Bare As Can Be

Our fridge and pantry are currently bare as can be! Ryan and I usually hit up the grocery store on Sundays but didn’t make it there yesterday. Alas, my lunchtime options were pretty miniscule.

Good thing a peanut butter sandwich is always a fantastic standby!

The Old Standby

Today’s peanut butter sandwich included Crazy Richards chunky pb smeared on top of a Pepperidge Farm whole wheat deli flat.

On the side I had steamed broccoli sprinkled with garlic salt and Brothers-All-Natural apple crisps that I snagged from my parents’ house this weekend.

Brothers-All-Natural Apple Crisps

Monday's Lunch

Quite the random assortment of goodies, but tasty nonetheless!

Just One Second

Please take a second (literally a second) to simply click here to give a woman a free mammogram. All you have to do is click the pink button on the website and sponsors of the site will pay for women to receive free mammograms.

Receiving a regular mammogram is so important for women in the prevention and early detection of breast cancer. You may read about my mom’s journey with breast cancer here.

On the Menu

I’m pretty excited about what’s on the menu for dinner evening!

I’ll give you a hint: Ryan scored this meal for us on Saturday.

Any guesses???

Question of the Afternoon

What is your standby meal that you make when you have nothing on hand?

Odd Combo

I opened a can of garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) to use in last night’s dinner and had several servings leftover since I only ate a cup with my salmon and broccoli.

A salad seemed like the easiest way to incorporate the beans into my lunch, so I threw together leftover roasted broccoli, salmon and grape tomatoes and included several handfuls of the beans in the mix.

Salmon + Broc + Chickpeas + Grape Tomatoes

Fishy Veggies

Pink Salmon = Pretty

Simple but tasty!

Lettuce-Free Salad

Side Order

Though this salad was pretty large, I knew I’d feel unsatisfied after lunch if I didn’t include a side of something sweet.

With another cup of garbanzo beans remaining in the can, I decided to toss them in cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and roast them for 25 minutes last night. Inspired by Angela, I topped the cinnamon-roasted beans with Crazy Richards chunky peanut butter and stirred the beans and pb until every last chickpea was covered in the creamy nuttiness.

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Chick Peas

I then popped the cinnamon and peanut butter-covered chickpeas in the fridge overnight and by lunchtime rolled around today, I had a cold, sweet and nutty treat!

"So Check Me Out"

Odd combo? Sure. Tasty combo? Definitely.

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 1 c. canned chickpeas
• 1 tbsp. peanut butter
• Cinnamon & pumpkin pie spice to taste

Directions:

• Toss chickpeas with cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice until fully coated
• Roast chickpeas on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray for 15 – 25 minutes at 375 degrees
• Remove chickpeas from the oven and place them in a bowl
• Top the chickpeas with the peanut butter and stir until the peanut butter covers all of the cinnamon-roasted chickpeas
• Enjoy hot or refrigerate for a cold treat
• (Note: You may want to add honey or maple syrup to the peanut butter before tossing if you desire a sweeter taste, though I thought it was delicious without any sweeter.)

I’ve successfully included peanut butter in both my breakfast and lunch so far today… Let’s see if dinner can complete the trifecta!

Pumpkin Pie Protein Smoothie

I am so happy that pumpkin found its way back into my life.

During my BodyPump class this morning, I was daydreaming about a pumpkin-filled breakfast. At first I figured I would make pumpkin protein pancakes, but after taking Sadie on a 40 minute walk in the sweltering heat (record high temps in Florida this week!), I wanted something cold.

I decided to play around with the pumpkin a bit in an attempt to make a protein-packed smoothie.

The result? A pumpkin pie protein smoothie!

Blended

Into the blender went:

• 1/3 c. canned pumpkin
• 1 scoop All the Whey cup cake batter protein powder (you can substitute with vanilla protein powder)
• 1 frozen banana
• 5 ice cubes
• 1/2 c. water
• 1.5 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Pour Me Some Mo'

Sprinkled with Spice

Just a Spoonful of Pumpkin Makes the Smoothie Go Doooown

Not to toot my own horn (toot, toot!), but this was pretty fantastic. A little out of season, sure, but still flippin’ phenomenal.

