peanut butter Archives – The Pinterested Parent

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peanut butter

Wed
24 ^th

White Chocolate & Peanut Butter Pretzel Bunnies

Posted by Pinparent — 1 Comment

Easter is quickly approaching and with the holiday comes all of its delicious sweet treats.

*This post contains affiliate links*

Last year I had experimented with pretzel bunnies. They were a big hit with my family, so I wanted to try them again with a little help from my favorite little helper. We had recently purchased a set of food markers & we both could not wait to use them.

What you will need:

White chocolate melts

Pretzel sticks

Peanut butter

Confectioners sugar

Butter

Vanilla

Food markers

Directions:

Melt 3 Tbsp of butter. Mix it with 1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter, 1 cup of confectioners sugar & 1 tsp of vanilla. Mix it well. Scoop a heaping tsp of peanut butter mixture and roll into a ball. Place on a sheet of wax paper & use a spoon to flatten into a disc. Put them into the freezer for about a half hour or until they are slightly hardened.

Melt the chocolate according to package directions.

Lay out another sheet of wax paper. Dip the pretzel sticks, two at a time into the melted chocolate. Let the excess chocolate drip off & place them on the wax paper in a V shape.

Remove the peanut butter discs from the freezer a few at a time. Dip them one at a time making sure to cover the top, bottoms & sides & place over the pretzel, just covering about 1/4 of the bottom. Use a rubber spatula to fill in any empty space. Let the chocolate cool & harden.

Then comes the fun part. Use your food markers to draw in the bunny faces. My daughter couldn’t wait to draw on her bunnies.

Here was her favorite bunny that she made, complete with hair bow & scarf.

They were a huge hit again with my family and my friends at work.

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

Sun
11 ^th

Hershey Kiss Pancakes

Posted by Pinparent — 10 Comments

The battle at mealtime continues…

As most of you probably already know, I have a picky eater on my hands. I have tried doing everything. I have tried doing absolutely nothing as well. For those of you out there that also have a finicky child, you know how frustrating it can be. Luckily, there are a few mealtime gems that always win my daughter over.

Just like a typical woman, my little girl loves chocolate. For Christmas she got a plastic cane cane filled with Hershey Kisses, so we made some pancakes with them. They were a home run. This weekend my husband requested them & again they were a huge hit with the family. Mai of course helped make them. She ate all of hers & even stole some of daddy’s.

Hershey Kiss Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup of flour

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp of salt

1 cup of milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 ripened bananas

1/8 cup peanut butter (this offers a subtle taste, if you are a peanut butter lover you may opt for more)

1 egg white

Hershey kisses (one kiss per pancake.)

Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, vegetable oil & vanilla. In a separate bowl, mash the ripened banana using a fork. (If you have an eager little helper, a potato masher works well for them to lend a hand.) Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Add to the flour mixture & stir until evenly distributed. Stir in the milk & egg white. Heat a griddle or frying pan at medium – high heat. (Test with a few drops of water, the water should dance across the cooking surface for best results) Add 1/8 cup at a time. When the edges of the pancakes start to bubble and firm, flip them. Lightly press a Hershey kiss into the center of your pancake. Cook until the bottom is golden brown. We ate these plain, but of course top with butter & syrup if that is your preference. Enjoy.

Thank you as always for stopping by. Please follow us on Facebook as well.

Mon
17 ^th

Pancake Battered Banana Bites

Posted by Pinparent — 16 Comments

For those of you that have been following me for a while, you know that I have had a long hard battle with my daughter over eating. She has been known to be a picky one. Not only is she picky, she doesn’t like to eat. She has much more important things to be doing & she will tell you. “Mama I don’t want to eat. I am so busy.” This is coming from my 2 year old. I am not sure what it is that could have my toddler so busy, but whatever it is, it has kept her from the dinner table on many occasions.

We have come a long way over the last few months and have seen great improvements. Her appetite has increased which is wonderful, but her variety of foods remains the same. Breakfast is one of her better meals. Thank goodness. And as luck would have it, it is my favorite meal to make. I love making bite-sized foods & if it is something that she can dip, it is usually a home run.

Pancake Battered Banana Bites

Ingredients:

6 ripe bananas

1 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour

1 tbsp of brown sugar

3 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 large egg

1 tsp honey

1 cup of milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, milk & vegetable oil and stir well. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg & add to the rest of the batter. Mix in the honey. Slice bananas into 1/2″ slices. Dip the banana in the pancake batter. Place on a hot griddle or frying pan set to medium heat. (Test with water, water drops should dance across the surface when added.) Cook until the edges are cooked & firm up. Flip & cook on the other side. Cook until the batter on the sides is firm & cooked.

