Buried!

Help! I'm buried under report cards. I want to be having brunch on a sunny window seat with two of my favourite people, or sipping coffee and reading at the cafe down the street, or riding my bike through the fall colours of High Park, or taking a walk in the market and buying 5 different kinds of apples and a pumpkin ... but I'm not.




I'm stuck at home working on this beautiful weekend. Even as I type this I'm feeling guilty for not typing progress report comments instead. So enough! Go make this PBJ quick bread. It's sweet and peanut buttery and comforting and it will make your house smell like a bakery. The recipe is from Celine at have cake, will travel.

I have cake. I wish I were travelling ...

PBJ Quickbread
adapted from have cake will travel

3/4 cup of soy milk
6 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
1/4 cup of strawberry jam
juice of half a small lemon
a splash of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 cup of oats
1/3 cup of whole wheat or spelt flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the soy milk, peanbut butter, jam, lemon juice, vanilla and brown sugar. Whisk it really good until everything is nicely combined and smooth.

2. Sift in the flour and baking powder and soda. Add the oats and give it a good mix.

3. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the top is nice and golden brown and your house smells likes heaven.

4. Wouldn't this be great sliced and topped with bananas? Or Nutella?

It's Time for a TREAT!

Treats are wonderful. Yup, you know it! Treats keep us motivated and energized. If we didn't treat ourselves once in awhile, we'd be gloomy and glum all the time and life would be boring and tiresome. Hurray for treats!

I believe little treats are good for the soul; that splash of cream in my coffee, the teaspoon of peanut butter on my oatmeal, the sprinkle of cheese on my pasta -- they keep my life exciting and give me things to look forward to. But treats are especially important when you're stuck in front of the computer doing work all weekend instead of relaxing and enjoying the day. Yup, that's me. I'm up to my eyeballs in report cards, and the only way I'll make it through is with a few little treats to brighten my day. And these chocolate peanut butter pretzels are the perfect snack to make my report card blues fade, if only for a few short moments.


They are the perfect treat the whip up when you're busy -- taking less than 10 minutes to prepare. They're crunchy, salty chocolatey, creamy and sweet -- all the right things you need to cheer you up when the work week stress has made its way into your weekend.

It's time for a treat!!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzels

2 cups of pretzels
3 tablespoons of maple syrup
3 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon of cocoa powder

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spread the pretzels out on a cookie sheet until you have one single layer.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the peanut butter, maple syrup and cocoa powder, stirring constantly until well combined.

3. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the pretzels and toss gently so that everything gets touched with ooey gooey peanut buttery goodness. You could dip them individually if you had the time and patience.

4. Bake the pretzels in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until they get fragrant. Cool for 5 minutes and start snacking!

Peanut Butter + Fruit Part 3: The Finale

Yes, I have waited too long to show you the Peanut Butter + Fruit Finale. Way too long. But all that peanut buttery goodness had to be broken up a little, you know? Although I don't believe that there's anything such as too much peanut butter. This combination isn't classic by any means, but the end result is fabulous, wholesome and unique. Introducing: cranberry peanut butter bars. Since discovering a new love of playing with fresh cranberries and reading this post about raspberry yogurt bars, I knew I needed to try bar-making for myself.


The combination of cranberry and peanut butter don't seem like an obvious match, but they really are. The peanut butter is added to the crust of the bar and, when mixed with honey, provides a lovely, smooth background for the tart, mouth-puckering cranberries. It definitely wakes up your taste buds in the late afternoon when you're about to crash, or on a rainy Sunday when all you can muster is curling up on the couch with endless cups of herbal tea and a favourite CD set to loop. I could have definitely used the company of these bars this week to chase away the blues that came on after a late night at work and no one hug away the stress of the day (my lovely love was away this week visiting family). Baked goods give nice hugs too, especially when they're wholesome and healthy, which is exactly what these bars are.

