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Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes

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Let’s get the facts out of the way right off the bat.

They’re flourless.

They’re Gluten Free.

They’re delicious!

I mean, who doesn’t love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter? There’s a whole candy industry devoted to the flavor combination.

chocolate peanut butter cups raw batter

Now, I’m not saying they’re guilt-free, but they’re pretty close! Make them mini-sized and give yourself permission to have a few!

Mini Chocolate-Peanut Butter cupcakes!

They disappear as fast as I can make them. Especially in a house with 3 teenage boys (who eat me out of house-and-home on a daily basis). Just don’t tell them the secret ingredient!

MINI CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES (makes 48)

  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tbs. ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbs. water (shake and allow to sit 15 minutes)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup xylitol
  • 1/4 cup date sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks, melted
  • Peanut Butter & Company’s Bee’s Knees Peanut butter
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a mini muffin pan with mini cupcake liners.
  2. Put the beans, eggs, and flax mixture into a food processor and blend for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the xylitol, date sugar, and baking soda to the bean mixture and blend 1 minute.
  4. Add the melted chocolate to the food processor and blend until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend another 30 seconds.
  5. Use a small ice cream scoop to portion out the mixture into the muffin tin. In the middle of each cupcake place 1/2 – 1 tsp. peanut butter.
  6. Place muffin tin into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cook completely.

pb choc cooked

Hungry?

I am. And it’s a good thing I have some more batter hanging out in the refrigerator because all of the cupcakes I made yesterday (30 of them) are already gone!

Let’s get baking!

The post Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes appeared first on U Rock Girl.


Peanut Butter & Co. Giveaway!

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Most kids spend their days eating PB&J sandwiches. Not me. I was a picky kid and peanut butter just freaked me out!

Good thing I got over that! Now I love peanut butter. I love it with chocolate. I love it with bananas. I love it with chocolate and bananas!

And now you get to go bananas for some of our favorite peanut butter flavors from Peanut Butter & Co.

Health Benefits of Peanut Butter

A 2-tablespoon serving of peanut butter has 180 calories – which may seem high if you are counting your calories to lose weight (not that we recommend that) – but it also has 6 grams of protein, which will help keep you fuller for longer, so you eat less overall. Plus it’s so convenient – just slice open a banana, spread some peanut butter down the middle, close it back up, place it in a baggie and take with you to work or school.

Research shows that eating peanuts can lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that including one serving of peanuts or peanut butter (about 2 tbs.) in your diet five days a week can lower your risk of diabetes by almost 30%.

Enter to Win

PBCo_BigSix

1 lucky U Rock Girl suscriber will win a 6-pack of the peanut butter flavors featured in this week’s giveaway recipes, plus more! Entering to win is easy! All you have to do is:

  • Enter your email address to susbscribe to U Rock Girl so you can receive our yummy recipes and informative articles as they are posted
  • “Like” U Rock Girl on Facebook and then tell us your favorite way to eat peanut butter
  • “Like” Peanut Butter & Co. on Facebook

Giveaway runs December 9-13th. Winners will be announced on Facebook.

*Disclaimer: Peanut Butter & Co. provided us with product to review for this giveaway, though we were already big fans ways before that!

MINI CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES (makes 48)

pb choc cooked close up

  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tbs. ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbs. water (shake and allow to sit 15 minutes)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup xylitol
  • 1/4 cup date sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks, melted
  • Peanut Butter & Company’s Bee’s Knees Peanut butter
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a mini muffin pan with mini cupcake liners.
  2. Put the beans, eggs, and flax mixture into a food processor and blend for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the xylitol, date sugar, and baking soda to the bean mixture and blend 1 minute.
  4. Add the melted chocolate to the food processor and blend until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend another 30 seconds.
  5. Use a small ice cream scoop to portion out the mixture into the muffin tin. In the middle of each cupcake place 1/2 – 1 tsp. peanut butter.
  6. Place muffin tin into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cook completely.

pb choc cookedTry not to eat them all in one sitting!

 

The post Peanut Butter & Co. Giveaway! appeared first on U Rock Girl.

Peanut Butter & Co. Giveaway Day #2 (and another peanut butter recipe!)

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It’s Day 2 of our Peanut Butter & Co. giveaway and we’ve got another nutritious and delicious recipe to share with you. This time, we’ve tweaked a very special recipe that’s going to appear in our very-soon-to-be-released COOKBOOK! Yes, you heard that right! U Rock Girl has written a cookbook! And you get to try out one of the recipes first! (stay tuned for details on the cookbook – it will be available any day now!!!!!)

This recipe was actually developed as a collaboration between son #3 and me. We wanted to take some of our favorite ingredients – peanut butter, bananas, and french toast – and combine them all into one dish. Little did we realize at the time that this combination was made popular many years ago by a very famous rock’n roller. Do you know who I’m talking about? That’s right – the king himself – Elvis! Well, he didn’t do it french toast style, and I’ve heard that he liked bacon on his sandwiches, so that’s where the similarities end. In his honor, we call our stuffed french toast, The Hunka Hunka Burning Love!

