Hummus

2 cans chick peas
4 large cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
juice from one large lemon
3/4 cup tahini
dash of cayanne
lots of black pepper
1/4 cup minced scallions (optional)

Add all ingredients together and either mash with a fork or use a blender. I use my hand-held Braun "wand", it has a blade at the end which you can use in a glass or a bowl. You can put this in a sandwhich, dip bread or veggies in it, and it carries and keeps well, so it is good to take to parties, especially if you are trying to eat right and your family and friends eat junk food!


Tom is finally at school again. He was out for a whole week with a horrible cough. He is still coughing, but he really needs to get back. He just sat around for a week, I tried to play some games and such with him but I didn't want to make it too fun, and we couldn't go outside or anything. I, of course, started a little cough this morning, so I am really worried I will get it. Unfortunately, I will be the old lady who gets pnuemonia all the time-I get a cough and it always goes deep in my lungs and lasts a full month. Yuck.

I was given a hiking book for the Finger Lakes area this weekend. I really would like to start hiking this spring in earnest, so I need to be in shape. There are lots of short, relatively easy hikes in the book, 4 of them within a 20 minute drive. I can take a dog and go while the boys are in school. Last year I sprained my ankle so bad in April that it took until August before I could really walk any distance. We hiked one Adirondack high peak in October. So all I have of the high peaks are Cascade and Porter. (I am trying to climb all 46) Hopefully this year I will get some more. I think Dave will get his long before I will finish mine, he already has over 20 of them. However, I could try to finish the Fingerlakes trail, which is easier on me since it is flatter, and is closer so I can do a lot while the kids are at school.

Tom wants to also do the Fingerlakes trail, which is more doable than the peaks for him. If I can scout out a few trails for him we can start getting him in shape. I really would like him to be excited by more active things.

My friend lent me her backpack, never used ;-) I thought I would start walking with the pack to get used to carrying a load. I can start at home with a bit of weight in it, and also use it on my day hikes. We have free weights I can use, or maybe a bag of cat litter or something (unused).

Yesterday I took Harriet out for a while. She walked around with me, and followed me across the yard, then we scratched for worms for a while. She is much better at it than me, but of course if I were digging for chocolate maybe I would be better;-) . Maybe I should train her to be a hiking chicken! She is pretty lonely, so I am trying to spend time with her until I decide what to do-if I should leave her inside with us until spring and get chicks or what.

Tom just came home from school, he couldn't stop coughing. We have a doc appt at 1:45, the nurse thought he may have a touch of bronchitis. I do not usually take the kids to the doc for colds and flu's, there is nothing he can do anyway, but Tom is getting worse not better. So, we will see. Well, nothing else going on, at least not in my little world.