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

Check out the recipe for these yummy treats here.

♥ Kimberly

♥ Kimberly

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

If you liked Julie’s PB Stuffed French Toast than you’ll love this!  It is a doctored up version of the PB Stuffed French Toast with a twist!  From Gail Simmons at KitchenDaily.com, she calls her recipe, “PB & J” French Toast w/ Applewood Bacon.  Gail always knows how to take everyday recipes to the next level, by adding tons of flavor and flare – without loosing their simplicity!

Hi Kimmie- Hope I got this right, but this granola is to die for.  I broke my diet for it!!

Here are some pictures of my before and after of the granola and the recipe.

Addictive PB Granola

(found on the blog lifeloveandfood24.blogspot.com)

2 1/2 c oats

1/2 c flour (I used whole wheat)

1/2 t Baking Soda

1 tsp Vanilla

1/3 c oil

1/3 c Krema Crunchy PB

1/4 c Brown Sugar

Add in’s – PB chips, chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, whatever!!

Mix the oats, flour, baking soda in a large bowl.  Stir in vanilla, then add oil stir well.

Then add the PB, brown sugar and the add in’s.

Spoon into a square pan, Bake for 18-20 min at 350 or until light brown.

Cool 10 min before devouring!!

Enjoy!

Good find Auntie Nanette!

This granola looked so yummy that I made it for breakfast the morning after I got Nanette’s email!  My family ate the ENTIRE pan!  It was so delicious and satisfying, and I felt full almost all day   Until the next morning when I woke up and was CRAVING this granola, so then I made myself a double batch and I CAN NOT STOP eating it!! Morning, Noon, and Night!

The add-in’s I’ve tried so far have been a handful of white chocolate and a handful of dark chocolate pieces, coconut and unsalted peanuts.  And of course a little flax to make it a bit nuttier!   I also DOUBLED the amount of Krema PB this recipe calls for and I tried it with both the creamy and crunchy PB.  Both rocked. 

Here are my cutie pies eating up their Addictive PB Granola breakfast!  Oh, but honestly, this photo is a little skewed because they RARELY have their hair fixed and are dressed for the day at breakfast.  This was just a fluke   But fantabulous granola none-the-less!!

PB Stuffed French Toast!

Here’s what Julie did..

I began by creating a sweet peanut butter filling by combining two tablespoons of Crazy Richard’s natural creamy peanut butter with 10 grams of powdered sugar.

I spread the peanut butter sugar combination on two slices of honey wheat bread and dipped the sandwich in a mixture of ‘Almond Breeze’ almond milk and egg.

Once the French toast was cooked, I sprinkled it with cinnamon and powdered sugar before topping it with syrup.

The creamy peanut butter mixture held its own against the cinnamon and egg flavors.

Great idea Julie!!  I actually love making PB Stuffed French Toast myself!  Well, in reality it is my husband who really makes this for me…like on Mother’s Day   He is just a better cook than I am!  hehe.  Check out Julie’s fun website (PBFingers) for other great PB recipes!!

(Candace from The Cook Next Door with her family)

Oh yes, and here is a super cool, totally nutty fact: the creator and author of the absolutely adorable blog The Cook Next Door, is the daughter of my mother’s old college roommate!  How fun is that?  Did that make sense?  Let me clarify.  Not too many years ago, my mother was roommates with Jill.  Than Jill had a daughter named Candace (The Cook Next Door) and my mom had me (We’re Totally Nuts!)

(recent photo of Jill on left, my mom Melissa center, Julie on right – all old college roomies)

AND to make the story even that much more fun, Jill has another daughter named Chelsea who I WAS ROOMMATES WITH IN COLLEGE!!! And Chelsea has a phenomenal style blog based out of Washington called Make You Over (which I highly recommend).   Oh and that other adorable old roommate of my mom and Jill’s on the right in this picture named Julie?  Yeah, she also has a daughter.  Her name is Ani.  And – can you even guess – Ani was ALSO my roommate in college!  Incredible?  I think so.

There you have it.  We are all connected….in a crazy and nutty kind of way!!

(my old roomie Chelsea – Jill’s [my mom's old roomie] daughter)

♥ Kimberly