peanut flour pb cookies

It seems that I'm now a chef....or just lame & I haven't done anything cool in a few days. Either way I have a new yummy recipe I tested out today.

First I'd like to introduce my new favorite product. Peanut Flour (angels singing in the distance)

This super flour has 16g of protein & 4g of fat per serving, plus it's gluten free! You can also re-constitute the flour with a little water & salt to make peanut butter. I'm sure adding a little oil would make it even better (it will obviously add more fat though)

I was having the sister missionaries over for dinner & I needed a good dessert recipe.  I really wanted to use my new flour! Luckily there was a recipe right on the package!

I'm not much of a sweets/cookie person but these were really good! (of course they were, they have peanut butter in them)

I've always liked how peanut butter cookies have the fork marks. Who came up with that?

Triple Peanut Butter Cookies:

1 1/4 c. brown sugar

1 c. peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)

2 eggs

1 c. protein plus peanut flour

1/4 c. chopped roasted peanuts

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

1/8 tsp. salt

heat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, beat together brown sugar & peanut butter with a wooden spoon. Beat in 1 egg at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in peanut flour, peanuts, baking soda, vanilla, & salt. 

Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place balls two inches apart on a cookie or baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil. Use a fork to make criss-cross marks on tops of cookies & to flatten to about 1/2-inch thickness. Bake 10 minutes or until cookies are just set. Transfer cookies (still on parchment or foil) to a wire rack; cool completely. (Cookies will firm up upon cooling.)

Optional add-ins: if desired, stir 1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips, &/or golden raisins or dried cranberries into the dough. 

There are lots more yummy recipes to use this delicious flour with, just go to proteinplusflour.com

peace+blessings

concert at cannonsburgh

Every 3rd Friday Cannonsburgh Village holds their Friday Night Concert Series. Last night featured Emily Burk (I can't find her music online) & her two side-kicks/guitarists. She was all country, twang & all. Listening to live music is great. It was the perfect end to my day, it was a little chilly & the rain was trickling. The sun was setting & It was so nice to relax & listen. I have been really spoiled in Nashville this summer, with all the talent that is openly shared here.

(this is what happens when you don't bring your camera, bluuuuuuurrry)

These two little kids were running around playing the whole time. They were adorable! Oh to be a kid & have that much energy...I wish!

Cannonsburgh Village also does tours of all the log homes that are there. When I go I'll be sure to share, but if you ever happen to pass through, it's a good place to stop, walk around & stretch your legs.

peace+blessings

scenes [7.18.14]

I talk a lot about paying attention to the world around me. I try to see the small, beautiful things that pass me by so often; the detail in plants & animals & how they all work together for this world to exist. It's perfect. To help me remember & to let you see through my eyes, I've decided to do a few post's/week of the things I see throughout the day. There are only a few, but I'll get better about capturing my moments instead of hogging them all to myself :)

I'm a bit of a scavenger/collector & when I find pretty things I like to save them on pages of my many notebooks (i'm a notebook fiend). The other day walking home from the gym I found this pretty feather lying on the ground, so I scooped it up & brought it home with me. Flower pressing is another thing I love. There are a million different varieties & none of them are quite the same, just like us.

Yesterday was a rainy one (as well as today) as I got in the car I was looking at the rain on the windshield & how the light was casting beautiful shadows through the drops.

One of my favorite past times is making bracelets. I have bags & bags of embroidery floss. I always have wrists stacked with bracelets. It's kind of my trade-mark, I guess. I love coming up with different designs & color combos.

This is a scene from the Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro. The sun was setting & it was sprinkling, I was trying to imagine what it would be like to have lived in this village back in the day.

Feel free to start them up yourself!! I'd love to see what things are beautiful in your eyes! Thanks for reading :)

peace+blessings

cucumber salsa recipe

Well it looks like I've become quite the chef the past few days. 2 recipes in one week, that's a record. Chips + salsa are one of my many favorite foods. Occasionally I like to switch up the usual, but still fabulous, "tomato" salsa for something with different flavors but the same effect. I found this recipe last summer while searching around on...yup, pinterest. It drew me in because I'd never thought to put cucumbers in my salsa. 

Last night was our ward Relief Society activity for July 7& since it's summer we did a BBQ. I had no problem deciding what to bring....chips + salsa every time, BUT what kind? I hadn't made this salsa for a while so I went with it. Here we go:

Cucumber Salsa: [yield roughly 3 c.]

2 c. finely chopped, seeded, peeled cucumber

1/2 c. finely chopped seeded tomato

1/4 c. chopped red onion

2 T. minced fresh parsley

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded & chopped

4 1/2 t. minced fresh cilantro

1 garlic clove minced, or pressed

1/4 c. light sour cream [I use So Delicious Plain Greek Almond Yogurt to make it dairy free]

1- 1/2 t. lemon juice

1-1/2 t. lime juice

1/4 t. ground cumin

1/4 t. season salt

chips for dipping'

-combine the first 7 ingredients. In separate bowl combine sour cream (or plain yogurt), lemon juice, lime juice, cumin, & salt. Pour over cucumber mixture & toss to coat. Enjoy.

