Yummy Recipe!

This week was nuts for me. I'm trying to get my classroom ready and finalize everything for the wedding, do errands, and make sure I don't have too much to do next week! I can't believe in one week the music will be playing, and we'll be minutes from getting married!! :) T0day is the first time I've had a minute to relax - but I'm currently making note cards for our hotel gift bags. I think the only thing I have left is to find someone to water my plants while we're gone, and to cut ribbon to size. I think that will take awhile, but I can do it while the Olympics are on next week. The ribbons are table runners of sorts - they should look beautiful! We did our table seating this week, and it was definitely stressful- we struggled with where to put people, and it was especially frustrating trying to seat 3 sets of family, all in close proximity to the head table. It didn't help that I spent over 9 hours at school, did errands and shopped for school junk, and then came home to no dinner - I was pretty cranky, and I feel bad because I had no patience for Adam...he has to look at things and think about them before he says his opinion - not me...I'm instant....so I had a hard time waiting. It was classic impatient me - I stunk. All is good now.

This morning we slept in a bit and went to the Rockford farmer's market - I love it there. I'm bummed that I'm going to miss two Saturdays before I have the chance to go again (I need mums!) but hey - one will be our WEDDING DAY and the other will be OUR HONEYMOON!! Can't really complain. I've been planning out where I will put my mums, but I'm not sure what color yet - I love yellow but I have a lot of yellow flowers already - I may do the purple or red-orange...not sure yet. I wonder if they have pink? Adam bought us a bouquet of absolutely breathtaking flowers for a whopping $6 - bright colors, a huge variety of flowers...just beautiful. He commented that I should carry them as my bridal bouquet. :)

I bought some great produce as well (for a total of about 6 dollars) - peaches & cream sweet corn, new potatoes, cherry tomatoes, squash, zucchini, yellow wax beans (my fave!!) cucumber, and beautiful red bell peppers - Here's what I made with them and basil from my giant plant on the deck...

Red Pepper Hummus
*for convenience, prepare the dip up to 3 days in advance and refrigerate in an airtight container. Serve with lightly toasted pita wedges and bell pepper strips.
*If you'd rather not roast a pepper, buy a jar of roasted red peppers in oil - they are already peeled and taste just as good. AND, 1/3 cup is only 94 calories and 3 fat grams!!

1-2 red bell peppers (I used two for more of a red pepper flavor vs. a hummus flavor)
2 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
handful fresh basil (do more if you like the flavor - taste as you go)
1 (19 oz.) can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 garlic clove, quartered

1. Preheat broiler
2. Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 10 minutes or until blackened. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel. Discard skins.
3. Place bell pepper and remaining ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth. Yield 6 servings (1/3 cup servings.)
*Recipe courtesy Cooking Light (of course)

We also had a huge veggie tray with dip, and caprese salad (fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, salt/pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.) It looks like we're having company tonight, with all I made, but I was just tired of having nothing healthy to snack on...when it is gorgeous outside and produce is local and fresh, I just can't help but taking advantage of it...