Foodie Friday: National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day!

Let’s be honest, I celebrate peanut butter everyday. Personally, I think everyone should. Peanut butter is delicious and nutritious and should be a balance part of every diet; and by balanced, I mean feel free to replace meals with jars of peanut butter. [I wish I could!]

I want you to celebrate National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day the right way, so I’ve compiled a list of sweet and savory peanut butter recipes. Enjoy!

Sweet

Hail Merry Peanut Butter Coconut Banana Bites

Healthy Banana Peanut Butter Cups*

Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake*

Peanut Butter Wonderful Powerballs

Sweet Potato Dippers

Savory

Buddha’s Feast with Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce*

Peanut Chili Baked Tofu*

Tilapia Stir-Fry with Chili Peanut Sauce*

And of course, don’t forget to top any of your favorite oatmeals or sweet scrambles with peanut butter. It’s just wrong not to! 😉

*These recipes were made using peanut flour, but you can substitute regular peanut butter.

Food for Thought

What is your number one go-to peanut butter? Do you prefer other nut or seed butters over peanut butter?

National Peanut Butter Day {Giveaway!}

Today might just be my most favorite day of the year; National Peanut Butter Day. There’s nothing I love more than opening a fresh jar of peanut butter and, of course, grabbing a spoon for that very first bite. Ok, maybe first few bites.. thanks, Mom 😉

There actually was a time that I sent my mom this picture. She totally understood and I’m sure her response was something along the lines of “mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!” So you see, peanut butter has always had a special place in my heart. And not only is it delicious, it’s also quite good for you!

In honor of National Peanut Butter Day, I have not only compiled a list of peanut butter delicious recipes from my blog for your quick browsing pleasure, but I also have a very special giveaway! First things first.

Peanut Butter Recipes

• Hail Merry Peanut Butter Coconut Banana Bites
• Healthy Banana Peanut Butter Cups*
• Peanut Chili Baked Tofu*
• Tilapia Stir-Fry with Chili Peanut Sauce*
• Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake*

And don’t forget to top all of your oatmeal with a deliciously large scoop of peanut butter for maximum dining pleasure! You know I added a little extra to my breakfast this morning.. it’s only right.

*These recipes use peanut flour, but that can be substituted with peanut butter.

And now for the giveaway! Peanut Butter & Co. was kind enough to send me a few samples to review [practically a dream come true!] and offer one lucky reader the chance to win 3 jars! It was a tough choice, but in the end, I went for White Chocolate Wonderful, Mighty Maple, and Old Fashioned Smooth. These proved to be fantastic choices!

I started out trying the White Chocolate Wonderful, which happens to be very appropriately named; it was absolutely wonderful! Next I tried the Mighty Maple, and while I didn’t think it would be able to get better than the White Chocolate Wonderful, it did! Holy moly, this one is so good! Finally, the Old Fashioned Smooth; full of peanuty flavor as the only two ingredients are peanuts and salt. I love that! And now I’m offering one of you the chance to try all of these fantastic flavors!

Peanut Butter & Co. Giveaway

How to Enter

You have up to 5 chances to enter! Be sure to leave separate comments for each entry. Entries will be accepted through Thursday, January 31st, 11:59 pm EST. A winner will be chosen on Friday, February 1st.

1. Leave a comment telling me which flavor you’re most excited to try. (Mandatory)

2. Follow @PeanutButterCo and @BarrAndTable on Twitter and leave a comment telling me. (Optional)

3. Like Peanut Butter & Co. and Barr & Table on Facebook and leave a comment telling me. (Optional)

4. Follow Peanut Butter & Co. and Barr & Table on Pinterest and leave a separate comment telling me. (Optional)

5. Tweet “I entered to win some @PeanutButterCo from @BarrAndTable and you can too! http://wp.me/p2mo7x-g2” and leave a separate comment with a link to your tweet. (Optional)

*Giveaway is only open to U.S. residents. Winner has 48 hours to contact me and claim prize, otherwise a new winner will be chosen.

Happy National Peanut Butter Day! Eat up! 😉

Top 5 of 2012!

With 2012 being the year of starting the blog, I certainly don’t have quite as many posts as others, but I did my best to share what I could. I’m pleased to say that the recipes that popped up in my top 5 posts from 2012 are some of my personal favorites that I’ve revisited time and time again since posting.

5. Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake

You all know I love peanut butter and chocolate, not to mention my love for CalNaturale Svelte, so whenever I’m in the mood for a protein shake, this is my go-to! I’ve also started adding a couple handfuls of spinach because you can never have too many greens!

4. Recipe Remix: Carrot Cake Protein Pancakes

I was so pleased with the way these pancakes came out. They’re light and fluffy and so filling!

