Peanut Butter Lovin.

Happy Wednesday everyone! We’re halfway through the week people!! It’s also sunny outside – So it’s a great humpday to say the least.

First off I’d like to thank you all for the comments on Mondays Bridal Shower/French Toast post! I would love to open up my own wedding/event planning company but have no idea where to even start. One day!!

Yesterday was rainy so the girls and I went to go see Hop! For those of you who don’t keep up with children’s entertainment, it’s a movie about the easter bunny. It was cute – but it was no tangled 🙂

She ate an entire medium bag of popcorn at the movie theaters. She weighs 23 pounds. HOW is this possible!? Jealous…

Recently I gave myself a budget for grocery shopping. I noticed that some weeks I was spending around $200 for myself. Whoopsies… I’ve decided to give myself $75 a week to eat EVERY meal. This includes breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner & dessert (duh) for the 7 days… I headed off to trader joe’s and was able to do just that. Crab meat, fresh fish, ground turkey and tons of veggies/fruit for 75 dollars total! I didn’t buy one thing that wasn’t on my list and I planned out every single meal ahead of time. Is that weird? Do people not do that? Someone said i was insane for doing such a thing. It keeps me on track so I’m sticking with it. I am going to keep a tab for Weekly Meals at the top –  so if you are looking to eat on a budget that’s where you can find some ideas!

While at the grocery store I found the BEST invention ever for a dessert lover like me… Guilt free ice cream. It even tastes good! Like, really REALLY good.

150 calories total in the PINT. 34 calories per serving! So basically i would be allowed to eat the entire pint in one sitting. But, I wont. Or will I? It’s halfway gone on day 2 though! Thank you arctic zero. You are my hero.

I made another chia seed pudding yesterday – Peanut Butter! Peanut Butter flavor never ever fails. Plus its amazing how this:

Turns into this:

If you’ve never made Chia Seed Pudding…Now is your time.

Peanut Butter Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp of Chia seeds
• 1 tsp of Peanut Flour
• 1 tsp of stevia baking blend
• 12 drops of NuNaturals Vanilla
• 3/4 cup of Unsweetened soy milk (add more for desired consistency)

Directions

• Stir everything together.
• Let sit for at least 20 minutes.
• Add more soy milk if desired.
• Leave overnight for even thicker consistency

My new go to breakfast.

Can you guess what else I made? I bet you couldn’t have guessed it included Peanut Butter right? I’m sure you’re familiar with Peanut Butter & Company’s amazing flavors, White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Honey to name a few. Since I’m on this whole new “budget” kick I decided to make some of my own. Cinnamon Raisin swirl!

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Peanut Butter

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups lightly salted peanuts
• 1 Tbsp Agave Nectar
• 1 tbsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped raisins

Directions

• Add peanuts to food processor. Process until smooth
• Add remaining ingredients
• Process until blended
• Dip fingers in repeatedly to make sure it’s just right 🙂
• Store in an airtight container

Spoonful number 8.

Who knew something that tasted SO good could be made SO inexpensively? I’m spreading this on everything and taking multiple finger scoops out of the container until its gone. This should last me about 4 days…at most.

After kickboxing today and whining about my achy feet, I decided to buy some new running shoes…Ugh, $200 later. Of course I would pick the most expensive pair in the store.

I’ve never ran in Brooks… Anybody else like em? love em? think they’re worth the money? I’m sure they were a good investment.

I also got a dress for a wedding I’m attending in a couple of weeks. I ordered it online and it wont be here until 2 days before the wedding… Nothing like cutting it close!!

I love it 🙂

In clumsiness news… I somehow managed to fall on my back in boot camp again last night… Only me I tell ya, only me.

Tomorrow I plan on breaking in this…

Healthy baked doughnuts anyone!? Don’t mind if I do…

I also fell in love at the mall today. Williams – Sonoma really knows how to make me drool.

If I didn’t already spend ALL of my money at Whole Foods I would totally spend it here!

Off to bed so I can break in the new running shoes before work tomorrow!

QUESTIONS: What kind of running shoes do you wear? Have you ever had Arctic Zero ice cream? What store is your favorite at the mall!?

Feeling kinda snacky (sunday)…

I always have weird eating habits on Sunday… But not today! I’m sticking with my March Goals so far, so good!

• I went to the gym 7 times during the week…my goal was 5!
• To not overindulge on weekends and stick to my weekly routine – CHECK!
• Get more than 5 hours of sleep a night – Averaging 8!
• Set a weekly budget and stick to my list – A+.