First peel the cucumbers. This is literally THE best peeler out there. If you don't have one, you need one. Seriously. Don't argue.

I doubled my batch since I was taking it to a gathering & I know there are other salsa pigs out there like me.  

I sliced them up like so.

Then I made a cucumber castle.

& took a watermelon snack break.






































I used a lid to remove the cores out of the cucumbers. If you don't take out the core the salsa will be very watery.

then dice it up & throw it in a bowl

Next cube the tomatoes. I used 5 [i'm very bad at following recipes, I use the "eye-ball method' for measurements]

dice the onion.

chop the parsley & cilantro

add & stir.

add cumin, lemon & lime juice, garlic, & sour cream together in separate bowl.

 

stir, consume.

Some wonderful sister knew exactly what I like & brought some tropical fruit to the party for me to devour. It was nice getting to know more of the other ladies in the ward. They're all very sweet & so friendly. I encourage everyone to meet a new person today, or get to know an acquaintance better. Making new friends is amazing, we never know how they can help us or we can help them!

I hope you try this salsa variant, then let me know what you think! 

Have a great day!

peace n' blessings

my trip to stones river national battlefield

Saturday after my yoga class I decided to go on a little adventure before I headed back home. I've passed the sign to the Stones River National Battlefield several times this summer & I've always wanted to go but it was always at a bad time. I passed it again on my way out of yoga & thought "now is the perfect time!". I drove down the road to the battlefield, which is long & weaves through a field, into some trees & then pops out to the museum/visitor center.

I made it half way through the visitor center & a gentleman informed me that there was going to be a tour of the cemetery shortly. I really did come at the perfect time! I got to go with a small group of people on a little guided tour of the cemetery. Our tour guide was very insightful & seemed to really love the history of Stones River & other American War stuff.

He told us that more than 81,000 soldiers fought at Stones River, & 23,000 were killed, wounded, or captured. The men fought from Dec 31 1862-Jan 2 1862. Yikes, that's so many people! They were all moved & buried in this one cemetery on the outer edge of the battlefield.

When the tour was over I went & took a picture of this giant old tree, that they think might be a "witness tree" since it's so much bigger than the rest of the trees. I finished looking around at the museum & watched a short film on a journal entry of one of the soldiers. Then I went & picked out a couple postcards, one for my collection, & one for my dad. When I was little & my dad would go out of town he would send us back a postcard of where he was, so now I do the same for him!

I wish no one ever had to die for peace. Unfortunately it never seems to work like that. I'm not too keen on American History (it bores me to death) I'm more of an ancient history buff, but I'm glad I got to walk back into the past & get to know a couple of the brave men who fought for the rights we have today.

chocolate pancakes + vanilla syrup [a peterson family original]

My husband's family are big fans of breakfast. Every morning Julie, my mother-in-law, makes breakfast for the family, usually it's pancakes. She has done that for years, which is a giant task considering they have 12 kids. Half of them are married now, but that still leaves 6 kids plus my in-laws. If you do the math, I'll help you....6+2=.......8. Thats 8 mouths to feed. Which is probably at least 2 batches of this recipe!

I'd say a good chunk of the town have had these pancakes or other varieties of them.

Julie's Famous Chocolate Pancakes + Vanilla Syrup:

Vanilla Syrup (make first & set aside)

2 c. sugar

2 T. clear gel (only found online) or cornstarch

1 stick of butter

2 c. milk

1 t. vanilla

Combine sugar & clear gel in bowl. Melt butter in sauce pan, once melted add milk & bring to a boil. Add sugar/clear gel mixture, stir until combined. Whisk in vanilla. 

Chocolate Pancakes

2 c. flour

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1 T. sugar

1 t. salt

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

as much milk as you want until it's the consistency you want!

3/4 c. cocoa powder

mix the first 6 ingredients (flour, soda, sugar, salt, egg, & vanilla), then start adding the milk

add milk until its the consistency you want ( keep your milk out, you're going to need more)

Then start to add the cocoa a little at a time unless you want to inhale a cloud of it. Not to mention it's easier to stir in that way. 

 Once the cocoa is all stirred in, add more milk until it's back to pancake consistency.

Heat up the pan & start making the pancakes as big or small as you want. (don't make fun of the scoop, I didn't bring any measuring cups this summer because I do not bake, that's Brady's thing, so we improvised)

I'm a fan of turkey bacon, so while Brady was making the pancakes I made the bacon!! 

eat them hot & right out of the pan, drenched in Vanilla Syrup. Brady likes to spread peanut butter on his before he drowns them with syrup. I tried it, but I liked them w/o the pb. SO dress your delicious pancake however you please. 

• bananas
• strawberries/any berry
• nutella
• jam
• (according to Brady) I'm gross & I like to drag mine through my over-easy egg yolk!

I'm severely lactose intolerant/corn intolerant so we subbed almond milk for the milk in the pancakes & I use pure maple syrup for my syrup instead! Also if you're not in the mood for chocolate pancakes just omit the cocoa powder. My mom-in-law also makes Pumpkin Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup for Thanksgiving, but you'll have to wait till then for those.....

How do you dress your pancakes??