I hope all is well in your neck of the woods! Today's post was prompted by my love for peanut butter.
Peanuts are not nuts at all, they are legumes, and they they originated from Brazil. The unsaturated fat content in 1oz of peanut butter per day helps reduce the risk of heart disease by 25%. It is rich in folate and niacin (vitamin B3), which helps increase the HDL (good cholesterol) level by as much as 30%. Peanuts are a very good source of dietary fiber and proteins (up to 25% of peanuts consists of proteins). Peanut butter also has a high content of Resveratrol, an antioxidant produced in some plants when attacked by pathogens like fungi and bacteria. Even larger contents of Resveratrol can be found in red grapes.
As a kid, I can remember my father putting peanut butter on just about everything. I do believe his favorite was crunchy peanut butter on pancakes topped off with blueberry syrup. Being Daddy's little girl, I had to give it a whirl! My love for peanut butter began that very moment as my Mom took a picture of me with peanut butter and blueberry syrup slathered all over my face! Yum!!
Now I am older and I still have a soft spot in the depths of my taste buds for peanut butter. I eat peanut butter-mayonnaise-banana sandwiches, peanut butter on my crackers, snack cubes of cheese, with jelly on bread and crackers, on apple slices, bananas, on waffles and in desserts of all kinds. In my opinion, the ultimate way of eating peanut butter is to spoon out a little and eat it off the spoon. I know I probably grossed you out with the pb/mayo/banana sandwich but I have to tell ya.......don't knock it until you try it! This Guinea Chick loves to eat and appreciates good food!
Peanut Butter Blossoms are my favorite cookies. They bring together two of my favorite tastes. The perfect marriage between chocolate and peanut butter, outside a Reese's, of course. Here is the recipe I grew up with!
Peanut Butter Blossoms
1 3/4c flour
1/2c sugar
1/2c brown sugar
1tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
1/2c solid shortening
1/2c peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
2tbsp milk
1tsp vanilla
1 egg
Sugar (for rolling)
1bag Hershey Kisses (unwrapped)
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together. Form into 1" balls and roll in sugar. Bake for 10 minutes. Immediately after removing from the oven, place one unwrapped Hershey Kiss in the center of the cookie ball and lightly press down. Place cookies on a cooling rack. After the cookies have cooled, dig in and don't forget to share!
Now you know my love affair with peanut butter. While writing this post, I decided to define the difference between crunchy and creamy.
~ Crunchy is crisp, hard but breakable, lively and firm
~ Creamy is soft, smooth, slick and laid back
So, my question to you is this. Are you crunchy or creamy? I'm a crunchy kind of gal!
Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave me a comment about what type of peanut butter you are. I'd love to hear from you!!
Lisa M. Rodgers
Creator-Extraordinaire
Cactus & Ivy
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