Early Preparation and Late Night Experimenting

A few months ago on a Saturday night (okay more like over a year ago at this point), I sat with my knees to my chest, painstakingly thinking of something to do.

The Boy and I had gone around all day visiting different gyms. A nearby MMA (mixed martial arts) gym, a karate studio, and the YMCA down the road. While I MUCH prefer the MMA and karate studios, due to lack of funds at that moment, I stuck with the YMCA. However, I don’t mind much. I figured I’d just workout, build up muscle, strengthen my cardio, and then when I am able to join karate again I’ll be even better than I would be then.

(I sort of have this slight competitive streak…)

During one testing for a new level of black belt, a requirement was 50 push-ups. Now, I have terrible upper arm strength in the first place, and the rule of no modified push-ups didn’t help. However, my mom told me “Oh Hannah, don’t worry about it. You know most of those boys can’t make 50 either.”

You’d think that would help right? Calm me down a bit?

The fire only burned harder. Why join the boys when you can beat them? My goal no longer became to make 50, but just to be better than the boys (as it was most of the time, since in our age group I was just about the only girl).

For your information, no I did not make my 50, and by far, I did not beat the boys.

Now I’m at a rock climbing gym and completely obsessed with it.

Anyways, after our gym extravaganza, my mother and I went shopping for a few last Christmas gifts. Lucky me scored a couple more baking pans!

Between the gyms and the shopping, my brain had been set to active. It was like a Jell-O; it refused to sit completely still. I had to do something. Of course I thought of food.

The local grocery store doesn’t close till midnight on every day except Sunday’s, when it closes at 9.

On this particular Saturday it was about 10:30pm and it comforted me to know that if I wanted, I could fulfill my wish of walking the isles of food, food, and more food. Though, as relaxing as looking at and planning vacations can be, this time, I much rather wished to actually escape my world into the joy of food for a bit, instead of just staring at all the tasty dishes I could one day possibly cook.

So by 11:20ish, I’d made my decision to experiment.

I justified the oddity by creating a dish I could eat for dinner the next night.

In the end, this is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

- Tri-colored pasta (I don’t know how much, I measured with a small bowl, but basically as much as you want to eat)

- 2 celery stalks, chopped in half and sliced thin

- Baby corn

- A small spoonful of natural peanut butter

- A small spoonful of natural almond butter

- 1 tablespoon of PB2 powered peanut butter

- 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce (plus a splash more for the sauce)

- Water, as needed

 

Directions:

- Cook pasta as directed, but do not overcook, then drain and set aside.

- Place celery and baby corn in a saucepot, pour enough water to steam them. Add 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce. Cover until veggies are tender. Remove from pot and set aside.

- Mix peanut butter and almond butter in a bowl, add the mixture, a splash of soy sauce, PB2, and enough water so sauce can form and peanut butter doesn’t burn. I eyeballed it, if I had to guess I’d say somewhere between 1/2 to a cup, added as needed.

- Once the mixture has become a bit liquefied but still thickening, add in pasta and veggies. Stir to coat.

- You can either eat as is, or (as I did) place it in an airtight container, store overnight, and eat it cold. The taste and texture will change, but it is still just as delicious.

This whole, cooking the night before, has become a sort of ritual for me. I love cooking the night before now. It makes the next day so much less stressful to know my food is nicely packed away in the fridge ready to be eaten at any moment.

This Post Should Be Titled "How Many Foods Can Hannah Describe As 'Thick'"

In light of National Peanut Butter Month, I decided to write out my top 10 Favorite Ways to Consume Peanut Butter. I could probably write more…But I would hate to bore you. Or if this is the first post of mine you’re reading, weird you out so much you choose not to come back. Hopefully, that won’t be the case.

My 10 Favorite Ways to Consume Peanut Butter:

#10 - Out of the Jar

Pure peanut butter, nothing gets in its way, nothing violates it, just peanut butter. My dessert is often one or two (or three) scoops of peanut butter. And since I often have much more than one type in the house, I have a wonderfully varied dessert.