End your weekend on a high note and bake these little bars. You'll be glad you did on Wednesday when you want it to be Friday. Happy work week!

Peanut Butter Cranberry Bars
inspired by apples and almonds

3 tablespoons of honey
1/4 cup of natural peanut butter
1/4 cup of skim milk yogurt
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of fresh cranberries

1. Whisk together the honey, peanut butter and yogurt until smooth. Sift in the flour, salt, baking soda and stir. Add the oatmeal and mix well until a soft dough forms.

2. Spread half the dough out onto a square or round baking pan. Sprinkle over the cranberries. Crumble the rest of the dough over the cranberries.

3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until the dough on top has spread out nicely, turned golden brown and the cranberries have burst and begun to bubble. Cool and slice into wedges or bars.

Coffee Update!
We've slowed down due to incredibly busy schedules and chilly weather, but we'll make it!


F'Coffee: americano, 2 cappucinos and breakfast bagel and a f'cookie
Moonbeam Coffee Co: double americano, cappuccino and French caramel flavoured drip coffee + beans to go!
Merchants of Green Coffee: soy latte and 2 very strong cappucinos with a chocolately-caramely-nutty bar, enjoyed on a rainy Sunday afternoon
I Deal Coffee on Kensington: 2 cappuccinos and a latte on one of the our very first frosty, wind chill nights

Peanut Butter + Fruit Part 2

Peanut Butter and Banana. Need I say more? Classic combination, nostalgic, comfort food. That's peanut butter and banana.. in a sandwich, that is. When they're combined to make .. say .. a quick bread .. or some little mini muffins, this magical combination becomes even more magical. I love banana bread, but I love this peanut butter banana bread even more. It's not like a traditional banana bread, in being really dense, moist and hearty. It's actually quite light and more sponge-cake-like. So maybe it's not banana bread? Who cares? It's awesome!

I've made this bread many times since discovering and altering a recipe online (sorry! I can't remember/find the original!) before my blogging days. The first time I made this recipe, it was for my love to take on his 24 hour train ride to his hometown. He loved it and so did his niece. Since then, I've made it in the form of little cupcakes/muffins to give as gifts and of course, just to snack on it's own because peanut butter and bananas together rock.



Conclusion: Peanut Butter + Banana = Amazing.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread
adapted from somewhere online!

1/2 cup of natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon of canola oil
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 egg
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of milk
1/4 cup of yogurt

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine peanut butter, oil, sugar, egg and mashed bananas. Whisk until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together the baking powder, baking soda and flour.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture alternating with milk and yogurt, folding the batter gently, until everything is combined.

4. Pour the batter into a loaf pan, or in muffin tins (makes 24 minis!) and bake at 350 degrees or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean (about 25 minutes for the loaf, and 15 for the muffins). Enjoy with a cup of coffee.

Coffee Update coming soon!

Peanut Butter + Fruit Part 1

Did we ever discuss my love for peanut butter? It's not just a love. It more like a dependency. Kind of like with coffee. Yup, I have peanut butter days. Yup, it's that bad. Weekends are usually when I get to eat peanut butter, and while I love it stirred into bowls of oatmeal, baked into a cookie, worked into granola or in a classic or super special PBJ, my favourite way to eat peanut butter has always been and always will be, on a spoon. That being said, I'm forever looking for ways to add peanut butter to different things. I've been known to substitute peanut butter for butter, mostly because I like the taste, partly because it's a healthier alternative.

That's exactly what happened here: a peanut butter apple crumble/crisp. Don't get me wrong; I love the classic no-fail apple crumble, and it will probably remain my partner's favourite, but let me tell you, this peanut butter version is going to steal your heart. In the past year, I've realized that natural peanut butter is so much better than the commercial version, so that's what I used in this recipe. It makes the apples get sticky and gooey and creamy -- a perfect match to the toasty crumble/crisp topping that gets sprinkled over top. And since realizing that honey and peanut butter so hand-in-hand, there's a generous spoon of it added to the filling and the topping. Peanut butter + fruit = happiness. Can you guess what the next combination will be?? And can anyone tell me what's the difference between a crumble and a crisp?


