BBB

Happy Saturday morning, all! How I wanted to sleep-in, Hadrian nudged me awake at 5 (at least he made it that long!) and despite having Andrew take him out, I couldn’t really fall back asleep. Knowing I have to fit a run in before I leave for my haircut a 9 (just a trim!) makes my brain start working…

Baklava Butter and Bran! I’ve been meaning to get these photos and recipes out since I made them LAST weekend, and since it’s now the beginning of a new weekend…well, I did my best.

I’d purchased the ingredients for Good to the Grain’s Molasses Bran Muffins awhile ago, but never got around to actually making them.

In terms of actual product, they turned out quite well. The texture was great and they were very moist. However, they are featured in the Amaranth flour chapter, and Amaranth has a bit of a, well, “dirt-like” taste to it. I mean, it’s not like you’re eating dirt or anything, but you definitely get a hint of the flavor of the flour, which is very earthy. Quinoa flour is a lot like Amaranth.

While I think of Good to the Grain (GG) as one of my very favorite cookbook (reserved for the likes of Barefoot Contessa, Foster’s Market and King Arthur Flour’s Whole Grain Baking), I have to offer this HUGE disclaimer: Unless you are prepared to buy a gazillion small bags of different, hard-to-find types of flour, do not buy this book. I’m definitely having a blast baking my way through it, (my goal is to make EVERYTHING) and a couple of the chapters are dedicated to widely available varieties, like whole wheat, buckwheat, spelt and rye. However, the rest of the chapters cover kamut, millet, quinoa, teff, etc… I ended up placing a huge Bob’s Red Mill order awhile back and all my small bags of flour take up the entire door of my freezer.

Anyway, I love the book but it’s definitely not for everyone. I’ve really enjoyed reading it and getting to taste the nuances of the different flours and some of the recipes are absolutely fantastic. This one, however, wasn’t all that great. It’s not that there was anything wrong with it; I just don’t know how often I’ll be making bran muffins with Amaranth flour.

Back to the goodies…

PRUNE BUTTER!

The Molasses Bran Muffins called for homemade prune butter, which couldn’t be simpler.

Recipe:

1 C orange juice

1.5 C prunes

Warm juice, pour over prunes to soften (about 15-20 minutes), then puree in a blender or small chopper.

The recipe made about 3x what the muffins needed, so I (happily) ended up with some leftover to put in a jar. I mixed a little with some goat cheese on a homemade bagel here. If you’re afraid of prunes, don’t be. They’re just dried plums (who doesn’t love plums?!) and they are awesome. I think Sunkist (or Sunsweet?) makes a version that has “cherry essence” in them or something. Not sure how natural those are, but they are like candy, let me tell you.

Baklava Butter!

OK, this one takes the cake for being the most awesome recipe EVER. If you’re a nut butter lover (ahem, Emily and Susy, this is for both of you!), make this IMMEDIATELY. You will not regret it. It’s such a snazzed-up version of regular peanut or almond butter, and (surprisingly) has fewer calories!

Recipe:

2/3 C almonds, roasted

1/3 C pistachios, shelled

1/3 C cashews, roasted

1/4 C honey

1/4 C water

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Just throw them all in the blender and pulse away! Mine came out a bit “chunky” but they were tiny pieces and I kinda liked the texture.

The Baklava Butter was featured in the most recent issue of Cuisine at Home, and since some of you are into these, here are the stats:

Serving size: 2 Tbsp, 145 cal, 9g total fat (1g sat), 0mg cholesterol, 28mg sodium, 14g carb, 2g fiber, 4g protein

I love it on toast with some orange marmalade (or a little more honey–it’s a little dry) or with a banana. Seriously incredible, people. I WILL be making this a staple in the nut butter rotation.

While I’d LOVE to do more baking this weekend, I don’t know if our tummies can take it! I just made a loaf of bread (it didn’t fall!) and I still have some muffins left over in the freezer, as well as a bunch of slices of the Honey Polenta Cornbread (from GG) that I made with beef stew last night. Andrew wasn’t a huge fan (apparently he doesn’t really care for honey, who knew??), but it was basically like a brown cornbread with a thick, gummy honey layer mixed into the top. Wonderful warm. I had a piece for breakfast and it (along with some plain yogurt) kept me full til AFTER running an errand after school–WOW!

Anyway, with all of our leftovers (and a hubby who doesn’t like to “finish things off” so as not to waste food–so unlike the father of my childhood), I don’t know that I can justify another batch of anything for at least a few days. My recipe-finding is exponentially faster than my recipe-making…sigh.

can food incite feelings of naked-ness?

Or, rather, the lack of food?

