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 lemon or 1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons sesame tahini
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper {I used roasted red pepper oil}
1/4 cup fresh chives, minced
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts {optional}

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place garlic cloves on a small piece of foil, lightly drizzle with 1 teaspoon olive oil and cracked black pepper. Seal foil to form a pouch, and roast garlic in oven until soft for about 20-25 minutes. Add the chickpeas, roasted garlic and process until finely chopped. Add lemon juice, sesame tahini, water, salt, cayenne pepper/red pepper oil, and 1 tablespoon olive oil, and process until smooth. Stir in chives. You could top with roasted red pepper slices or toasted pine nuts.

garlic pre oven

i used my blender to whip up this delicousness

ta-da! the chives are hiding in there somewhere

For breakfast I made a protein smoothie. Can't wait to make some Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats {OOIAJ for all you foodies} tonight for the morning. I finally bought my first can of organic pumpkin puree. A little ironic if you knew my love for all things pumpkin. Hopefully this will save me from eating another slice of the pumpkin cheesecake we have in our fridge from Cheesecake Factory. If you come visit me, I'll give you the rest of the box!

Strawberry Banana Protein Smoothie:

3 strawberries sliced
1/2 banana sliced
1 scoop vanilla protein
1/4 cup Chobani greek yogurt
3/4 cup nonfat milk

pre-blended

I'm off to the gym to work off the weekend! Here are just a few of the amazing people I spent my weekend with!

xoxo,
Cara