Okay, as often happens around the holidays, life has gotten crazy and I haven’t been able to keep up with the daily postings, but always have at least one thing that I’m thankful each day in my head (it's often food since I love to eat, but not always!). Today, I’ve got a triple whammy -- I am super thankful for chickpeas, yogurt, and soybeans!

Ever since I discovered hummus in college (what a deprived childhood!), I’ve been hooked! Now that I have a mini food processor, I can make it myself and control how much olive oil, tahini, salt, and garlic go into it! (Lots of garlic please!) That was the only way I ate chickpeas for years, but it recently hit me that there are so many more uses! I always have a few cans of chickpeas in my pantry now. I like to use them in my salads or in my slow cooker chili recipe. Yay for chickpeas!

Many of you know that I have yogurt (usually 0% Fage Greek yogurt) nearly every day for breakfast from the recipe I shared a few months ago (if you missed it, you can read it here). I also started using it as a cream cheese replacement by spreading a thin layer on whole grain toast with fruit preserves from the farmers market. It’s so good – like a bagel with cream cheese and jam! I’ve also made a yummy fruit and veggie dip by mixing yogurt with an apricot fruited horseradish concoction called Nip ‘N Tang. I’ve been serving it at parties and folks just eat it all up! I sure love yogurt!

And lastly, now that we are trying to stick with our Meatless Monday schedule, soybeans really help trick E into thinking he’s getting something “meaty.” We’ve always had a tofu-rich diet, but I’ve added soy burgers and soy crumbles to the mix. Soy crumbles can be found in the frozen section of the grocery store and is convenient to have on hand because you just toss some into pasta sauce, omelets, or in chili without even thawing. Thank goodness for soybeans!