#9 - Peanut Butter and Yogurt

I love Greek yogurt. Being lactose intolerant, it gets difficult to eat it. There are some brands that sell alternatives, however, there aren’t many stores reasonably near me that sell it. So I made my own. Using So Delicious yogurt and PB2 (powdered peanut butter) plus a vast amount of peanut butter, I’ve created (what I think) is an even better version. Leaving the mixture in the fridge for as long as possible allows it to thicken up to mimic the texture of Greek yogurt.

#8 - Oatmeal

Oatmeal is one of my first choice bases to work off of, while it has a flavor it’s not overbearing and goes with pretty much anything. Adding peanut butter helps to make it thicker (I like thick foods, haha). Oatmeal, even Old Fashioned, can have a big impact on my blood sugar, so having some protein in there helps balance things out. Plus, not only thick, the oatmeal gets gooey; gooey oatmeal is never a bad thing.

#7 - Instead of Milk

It started out with just Cheerios. It was an improvisation on dinner at work. I had planned yogurt and peanut butter, but upon opening my yogurt I found a nice blot of mold. Figured that would be bad to eat. It then spread of Honey Nut Cheerios, then an organic version. Then, one of the best choices I’ve ever made came into existence: Peanut Butter and Honey Bunches of Oats. If you follow my Twitter or Tumbler account, you realize just how obsessed I am with this dish. I use a 50/50 mix of Honey Roasted and With Almonds flavors, and then coat them in excessive amounts of peanut butter.

#6 - Peanut Butter Pasta

Peanut Butter Pasta is my version of Mac and Cheese. Don’t get grossed out, I don’t use cheese. The sauce that coats the pasta is water, peanut butter, PB2 (seriously, if you haven’t already, look it up. You need to.), and spices. I tend to like my food with flavor but hot. I add cumin, curry, red pepper, cinnamon, and sometimes a little nutmeg (minuscule amounts); besides the nutmeg, I usually add a good dosage of each. The sauce, as it cools, tightens and thickens around the pasta (again, with the thickening, what can I say?).

#5 - Between the Bread

Classic. No way to get past it. Toasted, roasted, grilled, refrigerated, or even as is. Not much else to say, honestly. It’s a sandwich, who doesn’t love a sandwich?

#4 - With Rice

Please believe me. Please, please believe me. It tastes good. It really does. Make a good batch of rice throw in just enough peanut butter to flavor and bring the rice all together but not enough to be obnoxious. Peanut butter and rice is sticky, silky, good warm or cold, and mushy. (Mushy in my book is a good thing, if a food is supposed to be mushy.) Like, not soupy mushy, but not grainy or crunchy (less you prefer crunchy peanut butter, in that case it should be crunchy).

#3 - Ants on a Log

You know how all different things can bring a person back to a memory? Well, I’m extremely sensitive to tastes. Apple juice and Pringles bring me back to sleepovers at my Grandparent’s. Ants on a Log brings me back to my childhood. I think of my mother, when she shared her favorite treats with my brother and I. Besides the way that celery’s watery, crunch and the chewy sweetness of raisins mixes heavenly with Jif peanut butter, my love for Ants on a Log is almost completely about the sensory experience.

#2 - In Sweet Potato

I thought I was weird for this one. Then I joined Tumblr. Apparently, it’s not so weird. So you should try it. Because frankly, it’s number two on this list. Which should say a lot. In sweet potato soup, sweet potato mash, just on a sweet potato, or any other way you can think of. The distinct sweet potato flavor plus the nuttiness of peanut butter…I’m sort of at a loss for words with it.

#1 - Out of the Jar

Honestly, who are we kidding? I mean, we can think up as many fancy ways to eat it as we can, but does anything really beat straight out of the jar?

Okay, there's one more. 

As I was promptly alerted, I forgot to mention one important way I love to consume peanut butter. When The Boy cooks for me!

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hannah-friendly Peanut Butter Donuts

Birthday Veggie Stir Fry with Haitian Hot Pepper Peanut Butter (with teriyaki mixed in the sauce)

Flourless Peanut Butter Muffins

I enjoy dating a cook.