This recipe is further enhanced by using Peanut Butter & Company’s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter. And thanks to Peanut Butter & Co., one lucky U Rock Girl subscriber will win a 6-pack of delicious peanut butter flavors. Entering to win is so easy:

  1. Subscribe to U Rock Girl so you can receive all of  our fabulous recipes and informative articles as they are posted.
  2. “Like” U Rock Girl on Facebook and leave a comment about how you love to eat your peanut butter.
  3. “Like” Peanut Butter & Co. on Facebook

PBCo_BigSix

Giveaway runs December 9-13th. Winner will be anounced on facebook.

*Disclaimer: Peanut Butter & Co. provided us with product for this review and giveaway.

Hunka Hunka Burning Love

Hunka Hunka burning love (elvis sandwich)

 

  • 1 banana, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
  • 2 slices cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread
  • 1 tablespoon Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tbs. virgin coconut oil or olive oil cooking spray
  1. Coat a small nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat until hot. Add the banana slices and cook 2 minutes, or until golden on the bottom; flip each slice over and cook another 2 minutes.
  2. While bananas are cooking, spread the peanut butter on one slice of bread.
  3. Whisk together the egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in a flat shallow bowl.
  4. Remove the banana slices and place on top of the peanut butter, making an even layer completely covering the bread. Top with the other slice of bread.
  5. Place the sandwich in the egg mixture and let soak for 2 minutes; flip and soak the other side for 2 minutes.
  6. Heat the skillet again and melt the coconut oil. When hot, add the sandwich and cook 2-3 minutes until bottom is golden; flip and cook another 2-3 minutes,  until golden. Remove from pan and place on a plate. Slice in half and enjoy!

The post Peanut Butter & Co. Giveaway Day #2 (and another peanut butter recipe!) appeared first on U Rock Girl.

Flourless, Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (Giveaway Day #3)

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I’ve been really into peanut butter lately. I don’t know if it’s the nostalgic feeling of childhood or the fact that it’s just so yummy (very technical word choice!), but adding a little bit (or a lot) of peanut butter to my recipes just hits the spot.

For a long time I was peanut butter-phobic. Back in the “fat-free” days, foods like peanut butter and other nuts and nut butters had no place in meal plans I designed for my clients or myself. Fortunately I know better now and have plenty of scientific evidence to back me up. Nuts and nut butters absolutely have a place in a clean eating world. Their blend of carb, protein, healthy fats, and fiber make them a very well-balanced food. They are heart-healthy and can help you stay fuller for longer, which will help you achieve your weight management goals. Yes, the calorie count is pretty high, with 1 tbs. of nut butter clocking in at 90 calories, so make sure to measure it out and enjoy. Most of my favorite peanut butters to use come from Peanut Butter & Co. because they use no partially hydrogenated oils and their sugar content is very low.

PB cookie with sea salt

Now that the holidays are here, it’s time to start some cookie baking. Of course I’m going to employ all my tricks to make them more nutritious and delicious than the original. One of my favorite cookies is a good, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookie, a recipe that gets rave reviews every time I make it. Bonus – you can eat the batter because there’s no raw eggs in it! And with my current PB kick that I’m on, PB cookies are for sure on the menu!

selection of PB cookies

This lead me to my recipe – flourless peanut butter cookies. I was watching Unique Sweets on the Cooking Channel the other night and the episode was all about peanut butter. They featured a flourless, vegan PB cookie and I thought, “I can do that!” Of course I made a few tweaks to their recipe. Instead of granulated sugar, I used date sugar (a new find that I am experimenting with – more recipes coming). I didn’t have plain peanut butter in the house, so I used the White Chocolate Wonderful from Peanut Butter & Co. After the first batch came out I thought, let’s jazz up the second batch with chocolate (what  pairs better with PB than chocolate?). I found some delicious chocolate truffles in the pantry, sliced them up and placed a piece in the center of the cookie. Another delicious result. The final batch I decided to crack a hint of sea salt over the top for a little sweet-n-salty combination. Mmmmm. Here’s the recipe. I hope you enjoy them.

And thanks to Peanut Butter & Co., one lucky U Rock Girl subscriber will win a 6-pack of delicious peanut butter flavors. Entering to win is easy:

1. Subscribe to U Rock Girl so you can receive all of our yummy recipes and informative nutrition, fitness, and wellness articles;

2. “Like” U Rock Girl on Facebook and tell us your favorite PB&Co. flavor;

3. “Like” Peanut Butter & Co. on Facebook

Promotion runs Decebmer 9-13th. Winner will be announced on Facebook.