3. Cinnamon Raisin Overnight Protein Oats & Quinoa.. and Giveaway Winners!

Before I became obsessed with my Sweet Breakfast Scramble, which I recently slimmed down, my favorite breakfast was oatmeal. Overnight oats are always so easy when I know I have a busy morning ahead of me. In the interest of adding a little extra protein, I decided to swap half of the oats with some quinoa and it was a hit!

2. Foodie Friday: Pumpkin Fest and a Giveaway Winner!

I know I get a little pumpkin fever as soon as fall hits and judging by pinterest, everyone else and their moms do too, so it really shouldn’t surprise me that this post was a topper! The souffle is a definite hit when I want to feel like I’m eating a decadent breakfast without the calories.

1. What I Ate Wednesday #4 – 5 Day Slim Down Edition

Top post of 2012? No surprises here! My Tone It Up girls never let me down! 😉

Food for Thought

What was your favorite post and/or recipe of mine from 2012?

What I Ate Wednesday #24 – Thanksgiving Feast

This year might have been my most successful Thanksgiving ever. For the first time, probably ever in my life, I didn’t overeat and it was amazing! It also left me wanting more. Usually I’m all Thanksgiving-food’ed out after we have our 2 dinners, but this year I feel like I could eat Thanksgiving dinner a few more times.

One of the biggest tips I’ve always heard on not overeating is to eat all of your meals as you would normally. So that’s what I attempted to do.

[Breakfast]
Tina from Carrots ‘N’ Cake said it perfectly..

“…a good breakfast sets the tone for my day.”

Since I’ve tried her Sweet Breakfast Scramble, I haven’t turned back. It’s amazing.. my favorites are with spaghetti squash and pumpkin, topped with 1 tbsp peanut butter. Usually two different kinds of peanut butter to mix it up 🙂

[Lunch]
Peanut butter cup protein shake.

[Snacks]
Carrots and an apple.

[Dinner]
Thank goodness for Thanksgiving! I loved the menu this year; of course we had our staples, but some new side dishes popped up too.

• Deep fried turkey
• Sausage stuffing (secret recipe!)
• Roasted sweet potatoes
• Roasted broccoli
• Roasted asparagus
• Winter panzanella salad
• Cranberry relish

Check out my plate above.. I definitely had a little extra of a few things, but I couldn’t believe I walked away with white space on my plate!

This year I jumped at the opportunity to make a few items for the night, partially in an attempt to have a few healthier items on the table.

I brought one of my favorite winter salads; winter panzanella from smitten kitchen. I also wanted to bring a healthy dessert so I made my Kind Apple Crisp. And then the healthy options ended. My homemade peanut butter cups are an absolute must ever year. I’ve been making them since I was a kid and have perfected them in the last few years. Nathan said they were the best this year, but I think he tells me that every year! I’ll keep him around.. 😉

Mom slicing the turkey!

My brother deep fries the turkeys outside and as soon as they come in, everyone starts swarming the kitchen.

“Oh, this piece is going to fall off. I should grab it before it falls..”

And as soon as my mom starts slicing, you’d think we were a bunch of vultures that hadn’t eaten in days! Who knows, maybe some of us haven’t eaten in days in preparation? It’s well worth the wait!

[Dessert]

Along with my peanut butter cups and apple crisp, there was also a deconstructed pumpkin pie in the cutest little cups, chocolate chip banana bread courtesy of my brother’s girlfriend, and a pumpkin roll. My aunt makes this roll special for Nathan every year, so you can imagine our panic when we saw her facebook status in the early afternoon..

“First attempt at pumpkin roll a failure and dumped in trash. Helper off to the Giant for more sugar. I know Nathan is counting on me!”

I’m pleased to report that her second attempt was a success! Luckily, I convinced Nathan ahead of time to split the desserts with me so I was able to try a little bit of everything. And boy can my family bake! Seriously. We’re good!

What a great holiday! I’m so thankful for my wonderful family, especially since they’re such great cooks and bakers 😉

Food for Thought

What are you thankful for this year?

A Tasty Giveaway!

I’ve been a bad blogger this past week. BUT! I definitely have something wonderful to make up for it!

As you may know, one of my favorite afternoon snacks lately has been my Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake. It’s chocolatey and peanut buttery and creamy and, most importantly, delicious!

(YUM!)

So how can I talk so much about this wonderful shake without giving you the opportunity to get one of the key ingredients to make it for yourself?

Enter CalNaturale Svelte.

