Slight.Food.Crush

A Rose by Any Other Name

Or, a peanut butter in any other form would taste as delicious. Here's why: 

After a few shipping issues, I finally received my PB2 from Bell Plantation. It's peanut butter in powdered form, with one quarter the amount of calories per tablespoon. And the best part is, it's all natural! It is hard to believe that anything that is transformed into a powder can be natural, unprocessed, and free of additives, but it's true! PB2 is powdered peanuts with all the oils removed, which is why it has so little calories - no fatty oils. So to get it creamy again, just add water. However, the oil found in peanuts are the good, healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats which the body loves, so don't rely on PB2 alone to get your peanut butter fix. Even though it's good, it doesn't replace the real thing. It's just good when you want to indulge in four times the amount of peanut butter for the same amount of calories. Haha, I can live with that!

So, I've been experimenting quite a bit with my new peanut butter, and one of the first things I wanted to try was mixing it into my oatmeal. And it tasted fantastic! Couldn't even taste the difference. 

Proud New Owner Of...

...a "dot-com" website!! No longer do you have to type .typepad in the address to access my blog. Just slightfoodcrush.com! One of the many wonderful Christmas gifts my boyfriend got me. Also to help with my blog, he got me a beautiful aqua-colored Canon camera. No more pictures taken with my flashless iPhone camera. I'm still a little rusty with all of it's functions and do-dads, but it takes great pictures!

And what better way to commemorate my new gadget then to include it's first photo on my blog with a recipe involving peanut butter! Makes perfect sense to me. So, here's a breakfast quinoa recipe with raisins and Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter.  

Round Two

I'm keeping this one short, as I should be studying, but I wanted to share my second take on "breakfast for dinner" oatmeal. This one also has a sweet component to it, which made for a delicious balance. 

Baking For Real

Baking. Not one of my strongest abilities, but that has never kept me from attempting a recipe or two every now and then. My lack of talent stems from always trying to "healthify" whatever I make. But baking is tricky, it's an exact science. Ingredients need to be measured precisely, oven temperatures need to be set exactly, and timing needs to be to the second. Cooking is different, it's easier to substitute in healthier ingredients. But by substituting splenda for sugar, or magarine for butter, or apple sauce for oil completely changes the richness and texture of your baking. Not to say that these substitutions cannot be successfully adapted, I just haven't mastered it yet. So, I think I'll just stick to the untampered versions for now. Work on perfecting "real" baking first. 

And Adam's friends are going to be my first victims. Tonight is the RRC Christmas shindig, and I made two batches of cookies. Might I add it's an "Anything But Clothes" party, and I have nothing to wear...haha or I should probably say I have no idea what I am going to wear that doesn't involve wearing anything. Confused much? Me too. 

Anyway, I decided to make two kinds of cookies - Oatmeal Chocolate Cherry Cookies and Drunken Fiddle Diddles. 

Festive Flavours

It's Thanksgiving weekend, and though it may look like it outside, it definitely doesn't feel like it. We hit 26 degrees yesterday! I was in flip-flops and a t-shirt all day. Fabulous! I've always dreaded the transition into fall, but if this becomes a yearly occurrence, my dread may transform into a lovely admiration.

While it is Thanksgiving, I will not be partaking in a turkey feast. Or shall I say "tofurkey"? Regardless of the primary protein, I will not be consuming it this year. Too much going on this weekend (dinner with friends, wedding, work) that won't allow me to partake. My family might do a belated dinner next weekend...maybe. We shall see.

But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the delicious flavours of this holiday. For breakfast this morning I made a yummy bowl of pumpkin porridge with maple syrup. It was too festively delicious, I had to share it pronto!