*Disclaimer: U Rock Girl received products from Peanut Butter & Co. for this review and giveaway.

cookie ingredients

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

  • 1 cup all-natural peanut butter (I used White Chocolate Wonderful by Peanut Butter & Co.)
  • 3/4 c organic date sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • flax egg replacer (mix 1 tbs. ground flax seed with 3 tbs. water; stir and let sit 15 minutes)
  • sea salt
  • Dark chocolate ( I used chocolate truffle, sliced)
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat (silicon baking mat).
  2. Place peanut butter, date sugar, flax, vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt into the bowl of a stand mixer (You can also use a bowl, wooden spoon, and elbow grease!) with a paddle attachment. Start the machine on low and gradually increase the speed to incorporate all of the ingredients. Stop the mixer once, scrape down and sides and mix again for 60 seconds.
  3. Scoop out 1 tbs. of batter for each cookie and place on the baking sheet. Flatten with the palm of your hand. Press a fork down onto the surface of each cookie to make the cross-hatch pattern.
  4. Optional: add a piece of dark chocolate to the center of each cookie; or just sprinkle with a little sea salt.
  5. Place in the oven and bake for 9 minutes. Remove and let cool on sheet pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.

 

The post Flourless, Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (Giveaway Day #3) appeared first on U Rock Girl.

Candy Cane Truffles & Giveaway!

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It’s the holiday season and candy canes pretty much scream “Christmas!” But what do you do with all your candy canes? Besides hang them from your decorations or tape them to the gift (like our rockin’ breakfast cookbook) you’re wrapping for your friend, what else can you do with them? They’re cute and come in all sizes but when it comes to eating them, we pretty much get bored after the first few licks and chomping down on them is just asking for a cracked tooth.

It’s time for a #CandyCaneHack!

We thought about all the ways we could incorporate candy canes into some of our recipes in which the peppermint flavor would work. You can crush them and put them into your pancake batter, add them to your post-workout smoothie (think very fast acting carbs), or sprinkle them on top of your brownies. We wanted something that was quick to prepare, really eye-catching, and great to bring to a party.

Candy Cane Truffles.

And, oh yes, they are good for you. ;)

Plus, we’ve teamed up with our friends at Peanut Butter & Company and are giving away a 2-pack of peanut butter (your choice of flavors), so make sure to enter for your chance to win! Plus, they’re offering you 25% off your online orders when you use the promo code: YUMSQUADLOVE (yes, it is case sensitive). So what are you waiting for?

CANDY CANE TRUFFLES (makes 16-20 truffles)

  • 14 Medjool Dates, pits removed
  • 2 tbs. Peanut Butter & Company Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
  • 1 cup dark chocolate, chopped (we like 72% dark)
  • 2 medium candy canes

truffle5

1. Take the candy canes and place them in a zip top bag. Seal the bag and then pound the candy canes with a kitchen mallet or flat side of a pan until you get small pieces and some powdered candy canes. Place into a bowl and set aside.

crushed mint

2. In the bowl of a food processor, place the dates and peanut butter. Pulse until well combined and almost smooth. The dark chocolate peanut butter really adds to the chocolatiness (is that even a word?)
3. Roll the date-PB mixture into little balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

truffles6

4. Place the chopped chocolate into a glass bowl and melt over a double boiler or in the microwave. You want to melt it to the point that it’s about 90% melted, remove from the heat and stir until smooth.

melted choc

5. Place 2 truffles into the melted chocolate and roll around to even coat with chocolate. Remove, one at a time, using a fork, so that some of the excess chocolate can fall back into the bowl. Place the chocolate coated truffle back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with some of the chopped candy canes. Repeat with remaining truffles.

6. Place baking sheet in freezer to harden the chocolate (this should take 5-10 minutes).

truffle3 truffle4

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Candy Cane Truffles & Giveaway! appeared first on U Rock Girl.

Spicy Thai Crunch Salad with Goji Berries (#MysteryIngredient Challenge)

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Hey, all you peanut butter lovers out there! We’ve got some exciting news to share with you – U Rock Girl is part of Peanut Butter & Co.‘s YumSquad! That means we get to sample lots of their yummy PB flavors and come up with some cool new recipes. Right now, we are participating in their #MysteryIngredient challenge. They sent us a box with a variety of PB flavors and our mystery ingredient that we had to use with it is…Goji Berries!

YumSquad-Banner-MysteryIngredient-Goji-Square

Now, if you’ve ever eaten goji berries straight out of the bag, you will know that they are quite chewy and tart. So immediately, we thought to combine the dark choclate PB with the goji berries and add some chia seeds to make some kind of energy bar. But going the sweet route was just too obvious! We wanted a challenge. Savory. Spicy. And so we opened up the jar of The Heat is On peanut butter.

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Now, this is not for the faint-hearted. It is a spicy peanut butter and packs quite a kick. But we mellowed it just a little bit by mixing it with some tamari (for salty), rice vinegar (for acidity), and apricot jam (for sweetness). The result – a delicious salad dressing.