This company is incredible. They have the best customer service I’ve ever seen before and they have an incredibly delicious product! There are 4 flavors available: Chocolate, Cappuccino, French Vanilla, and Spiced Chai. They’re all wonderful, but my favorites are definitely the Chocolate and Cappuccino.

The ever-gracious team over at CalNaturale is giving 4 of you lucky dogs the chance to win a case of your flavor of choice! Want to enter? Of course you do!

How to Enter

You have up to 4 chances to enter! Be sure to leave separate comments for each entry. Entries will be accepted through Thursday, June 28th, 11:59pm. Winners will be chosen Friday, June 29th.

1. Leave a comment telling me which flavor you want to try and how you would enjoy your delicious CalNaturale Svelte protein drink.(Mandatory)

2. Follow @CalNaturale on twitter and leave a comment telling me. (Optional)

3. Follow me (@beermeamartini) on twitter and leave a comment telling me. (Optional)

4. Tweet “I’m entering to win a case of @CalNaturale Svelte from @beermeamartini on #BarrAndTable! http://wp.me/p2mo7x-4b” and leave a comment with a link to your tweet. (Optional)

What I Ate Wednesday #5 – My Favorite Sensible Dessert

Another week, another What I Ate Wednesday post! But this one has a recipe.. check it out!

Recently my eats have been looking rather similar on the day-to-day front. And I’m perfectly ok with that! Breakfast is looking something like this..

A Tone It Up pineapple protein pancake (and dare I say, I’ve totally mastered the flip!), topped with a drizzle of maple syrup, a couple diced up strawberries, some blueberries, some unsweetened shredded coconut, and a little extra sprinkling of cinnamon. Along side of that, I have the Bombshell Spell, which is a deliciously wonderful way of getting a little shot of apple cider vinegar into your life. These recipes come directly from the Tone It Up Beach Babe plan that you get when you purchase their membership plan, and are a part of the 5 Day Slim Down that I did last week. Since mastering the pancake, I’ve been craving it like no other. I could seriously eat it everyday.. sometimes twice a day!

Snack #1 is 1/2 grapefruit sprinkled with Stevia or Truvia and some coffee with almond milk.

For lunch, I’m loving some teriyaki marinated tofu with homemade pineapple salsa all wrapped in collard greens. It’s a relatively new-to-me idea to use the collard greens as wraps, but it’s wonderful!

My absolute favorite afternoon snack is my new Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake, and the past few times I’ve made it, I put 1 cup of spinach in. You don’t even taste it and you get that little bit of extra veggie.

For dinner, I mixed it up a bit. This delicious bulgar wheat salad with asian slaw and chicken really hit the spot! I found a recipe awhile back for Asian Quinoa Salad, but when I found myself at the store looking for quinoa that wasn’t there, I grabbed the bulgar wheat and went to town! Other than being a wheat product as compared to a grain, bulgar wheat has many of the same nutritional aspects as quinoa. It’s high in protein, low in calories, and low in fat as well! It also has a little bite to it that I really enjoy. Please excuse the not-so-lovely picture..

And now onto my favorite sensible dessert. I’ve pretty much made it every night for the past couple weeks.

Apple Pie Parfait

1 serving

Ingredients
1 apple – I prefer fuji
1/4 cup fat free vanilla greek yogurt
Cinnamon
Walden’s Sugar-Free, Calorie-Free Chocolate Syrup

Directions
Chop up apple into bite size pieces and toss with a little cinnamon. Put the apple in a glass and top with half of the yogurt, a little sprinkle of cinnamon, and a drizzle of the chocolate syrup. Repeat for the other half of the apple and yogurt, and devour!

If you really want to get fancy, throw some dark chocolate chips in there or even a little unsweetened shredded coconut.

I really love this as an after workout dessert because the yogurt gives me a little bit of protein, but it’s not too heavy before bed.

Speak Up!

What’s your favorite sensible dessert?

Peanut Butter Cup Protein Shake

I’m the kinda gal that could eat chocolate and peanut butter all day, everyday. Often times, my pre- or post-workout fuel has these 2 delectable ingredients since I try to fit them in wherever I can! Luckily for me, the lovely people over at CalNaturale Svelte sent over some samples of their protein drinks and I went to town!

1 Serving

Ingredients
1 cup chocolate CalNaturale Svelte
1 frozen banana
2 tbsp protein powder; I use About Time Vanilla Whey Protein Isolate.. my fave!
2 tbsp PB2 or peanut flour

Directions
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

This would be super delicious topped with unsweetened shredded coconut, a little bit of dark chocolate shavings, or even a little drizzle of chocolate syrup. Yum!

Speak Up!

What’s your favorite pre- or post-workout fuel? Do you go for the sweets or more towards savory?