This weekend I was able to squeeze a zumba, body pump and killer spin class in – i just love me some weekend workouts! During the week I always go after work but morning workouts always make me feel more accomplished and energized.

I made a “menu” for myself for the week that included 3 meals, a snack & dessert (can’t go without it!) each day – I jotted down my grocery list, headed to Trader Joe’s and actually stuck to it without buying one extra item! I’m so proud of myself… The best part about it? I got all of these organic goodies:

for $34… I can’t remember the last time I only spent $34 at the grocery store! I have a lot of yummy recipes for the week planned so I’m ready for Monday to start. Whoa, did I just say that? This will probably be the first and last time you hear me say those words in a sentence together.

I have some news for you…

The good news is – I’m loving the honey scented blueberry muffins i made on Friday…

The bad news is I’m eating them like I’m never going to see them again…

The good news is they are only 100 calories 🙂 But, the bad news is I’ve been dousing them in my new favorite Peanut Butter.

I just keep telling myself it’s OK it’s a protein… AND its national peanut butter month so it’s only right that I support it 😉

The good news is I made some seriously good hummus for the week to snack on.

Spinach and Artichoke Hummus! This was my first homemade hummus and it turned out ah.maze.ing. Sorry whole foods, you won’t be collecting 6.00 a container from me anymore 🙂 The bad news is, I forgot this was a weekday snack and almost finished it off by myself TODAY. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was feeling snacky!

The good news is, while I was gawking I found a recipe that caught my eye so I also made some Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars for a healthy easy treat while were on vacation.

The bad news is I just couldn’t help but drizzle chocolate all over them.

You’re right, that’s not bad news… But it would’ve been awesome news if I would’ve opened the dark chocolate bar instead of the milk! Don’t feel sorry for me… They were still delicious – they had peanut butter AND chocolate, how could they not be?

The bad news is I was still feeling snacky – so I turned it into good news and whipped up some s’mores cookies “to take to work” tomorrow. Or, at least that’s what I told myself.

I won’t tell you how many or if i even have any of these left…

But the good news is… I’m going to share all 3 recipes with you, right here, right now.

Spinach and Artichoke Hummus

Ingredients

• 1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 can of artichoke hearts, quartered
• 2 Tbsp. tahini
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup Olive Oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• sea salt and pepper, to taste
• a sprinkle of parmesan cheese to make it a little more like the dip.

Directions

• Combine all ingredients in food processor until smooth.

OOO…AHHH….  Choose your dipping weapon of choice. I chose gluten-free unsalted pretzels. I enjoy them more than the Whole Wheat ones but they can get pricey – Maybe next I’ll make my own pretzels?!

Next up on Snacky Sunday:

Peanut Butter Pretzel Granola Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
• 1/2 cup pretzels (I chose gluten-free)
• 4 bananas, mashed
• 2 cups of old-fashioned oats
• dried fruit, chocolate chips, chocolate, coconut etc (optional)

Directions

 

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, line a 13×9 pan with parchment paper
• Mash bananas
• Add peanut butter to bananas and heat in microwave until combined
• Add oats and peanuts, mix well.
• Fold in pretzels
• Spread mixture in lined pan and bake for 20 minutes or until top is browned
• Let cool and cut into 12 squares
• Drizzle with chocolate if you love it as much as me

These remind me of a cookie mixed with a granola bar. They are also pretty big in size so its perfect for breakfast on the go!

Last but not least…

 

S’mores Cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 2 chocolate bars, chopped

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Combine the butter and sugars until fluffy.
• Mix in egg and vanilla until combined.
• Add the flour, graham crackers, salt, and baking soda, and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

IMPORTANT STEP: Eat a spoonful of cookie dough

• Drop by rounded tablespoon onto cookie sheets
• Bake for 8 minutes, and remove from the oven.
• Push 3 to 4 marshmallows and a few pieces of the chocolate bar into each cookies.
• Return to the oven and bake an additional 3-4 minutes until fully cooked. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

The marshmallow, graham crackers and chocolate combo is really trying hard to steal the number one spot in my heart(clearly chocolate + peanut butter is #1)… I’ve got to admit, these cookies MIGHT have me switch over. If you make these, make sure you get the colored marshmallows…They’re more fun 🙂

Hi ho, Hi ho…Back to work I go. Happy Monday 🙂

QUESTIONS: What good news do you have to share? What is your favorite combination of food?