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Peanut-based dressings and sauces always make us think of Thai food. So we came up with our ultimate Thai Crunch Salad packed with colorful veggies (because you eat with your eyes first)and edamame for the protein (you can add tofu, chicken, or shrimp). And every salad needs a sweet component to balance out the flavors – hello, gogi berries. But the chewy nature of goji berries right out of the bag left a lot to be desired. The trick to delicious goji berries is to soak them in water so they become plump and sweet!

The result was a nutritious and delicious salad that got thumbs up from adults and kids.

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SPICY THAI CRUNCH SALAD WITH GOJI BERRIES

  • 1/4 cup goji berries
  • 1/2 head napa cabbage, shredded
  • 1/2 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
  • 1 organic red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 2 green onions, sliced diagonally
  • 1 cup shelled, organic edamame
  • 1 tbs. The Heat is On peanut butter
  • 1 tbs. low sodium tamari (or soy sauce)
  • 1 tbs. seasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 tbs. low-sugar apricot preserves
  1. Place the goji berries in a bowl and cover with water. Let soak for at least 20 minutes or until plump. Drain and pat dry with a paper towel.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, cucumber, bell pepper, carrots, green onions, and edamame. Toss to combine. Add the dressing to the salad and toss again to evenly coat the salad with the dressing. Add the goji berries and toss again.

You can find Peanut Butter & Co.‘s peanut butters at most markets (traditional as well as specialty) and stores such as Target. You can also shop for their products in their on-line store where there are many more flavors and products to choose from. We particularly enjoy the White Chocolate Wonderful, Dark Chocolate Dreams, and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl flavors. Make sure to check out their website and like them on Facebook, where you can find discounts and coupons.

PEANUT BUTTER & CO. GIVEAWAY!

Enter now for your chance to win 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Disclaimer: We are a part of the YumSquad and received free products which we used to create our featured recipe. All opinions of their products are our own.

The post Spicy Thai Crunch Salad with Goji Berries (#MysteryIngredient Challenge) appeared first on U Rock Girl.

Peanut Butter Popsicles and Prizes!

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On a hot summer day, doesn’t this just look like the perfect thing to cool you down and satisfy that sweet tooth?

You can go ahead and scroll down right now for the recipe or you can keep reading if you like to win prizes ;)

Prizes? Yup. Cold, hard cash and lots of peanut butter. Do we have your attention now?

Raise your hand if you love peanut butter!  (can you see, we are raising our hands)

Raise your hand if you love winning prizes! (again, we are raising our hands)

We love peanut butter. It’s creamy and satisfying and reminds us of being a kid. Whether you put it in  smoothie, use it as a dip for your apples, or eat it straight out of the jar, it just puts you in a good mood ;)

Our good friends over at Peanut Butter & Company are having a peanut butter popsicle contest and asked us if we wanted to take part. Heck yes!

Here’s the deal for the Pin-a-Pop contest: a bunch of food bloggers (including us) have come up with recipes for popsicles featuring peanut butter. You guys get to vote for your favorite (ours, of course!) at their Facebook page or go to www.pinapopsweeps.com The blogger who gets the most votes wins and one lucky voter will also win – $500 and a year’s supply of peanut butter! How awesome is that?!

The contest runs July 13-31 and you can vote once per day. The more you vote (for us), the greater your chance to win. And please share with all of your friends on your social media pages.

Here’s the recipe. We hope you love it as much as we do :)

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Cherry-Almond and Peanut Butter Popsicles (makes 4 plus a little extra)

Cherry Layer:

  • 2 cups pitted cherries (we used fresh but you can use frozen and thawed)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Peanut butter layer:

  • 1/2 cup White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter
  • 1/4 tsp. almond extract
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tbs. chia seeds
  1. For the cherry layer: puree cherries with almond milk. Pour a small amount in the bottom of the popsicle mold (bottom third). Place in freezer 30 minutes. Add a layer of chia seeds.
  2. For the peanut butter layer: puree peanut butter, almond milk and almond extract. Pull the popsicle mold out of the freezer and add a layer on top of the chia seeds (next third). Place in freezer 30 minutes.
  3. Remove from freezer and add a small layer of chia seeds and then add the rest of the cherry mixture. Add popsicle sticks and freeze again for at least 2 hours.

Again, here are the contest rules: Go to the Peanut Butter & Company Facebook page  or www.pinapopsweeps.com and vote  for your favorite peanut butter popsicle (we hope you vote for us). The contest runs from July 13-31 and you can vote once per day. The popsicle that receives the most votes wins and one voter will win $500 and a year supply of peanut butter! Now, that’s cool (just like our popsicles)!

 

The post Peanut Butter Popsicles and Prizes! appeared first on U Rock Girl.

Popsicles and Prizes!

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Yummmmm. Don’t these look good? First, a shout out to our awesome photog, Lauren Spooner, for the mouthwateringly delicious shot!

