Peanut Butter Carob Pops

Attention. Carob is not a suitable replacement for chocolate*.

*Addendum. Carob can be good. REALLY good in the case of these popsicles.

Ingredients

• 2 C Milk
• 1/4 Cup Carob Powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 3-4 T Peanut Butter
• 3-4 T Honey

Directions

1. Blend. [I just used a food processor and it spilled everywhere so use a blender instead]
2. Pour into popcicle makers [I just used ice cube trays but they’re just not as fun]
3. Freeze and eat.

No Rise Bread! (sort of)

I have a patience problem with letting bread rise. So this recipe is kind of brilliant… i dont remember which friend it came from (Kath? Rachel?) but its perfect and heres why:

You make the dough

You put it in the pans

You let it sit in the oven for a bit on low heat.

Then you turn the heat up.

(Feels like it just takes longer to cook – I heart mind games.)

Ingredients:

• 5 Cups White flour (could be a mix of white/wheat)
• Pinch of salt
• 2 1/4 C Warm Water
• 1 1/2 T Yeast (which is 2 packets)
• 3T Olive Oil
• 3T Honey (brown sugar works well too)

Directions:

1. Combine Dry ingredients and set aside
2. Combine water, honey, oil.
3. Add yeast and let sit for 5 minutes.
4. Combine wet and dry.
5. Knead and put into 2 greased pans.
6. Bake at 170 for 40 min (this is the tricksy rising part)
7. Bake at 350 for 20 min
8. Slice and cover in homemade butter…mmmmmm

.

tags: Quick Bread, No Knead Bread, Breakfast, Dinner, Soup Bread, Appetizer, Cheese and Bread

Friendly’s Ice Cream Peanut Butter Sauce

If you know Friendly’s, then you know the peanut butter sauce I’m talking about. Its the only reason i would ever forego the local homemade ice cream we have around town. Being that the recipe is a guarded secret (no joke), this is as close as I’ve been able to come to it.

(Makes a couple servings, depending on how much you use.)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• a bit less than 1/2 cup milk ( you can use heavy whipping cream or half and half)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup natural, salted, creamy, peanut butter  [ie: no sugar added]

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan.
2. When melted, add vanilla and milk. Then add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
3. Let the mixture cool completely then add the peanut butter and stir well. It will look like a mess, but keep stirring and it will turn out smooth. It will thicken as it cools.

Crepes

The easiest breakfast food of all time. We had ours with Lemon curd, ricotta cheese and cinnamon plum jam…. yummmm.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 1 T sugar

directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk, water and vanilla stirring to combine. Add the salt, sugar and butter; beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter into the pan, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Good to know:

+Its really easy to make fruit spreads to put on the crepes. Heres a couple ideas:

.Cinnamon plum jam: peel and cut up the fruit, boil it with a bit of water, sugar & cinnamon until it becomes jam-like. You can do this with almost any fruit.

 

.Lemon curd from Trader Joes along with a layer of ricotta

 

.Ricotta, sugar and cinnamon

Chicken Orzo Salad with Feta

 

THE perfect summertime meal… 

[Original recipe:  Greek Orzo and Grilled Shrimp Salad]

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lbs orzo, cooked al dente [this is the perfect amount]
• 1 large cucumber, seeded, quartered lengthwise, and sliced
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus extra for garnish
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup olive oil, plus additional for cooking chicken
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 chicken breasts

Directions

1. Combine orzo, cucumber, green onions, and tomatoes in a large bowl.
2. Place dill, vinegar, and mustard in a blender and blend until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil and blend until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour almost all of the vinaigrette over the orzo mixture and stir well to combine. Save the last 1/4 for right before you serve the salad. [it always seems like too much dressing but its the perfect amount because the pasta sucks up a lot of it]
3. Gently fold in the feta cheese.
4. I use the flash frozen Trader Joe’s chicken so here’s what i do: Heat pan to high. Put breasts in pan, season with salt and pepper and add a bit of broth and cover for a bit. Let the breasts cook/thaw in  there for a couple minutes, then remove the lid, flip chicken and cook off the broth. Continue flipping chicken until done.
5. If using thawed chicken breasts, cook however you would like [Grilling would be yummy]
6. Add chicken to the orzo mixture, add last bit of dressing and serve chilled.

tags: June, Fourth of July, August, Picnic, Meals to beat the heat, Summer Grilling, Summer Veggies, Ways to use up Cucumbers, Pasta Salad, Fresh Dill, barbeque Food, Dinner, Lunch, Snack,

Peanut Butter Breakfast Cookies (no bake)

Quick protein and super yummy with a glass of milk in the morning…. (and they don’t stay around very long as seen below)

• 1/2 C. Peanut Butter
• 1/4  C. nonfat dry milk
• brown sugar to taste
• 3 C. Rice Crispies
• some unsweetened coconut flakes

1. mix all together
2. roll into balls and flatten into cookie shape
3. refrigerate.

good to know:

+you could get creative and add nuts or berries or wheatgerm too.