A tad delayed, but... St. Pat's Day Goodies

While the well celebrated holiday of St. Patrick's Day has come and gone, I did want to take a moment to share the goodies that started (and sustained us) throughout the day. Many cities are known for all day festivities on this day (or the Saturday before if it happens to fall mid-week, as it did this year). However, I'm not sure I would have thought Pittsburgh to pass the St. Pat's Day test with flying colors (well, mostly green). But, it...AGAIN...did the trick. From early morning green pancakes and brews, to Primanti's Sammies for a second breakfast, to snacking on tasty protein bars (while sipping on more green brews), wandering around market square and various pub type locations, and ending with yet a few more... brews... the day was filled with tons o' friends and fun.

We started the day with some delicious buttermilk pancakes to get the stomachs ready for the day ahead. But of course, what's a St. Pat's Day pancake without being green? Or, green M&M's? Standard pancake recipe, using green food coloring for half the 'cakes and green M&M's in the 'normal' colored other half. Tasty and fun to eat!

With the pancakes down and lots of walking, talking, bouncing around, and the need for more energy throughout this marathon of a day... what better than some protein bars? Throwing in some strawberry granola, oats, vanilla whey protein, honey, cinnamon, dash of nutmeg and of course the peanut butter created the top and bottom layers of this bar. The middle layer consisted of low fat cream cheese. We put these together the night before, as it does require time in the freezer to set. Let sit out for a bit and they are good to go! Another delicious treat for the entire group (although it was brought to my attention that I consumed a large amount of what we brought along).

Another St. Patrick's Day in the books and some tasty treats to round out the experience.

The Peanut Butter Po' Boy - Giving it a Go

My first official culinary blogging adventure was worth the wait, and also the extra few bucks I dropped at the grocery store to make it all happen. The Great Peanut Butter Exhibition - Sandwich was the perfect opportunity to get me going with "The Peanut in my Butter", by combining my two favorite things; peanut butter and sammies. Now, to the sandwich.

As I walked to work on a cool Pittsburgh morning this past week, my mind wandered to what creative level I could reach given my monetary constraints (in these tough economic times, of course). Well, it hit me. What better than a po' boy, the ultimate simple and tasty sammy of the south (N'O-leans really). So I set out to re-create something similar including the mandatory peanut buttery deliciousness.

Peanut Buttter Po' Boy

Makes 4 sandwiches

The "Meat"

French Baguette (cut into 4, approx. 4 inches in length)

Chunky Peanut Butter (I used Smucker's All Natural)

Graham Crakers (4 sheets, crushed)

1 Egg, beaten

1/2 Cup Flour

Tbsp Cajun Seasoning

2 Tbsp Cinnamon

"Remoulade" Sauce

4 Ounces Cream Cheese

1 1/2 Tbsp. Nutella

1/2 Tbsp. Powdered Sugar

The "Dressings"

1 Banana

Raspberry Spread

Fluff

A traditional po' boy is made using a french baguette, some type of fried component (shrimp, fish, etc.) and often includes a remoulade sauce. Dressings (lettuce, tomato, onion) are available upon request, so I modeled my sammy the same.

Putting it together:

Using a 1/2 tablespoon for measure, create balls of chunky peanut butter (approx. 4 per sandwich), throw in the freezer while preparing the other elements of the dish. Create the 'remoulade' by combining cream cheese (at room temperature), nutella and powdered sugar. Set aside. Prepare any "dressings" that may be desired. I used banana (cut into small strips), a raspberry sauce (using a thinned out spread) and a bit of marshmellow fluff.

Now, to the good part. Take those peanut butter balls out of the freezer (make sure they are nice and solid). Roll each ball individually into the flour mixture (flour, cajun seasoning and cinnamon), then coat very lightly with egg and finish by rolling the ball in the crushed graham cracker. Complete all the peanut butter balls and throw back into the freezer to re-set (about 15 minutes). After they have become solid, drop each ball into peanut oil for 7-10 seconds, remove and place on paper towel. **This part of the process can be replaced by simply coating cool peanut butter balls in the graham cracker crust. Therefore, no frying (and the extra time) is necessary. You will get a similar effect. Minus the cajun kick.**

Now, just halve the mini french baguette. Spread on the 'remoulade' on the top portion. Place 3-4 peanut butter balls on the bottom half. Add dressings as desired! SOOO GOOD! This was the perfect lunch on a warm Saturday afternoon. The sandwiches, and variations of such, were consumed quickly by the roommate and my trusty taste-tester. Four thumbs up!

The Beginning and Profession of PB Love

.. admitting it is half the battle. Yes, I, have a peanut butter addiction. As this is the very first post on my very first blog of, what hopefully becomes many posts, I found a compulsion to admit why I'm here and display the culprit. My pb collection has grown high and wide (and thankfully not my physique-too too much :) ), and I have thrown up a sample of what's in the pantry. I must also admit I have 7 jars of various delicious flavors coming soon from my favorite pb company, PB Loco. Not bad for a kid trying to pinch pennies (thank you PB Loco promotion!).

While my peanut butter obsession began at an early age, it has grown recently with the steps I'm making in my quest for a super fit body and healthy lifestyle. Yes, pb is also a MUST HAVE health food. Healthy fats are key and don't let anyone tell you pb should be left off the list when eating right (along with a quality exercise program). In any event, keeping an extremely clean diet all week has led to some experimenting on my carb up days. AKA...eating a variety of carb heavy foods...which have included some sweets along the way. Nutrition nuts no worries, everything done the 'right way' and within moderation (don't we all love that word). So here I am now, after spending the last 2 months scouring the internet and an insane amount of blogs, I have decided to do the same. My recipes, concoctions, successful and failed attempts will probably be amusing at times. But, I hope to learn a great deal and churn out some tasty sweet and savory dishes.

To get my toes wet (slowly) I plan to enter The Great Peanut Butter Exhibition - Sandwich, which I stumbled upon on Peanut Butter Boy's site. So, time for me to get to work (with my 'butta' doing most of the taste testing) and prepare something worthy of my first little contest and the kick in the pants that got me blogging!