Garlic Cilantro Hummus

Slowly but surely I am getting back into my blog! Lots of things going on to blog about, but, first up is a super delicious hummus recipe that we have been munching on lately!

I love to cook, and I love being in the kitchen creating new things, so when I discovered how simple hummus was to make, I couldn't wait to attempt my own! I searched Pinterest for a few different recipes that sounded good, then asked the Mr. which one sounded the best, and we ended up choosing the Cilantro Garlic Hummus recipe, and I think I can speak for both of us when I say, I am SO glad we did! It is amazing, and so simple to make!

 

Ingredients:

• 2 cans Garbonzo Beans/Chickpeas (Drained)
• 1/2 Cup Tahini
• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
• Juice of 2 Lemons
• 1/2 Bunch Cilantro
• 1/2 of a Cucumber (Peeled and Sliced)
• Pickle Juice
• Fresh Garlic (I used probably 2-3 heaping tablespoons .. We love garlic, ya'll!)
• 1/2 Tbsp Garlic Salt (Optional)
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• Pepper 

*Notes --- We used probably 2-3 tablespoons of pickle juice, and a few shakes of pepper to begin with, but added more after mixing everything. The best way is to just follow the standard ingredients list, and once blended, add more seasoning as you prefer.

To Make:

This is the best part ... Put all your ingredients into a blender and  blend until smooth. It is seriously THAT simple! Once it is blended, let sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, but we found the next day it was SO much more flavorful after everything had a chance to meld together -- So yum!

Enjoy!

Looking back...

It's practically been a century or so since I've updated this thing, but life just won't slow down. I mean, is it really almost SEPTEMBER? Wasn't yesterday New Years? Although the year is literally flying by, I am soo ready for the next couple of months!

This summer has been terrible weather-wise here in GA! I think it rained two and a half months out of the three summer months, no joke! And not to mention we had a few days with highs in the upper 60's lower 70's? That just doesn't happen in the south during the summer.... especially not AUGUST! Crazy, crazy! But none the less, we have had a jam packed summer, and made the best out of all the sogginess.

So many things I could post about, but per the usual, I am running short on time, so I figured I would just do a quick post. This past June we hit two years in our house, can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday we were sitting at the closing table praying our little hearts out for a smooth closing! We have accomplished so much in two years, and I am so proud of how far our house has come.

But, as we all know, I am literally terrible at before and after pictures. I always forget the dang before picture, then I snap a quick after picture on my phone post it to Instagram, and wah-la, I am done. I've gotta stop that lol -- I have pledged to myself to A. keep up this blog more, and B. start taking better quality pictures with my camera I just "HAD TO HAVE".

So with all that being said, this morning I looked through my Facebook album of our house before we closed on it -- I just cannot believe how much a can of paint, and some DIY'ing can change a house! Case in point.. Our living room.

 

Even though the stripes may have almost been the end of our relationship and the start of world war three, still to this day, we BOTH love them more than anything! The impact they have on the entire space is amazing -- All for the cost of a gallon of paint and a few hours of bickering ;)

I plan to do a full post on the entire living room with sources, and how we painted perfect stripes, but for now, I hope this will hold you over! 

 

Life Lately & House Hunting..

I have been seriously slacking on these blog posts. I have about a million and two things I could post about .. but I just can't seem to find the time lately! Now that spring has rolled around......... or should I say supposed to be rolling around? (There are a chance of flurries tonight & freeze warnings until 11 am tomorrow ...??) the real estate market is booming again. I LOVE IT! We have six new listings going on right now, and are working with several first time home buyers, which are my absolute favorite!

But anyways, life outside of work has been a flurry of activity for us also. Last weekend we had our kitchen and foyer painted for the 3rd time in two years... have I ever explained how indecisive I am when it comes to paint? Ha! This time we had it professionally done, and I am absolutely IN LOVE with both spaces. They turned out great. I will be posting finish product pictures on that soon enough!

The following Tuesday we had our backyard finished ... thaaaaaank the Lord! It is so nice to finally have some fresh green grass down there! Now, once it starts to warm up outside, we will have the landscaping professionally finished, and both decks and the fence stained and our backyard will be complete just in time for warm summer nights around the fire pit! (Please excuse my 5th grade photoshop abilities hahaha...)

Speaking of our backyard .. I think this week it finally hit me, what if once it's all finished and we are ready to list our house... WHAT IF we don't get to enjoy it this summer? What if we do go under contract on our house and we find another that we love?! We have been on the hunt here lately because time is ticking. I think we have been looking at our possibilities since the beginning of January and have not really LOVED anything.. Until the past two weeks. All of these houses have shown up on our daily emails, and every.single.one matches almost all of our criteria. How crazy is that?! I feel like things are getting more real the closer we get to summer.. but, we have also agreed, we are only going to sell if we absolutely find something we are in LOVE with, and honestly, between the two of us, and our never ending list of things we want, that may be impossible. I have had several people ask me why we are planning on selling, and what we are listing our home for. The short version of both is.. we need a three car garage, and preferably would like a larger lot (at least an acre) and to answer the other question regarding what we are listing for, probably in the mid 200's :) Let me know if you're interested! Ha!

Current House..

Here is some of our current favorites that have come up recently..

 

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I meannnn...  are they all not just darling?! They all have great, large, flat backyards for Cooper, three car garages, basements, and each are in our price range AND an area we would be comfortable moving to .. double bonus. So stay tuned for more details on our moving status :)

We also celebrated the mister's 24th birthday this past weekend with friends and family and had a great time. I always love birthdays :) And not to mention, the weather was perfect all weekend! But, I have to say, it was weird not going down to Atlanta and getting crazy drunk like past years ... signs of growing up I suppose lol. I also spent a good portion of my Saturday with my parents which is always so nice. We laughed about the fact that Cody and I enjoy spending time with our families so much now that we are growing up, but when we were in our late teens and early 20's you couldn't keep us home to spend time with the parental units for nothin! Funny how growing up works! I cherish my parents more than anything, and wouldn't trade the world for the great relationships we have.

But, the weekend ended and it was back to the grind this week. Busy, busy, busy! This weekend we are taking a nice get away to Cherokee, NC for the Darius Rucker concert on Friday and then the Blake Shelton concert on Saturday, with a little gambling and golf action in between! I was hoping that the weather in Cherokee would be nicer than what is predicted here, butttt after looking at the weather this morning, that's a definite NO. Oh well, at least gambling and drinking takes place inside ;)

Hope everyone is having a great week... and enjoying some buffalo chicken sliders -- I am not kidding when I say I am so humbled by peoples reaction to these things lol -- Over 26,000 page views for those things alone! Crazy I tell ya!