Cilantro and Jalapeno Hummus

In the spirit of getting healthy we decided last week to do the soup diet.  Many of you probably have heard of the cabbage soup diet and may have mixed opinions.  I am not a huge fan of crash diets as I am not interested in losing a ton of weight and then just putting it right back on.  I know myself, I love food.  I will not be successful trying to starve myself.  I need a plan that involves me working out hard and eating what I love in moderation.  I have been really consistent with my working out and cooking but felt like we needed a jump start to shed a few of those winter lbs.  We did our own version of the soup diet, we had plans for Wednesday night so decided to stick to those dinner plans and just order smart. I like going to Happy Hour and don't want to make myself crazy with a bunch of "rules." To help with our success we also decided to create a solid meal plan for the following week (this week) in hopes we will keep the lbs off.  So far we have been successful both losing over 5 lbs.  If you are interested in the soup diet, just leave a message and I can get you some information. 

As far as the meal planning this week I was thinking veggies and hummus would be a great snack for during or after work.  I decided to create my own version of the best hummus I have ever had!  Trader Joe's sales a Cilantro and Jalapeno hummus that I think is amazing.  You can find it here!

Cilantro and Jalapeno Hummus

What you Need:
2 Garlic Cloves
1 15 oz. can of Garbanzo beans
2-3 Tablespoons of Lime Juice
A dash of salt
1/4 c. Olive Oil
1/2 cup of Cilantro Leaves

1 med. Jalapeno (stem and seeds removed)
     *this was really spicy and I like spicy... 
       if you like it more mild, use half



Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.  

*A few notes*

-I like my hummus very creamy so I ended up adding just a touch of water in lieu of adding more oil

-Using the whole jalapeno made it a little spicier than I planned so in order to offset that I added a bit more lime juice. 

-I added a touch of olive oil at the end just for serving presentation