We served ours with a peanut honey sauce, but you can also use maple syrup or eat as is.

Peanut Sauce:

2 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp water

1 tbsp honey

Heat the peanut butter & water for 20 seconds in a microwave safe dish. Stir well until smooth. Add the honey & stir well. Serve warm

These were a big hit with both my daughter & my husband. Mai loves to dip, so she had hers with peanut sauce & syrup.

Mon
08 ^th

Peanut Butter & Jelly Pancakes

Posted by Pinparent — 12 Comments

Breakfast is definitely my favorite meal of the day. I love eggs, french toast, hash, home fries & pancakes. I am getting hungry just thinking about it. The best thing about breakfast is our daughter also loves it. It is the one meal that I can usually count on her eating. I will admit that we have made breakfast for lunch & dinner on occasion just to ensure that the kiddo would eat.

Pancakes are one of our daughter’s favorite foods & they are one of my favorite things to make. They are delicious, easy to make & a lot of fun to experiment with. Today we made PB & J pancakes.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup of all purpose flour

3 tbsp peanut butter

3 tbsp jelly

1 tbsp of brown sugar

2 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

1 1/4 cup of milk

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg & set aside. In a medium bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt & oil. Add the peanut butter & break up the clumps with a fork while mixing. Stir in the milk & stir well until smooth & peanut butter is broken up. Stir in the egg & jelly. Break up the jelly with a fork as well. It is ok if it is a little clumpy with the jelly. Pour 1/8 cup of batter per pancake onto a hot skillet set at medium-high heat. When pancake bubbles and edges start to firm flip & cook on the other side.

The pancakes were a hit. Next week we will try them Fluffernutter style.

Sun
04 ^th

Preparing For For My First 5K And A Healthy Snack

Posted by Pinparent — 12 Comments

Here is a funny tidbit of information about me. I worked as a regional manager for a chain of health clubs for about 10 years, I married a marathon runner and I absolutely hate exercise. Everyone always assumed that I was a health nut. Nope! While my husband is running marathons, I am trying to find my way to the finish line with a forty ounce of beer. I don’t workout & I definitely do not run. For years my husband has been trying to convince me to run a race with him, but I just would not budge. I just could not understand why he and so many others loved this. Running hurts my knees and my shins. I am a big baby. I just was not interested in putting my body through this torture for no reason. Lately, I have begun to find myself more and more curious as to why so many loved to run. I know that obviously it is great for weight loss, but there are other ways to do it, so what is the draw. I have been gaining motivation through watching my husband, friends and even some of my fellow bloggers, Runsaltrun .

Soooooo, I, Kim the anti-runner have agreed to do my first 5K. I am a registered participant for one at the end of next month. This week, I began my training. What I have discovered is that I am grossly out of shape, but I am working on it.

When ever I start a exercise routine, I know that I am going to need some extra fuel to keep my body going. One of my favorite energy foods is granola. It is healthy, delicious and easy to make.

Ingredients:

2 cups of quick oats

1/4 cup organic honey

1/4 cup organic peanut butter – Make sure to stir the peanut butter well before measuring out as organic peanut butter can have an inconsistent texture if not stirred well.

1/3 cup coarsely chopped almonds

1/4 unshelled sunflower seeds

1/3 cup dark chocolate

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp of sea salt

1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Mix oats, honey and peanut butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix well, breaking up any chunks of peanut butter and evenly distributing honey and peanut butter through the oats. Mix in the almonds, sunflower seeds and chocolate. Add the vanilla and sprinkle in the sea salt. Stir well. Spoon on your mixture onto a greased baking sheet. Spread out the mixture compactly to form larger granola chunks or scatter for smaller bites. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden. Watch carefully not to burn. Remove from the oven & let cool. Toss in the cranberries and crumble granola in to chunks.

127 — I bagged up snack sized portions in snack baggies to take to work.

The great thing about granola is their are so many possibilities and different fruit and nut combinations. Granola is great alone or sprinkle over yogurt or even ice cream.

Stay tuned for more on my 5K training saga…

Sat
12 ^th

Krispie Peanut Butter & Chocolate Balls

Posted by Pinparent — 10 Comments

Here is a simple fact of life…women love chocolate. We do! Men do not understand this as much. My husband would prefer a bowl of Doritos, but hand me a piece of chocolate and I am happy.

Tonight I had a craving. Why is it when ever you want candy, there is not a piece to be found, but as soon as you are on a diet, there is chocolate around every corner?
I wanted some chocolate, but I like my candy with nuts or some kind of crunch. We had chocolate chips, but I needed something more.