Peanut Butter Apple Crumble/Crisp

Filling

2-3 apples, peeled cored and diced (I used Empires)
a pinch of cinnamon
a splash of water
2 teaspoons of honey
1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter

Topping

1/2 cup of oats
1/3 cup of whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of honey
3 tablespoons of natural peanut butter

1. Put all the ingredients for the filling in a small saucepan. Heat on medium, stirring for the first few minutes, until the peanut butter melds with the rest of the ingredients. Turn it down to low and cook until the apples get tender -- about 7-10 minutes.

2. In the meantime, make the crumble by first mixing together the oats, flour and brown sugar until well combined. All the honey and peanut butter and work it into the dry mixture slowly, until a crumble forms.

3. Pour the apple mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle over the crumble topping. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until the top gets nice and golden brown. Get ready for a bit of peanut butter heaven .. and you don't even have to feel guilty!

A Sudden Craving

Ever had a SUDDEN craving???? Yeah, yeah, don't deny it! I know you have! Sushi? Salad? Tofu? No, I'm not talking about that. Let's not kid ourselves. I'm talking about a REAL CRAVING. Chocolate? Peanut butter? Now we're talking. What are your biggest cravings? Those urges that hit you at random moments. Like when you're out at 9pm walking home from the movie store and it's humid and drizzly and suddenly your partner says .. "I crave Reese's.. No, not really. I crave the combination of chocolate and peanut butter."

Did we take the shortcut and buy the package of Reese's? Nope. Instead of reaching for a ready-made treat, we bought a dark chocolate bar and made cookies, peanut butter chocolate chunk ones. They were chewy and peanut-buttery oh-so-chocolately. Not too sweet like the candy-bar would have been, but just sweet enough to satisfy that late night craving. Because I used a chopped up chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips or chunks of baking chocolate (which would have been alright too), the chocolate bits did this melty, oozy thing that put this cookie over the top. It was the perfect treat to accompany The Good Fellas. Robert DeNiro would have approved.


I'm not going to ramble on in this post. Summer is ending and I have lots of fun things to try to cram into this last week of freedom. But I urge you to give in to your cravings once in a while. A healthy dose of sugar, or chocolate, or whatever it might be that hits you suddenly and out of the blue, might not be such a bad idea. Sushi, salad and tofu -- save those for a regular day. Make these cookies for one of your REAL cravings.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
adapted from the Robin Hood Flour cooking pamphlet with help from Seven Spoons (who urged me to add the honey) and Anna Olson (who's secret to chewy cookies -- corn starch -- won my heart)

1/4 cup of butter or margarine (I used Earth Balance)
1/2 cup of natural peanut butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
2 teaspoons of corn starch
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 dark chocolate bar, chopped

1. Cream the butter/margarine, peanut butter and brown sugar until smooth and well-combined. Add the egg and honey and mix well.

2. Sift in the baking soda, corn starch, and flour and give it a good mix. Add the chopped chocolate and give it one final stir.

3. Drop teaspoons of dough onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies get a little golden brown.

4. Don't forget to eat some while they're hot -- the ooey, gooey, melty chocolate shouldn't be missed. But, they store well and stay chewy if you keep them in a sealed container.

Help! Health Contradictions

Ok, so I did something that I didn't think I would do anytime soon: I signed up at the gym across the street from me. It's not just any old gym. It's like a weight-lifting, mind-changing, philosophy-pumping gym filled with large, muscly, oily looking men and women in tight spandex work-out shorts who don't smile back when I smile at them. Why? Well, the thai-boxing didn't work out (waaaaaaay too expensive!), and my partner and I wanted something exercise-y to do together that was convenient, interesting and a challenge. After muathai proved too hard on my summer budget, we signed up at the gym across the street.