Our Cherry-Almond White Chocolate Peanut Butter popsicles have been entered into a sweepstakes run by our friends at Peanut Butter & Co. and there’s two days  left to vote for them. Please vote today and tomorrow and ask your friends to do the same as well. If our pop gets the most votes, we win – and so do you! One of our lucky subscribers will win $$ and a year’s worth of peanut butter! How cool is that?!

Please go to www.pinapopsweeps.com and “like” Peanut Butter & Co. on Pinterest and vote for our popsicle.

Here’s the recipe, in case you missed it the first time it was posted…Enjoy and thanks ;)

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Cherry-Almond and Peanut Butter Popsicles (makes 4 plus a little extra)

Cherry Layer:

  • 2 cups pitted cherries (we used fresh but you can use frozen and thawed)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Peanut butter layer:

  • 1/2 cup White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter
  • 1/4 tsp. almond extract
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tbs. chia seeds
  1. For the cherry layer: puree cherries with almond milk. Pour a small amount in the bottom of the popsicle mold (bottom third). Place in freezer 30 minutes. Add a layer of chia seeds.
  2. For the peanut butter layer: puree peanut butter, almond milk and almond extract. Pull the popsicle mold out of the freezer and add a layer on top of the chia seeds (next third). Place in freezer 30 minutes.
  3. Remove from freezer and add a small layer of chia seeds and then add the rest of the cherry mixture. Add popsicle sticks and freeze again for at least 2 hours.

Again, here are the contest rules: Go to the Peanut Butter & Company Facebook page  or www.pinapopsweeps.com and vote  for your favorite peanut butter popsicle (we hope you vote for us). The contest runs from July 13-31 and you can vote once per day. The popsicle that receives the most votes wins and one voter will win $500 and a year supply of peanut butter! Now, that’s cool (just like our popsicles)!

 

The post Popsicles and Prizes! appeared first on U Rock Girl.


Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes

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Let’s get the facts out of the way right off the bat.

They’re flourless.

They’re Gluten Free.

They’re delicious!

I mean, who doesn’t love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter? There’s a whole candy industry devoted to the flavor combination.

chocolate peanut butter cups raw batter

Now, I’m not saying they’re guilt-free, but they’re pretty close! Make them mini-sized and give yourself permission to have a few!

Mini Chocolate-Peanut Butter cupcakes!

They disappear as fast as I can make them. Especially in a house with 3 teenage boys (who eat me out of house-and-home on a daily basis). Just don’t tell them the secret ingredient!

MINI CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES (makes 48)

  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tbs. ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbs. water (shake and allow to sit 15 minutes)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup xylitol
  • 1/4 cup date sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks, melted
  • Peanut Butter & Company’s Bee’s Knees Peanut butter
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a mini muffin pan with mini cupcake liners.
  2. Put the beans, eggs, and flax mixture into a food processor and blend for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the xylitol, date sugar, and baking soda to the bean mixture and blend 1 minute.
  4. Add the melted chocolate to the food processor and blend until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend another 30 seconds.
  5. Use a small ice cream scoop to portion out the mixture into the muffin tin. In the middle of each cupcake place 1/2 – 1 tsp. peanut butter.
  6. Place muffin tin into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cook completely.

pb choc cooked

Hungry?

I am. And it’s a good thing I have some more batter hanging out in the refrigerator because all of the cupcakes I made yesterday (30 of them) are already gone!

Let’s get baking!

The post Mini Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes appeared first on U Rock Girl.

Peanut Butter & Co. Giveaway!

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Most kids spend their days eating PB&J sandwiches. Not me. I was a picky kid and peanut butter just freaked me out!

Good thing I got over that! Now I love peanut butter. I love it with chocolate. I love it with bananas. I love it with chocolate and bananas!

And now you get to go bananas for some of our favorite peanut butter flavors from Peanut Butter & Co.

Health Benefits of Peanut Butter

A 2-tablespoon serving of peanut butter has 180 calories – which may seem high if you are counting your calories to lose weight (not that we recommend that) – but it also has 6 grams of protein, which will help keep you fuller for longer, so you eat less overall. Plus it’s so convenient – just slice open a banana, spread some peanut butter down the middle, close it back up, place it in a baggie and take with you to work or school.

Research shows that eating peanuts can lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that including one serving of peanuts or peanut butter (about 2 tbs.) in your diet five days a week can lower your risk of diabetes by almost 30%.

Enter to Win

PBCo_BigSix

1 lucky U Rock Girl suscriber will win a 6-pack of the peanut butter flavors featured in this week’s giveaway recipes, plus more! Entering to win is easy! All you have to do is:

  • Enter your email address to susbscribe to U Rock Girl so you can receive our yummy recipes and informative articles as they are posted
  • “Like” U Rock Girl on Facebook and then tell us your favorite way to eat peanut butter
  • “Like” Peanut Butter & Co. on Facebook

Giveaway runs December 9-13th. Winners will be announced on Facebook.

