Homemade Peanut Butter

The Hubs bought me a professional Ninja blender for Christmas. I honestly don't know if we have gone 1 day without using it. It is so powerful I can now put carrots in my smoothies :-) This may not seem like a big deal, but I LOVE carrots and they have nutrients in them that make your mood happy. Can't beat that! Anyhow...  I have been wanting to try my hand at making peanut butter, so today I just had my boys at home and I thought it would be fun.

 It was so easy! 

Homemade Peanut Butter:

2 cups peanuts

3 tbsp water

2 tbsp honey

Just blend it up on medium for about 2-3 min scrapping the sides about every 25 seconds. Then hurry up and make some toast so you can put it on there warm out of the blender :-)

Fresh Flowers

I am a sucker for fresh flowers.

Fortunately for me Trader Joes sells them super inexpensively so I buy some EVERY. TIME. I. SHOP.  I would recommend it. I call it "plant therapy". Makes a soul happy :-)

Sweet and Creamy Balsamic Dressing

Today I want to share one my favorite homemade salad dressings. Its super simple to make, but you wouldn't know it by the taste.  The flavors in the recipe compliment each other so well.  I make this dressing often and have been known to eat it over cooked black beans (So yummy) and of course salads and veggies. 

 

Creamy Balsamic Dressing

4 Tbsp mayo

1 Tbsp dijon mustard

1 grated garlic clove

3 Tbsp honey

1/4 cup balsamic vinigar

1/4 cup olive oil

Blend all ingredients until it is all well incorporated and enjoy on your favorite salad!

Soft Boiled Eggs

Today is sunny and warm. I told myself that I would clean out my garage today.  I even told my husband that I would clean out the garage today. And let me tell you, I have every intention of cleaning out my garage today. The only problem is that I just made this yummy food for lunch and I needed to share it ASAP.
 I was making the kids ramen for lunch...(I know its awful, but every now and then we have to indulge) and decided I wanted to try to make soft boiled eggs to go with it. So after a quick 40 min study session on Pinterest, I felt like I had read enough people's methods to try it out myself.
A lot of posts made it sound really hard to get the eggs the right consistency, but I didn't find it too hard. So I either got lucky on my first try, or its just pretty darn simple.
These taste SO good. Something about a firm egg white with a soft yolk is just heavenly.

 

Soft Boiled Eggs:

Bring about 1 inch of water to a boil in the smallest pan that will comfortably fit your eggs.

Place the eggs in the pan and then immediately cover them. 

Cook them for exactly 7 min. (Be ready as soon as your timer goes off, you don't want to overcook them)

Dump off the water, add cold water to the pan and then let them sit for ahout 5 min.

Peel and enjoy! 

I sprinkled a bit of salt and freshly ground black pepper on them and they were divine! 

Simple Granola

I love me some granola. Only problem is that it is PRICEY. And, since were being honest about the price of granola, whats up with the tiny little boxes it comes in? I mean, seriously, if i'm going to spend half my grocery budget on some yummy granola, I at least want a good amount. I have also tried buying it in the bulk section. Still too pricey for me.

This recipe is not only inexpensive, but it comes together easily and tastes wonderful. Its really hard to mess up. You can fiddle with the ingredients quite a bit and still get a good, healthy~ish granola that tastes good.

 

 Simple Granola

3 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup Sweetened, shredded coconut

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil {I used canola oil, but you could use any oil except maybe olive}

Mix the first five ingredients in a bowl, add the oil and mix well. Next spread it out on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 325 for 30 min, stirring it every ten min.

Vegetarian Chili

Tonight North Texas is in the middle of  a COLD thunderstorm. The temperature keeps hovering right around the freezing mark. Right now we are missing the snow by about 2 degrees. Of course, I say snow...but knowing Texas it will probably just turn to ice if the temps drop any lower. A girl can dream of snow though...
Anyhow, the reason I was explaining the weather was so you knew why I made a big ole pot of delicious chili tonight. Nothing chases away the cold like chili does. We are not vegetarians, but we (mostly me) prefer a lot of our meals without meat. This chili is heavy on the beans and has plenty of chunky veggies in it, so even a meat lover will probably love this vegetarian dish.

Vegetarian Chili:

2 large carrots cut into small chunks

1 lg yellow onion diced small

1/2 cup chopped red pepper

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

2-3 cloves of garlic, pressed or chopped small

2 tbsp butter

Sauté all of the above ingredients in the butter for about 5-7 min, or until the carrots just begin to soften.

Add to the pot:

2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes

1 packet chili seasoning mix

2 14oz cans of black beans

1 14oz can of pinto beans

1 tbsp brown sugar

Simmer all ingredients on low for about an hour. 

Enjoy!