while i do enjoy cooking up a balanced meal (steamed veggies, coconut cauliflower rice, and shrimp is my dinner of choice these days), i live for a good snack plate. especially on sunday night. and especially on oscar night!

in honor of my self-proclaimed “super bowl,” S and i had ourselves a little oscar party. and what’s a party without good snacks?! (not a party i want to attend, duh).

on the menu? homemade hummus (recipe below), crudites (i prefer baby carrots and sugar snap peas),  guacamole, and jilz crackers!

i first discovered jilz crackers on kelly leveque’s instagram (of course i did). after doing some research i was able to locate a box of the cracked pepper and sea salt variety at one of my local health food stores. before even tasting them, what i liked about jilz was that in addition to being gluten and dairy free, paleo and vegan, they were also free of rice, corn, soy, sugar, grain and other fillers. so basically they’re made of dreams and air. just kidding, the crackers are made from a base of almond, tapioca, and sunflower seed flours, flax and chia seeds and you know what? they are DELICIOUS. crunchy with full flavor and perfect for dipping into things like guacamole and hummus.

speaking of hummus, here’s my easy peasy recipe for homemade hummus:

1 can of chickpeas, drained

1 glove of garlic (or 1-2 tsp. of garlic powder if you don’t have fresh garlic on hand)

~2 tablespoons of olive oil

combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend on low until fully incorporated. serve in a bowl for dipping!

jilz crackers come in three flavors, cracked pepper and sea salt, mediterranean, and tuscan. they’d be perfect on a cheese plate, or as an accompaniment to a bowl of your favorite chili or soup.

to really get into the oscar spirit, S and i printed out our own ballots to vote on who we thought would take home the coveted statue. considering the fact that we have seen ZERO of the nominated films, they were all educated guesses but it was fun to feel a bit more invested nonetheless. had you seen any of the films this year? who did you think was best dressed?! i thought laura dern, jennifer garner, and margot robbie looked incredible!

this post was in partnership with jilz crackers. all opinions are my own.