*Disclaimer: Peanut Butter & Co. provided us with product to review for this giveaway, though we were already big fans ways before that!

MINI CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES (makes 48)

pb choc cooked close up

  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 tbs. ground flax seed mixed with 6 tbs. water (shake and allow to sit 15 minutes)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup xylitol
  • 1/4 cup date sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks, melted
  • Peanut Butter & Company’s Bee’s Knees Peanut butter
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a mini muffin pan with mini cupcake liners.
  2. Put the beans, eggs, and flax mixture into a food processor and blend for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the xylitol, date sugar, and baking soda to the bean mixture and blend 1 minute.
  4. Add the melted chocolate to the food processor and blend until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend another 30 seconds.
  5. Use a small ice cream scoop to portion out the mixture into the muffin tin. In the middle of each cupcake place 1/2 – 1 tsp. peanut butter.
  6. Place muffin tin into the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cook completely.

pb choc cookedTry not to eat them all in one sitting!

 

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Peanut Butter & Co. Giveaway Day #2 (and another peanut butter recipe!)

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It’s Day 2 of our Peanut Butter & Co. giveaway and we’ve got another nutritious and delicious recipe to share with you. This time, we’ve tweaked a very special recipe that’s going to appear in our very-soon-to-be-released COOKBOOK! Yes, you heard that right! U Rock Girl has written a cookbook! And you get to try out one of the recipes first! (stay tuned for details on the cookbook – it will be available any day now!!!!!)

This recipe was actually developed as a collaboration between son #3 and me. We wanted to take some of our favorite ingredients – peanut butter, bananas, and french toast – and combine them all into one dish. Little did we realize at the time that this combination was made popular many years ago by a very famous rock’n roller. Do you know who I’m talking about? That’s right – the king himself – Elvis! Well, he didn’t do it french toast style, and I’ve heard that he liked bacon on his sandwiches, so that’s where the similarities end. In his honor, we call our stuffed french toast, The Hunka Hunka Burning Love!

This recipe is further enhanced by using Peanut Butter & Company’s Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter. And thanks to Peanut Butter & Co., one lucky U Rock Girl subscriber will win a 6-pack of delicious peanut butter flavors. Entering to win is so easy:

  1. Subscribe to U Rock Girl so you can receive all of  our fabulous recipes and informative articles as they are posted.
  2. “Like” U Rock Girl on Facebook and leave a comment about how you love to eat your peanut butter.
  3. “Like” Peanut Butter & Co. on Facebook

PBCo_BigSix

Giveaway runs December 9-13th. Winner will be anounced on facebook.

*Disclaimer: Peanut Butter & Co. provided us with product for this review and giveaway.

Hunka Hunka Burning Love

Hunka Hunka burning love (elvis sandwich)

 

  • 1 banana, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
  • 2 slices cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread
  • 1 tablespoon Cinnamon Raisin Swirl peanut butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tbs. virgin coconut oil or olive oil cooking spray
  1. Coat a small nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat until hot. Add the banana slices and cook 2 minutes, or until golden on the bottom; flip each slice over and cook another 2 minutes.
  2. While bananas are cooking, spread the peanut butter on one slice of bread.
  3. Whisk together the egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in a flat shallow bowl.
  4. Remove the banana slices and place on top of the peanut butter, making an even layer completely covering the bread. Top with the other slice of bread.
  5. Place the sandwich in the egg mixture and let soak for 2 minutes; flip and soak the other side for 2 minutes.
  6. Heat the skillet again and melt the coconut oil. When hot, add the sandwich and cook 2-3 minutes until bottom is golden; flip and cook another 2-3 minutes,  until golden. Remove from pan and place on a plate. Slice in half and enjoy!

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Flourless, Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies (Giveaway Day #3)

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I’ve been really into peanut butter lately. I don’t know if it’s the nostalgic feeling of childhood or the fact that it’s just so yummy (very technical word choice!), but adding a little bit (or a lot) of peanut butter to my recipes just hits the spot.

For a long time I was peanut butter-phobic. Back in the “fat-free” days, foods like peanut butter and other nuts and nut butters had no place in meal plans I designed for my clients or myself. Fortunately I know better now and have plenty of scientific evidence to back me up. Nuts and nut butters absolutely have a place in a clean eating world. Their blend of carb, protein, healthy fats, and fiber make them a very well-balanced food. They are heart-healthy and can help you stay fuller for longer, which will help you achieve your weight management goals. Yes, the calorie count is pretty high, with 1 tbs. of nut butter clocking in at 90 calories, so make sure to measure it out and enjoy. Most of my favorite peanut butters to use come from Peanut Butter & Co. because they use no partially hydrogenated oils and their sugar content is very low.

