Hello, 2012

Happy New Year!

I spent New Year's Eve with my favorite creatures--my husband and cats. Every year I plan a "party" for just us. I'm not into going out to a crowded bar to get jostled by strangers, nor do I want to clean up the house and do lots of work to host a big party. Instead, I make my favorite foods, we celebrate in our own style, and it's always a lot of fun.

Last night I only made a few things because I planned to eat cookies and drink and didn't want to combust with calorie overload. I used to make hummus so much that I got sick of it and stopped making it for months, so last night I made my favorite hummus from warm, just-cooked chickpeas (recipe here). Yum! I haven't had really good, homemade hummus like this in a while, so it was a great treat. I also made Roasted Cauliflower in Lemon-Tahini Sauce, which I also love. (Vegetarian Times recipe here).

Note that the cookie plate had the same amount of food as my appetizer plate...but I didn't eat the cookies all at once!

I also treated myself for breakfast this morning. I made Eggnog French Toast from the first Happy Herbivore Cookbook and a Happy Herbivore Peanut Butter Smoothie.

Because I heard somewhere that it's good luck to eat beans and rice on New Year's Day (is this a vegan thing?), I'm making Red Beans and Rice in the slow cooker while I visit my family. It should be ready by the time the Steelers game starts this afternoon.

Hope everyone enjoys the first day of 2012. Here's to a new year!