Friday, September 4, 2009

Freaky Food Friday Round Three

Remember last Friday when I almost forgot about me freaky food (and apparently about me Luck Charms--good grief, terrible typer!)? Well, there was no chance of that this week! Last Friday, I mentioned my burning desire to try some Crazy Camel Dessert Hummus. Yes, that says dessert and not desert. Over the course of the week, I had the opportunity to correspond with the kind, and quite generous, Chuck--owner of Fed By Chuck and producer of Crazy Camel. Mr. Chuck was amazing enough to send me some samples off all six mouthwatering flavors, including: Chocolate Mousse, Peanut Butter, Caramel Apple, Pumpkin Pie, Maple Walnut and Toasted Almond! Yay Chuck!

I got the package yesterday and immediately busted it open...
I was too excited to even take a picture of the box in pristine condition, or of the contents before I rifled through. Duh.

Of course i wanted to try all the flavors
athteverysametime because I was absolutely dying to see what in the world dessert hummus could taste like. I tried to be good and limit myself to just three out of the six flavors to begin with: Chocolate, PB and Caramel Apple. I have to admit, it IS shocking to bite into some of this at first! It definitely is hummus, and you can taste the chickpeas for sure. Fortunately, I heart chickpeas, so I kept eating and I'm very glad I did.
After the initial what the fu...-factor wears off, you can really taste the other flavors develop. I found I liked all the varieties much better on fruit, as opposed to bread or crackers. I think the natural sweetness of things like apples or bananas would be a better catalyst for the deeper flavors of the hummus to shine through. So I TRIED to keep the chickpea chow down to just the three flavors..... but I got a little out of hand, and was dreaming about Maple Walnut swirled onto some toaster waffles this morning.
Doesn't that sound (and look) divine? I thought so!
WE HAVE A WINNER!! Winner, winner, chicken dinner! The Maple Walnut is by far my favorite of those that I have tried so far. The flavor in this one is so warm and rich, and yes, you can still taste the chickpeas, but it totally works. I cannot even think of a more delicious or healthier substitute for syrup than this little gem. It would also make an awesome topping for pumpkin bread ( or even pumpkin oats!).

I am jonesing bad to try the final two flavors: Pumpkin Pie and Toasted Almond, but I must think of the perfect flavor combination first (I think the almond would be bomber than bomb on some strawberries--any other ideas?). Luckily, Chuck has kindly informed me that all Crazy Camel Dessert Hummus products freeze amazingly, so that's probably what I' be doing with some of my surplus. Or perhaps I can just literally become a crazy camel myself and start hoarding it in my hump (
my hump my hump my hump, check it out!), which is probably where it gets stored anyway.

Each serving has only 70 calories and similar stats to regular hummus. I love that this hummus is low in fat, and contains no gluten, dairy or SOY (yucky). Fed by Chuck is a very small company, just starting up out of New Hampshire, and I totally encourage you guys to check out Crazy Camel's site and see what you think. This would be a great conversation starter at your next get-together if you're a shindig throwin' type of gal, and sure to impress all of your adventurous foodie friends.
Another big thanks to Chuck for sharing his product and allowing me to help spread the word about this fabulously freaky food!

Also, don't forget to head over to way-cool online community, the Runner's Lounge, and check out my interview as part of their Open Mic series, courtesy of super cool Tom and very sweet Amy. Amy found the blog a while ago, and encouraged me to submit running story to their site. I entered, and my story, was chosen as the ExtraOrdinary Runner story for the month of August! Yippee! I can't even remember the last time I won anything (um, probably NEVER), so this was an awesome surprise!

Big round of applause to Chuck, Tom and Amy for making my week much more wonderful than it would have been without you. Thank you so much!
Hope everyone has a phenomenal Friday and a very un-laborious Labor Day! xoxo

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