PB cookie with sea salt

Now that the holidays are here, it’s time to start some cookie baking. Of course I’m going to employ all my tricks to make them more nutritious and delicious than the original. One of my favorite cookies is a good, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookie, a recipe that gets rave reviews every time I make it. Bonus – you can eat the batter because there’s no raw eggs in it! And with my current PB kick that I’m on, PB cookies are for sure on the menu!

selection of PB cookies

This lead me to my recipe – flourless peanut butter cookies. I was watching Unique Sweets on the Cooking Channel the other night and the episode was all about peanut butter. They featured a flourless, vegan PB cookie and I thought, “I can do that!” Of course I made a few tweaks to their recipe. Instead of granulated sugar, I used date sugar (a new find that I am experimenting with – more recipes coming). I didn’t have plain peanut butter in the house, so I used the White Chocolate Wonderful from Peanut Butter & Co. After the first batch came out I thought, let’s jazz up the second batch with chocolate (what  pairs better with PB than chocolate?). I found some delicious chocolate truffles in the pantry, sliced them up and placed a piece in the center of the cookie. Another delicious result. The final batch I decided to crack a hint of sea salt over the top for a little sweet-n-salty combination. Mmmmm. Here’s the recipe. I hope you enjoy them.

And thanks to Peanut Butter & Co., one lucky U Rock Girl subscriber will win a 6-pack of delicious peanut butter flavors. Entering to win is easy:

1. Subscribe to U Rock Girl so you can receive all of our yummy recipes and informative nutrition, fitness, and wellness articles;

2. “Like” U Rock Girl on Facebook and tell us your favorite PB&Co. flavor;

3. “Like” Peanut Butter & Co. on Facebook

Promotion runs Decebmer 9-13th. Winner will be announced on Facebook.

*Disclaimer: U Rock Girl received products from Peanut Butter & Co. for this review and giveaway.

cookie ingredients

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

  • 1 cup all-natural peanut butter (I used White Chocolate Wonderful by Peanut Butter & Co.)
  • 3/4 c organic date sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • flax egg replacer (mix 1 tbs. ground flax seed with 3 tbs. water; stir and let sit 15 minutes)
  • sea salt
  • Dark chocolate ( I used chocolate truffle, sliced)
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat (silicon baking mat).
  2. Place peanut butter, date sugar, flax, vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt into the bowl of a stand mixer (You can also use a bowl, wooden spoon, and elbow grease!) with a paddle attachment. Start the machine on low and gradually increase the speed to incorporate all of the ingredients. Stop the mixer once, scrape down and sides and mix again for 60 seconds.
  3. Scoop out 1 tbs. of batter for each cookie and place on the baking sheet. Flatten with the palm of your hand. Press a fork down onto the surface of each cookie to make the cross-hatch pattern.
  4. Optional: add a piece of dark chocolate to the center of each cookie; or just sprinkle with a little sea salt.
  5. Place in the oven and bake for 9 minutes. Remove and let cool on sheet pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.

 

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Candy Cane Truffles & Giveaway!

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It’s the holiday season and candy canes pretty much scream “Christmas!” But what do you do with all your candy canes? Besides hang them from your decorations or tape them to the gift (like our rockin’ breakfast cookbook) you’re wrapping for your friend, what else can you do with them? They’re cute and come in all sizes but when it comes to eating them, we pretty much get bored after the first few licks and chomping down on them is just asking for a cracked tooth.

It’s time for a #CandyCaneHack!

We thought about all the ways we could incorporate candy canes into some of our recipes in which the peppermint flavor would work. You can crush them and put them into your pancake batter, add them to your post-workout smoothie (think very fast acting carbs), or sprinkle them on top of your brownies. We wanted something that was quick to prepare, really eye-catching, and great to bring to a party.

Candy Cane Truffles.

And, oh yes, they are good for you. 😉

Plus, we’ve teamed up with our friends at Peanut Butter & Company and are giving away a 2-pack of peanut butter (your choice of flavors), so make sure to enter for your chance to win! Plus, they’re offering you 25% off your online orders when you use the promo code: YUMSQUADLOVE (yes, it is case sensitive). So what are you waiting for?

CANDY CANE TRUFFLES (makes 16-20 truffles)

  • 14 Medjool Dates, pits removed
  • 2 tbs. Peanut Butter & Company Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter
  • 1 cup dark chocolate, chopped (we like 72% dark)
  • 2 medium candy canes

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1. Take the candy canes and place them in a zip top bag. Seal the bag and then pound the candy canes with a kitchen mallet or flat side of a pan until you get small pieces and some powdered candy canes. Place into a bowl and set aside.

crushed mint

2. In the bowl of a food processor, place the dates and peanut butter. Pulse until well combined and almost smooth. The dark chocolate peanut butter really adds to the chocolatiness (is that even a word?)
3. Roll the date-PB mixture into little balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

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4. Place the chopped chocolate into a glass bowl and melt over a double boiler or in the microwave. You want to melt it to the point that it’s about 90% melted, remove from the heat and stir until smooth.

melted choc

5. Place 2 truffles into the melted chocolate and roll around to even coat with chocolate. Remove, one at a time, using a fork, so that some of the excess chocolate can fall back into the bowl. Place the chocolate coated truffle back onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle with some of the chopped candy canes. Repeat with remaining truffles.