Drink Up Buttercup!

And just because I had a craving for peanut butter (as usual), I also enjoyed a piece of honey wheat bread smeared with Crazy Richards crunchy pb.

Crazy for Peanut Butter

I’m full. 😀

Taking Classes for Fun

As I posted last night, Ryan is in the middle of a three-day class to obtain his motorcycle license. He has no intent to buy a bike (I hope!), but he’s taking the class for fun to learn a new skill and experience something new.

I love learning new things and honestly miss school. I don’t miss studying or boring lectures, but I do miss the engaging classes that would make me think and challenge me.

Continuing education can be expensive, but there are some adult-education classes out there that I would love to take in the future.

Classes I’d like to take include:

• Photography
• Cake-decorating
• Nutrition
• Creating and maintaining a web site
• Healthy cooking
• Exercise science
• Photoshop (for beginners!)

If you could take a class for fun, what class would you like to take?

A Most Fitting Giveaway

As I was roasting eggplant for our dinner last night, I made sure to reserve some of the roasted vegetable for my lunch today.

Eggplant + Marinara

My mid-day meal included the eggplant in a noodle bowl  featuring Carba Nada egg fettuccine with marinara sauce and fresh spinach.

Noodle Bowl

Thursday's Lunch!

I used to eat noodle bowls several times a week… What happened? I love these guys! I think they may be making a comeback soon…

Krema & Crazy Richards Peanut Butter Giveaway

Could there be a more appropriate giveaway for this blog???

As demonstrated by the multiple peanut butter fingers of Krema peanut butter I enjoyed this morning, I am quite a fan of Krema and Crazy Richards peanut butter. Both varieties are all-natural with only one ingredient: peanuts!

Exhibit A

Sch-weet, huh?

Not only are these peanut butters good by the spoonful (or fingerful 😉 ) but I’ve also used them in smoothies, sandwiches, and peanut butter stuffed French toast with tasty results.

Now it’s your turn to enjoy your own peanut butter fingers full of this creamy goodness!

The wonderful people at Krema/Crazy Richards Peanut Butter Company have agreed to send three winners a jar of creamy peanut butter and a jar of crunchy peanut butter. Two jars! Woohoo!

To enter this giveaway, please comment telling me about your favorite way to enjoy peanut butter.

(And yes, in a Reese’s peanut butter cup is an acceptable answer. 😉 )

Using Random.org, I will randomly select three winners tomorrow afternoon.

Peanut Butter Stuffed French Toast

I woke up this morning to a bug-eyed dog, wagging her tail and breathing heavily in my face. After one big doggie kiss, I bounded out of bead to make a breakfast I thought of as I was falling asleep last night.

Apparently food is the first and last thing on my mind… 😉

French toast may be my favorite breakfast food. When it’s stuffed with sweet treats like bananas or candied pecans, it’s all the better.

Last night as I was going to sleep, I thought about combining my beloved peanut butter with French toast.

This morning, I began by creating a sweet peanut butter filling by combining two tablespoons of Crazy Richard’s natural creamy peanut butter with 10 grams of powdered sugar.

PB + Powdered Sugar

I spread the peanut butter sugar combination on two slices of honey wheat bread and dipped the sandwich in a mixture of Almond Breeze almond milk and egg.

Once the French toast was cooked, I sprinkled it with cinnamon and powdered sugar before topping it with syrup.

A Dusting of Cinnamon and Powdered Sugar

Syrup Sweetness

The creamy peanut butter mixture held its own against the cinnamon and egg flavors.

Peanut Butter Stuffed French Toast

Sunday Morning Breakfast

What a great way to start a Sunday.

I’m off to change for church!

What is your favorite Sunday morning breakfast?