Sometimes I Cook Too

I wasn't intending to blog today. To be honest, I wasn't intending to do most of what I've done today. But I'm on staycation, so I go with the flow!! It all started when I texted my gal pal Johanna to see if she had a gown I could borrow for an upcoming fancy dress function. She asked if I wanted to come over tomorrow and watch movies with her. Well, of course I do -- she's delightful!! She said she'd supply the wine, so I offered to make snacks. Being mostly vegan, I find it's beneficial to show up with food to share so that I'm guaranteed to have something that I can eat and the omnivores learn that vegan food is delicious and fun.We couldn't decide between savory and sweet, so I said I'd bring both. Johanna is gluten-free, so I said I'd make vegan gluten-free brownies, black bean hummus, and spicy oven-roasted chickpeas.

Which brings me to why I'm blogging. These recipes need to be shared! I had made the brownies before, but with all-purpose flour. The other two recipes are new and so very delicious! I've included links to all three recipes below.

The brownie recipe is from Minimalist Baker. I love the recipes on Minimalist Baker! The only changes I made were I used chia eggs (1 Tbls. chia seeds and 2.5 Tbls. water) instead of flax eggs, and I substituted Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1 to 1 Flour for the all-purpose. I also added in a very healthy 1/3 cup of chocolate chips, as recommended.

The black bean hummus recipe is from My Recipes.com. It's my first experience with this website. Rest assured, I'll be back. I left out the cilantro, because when I went to the grocery store I thought I had cilantro at home. When I got home, I realized that was not the case. And I wasn't feeling another trip to the store. So my black bean hummus is cilantro-free. Not everybody likes cilantro anyway. Oh, and I used the juice of a whole lime. I like lime.

The last treat I made, the spicy oven-roasted chickpeas, came from Chow.com. This is my maiden voyage with this website as well. I was not disappointed! The chickpeas are crunchy and have just the right amount of bite to them. I hope I can keep my hands off of them for tomorrow! And if I can't, they're so easy to make, I'll just make another batch!

That's the hot news for now. Last night's Stitch 'n' Bitch at R Public House was really fun! I won't be at next Thursday's even at Rogers Park Social, as I will be on vacation in scenic Portland, Oregon, but Victoria and Meg will be there, and they're really cool girls!! If you're in in the vicinity of the 1500 block of Jarvis Avenue tomorrow between noon and 10 pm, check out Rogers Pork, a block party with food, drink, art, and music,Until next time, Peace, Love and Yarn!