Good morning and happy Saturday!
It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL in Southern Ontario today. Sunny, warm, and I heard we are supposed to have warm temps all week! It feels like September!
1) Do we like to vent or what!? Can I just say I had an absolute blast reading about everyone’s annoying habits!? I kept bursting out laughing while reading them. Who knew so many of us had a sticker on the sink habit! Eric said, ‘I think it’s a GIRL thing’ when I told him. hahahaha! It was too funny. Oh, the beauty of human idiosyncrasies, eh?
2) I thought of another one of Eric’s habits. Whenever he puts the detergent in the dishwasher it never fails that he leaves a trail of detergent across the floor. I always know he has been there when I see it. He knows it bothers me, so what does a loving husband do? He takes his foot and sweeps it near the baseboard so I don’t see it!!!!! Now that is love. He said another of mine is that I don’t change the toilet paper or paper towel rolls when they run out (SO not true!!!!). ;)
3) I must apologize for my absence yesterday! It was ‘one of those days’. Everything that could have gone wrong did, but luckily I kept a positive mindset about it all. I always repeat this mantra in my head, ‘Life is too short. I could die tomorrow and none of this would matter.’ Sounds morbid, but it’s true!
As you may know, I have been having a lot of problems with my organic wholesaler. Many messed up orders, etc. Yesterday I went to pick up my order (I was out of BRS and couldn’t wait until my delivery day next Thursday) and I hurt my back lifting the 55 pound pails off the loading dock!!!! As soon as I lifted the pail down onto the ground my back screamed in pain and I knew I did something bad. I am sore today, but luckily I think icing it, yoga, massage (thanks E-Dawg!) and taking ibuprofen really helped or it would have been much worse.
Whenever I am having one of those days, I remind myself of good things that happened…
4) A few things that did go right for me yesterday:
- I had a fabulous workout on the elliptical
- Glo Bakery was Featured in the November Veg News Newsletter
- I met up with Krissy for tea
- I developed a new Holiday Glo bar, holiday variety pack, and gift certificates (coming soon!)
- I realized I need a portable timer (see below)
You win some, you lose some! :)
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Vegan Party Snacks!
We are going to a get together at my brother and sister in law’s tonight so naturally I have been baking up a storm!
Last night, I decided to make Mamapea’s Pumpkin Spice Roasted chickpeas that have attained nothing short of celebrity status around the blogs lately.
I was so excited to make my first ever batch of roasted chickpeas!!
The wonderful ingredient line-up:
Pumpkin Spice Roasted Chickpeas
1 can of chickpeas, rinsed, drained and patted dry
2 T. maple syrup
1 t. canola oil (or oil of your choice)
1 t. apple cider vinegar
1/8 t. salt
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. ginger
3/4 t. cinnamon
1/2 cup Pepitas (my addition)
Preheat oven to 350 400. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until evenly coated. Spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook for 35 45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
Of course, I sampled what they tasted like before cooking and they were delicious! WOW. I could totally see myself just eating them like this, sprinkled over a salad. Pure heaven.
And because my day was going so swimmingly, I did this:
Note to self…get a portable timer and use it! ;)
I was on Twitter and all of a sudden it hit me that I forgot about them in the oven for over 1 hour longer than they should have!!!! The house still smells like burned chickpeas!
Batch number 2 this morning was much more successful!
I can’t even describe how good these taste!!!!!
You guys have to make these! Talk about the perfect party snack!!! I have a feeling these will go very fast!
My modifications:
- I used raw chickpeas and cooked them (takes longer, but saves money)
- I cooked them about 10 minutes longer than suggested to crisp them up more
- I added 1/2 cup of Pepitas for more crunch
- I cut down the salt in half
- I doubled the batch (but should have tripled it or more!)
- Cooked them at 400 instead of 350
They are a MUST MAKE AGAIN! Thank you Mama!!! :D You are amazing!!!!!
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Then I made a total GOURMET vegan dip:
actually it was one of the easiest dips I have ever made!
Directions: All you do is take a bottle of salsa and half a cup of hummus and mix them together.
It taste so creamy and delicious. People will think that you spent hours preparing it! I am bringing along some Mary’s Crackers for dipping and some tortilla chips. If you want to get really fancy dancy you can sprinkle chopped green onion over the top. Just fabulous!
Have you ever had roasted chickpeas before? What did you think?
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I have a bunch of stuff to do before my brother’s tonight: Workout, writing, packing, more party snacks (to come tomorrow!), baking orders, and a special assignment that I will be revealing mid-month. Better get to it!
