PB for Every Meal

(yes, I did already take a bite out of the pancake in the background!)

I've been going through more peanut butter than ever lately (apple slices topped with PB has become a very common lunch for me) and I've managed to find a way to work it into almost every meal of the day. Starting with breakfast, I made some GF apple buckwheat pancakes that I topped with some melty, gooey peanut butter and a tiny drizzle of maple syrup. The pancakes were alright, but not great- I'd prefer them to be fluffier. I definitely need to work on the recipe before I share it. I loved how the peanut butter melted on top of them, though. And maple syrup is always necessary in my book, so the concept of this breakfast was great, I just need to work on the pancakes themselves.

This meal was a TOTAL success! For dinner, I whipped up my adaptation of a recipe for Spicy Peanut Spinach I received in an email from the VegNews Recipe Club and it couldn't have been easier. After devouring half of it over some brown rice (even though it serves 4), I packed up the rest for my mom to take to work with her the next day for lunch. Around noon, I got a call from her telling me how much she loved it! In fact, my mom is going to go pick up some more spinach from the store this weekend so I can make it again next week. Since I adapted the recipe a bit and am just soooo happy with this dish, I'll share the recipe:

(Sort of) Spicy Peanut Spinach:

1 T. oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. red pepper flakes
1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
4 c. baby spinach/regular spinach, chopped
1/4 c. salted peanut butter
1/4 c .peanut, chopped

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and add the onion, salt, and red pepper flakes. Saute until soft, about 5 min. Stir in tomatoes and spinach and cook until wilted. Stir in peanut butter and cook another 1-2 min. Serve over rice and top with peanuts.

The same day that I gave the peanut spinach to my mom for her lunch, I also sent some mini gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate peanut butter frosting (that's a mouthful!) with her to share with her co-workers. Needless to say, they were a hit! I used the chocolate gluten-freedom cupcake recipe, subbing Bob's Red Mill GF All-Purpose mix for the quinoa flower, and the peanut butter frosting recipe (both from VCTOTW), subbing Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful for the regular peanut butter and omitting the vanilla extract. I think my new baking obsession is mini cupcakes and muffins. They are bite-sized and great for snacking!