Krispie Peanut Butter & Chocolate Balls

Ingredients:
1 tbsp of butter
1/2 cup of crunchy peanut butter
2 cups of chocolate chips
1 cup of white chocolate chips
2 cups of Rice Krispies

Directions:
In a large saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Add the peanut butter. Stir for about a minute until melted. Add your chocolate chips. Stir until melted and smooth. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Once chocolate is melted add the Krispies. Mix until all of the Krispies are covered. Spoon out the mixture & fill a ball pop mold. Refrigerate until chocolate has hardened & then pop candies out of mold.

Sun
02 ^nd

Peanut Butter Apple Crisp

Posted by Pinparent — 14 Comments

Peanut butter is one of those thing that I think that you can couple with just about anything. I have always loved peanut butter… peanut butter & jelly, peanut butter on celery, peanut butter with bananas & one of my all time favorites peanut butter & apples. If you have never tried it, it may sound strange, but it is a wonderful combination.
My daughter in one of her unusual requests, asked for an apple pie & watermelon this morning for breakfast. It got a chuckle out of me & then got me thinking, an apple pie did sound good. I decided on an apple crisp instead & while in the midst of making it, started thinking about my favorite snack. This resulted in a fruity peanut buttery treat.

Peanut Butter Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

5 Granny Smith apples

1/2 cup of flour

1/2 cup of quick oats

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of melted butter or margarine

3 Tbsp of creamy peanut butter

1/2 tsp of salt

Ice cream or whipped cream for an optional topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl mix all dry ingredients. Add the peanut butter & melted butter. Mix well using a fork to smash the ingredients together. Do this until the mixture is crumbly & well blended.

Peel, core & slice the apples & place slices in a 9 1/2 inch round baking dish. Add the peanut butter crumble over the apples evenly. Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool slightly & serve warm topped with ice cream or cream. Enjoy!

Related Topics:

http://prettylittlepastimes.com/2014/03/02/national-peanut-butter-lovers-day/

Thu
23 ^rd

Healthy Peanut Butter & Jelly Wheat Muffins

Posted by Pinparent — 23 Comments

Conversation with my recently turned 2 year old daughter during breakfast this morning…

Mai: Mama, jelly.
Me: You want jelly on your cinnamon bun?
Mai: Yes!
I spread a little jelly on her bun
Mai: Mama, more jelly…biiiigg jelly
Me: There is no more jelly baby
Mai: Jelly at the store
I break down in laughter & against my better judgment take out the jelly to give her just a little bit more. I’m such a sucker sometimes.
Mai: Mama, find it! (Claps her hands)

It seems as if overnight my little girl has grown up. She is talking up a storm, forming full sentences & developing a mind of her own.

She recently discovered that she loves jelly. She wants to spread it on toast, pancakes & now apparently cinnamon buns.

Let’s see if she likes it in a muffin too.

Peanut butter & jelly muffins

I try to bake with whole wheat flour whenever I can. If you chose to make these using enriched flour, you will have to adjust your measurements. For every cup of enriched flour used in a recipe, it only takes 3/4 cup of wheat flour. You will need to adjust your liquid measurements as well.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat baking flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup all natural organic peanut butter

1/3 cup of apple sauce

2 egg whites

1 cup of skim milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, both sugars, salt & baking powder in a bowl. Add the peanut butter & mix until all the oils are absorbed & mixture gets clumpy. Knead between fingers until well mixed & forming crumbles. Add apple sauce, egg whites & milk & stir just until wet ingredients are absorbed. Add a spoonful of mixture to a greased muffin tin. Add a spoonful of jelly to the center of the mixture & then top with the remainder of the muffin mix. Bake for about 20 minutes. (Cook times may vary) Let cool & serve to your favorite jelly lover.

The verdict: My little girl gobbled them up and so did mommy & daddy.

Related Topics:

http://nourishedbycorynn.com/2014/01/23/snow-days-and-banana-cocao-muffins/

http://thelivefitgirl.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/banana-nut-muffins/

Avocado Chocolate Orange Muffins

Apple Cinnamon Muffins (Vegan & Gluten-Free)

Tue
17 ^th

Dressing Up Your Meals For the Holidays

Posted by Pinparent — 9 Comments

I love decorating for the holidays. Nothing fills me up with Yuletide cheer more than surrounding myself with all things Christmas. It is not just the Christmas tree & mantle that gets adorned in our house, our meals get a makeover for the season as well.

Don’t let the cookies have all the fun. Here are some fun & easy ways to dress up everyday meals for the holidays.

Gingerbread Man Shaped French Toast

One of the quickest & easiest methods for adding a festive touch to ordinary foods are with cookie cutters. French toast can easily be transformed into the shape of a gingerbread man with one press of the cutter. Mai loved this. She thought they were cookies & gobbled her toast right up.