For those of you who have been asking about Holiday Glo Bar packs:
- I will be revealing them this week and pre-orders will commence!!!!! I am so excited about this and can’t wait to show you what I have been planning.
Have a fabulous Saturday!!!
If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.
Thomas Watson
I keep thinking about your sticker story. Love it. Those chickpeas look soooo delish! Sorry bout the crispy burnt guys; we win some and lose some.
Have a great day. Oh and CONGRATS on your feature in Veg News. You are kicking some serious ass.
Lindsay
LOVE roasted chickpeas. I usually make mine a little spicy. What a great snack
haha, sorry about the burnt chickpeas – ick!
That dip sounds delicious!
I love roasting chickpeas!!! They are so good and can be used for anything! Steve loves eating them straight off the baking sheet.
Awesome veg news feature!
I’m so jealous of your warm weather! It’s been freezing in Connecticut and there was frost all over on my run this morning (although I do live in a high elevation area). I love the idea to make salsa and hummus into a dip! I put both on my salads daily, but always separate. That would be amazing on tortilla chips or Kashi crackers!
Those chickpeas look good, I’ve been looking for some healthy thanksgiving appetizers. For some reason (probably a craving) I’m hoping one of you holiday glo bars has crushed peppermint stick in it…
lol ive actually been on the look out for vegan and organic sticks…nothing yet!
Wow! Sounds like my day Monday– I definitely have forgotten about things in the oven and can’t hear the oven timer in other parts of my apartment. So glad they turned out well– I am excited to try them!
LOL I had that day on Wed! It was a disaster and I just walked away from work said I couldn’t do it today.
I’m excited to see the new Glo Bars! I am thinking peppermint?
I love the quote ain’t that the truth?
I’ve never roasted chickpeas, but I’m definitely going to now. Thanks for the idea!
Sorry about the problems with the wholesaler. I hope things work out soon.
Hello Angela!
First, I want to tell you how much I love your webstite; it’s very informative and your are very inspriing ~ thank you for all that great stuff!
Roasted chickpeas are a favourite in our house ~ most importantly, my children absolutely loves it. I usually season them with cumin or za’atar.
Carla
Those chickpeas do look good! And everybody keeps saying that they are amazing! Must try them soon. :)
Sorry to hear your day wasn’t that great but keeping a positive attitude does help A LOT!
Have fun today!
As I told you yesterday, I made of batch of these in the middle of the day tomorrow…just because :)
I’m so glad you liked them, after you made charcoal. I literally gasped out loud and said, “OH NO!!!” I’ll be anxious to hear what your guests think!
cngrats on being featured in vegnews!!! bigger things will happen, i know it, this is just the start :) i can’t wait to order from the bakery – i just booked a spring break trip though with my own money (my parents refused to help since they paid for many service trips) so i need to earn more money first :( it’s definitely easier to vent here than t o the person with the annoying behavior. i hate being rude because i know i must have something that bothers my roommates too. thanks for creating an open environment here to share thoughts! havea good weekened
I mix hummus and salsa all the time. I actually put it on my wraps with some avocado and eggs (i’m not vegan). So yummy!
Those chickpeas are already on my meal plan for next week, after reading about them around to blog world. Now I can’t wait to try them!
When you say you used dried chickpeas and cooked them, do you mean you soaked and cooked them and THEN cooked them according to the recipe? I just want to make sure, because I’ve recently made the switch to dried beans and don’t have a lot of experience with them yet!
I cooked the chickpeas, drained, rinsed and then made the recipe :) Hope that makes sense
I have burnt my fair share of things in the oven!
And i HAVE had roasted chickpeas. They are SO good. I’m going to have to try Mama Pea’s recipe though. They look amazing. I love chickpeas.
And that dip sounds great too.. so simple!
thanks for the ideas!
I love chickpeas, especially roasted ones when they get nice and crunchy. I have only had them savory so I will definitely be trying them sweet!
I love chickpeas! I seriously lived off them for a year or two, and still eat them regularly. Want an easy chickpea soup? Check this out:
http://workforpeanutbutter.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/hmmmm/
MMM… I love roasted chickpeas. I usually make them with curry powder. They are so good and healthy!!! YUM!
Hope you have a better day today!!
I have never heard of roasted chickpeas! What a great idea :-) I am definitely going to make those.
I am excited to hear about the holiday bars … I am totally going to order some!
Hey girl!
OMG. Pumpkin roasted chickpeas? Genius– I love it! Speaking of love, I think it’s commendable and inspiring of you to think about the small, good things that make up your day. Because we tend to overemphasize the bad and forget the good, it helps put the ‘bad’ into a rational perspective.
I hope you enjoy your Saturday!
With love,
Rebecca