Peanut Butter and Honey Coconut Milk Ice Cream -- vegan treats!

I have an childish delight in peanut butter. Bulk Barn sells the most delectable smooth organic peanut butter, and we purchase it by the litre. Should I be blushing? It's great on not-bread, on apples, by the spoonful, in energy bars, and in ice cream. Huzzah!

ingredients:

1 can (400 ml) organic coconut milk

1/2 cup peanut butter -- smooth, organic, all natural etc etc

1/4 cup unpasteurized honey

pinch sea salt

1 tsp ground vanilla bean


directions:

1. combine the ingredients (I use an immersion blender), and chill
2. freeze in your ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions

PB and H Ginger Cookie People -- gluten free, vegan, and cute

Yes, okay, I'll confess to having a few screws loose. But my brain really needed to know what would happen if I made ginger bread men using peanut butter. I NEEDED to know. And now I do.

If you are not as much of a peanut butter lover as am I, please check out my gingerbread man recipe from last year:

Gingerbread People 2010

ingredients:

1/2 cup smooth organic peanut butter

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 tsp egg replacer + 1/2 cup water, combined

1 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar

2 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1 tsp saigon cinnamon

1 tsp korintje cinnamon

2 tsp ground vanilla bean

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tbsp ground ginger

1/4 cup ground chia seed

1/2 cup flax meal

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 cups almond flour

4 tbsp coconut flour

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the honey, peanut butter, and water/egg replacer mixture

2. add the apple cider vinegar and coconut sugar

3. add the ginger, cinnamon, sea salt, and vanilla bean

4. mix in the ground flax seed and the ground chia seed and look out your window and feel grateful that you live somewhere you have the freedom to bake cookies and enough food to feed your family and friends

5. add the baking soda

6. stir in the almond flour

7. add the coconut flour

8. stir it all together. If you do it right, you should be cursing me by the time you manage to mix in all the coconut flour.

9. bake at 345 for 15-16 minutes

10. store in an airtight container when cool

11. share with all your friends

Peanut Butter and Honey Muffins -- gluten free, grain free, dairy free, sugar free goodness

Struck with the ambition to make muffins before rushing off to music class, I whipped these together super fast. Like lightening. Maybe I should call 'em lightening muffins. I like things that go together fast. It means very nearly almost instantaneous gratification. Or at the very least, I can squeeze them in easily before we have to head off somewhere. Which, it seems, we are always having to do.

You'll see my peanut butter addiction rearing it's head again. I guess I should be embarrassed. It's a little grade school, don't you think? In case you are sick of peanut butter, gentle reader, I promise to mix in other ingredients to keep interesting as the posts go on. It won't be all peanut butter, all the time. I won't tell you how I enjoy it by the spoonful straight from the container. That would just be embarrassing.

I'm thinking about our annual friends and family breakfast on the 25th of December, and planning out what I will make. Stay tuned for the fun. I promise not too many things with peanut butter. And, I shall endeavour to keep this promise. Sigh.

ingredients:

3/4 cup honey

3/4  cup peanut butter

1 cups hot water

1/4 cup chia seeds

1 tbsp ground vanilla bean

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ceylon cinnamon

4 eggs

3 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the honey, peanut butter, and hot water

2. add the chia seeds, vanilla, sea salt, and ceylon cinnamon

3. add the eggs

4. add the almond flour and the baking soda

5. scoop batter into prepared muffin cups

6. think of someone you love and wish desperately that no one is hungry today although you know the starving are legion ...

7. bake at 345 for 25-28 minutes

8. store in an airtight container when fully cooled

p.s. The texture on these is quite out of the world -- delicate and moist with a very tender crumb.

Vanilla Honey Cake -- a gluten free, grain free super yummy cake to temp you

I am forced to ask myself: is it possible to love peanut butter not wisely and too well? As I find myself sneaking it into a vanilla honey cake, I guess the answer is yes. That, and the fact that I am talking to myself are both cause for concern.

The tastes of peanut butter is not overwhelming in this cake. It is a super moist, light, delicate, and yummy taste. My husband thought it tasted like more.

The cake is pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Thank you Bubbi Sarah. I seem to take after you both in the love of baking, and the tendency to toot my own horn about it. I miss you.

ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups hot water

1/4 cup chia seeds
1 tbsp ground vanilla bean
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon



4 cups almond flour

2 eggs

1/2 tsp baking soda


directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the honey, peanut butter, coconut oil, and hot water
2. add the chia seeds, vanilla, sea salt, and ceylon cinnamon
3. add the almond flour and the baking soda
4. add the eggs
5. prepare a baking dish by greasing it with coconut oil.
6a. pour the batter into a large rectangular glass baking dish (3 L baking dish)
6b. think of someone you love
7. bake at 345 for 45 minutes
8. store in an airtight container when fully cooled

Vegetable Soup -- Crockpot does the work, I take the glory

I had a bizarre late night grocery store experience yesterday.  The grocery store near my house has recently been transformed into a 24 hour store. Historically, I would have thought "Why? Why would anyone want to shop in the middle of the night?" But yesterday evening I went to a wrap party for a show I just finished on. Wrap parties are bizarre at the best of times. People you see everyday for weeks or months show up looking generally polished and put together then proceed to get a little pie-eyed, and everyone hugs and kisses everyone, and introduces their spouses, and acts like they are best friends, even though maybe you only exchanged two words with them on set during the entire productions. Bottom line -- everyone is nice, everyone means well, and everyone wants to have good memories of the show.


Last night's wrap party was interesting because of many factors which included conversations with people that meant something entirely different than what was being said, learning the true definition of sociopath from a producer, and finding out the deep held ambitions of people that held their cards close to their chests.


Generally I feel like I have too many arms and legs and don't know what to do with all of them when I am at such events. So last night I was at least a little grateful to slink into the corner and engage in conversation with a gaffer who is both lovely and charming.


At pumpkin hour I headed home, calculating what the next day would hold. As I passed the all-night grocery store it suddenly occurred to me that I could get the ingredients I need for tonight's dinner on my way home instead of going for groceries in the morning. 15 minutes later I was back on my way, feeling like the time was well spent. Certainly, my inner misanthrope enjoyed the calm emptiness of the midnight produce section. 


I'm not sure if I've just bought into consumerism at its worst, supporting the machine that leads to the degradation of our socio-economic health. However, with the farmer's markets closed for the season, I am forced once again to be a grocery store shopped. Heck, I do believe this was my first grocery store experience since the farmer's markets ended.


Has anyone else out there done the all-night grocery store routine? If yes, is it Yea, Nay, or Meh?


Without further ado, here are the ingredients for my all-night grocery store soup:




ingredients:


2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbps minced garlic

3/4 cup finely diced onion

1 1/2 cups finely diced carrot

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved (or quartered if they are large)

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas

250 g green peas

1/2 tbsp sea salt

1/2 tsp chili powder
black pepper

2 cups water

4 cups chopped nappa cabbage

1 cup finely diced celery

2 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp miso
1/4 cup water

directions:

turn on the crockpot to high for 6 hours

1. combine the coconut oil, garlic, onion, tomato, carrot, chickpeas, green peas, sea salt, chili powder, and black pepper.
2. pour on 2 cups boiling water
3. layer on the chopped nappa cabbage
4. top with celery
5. after everything is cooked, stir in the peanut butter and miso, and turn the heat off or to warm, and allow to sit for 1 hour.

This soup is super. We ate it with green onion pancakes, but it would also be fab with flat bread, socca, freshly baked bread, nothing but a spoon, etc.

Peanut Butter Cookies Variation 2 -- Still gluten free, grain free, and good for you

My obsession with peanut butter continues. I found a source for smooth organic peanut butter that is very reasonably priced. The peanuts are roasted to perfection, and they add a pinch of sea salt to the concoction. The result is heavenly. My brain thinks it's candy, and I'll confess to eating it by the spoonful whenever I need a little snack. Sort of embarrassing, but oh well. For this recipe I used crunchy peanut butter this time. Maybe next time I'll try the smooth ....

These cookies are grain free, gluten free, and pretty good for you. They do contain agave, for those of you who are sensitive to it, but the effects are offset by the judicious addition of ground chia. Super yum.


ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter (organic, crunchy)
1/2 cup clear agave
2 eggs

1 tsp ground vanilla
1/2 - 3/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup ground chia
3 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp baking soda


directions:
1. combine the peanut butter and agave
2. mix in the eggs
3. add the vanilla and sea salt
4. mix in the chia
5. add the baking soda and almond flour, and mix well
6. scoop by spoonful onto a lined baking sheet, and flatten with a wet fork
7. bake at 345 for 16-18 minutes
8. store in an airtight container when fully cool

Peanut Butter and Honey Ice Cream -- Sticky Kids stuff

I have to tell you it's pretty fabulous. Sinfully rich, fabulously delicious, and such a classic combination of flavours. A small scoop is enough to tantalize as well as satisfy.

ingredients:

2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup natural organic peanut butter

a pinch of sea salt
a pinch or two of ground vanilla bean
a pinch or two of ceylon cinnamon


directions:
1. combine and freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.
2. share because it's just too damn good to keep to yourself.
3. don't be surprised if it's all gone when you come home ...

Sometimes the simple things in life are so good.