I just kind of made up this dinner last night for my family and some of our friends and they all flipped!  Everyone loved it and had two or three helpings!  Even the kids!
I was soooo pleasantly surprised, so I’m sharing

First I made a Quinoa Salad.  My awesome cousin Mallory (one of my Aunt Nanette’s daughters) introduced me to the fabulous whole-grain product: Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).  This pseudocereal is a whole-grain product which can easily be substituted for rice in almost any recipe.  My Quinoa Salad:

Its pretty simple.  Wash quinoa.  Cook quinoa in rice cooker.  Add chopped veggies.  Refrigerate.  That’s it!
I added red pepper, red onion, and leeks and a bunch of cooked, shelled edamame – but you can add just about anything, nuts, seeds, craisins, or other raw veggies

My Easy Green Beans:

I also cooked up some green beans separately.  I used organic, frozen green beans – and our favorite way to cook them is super easy : throw the frozen green beans in a large, deep skillet over medium heat, add a tablespoon of peanut oil and season with garlic salt and pepper!  Voila!  Easy veggie side in just a few minutes.

Nanette’s Spicy PB Chicken:

1/4 c Hot & Spicy Krema PB
1/3 c + 1 Tbs. light soy sauce
2 Tbs. sugar
1/3 c peanut oil
chunk chicken (any will do; cut up breasts, rotisserie, canned chicken)

Mix all ingredients together in order.  It helps to warm up the PB mixture to ease in the stirring process
If you don’t have a jar of this incredibly delicious Hot & Spicy PB already, then go here to order some!  You won’t be sorry!
(or you could just use creamy Krema PB and add some cayenne pepper and hot Hungarian paprika to get that special ‘kick’)

The Spicy PB Chicken and Quinoa Salads can be made in advance and refrigerated.  Just whip up the green beans (or not) and combine them all!
Can be eaten cold or hot!
This really is such a versatile, easy, delicious dinner!!

♥ Kimberly

Remember our Nutty Friend Candace over at The Cook Next Door??  A few weeks ago she posted this fun recipe on her cooking blog, and she had a Krema PB giveaway!  Sorry I didn’t let ya’ll know sooner…but don’t worry, we’ll be having our own giveaway any day now!!!

Check out the recipe for these yummy treats here.

♥ Kimberly

Sound interesting??  Check out this recipe on Making Good Choices – a blog about choosing the best foods!  Nicole is definitely one of new favorite Nutty Friends!  Wanna know what her secret power ingredient is in these Power Muffins??  HEMP!  Really, check it out.  They have chocolate….

♥ Kimberly

If you look up the definition of PB on Wikipedia.org, you’ll find this…

Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America and the Netherlands. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, especially in the iconic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The United States and China are leading exporters of peanut butter.  Peanuts are native to the tropics of the Americas, and were mashed to become a pasty substance by the Aztec Native Americans hundreds of years ago.

Ummm…ew?  Does any one else see a problem here?  Peanuts are NATIVE to our region but somehow CHINA is one of the leading exporters of PB??  Does that mean that China buys peanuts from us, makes PB, and then sells that PB back to us?  Isn’t that a little backwards?  I mean, do YOU buy PB made in China?

If you just answered yes, then I will temporarily forgive you.  But only if you promise to change.  Don’t worry, because I have a solution to this backwards problem – buy Krema or Crazy Richard’s PB! Our high-quality Peanuts are grown in Georgia and ground into all-natural PB here in AMERICA!  Yay!  Let’s continue…

Although some peanut butter marketed as “natural” contains only peanuts and salt, most consumer-brand peanut butter today, even if labeled “natural”, contains other ingredients. These include hydrogenated vegetable oil to stabilize it and prevent oil separation, salt to prevent spoilage, and dextrose or other sweeteners to enhance flavor. Sometimes palm oil is used instead of hydrogenated oils to prevent oil separation.

My favorite line: “even if labeled ‘natural’ (most PB) contains other ingredients!“  I think its widely accepted that ‘most consumer-brand’ PBs contain loads of additives and junk in addition to peanuts, but Wikipedia is claiming that even ‘most natural’ PBs contain additional junk too!!  HA!!!  Once again, my solution to this yucky problem remains the same – buy Krema or Crazy Richard’s PB! Our all-natural PB is a single ingredient product.  That’s right – we only use ONE ingredient!  Peanuts of course!  Who needs anything else?  Peanuts are Perfect without the added junk, oils or preservatives.  We want you to enjoy the natural flavor of peanuts in our PB, we don’t try to mask the flavor with salt or sugar.

If you look up my definition of PB on blog.kremaproducts.com, you’ll find this…

Peanut Butter is…well…Krema.  Just try it.  You’ll know what I mean.  (or Crazy Richard’s )

♥ Kimberly

One of my favorite summer memories as a kid was sitting around a bonfire with my family,  eating ooey gooey s’mores by the dozen!  I still love s’mores today but I have discovered a new exciting way to enjoy them year round in my “Want S’more PB Sammy?”  Heres what you do,

INGREDIENTS:
buttered bread
all-natural Krema PB
chocolate chips
mini marshmallows
(optional banana)

If you’re using a frying pan, spread Krema PB (creamy or crunchy) on both insides of your bread slices then put chocolate chips on one side and mini marshmallows on the other.  Close the sammy and lay buttered side down in the frying pan, toasting both sides equally.   Its best to cover pan with a lid and cook on a low heat so the chocolate and marshmallows have time to melt before the bread gets too crispy.  Sliced, ripe bananas are always welcome in my “Want S’more PB Sammys” just because my kids are bananas about bananas!

For some summer backyard fun, try making this sammy over an open flame in a pie maker – like a Tonka Toaster or a campfire iron.  Its like your on a campfire without leaving home!

Easy Tip :  chocolate chips and mini marshmallows (or Marshmallow Fluff) are my trick to getting the ooey gooey factor in this sammy.  Large chunks of chocolate and large marshmallows take longer to melt.

Happy Summer!!

♥ Kimberly