OK, what I’m really getting as is that feeling you get when you forgot to wear your watch. You know, that naked/’I forgot something’ feeling? I was thinking about it the other day, and I feel that way about my fridge sometimes. As in, if I’m out of certain things, all is not right with the world. I feel like we have no food. I feel like I cannot cook or clean or anything until I get to the store. Most are probably obvious, but others, not so much. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Spinach – I probably eat this stuff at least once a day, if not more. I’ve started trying to eat my salad FIRST, because I think if I did that, I would eat even smaller portions for dinner. The trouble is, it makes sense to eat the hot food first, as it will eventually cool down, whereas the salad won’t. Dilemmas, dilemmas.

2. Yogurt – I make my own, which means I need some leftover yogurt as well. Andrew is a huge fan of Kefir, so I like having that around for his breakfasts.

3. Bananas – I use half to sweeten my oatmeal and have been known to slather them in peanut butter, too. I used to hate them once they got really ripe, but now I don’t mind so much.

4. Fruit – Right now it’s citrus, as well as these tiny organic Honey Crisp apples I found awhile ago. They are THE BEST. I don’t care that they are $5.99 a bag.

5. Coffee creamer – Duh. Although, I’m seriously entertaining thoughts of switching to one of the Silk or Coconut Milk flavors once I finish this bottle, or even one of the more “natural” ones. Anyone have any thoughts?

6. Eggs – I don’t eat them very often by themselves (although I LOVE a good omelette!), but the lack of them means no baking, which would put me in a tailspin.

7. Cheese – I usually have a block of parm, as well as a container of something else like feta or blue or gorgonzola. They go in eggs, on top of salads or even with fruit. Cheese sticks are an essential item; I pair one with an apple for a snack.

8. Nuts – I have a giant bin I keep in the freezer of just about every nut around (three varieties of almonds, walnuts, pecans, pine, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds…) for baking, making granola or topping salads and oatmeal.

9. Seltzer – I’ve started drinking flavored seltzer sometimes when I just want something other than water. I used to absolutely hate the “flavor” (it’s carbonated water with a tiny hint of flavor, but not sweet), but it’s something I’ve gotten used to. I’m vehemently opposed to drinking my calories (except infrequent sodas and small amount of honey in tea, and, of course, beer and wine), and at 89 cents for a large bottle, I figured I should try to like it.

10. Ice cream – I’m actually on the fence about this one. I am an ice-cream-aholic. I am. Except that I don’t eat it that much; if I did, I’d have more room in my freezer! Seriously, I have like five pints of Jeni’s and Graeter’s ice creams we’ve brought back from Ohio, plus a christmas flavor of Perry’s I bought thinking Andrew would like it. He doesn’t, which means I’m stuck finishing it. What I need to do is learn to have just a small scoop each night–the problem is that even when I use a small bowl, once I start scooping, it’s like I can’t stop. I think I need a 12-step program…

Well, that’s probably about it. I also like having the ingredients to make things like hummus and granola on hand at a moment’s notice, so I guess I could include oats, real maple syrup and honey on that list, too. Oh and dried cranberries (as well as other fruits) and nut butters. I guess I could just keep going…

The good news is that I’m all stocked up right now and feelin’ good!

what i’m loving right now

(Or WAS, when I wrote this post.)

“Biscoff” spread!

The below photo is of Trader Joe’s version, what they call “Speculoos Cookie Butter.” Not sure where the ‘speculoos’ comes from, but whatever.

Anyway, I’d been hearing a lot lately about Biscoff spread on Kath’s blog and Emily’s blog, and I’d seen it at Wegmans before, so I figured I’d pick up a jar next time I was there.

Well, when we swung into Ohio to stay with friends on the way home from Thanksgiving in Carmel, IN, Andrew and I met up with my dear friend, Susy, at Trader Joe’s and did some serious damage. One of the things she threw into my cart was this spread. (I didn’t even try to stop her.)

It tastes like crushed gingersnaps and is completely delightful mixed with cranberry sauce on a bowl of oatmeal. Very ‘fall.’

The only bad thing is that unlike peanut butter or almond butter, it doesn’t have any protein (less than 1 gram), so it’s not really a nutritional powerhouse or anything. It’s basically just dessert to spread on breakfast foods. Or any food, for that matter.

Like this morning, I spread a tablespoon on toast with the last of the Thanksgiving cranberry sauce (I’m almost embarrassed I’ve had it this long… They’re pretty acidic–how bad can they be?).

On a side note, doesn’t the above meal (toast, half an orange and egg whites with cheese) remind you of a ‘balanced breakfast?’ I never got those sugar-cereal commercials that touted their product as part of a ‘balanced breakfast’ when they’d pan and have a shot of a bowl with orange juice an a muffin. HA!

Anyway, if you think you’d like this kind of thing, be sure to pick up a jar of either TJ’s version or Biscoff at your local grocery store!