Now, the signing up came with a 3 hour lecture on how to eat better and exercise better and a 1 hour training session on how to do 4 different lifts properly. We brought coffee, but I still left yawning. All I wanted was something to supplement my cardio workouts, something that would allow me to get stronger and more capable at doing certain physical tasks. The messages I got, were not only confusing, but hard to follow. Yeah, I'll spare you the gorey details, but apparently, cardio is a waste of time because it lowers your resting heart rate and you end up burning less calories when you're sleeping or resting -- but by lowering your resting heart rate aren't you making things less difficult on your heart?? It gets better. Apparently we're supposed to cut dairy out of our diets because it's so unnatural and no other mammal drinks another mammal's milk (so ... no other mammal wears clothes ... or uses technology ... or friggin pumps weights!), AND we're supposed to stop eating grains too because their not part of our "original diets" (yet at the end of it, he said that we should take advantage of the global market and eat a variety of meats and fruits and vegetables ... yeah, I don't think the global market was around when the first humans hunted and gathered!). Oh yeah, and basically all vegetarians have it wrong because you'll end up chubby and will never be able to build muscle because there's no protein in a vegetarian diet (Hello!! Brown rice + beans = complete protein!).


So ... does that mean that this (and I quote) "best oatmeal I've ever eaten," inspired by this gal and this lady shouldn't ever be made again? Oh come on! Peanut butter, bananas, strawberries? Until last summer when I read the mentioned posts, I never even thought to bake oatmeal. Now I do it all the time and experiment with different fruit/flavour combinations (apples, raisins, cinnamon and rhubarb, cherries and almonds). And that big dollop of skim milk yogurt on top .. that's no-no too??

The Best Baked Oatmeal

1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter
1/2 cup of soy milk
3/4 cup of skim milk
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of honey
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 banana, chopped
1 handful of strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 cup of quick cooking (5 minute) oats

1. Put the peanut butter in a large bowl. Whisk in the soy milk a little at a time so that the peanut butter gets incorporated (as opposed to just having big lumps in the liquid).

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well-combined. Pour into a cake pan or square baking dish and bake in a 350 degree oven until all the liquid is absorbed and it gets little golden at the sides.

3. Prepare to taste oatmeal that you have never tasted it before! It's like having cake for breakfast! Even better topped with yogurt (oh no! the dreaded dairy! How am I ever going to build muscle!)

So, does this ALSO means that the honeyed cherry muffins I made yesterday morning are nixed from my repertoire as well?? I thought they were super healthy -- oatmeal, fresh fruit, honey, canola oil, psyllium husks (ok yeah that was random.. I tried to sneak that one in but it didn't work. My Dad brought over this huge jar of psyllium husks because it's supposedly super healthy. If you don't have it, just use wheat bran or wheat germ). The secret here is soaking the oats in the liquids for 5 minutes or so before adding the rest of the ingredients - makes a very tender, moist crumb for the muffins. But the grains are a no-no ... really?!

Honeyed-Cherry Multi-Grain Muffins

1/2 cup of quick cooking oats (5 minute kind)
1/4 cup of psyllium husks (or wheat bran or wheat germ)
1/2 cup of yogurt
1/2 cup of skim milk (or instead of milk and yogurt, use all buttermilk)
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/4 cup of honey
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of almond extract
1 egg
1 cup of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of cherries, pitted and chopped

1. In a large bowl stir together the milk, yogurt, oil and honey until well blended. Add in the oats and psyllium husks and stir. Let the mixture sit for at least 5 minutes (this would be a good time to pit and chop your cherries).

2. Add in a beaten egg, brown sugar, vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

3. Sift in the flour and baking soda and mix until just combined (don't over mix!). Stir in the cherries.

4. Spoon the batter into lined muffin tins (makes 12 big ones and 24 mini-muffins) and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

5. Enjoy your whole grains! Yeah, I'm never going to get a six-pack anyway!