Snowman Mashed Potatoes

This was achieved with 3 russet potatoes. Peel, wash & cube potatoes. Add to a large pot of boiling water & cook until tender. Drain potatoes & add 1/2 cup of milk, I use 2 chicken bouillon cubes in lieu of the butter, mash ingredients together. Add 2 eggs & 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of bread crumbs, 1/2 tsp of garlic salt & a 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese & mix well. Let cool slightly & roll out 3 balls of varying sizes. Roll formed balls into parmesan cheese & form your snowman shape & place on a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes. Add carrots & peas as a garnish.

Candy Cane Spaghetti Bake with Meatballs

Cook spaghetti & add your favorite sauce. Use two tubes of seamless sheets of bread dough or crescent dough. Roll out both tubes blending together the sheets vertically. Cut out a candy cane shape about 3 inches wide. Using a fork, scoop out spaghetti & place on the dough. Spoon out extra sauce over the spaghetti to add the red to your candy cane. Roll out the excess dough & cut into strips and lay across the top of the pasta in a diagonal pattern to form candy cane stripes. Using a knife push the dough into the side of the cane & smooth out the sides of the dough. Bake according to dough directions.

Rudolph PB & J sandwich

This is a 2 minute meal that the kiddos will love. Use one piece of bread, cut out an oval shape for the head & spread with peanut butter. Add a rounded teaspoon of jelly to the add the nose. Use the rounded top of the bread as ears & spread with jelly. For the eyes use two chunks of banana & 2 raisins. Pretzel stick will finish off the reindeer as antlers.

Santa Pancakes

One pancake, topped with banana, icing & 2 M&M minis for eyes. Form a nose out of banana & the mouth and hat from strawberries. Top with whipped cream for the beard & fur trim for the hat.

Happy holidays! Enjoy.

Share some of your fun Christmas creations. We would love to see them.

Wed
11 ^th

It’s A Marshmallow World – Marshmallow crafting & cooking

Posted by Pinparent — 16 Comments

Let the Christmas crafting continue. Last week we made Christmas themed Rice Krispies treats. I needed marshmallows for making these. They were luckily on sale at the grocery store that day & I bought far more marshmallow than any household needs.

While making our treats, I noticed that Mai really enjoyed playing with them. We had enough of them, so let’s play.

Today, it was Mai & Mommy’s marshmallow crafting day. Lately, Mai has been doing a lot of painting. She asks me almost every day. Today would be no different. “Paint, mama! Paint! Paint!”. Painting it is! We could use the marshmallows to paint with, ala pointillism style. My thoughts were to cut out a Christmas tree & then use the marshmallows to dot on the ornaments with paint.

Here is what you will need..

Construction paper- green, yellow, white, red & brown

Marshmallows

Non Toxic Paint -I whipped up our usual batch of Cool Whip paints http://thepinterestedparent.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/cool-whip-finger-painting-more-messy-play/

Glue Stick

Scissors

Directions:

Draw the outline of the Christmas tree.

Cut out around the outline of the tree.

Cut out a rectangle for the stump, an oval for tree skirt & a star for the top of the tree.

Loosely tape tree to a scrap piece of paper temporarily & then show your child how to use the marshmallow to stamp on the paint.

Let your toddler paint their masterpiece.

Mommy wants to join in on the fun too.

After finishing your tree, let it dry & glue to a fresh piece of construction paper, with the stump, tree skirt & star.

Mai’s finished artwork. Mommy’s too.

I had as much fun with this as she did. This was a fun & easy project for any age.

The marshmallow fun didn’t stop there. We needed a sweet treat after all that painting.

Peanut Butter Melting Snowman Smores

Ingredients:

Marshmallows

Graham crackers

Peanut butter

Peanut butter cup minis

M&M minis

Writing icing

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Break graham crackers into double square squares. Spread a thin layer of peanut butter on to the cracker. Place one marshmallow on each square. Place in the oven. Bake until marshmallow is almost melted. Do not let burn. Remove from the oven & lightly flatten the marshmallow with a spatula. Let cool for about 2 minutes. Place a peanut butter cup on the still warm marshmallow, where you would like your hat to be. It will melt slightly. Put in the fridge for a few minutes to let the hat cool & set. Remove from the fridge & add two chocolate M&M mini for eyes. Use orange writing icing to make a carrot nose & use black or brown icing to dot on the mouth. Let cool & enjoy.

These are delicious. The peanut butter offers a wonderful twist. I know someone that agrees.

Up next: Meet Our Daughter, The Parrot.

http://stamchocolate.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/bar-in-a-jar/

http://thecraftycultivator.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/gingerbread-marshmallows/

http://zouptonuts.wordpress.com/2013/12/08/baked-smores-not-just-for-the-campfire/