A Summer-ful of Hummus

Hummus is kind of a big deal these days, in case you hadn't noticed.  It's pretty much everywhere, and most definitely in the Sargent home. We find it to be a healthy alternative to Ranch dressing for dipping all kinds of veggies and corn chips.  Lately, I had been picking up the large-ish sized tubs at Costco.  But I started to notice that, while quite delicious and convenient, they are a bit pricey and disappear so very fast with my older boys (ahem, Joey) so I ventured out last week and made my own.  YUM.  And CHEAP. And maybe even HEALTHIER...Nothing added to keep it fresh in the store.

I know, kind of a gross photo, right?  I probably could have wiped the bowl out before taking the picture.  But most likely there were children vying for my attention at this very moment. Or some sort of something like that.
I bought dried garbanzo beans in bulk for 99c a pound, probably about 3 pounds.  I soaked and then cooked them in my crock pot overnight and kept the liquid in them to add to the hummus. When the beans were cooled the next day, I processed them in batches, adding to each batch minced garlic, sea salt, coarse-ground pepper, cumin, lemon juice, and onion powder.  I made up this recipe, so everything is to-taste.  I know tahini is a usual ingredient, but I forgot all about that until it was too late, so I just didn't use it.

The hummus turned out really tasty. And all this for a little over $3.00! I try to keep food bins filled with some kind of cut-up veggies in the fridge for quick snacking.  The yellow container here went in our fridge to replace my Costco brand hummus.  And the six containers with blue lids are now in my freezer for later!  As someone said when they saw these stacks, "Wow! We have a summer-ful of hummus!"