I came home a little late, no one was home, so that meant, no food! 
 
I do not buy pre-packaged meals, I just don’t. It means a little effort, but that is life … but only a little effort. 
 
I make my own food - I know everything that goes into it and it is always so much better and tastier.
Have tins of chickpeas in the cupboard you can make so many dishes with them – currys, patties, salads and yes, hummus.
 
Today hummus is very popular in the shops and that is a good thing. A very good protein and goes with so many things. But you can make it yourself in minutes, so why not?
 
I happen to have some mini naan around (pita bread works well also), I warmed them up, added a layer of hummus, slices of tomatoes and a drizzle of za’tar oil.  It was perfect … two will fill you up. I had three because I was very hungry and I am worth it!
 
Recipe … for hummus
 
INGREDIENTS … for hummus

•  One tin of organic chickpeas, drained ( approx. 2 cups )
• 2 or 3 tbsp of tahini
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves
• A heaped tsp of ground cumin
• 1 to 2 tbsp of lemon juice
• A pinch of salt
• A little cold water

 
Za’tar in olive oil (into a small jar of za’tar fill with olive oil and mix well… ready to garnish anytime)
One tomato, sliced Naan bread ( or pita )
 
 
METHOD

1. Make hummus – add all the ingredients into a food processor and blend as smooth as you can get it. You may need to add a little cold water to make it runnier.
2. Lightly moisten the naan or pita then warm in the toaster or under the grill
3. Spread and nice layer of hummus onto the bread, a few sliced tomatoes and a drizzle of the za’tar.

 
And that’s it … and so good. You will be surprised How good this tastes.
 
I put this up on the family’s social media link and one of my daughter’s messaged back, “ it is very Hungry Soul like”.  She was right. Hungry Soul’s cooking is about vegan cooking but it is also about simple easy cooking. With fewer simple ingredients the taste is cleaner, better… and who can argue against great taste? 😉
 
This is perfect as a snack, a light lunch … or anytime.
 
Note – you can buy hummus, but why not make it yourself, it is so much nicer and fresher, and one tin of chickpeas will make over two cups of hummus. Home cooked chickpeas are generally softer and make a smoother hummus.
 
Bon appétit !    Jacques
@HungrySoulVegan_  - Changing the Culture
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Not really a recipe today but one that needs to be shared for those who haven’t experienced this gem of a food.

Tallow
Tallow is a rich source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), an essential nutrient with anti-inflammatory properties. Grass-fed tallow is also rich in fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. 

Used in cooking and skincare this nourishing food deserves a comeback not least because it contains essential fats for our health ( including our hormonal balance!!) but it has many uses around the house. It’s a local food that we need to embrace again! Please do check it out!
 
Beef suet does not look appetising in its original state. But its really good value to make into tallow and use for cooking.

Chop it into small pieces and melt in an oven proof dish. Strain through a metal sieve and cool.
Oven chips cooked with tallow and served with sea salt… you will thank me..! 

Anne Maher

Atwater Factors. Recognising in hindsight that I enjoy numbers it is no surprise that I embraced the concept of calories. Not so much to eat this way but when teaching nutrition it became a formulaic way to translate the information of why the food pyramid was such a wonderful teaching tool. Carbohydrates had less calories than fats. Therefore you could eat far more. Fats were the reason we were overweight…etc etc. I am truly sorry for passing on this as knowledge.
 
Roll on many years and I am having none of it. Food pyramid education and calorie counting are so wrong on many levels. Lets face it. If it was right would we be in the metabolic mess we are in? It turns out that the numbers game is a lucrative one though. Get people to a point where they associate a number with success or failure and they can be guilt ridden enough to part with money to appease it. We have been taught to measure our health in numbers at the expense of common sense. You might feel ill, have no energy, be depressed, have digestive issues etc etc but feel delighted when the doctor tells you that your cholesterol level is low..
 
A meal with real food is substituted for a slimming shake full of ingredients that has a set low number of calories and you might feel virtuous in your weight journey. Before long we loose the plot. We stop seeing food for what it is and count the numbers instead.
 
I see this strategy again for climate change and CO2. Measure it and charge for it accordingly. Be careful about loosing sight of living life as we spend our time counting the unnecessary..

Anne Maher

Genius Foods
by Max Lugavere

I’m late to the party on this author but this month I am bringing you one of the Genius Living trilogy written by Max Lugavere. The theme though is familiar. Food affects our health both positively and negatively. In terms of our brain health we are sadly more than aware of the negative consequences of our brains not working optimally. In truth it is not easy to nourish a brain in a toxic environment within which we have little control. However,  I certainly believe that the more you become familiar with the knowledge and have access to the resources to help, you will have more than a fighting chance of a positive outcome.
 
I like books where dedicated passionate people do the research without being funded to bring a predetermined answer. This book has plenty of information to keep our brains exercised!
 
Now, in Genius Foods, Lugavere uncovers the stunning link between our dietary and lifestyle choices and our brain health, revealing how the foods you eat directly affect your ability to focus, learn, remember, create, analyze new ideas, and maintain a healthy, balanced mood. He presents ground-breaking science and distills the latest research, including:

• How food is like software for our endlessly capable minds;
• How select nutrients can actually boost working memory and processing speed;
• How slowing down the cognitive aging process is just as much about the foods you omit from your diet as the superfoods that you consume

Anne Maher

A recent article in Nature reported on a Sumatran orangutan healing himself with a known medicinal plant poultice. Fascinating as this story is, we are certainly reminded again that nature has had the answers long before our experts put on white coats and told us to trust them.
​
The ability to observe nature in real time is a privilege and this is where gardeners and farmers who are custodians of the land are so valuable to our society. To observe the seasons and how nature interacts with the production of food is rather remarkable. Such wisdom is priceless.

Just because the technocrats have made extreme wealth by creating imitation food products in the recent history, convinced us to consume them, hooked us on the addictive property of them and made us chronically ill in the process I am not giving up hope.

Real food can heal us and if we look hard enough we will remember the innate wisdom to find the answers. 

Anne Maher