Peanut Butter 4 All

Over the last few weeks I tried a bunch of new recepies but the 2 that stand out the most are Peanut Butter Waffles and Peanut Butter Cupcakes.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

I made these for the moms group that I hosted last Friday - they were a hit with both moms, kids and dads. These are not crazy healthy but the nut butter, flax seeds and whole wheat flour put them a notch above your average cupcake.  I topped them with a Peanut Butter Icing and a banana chip.

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Ingredients:
 3/4 cup cow or soy milk
 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
 1/3 cup canola oil
 2/3 cup + 2 tbsp panela (or sugar)
 2 tsp ground flax
 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
 1 tsp baking powder
 1/2 tsp baking soda
 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F, line muffin pan with papers or spray pan
Mix milk with vinegar let sit for a few minutes
combine all ingredients very well
bake for 23 to 26 minutes
frost with Peanut Butter Frosting and top with a banana chip
for something a little different add some chocolate chips or banana to the batter.

Peanut Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:
 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp butter , at room temperature  

 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
 1 1/4  cup icing sugar
 1 to 2 tbsp milk

Directions:
With electric beater mix all ingredients except milk, add milk little by little until frosting is smooth and creamy.

I decided to ice the cupcakes in a basket weave - this is simpler then one might think.  All you need is a pipping bag and a flat icing tip of any kind.  I used one with little ridges.  Here is a visual step by step.

Stay tuned for part 2 - and the waffle recipe....

Looking Forward To

Eating food from my garden - yum

A little late but here is Friday...

Peanut Butter is it good or bad?

At our last visit with our homeopath she suggested to curb back the amount of peanut butter C Monster consumes because it is linked to cancer. Weather it is my homeopath or my doctor that says to do something we always question and try to do our own research.

Their is a fungus that grows on peanuts that has been linked to cancer. Not all peanuts have this fungus it seems to be that this fungus thrives in humid climate.

Some links with good information:
http://www.bodybuildingweb.net/blog/peanut-butter-causes-cancer/
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/QAA115491
http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2001/august/peanut.htm
http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/aflatoxin.php

All that being said C Monster loves peanut butter and is very picky so anything that is somewhat healthy that he is willing to eat he gets; so I decided I needed more information on the peanut butter we buy for him so I sent the company (MaraNatha) we get out Peanut butter from this letter:

"Hello,

As a concerned mother of a 2 year old that loves your peanut butter I wanted to receive a bit more information about the product.

Could you please inform me as to were the peanuts used to make your butter are grown?

Thank you"

Once I get an answer back from them I will update you on the peanut butter situation; as it stands for now C Monster will keep eating peanut butter, until I have a bit more information to make a fully informed choice as to what to do.

Blender

Our Kitchen Aid Blender died today; it's the second time in 4 years since we have had this blender that the exact same part dies...

Trying to figure out if we are going to fix it again or buy a new one?

Chips Chips Chips

I went on a chip kick today, I think it's because grandmama was visiting so I had free hands to do as I pleased; since she was entertaining the C Monster.

I made Kale Chips for the second time; other then the fact that I over salted them they were great. The first time we made well we threw them out... I used a recipe found via tastespotting for a guide - by Savour Fare I did not change much up:

Kale Chips

1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon oilve oil
1 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Wash and dry the kale; remove the central vein and slice the kale leaf in half length-wise.

In a large bowl, combine oil, vinegar and salt. Toss the kale the in the mixture until well coated then spread leafs on baking sheets, lined with parchment paper.

Bake until crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. Check at 10 minutes then almost every minute after mine where ready in 13 minutes, the first time we made these they burnt and were gross.

After finishing the Kale Chips I wanted to try some sweet potato chips. I used the cooking guidelines for the beet chips I made a few days back, but other then that I made it up as I was going along:

Sweet potato chips

2 large sweet potatoes cut in thin slices lengthwise using a mandolin
olive oil
kosher salt

Preheat oven to 250. Spread potatoes slices on cookie sheets lined with parchement paper. Bake for 60 to 80 minutes. Check them at 60 minutes then every 5 minutes after that until they are crisp - once again you do not want to burn them.

Place chips in a large bowl drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt - toss then serve.

A note to ones that are new making chips, all baked vegetable chips tend to go soft again after a day or so; if you do not finish them all the same day you made them - just toss in the oven at 250 for a few minutes before you eat them and they should crisp up again.

Looking Forward To

Going to the maple syrup farm tomorrow...

Lots of Creative Cooking and a bit of Gardening

Paper Maché Part I

This morning C Monster and I had some fun ripping up a bunch of paper ( the paper is one month worth of junk mail - I think it is sad that it only took one month to accumulate this much unwanted mail). Sometime in the next few days we will use these strips of paper to make some paper maché car garages and tunnels for C Monster to play with.

Cassava Peanut Butter Cookies

So we have had a box of Cassava Crackers for over a year now and wont eat them because well we don't like them. I decided to get creative and try to make something out of them - I remembered making crumb cookies almost a year ago when we had enough bread crumbs to leave a trail from here to Florida. ( I am in Canada) I figured I could alter it some and make cookies with the Cassava Crackers - and guess what it worked. These are not my favorite PB cookies (well my favorite recipie for PB cookies comes from a pastry chef so what do you expect) but I would give them a strong 3.5 out of 5 stars and C Monster seems to love them.

The recipe used for inspiration was Bread Crumb Cookie by Thrifty Fun. Below is the new ingredient list the basic direction to make the cookies stayed the same.

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  
• 1/4 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/3 cup raw cocoa nibs
  
• 1 1/4 cups panela (or brown sugar)
  
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2/3 cup canola oil
  
• 2 cups cassava cracker crumbs (place crackers in food processor)
• 2/3 cups peanut butter
• 1/3 cup quick cook oats

Beets; Beets; Beets

In our food box this week we had some beets; while reading TasteSpotting I stumbled on a beet chip recipe that I wanted to try. C Monster refuses to eat beets - I though maybe if they were a little more fun he might try them. I was right he gobble a handful up before bedtime.

The recipe calls for simple syrup and I also had a jar of this left over from making candied grapefruit peels - so it was perfect.

After I was done all the beets I collected the remaining simple syrup now turned red from the beets and made some lemonade with it. (Some very pink lemonade).

1 1/2 cup simple syrup - or to taste
1 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

Mix all ingredients in a large pitcher; serve chilled.



Garden Prep

This week has been so nice with everyday above 15. Today was no exception so C Monster and I went out back in the afternoon for a few hours he played and I did some work. Then he helped me with some work on prepping the yard for a vegetable garden. This year we are expanding with an additional row along our neighbors fence here we will plant soy beans and lettuce.

I am so excited my soy bean seeds arrived today. We ordered them from West Coast Seeds; soy bean seeds seem to be hard to find despite the fact that is started from seedling they will grow wonderfully in Canada (at least that is what I am told) - On the agenda for tomorrow with C Monster is planting the seeds in seedling pots. It's the first time I ordered anything from West Coast Seeds; I am sure they are fine but will let you know in a few weeks when they sprout.

Looking Forward To

To Saturday morning and working on my LLLC Leader application.