6. Place baking sheet in freezer to harden the chocolate (this should take 5-10 minutes).

truffle3 truffle4

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Spicy Thai Crunch Salad with Goji Berries (#MysteryIngredient Challenge)

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Hey, all you peanut butter lovers out there! We’ve got some exciting news to share with you – U Rock Girl is part of Peanut Butter & Co.‘s YumSquad! That means we get to sample lots of their yummy PB flavors and come up with some cool new recipes. Right now, we are participating in their #MysteryIngredient challenge. They sent us a box with a variety of PB flavors and our mystery ingredient that we had to use with it is…Goji Berries!

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Now, if you’ve ever eaten goji berries straight out of the bag, you will know that they are quite chewy and tart. So immediately, we thought to combine the dark choclate PB with the goji berries and add some chia seeds to make some kind of energy bar. But going the sweet route was just too obvious! We wanted a challenge. Savory. Spicy. And so we opened up the jar of The Heat is On peanut butter.

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Now, this is not for the faint-hearted. It is a spicy peanut butter and packs quite a kick. But we mellowed it just a little bit by mixing it with some tamari (for salty), rice vinegar (for acidity), and apricot jam (for sweetness). The result – a delicious salad dressing.

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Peanut-based dressings and sauces always make us think of Thai food. So we came up with our ultimate Thai Crunch Salad packed with colorful veggies (because you eat with your eyes first)and edamame for the protein (you can add tofu, chicken, or shrimp). And every salad needs a sweet component to balance out the flavors – hello, gogi berries. But the chewy nature of goji berries right out of the bag left a lot to be desired. The trick to delicious goji berries is to soak them in water so they become plump and sweet!

The result was a nutritious and delicious salad that got thumbs up from adults and kids.

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SPICY THAI CRUNCH SALAD WITH GOJI BERRIES

  • 1/4 cup goji berries
  • 1/2 head napa cabbage, shredded
  • 1/2 English cucumber, halved and thinly sliced
  • 1 organic red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 2 green onions, sliced diagonally
  • 1 cup shelled, organic edamame
  • 1 tbs. The Heat is On peanut butter
  • 1 tbs. low sodium tamari (or soy sauce)
  • 1 tbs. seasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 tbs. low-sugar apricot preserves
  1. Place the goji berries in a bowl and cover with water. Let soak for at least 20 minutes or until plump. Drain and pat dry with a paper towel.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage, cucumber, bell pepper, carrots, green onions, and edamame. Toss to combine. Add the dressing to the salad and toss again to evenly coat the salad with the dressing. Add the goji berries and toss again.

You can find Peanut Butter & Co.‘s peanut butters at most markets (traditional as well as specialty) and stores such as Target. You can also shop for their products in their on-line store where there are many more flavors and products to choose from. We particularly enjoy the White Chocolate Wonderful, Dark Chocolate Dreams, and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl flavors. Make sure to check out their website and like them on Facebook, where you can find discounts and coupons.

PEANUT BUTTER & CO. GIVEAWAY!

Enter now for your chance to win 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Disclaimer: We are a part of the YumSquad and received free products which we used to create our featured recipe. All opinions of their products are our own.

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Peanut Butter Popsicles and Prizes!

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On a hot summer day, doesn’t this just look like the perfect thing to cool you down and satisfy that sweet tooth?

You can go ahead and scroll down right now for the recipe or you can keep reading if you like to win prizes 😉

Prizes? Yup. Cold, hard cash and lots of peanut butter. Do we have your attention now?

Raise your hand if you love peanut butter!  (can you see, we are raising our hands)

Raise your hand if you love winning prizes! (again, we are raising our hands)

We love peanut butter. It’s creamy and satisfying and reminds us of being a kid. Whether you put it in  smoothie, use it as a dip for your apples, or eat it straight out of the jar, it just puts you in a good mood 😉

Our good friends over at Peanut Butter & Company are having a peanut butter popsicle contest and asked us if we wanted to take part. Heck yes!

Here’s the deal for the Pin-a-Pop contest: a bunch of food bloggers (including us) have come up with recipes for popsicles featuring peanut butter. You guys get to vote for your favorite (ours, of course!) at their Facebook page or go to www.pinapopsweeps.com The blogger who gets the most votes wins and one lucky voter will also win – $500 and a year’s supply of peanut butter! How awesome is that?!

The contest runs July 13-31 and you can vote once per day. The more you vote (for us), the greater your chance to win. And please share with all of your friends on your social media pages.

Here’s the recipe. We hope you love it as much as we do :)

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Cherry-Almond and Peanut Butter Popsicles (makes 4 plus a little extra)

Cherry Layer:

  • 2 cups pitted cherries (we used fresh but you can use frozen and thawed)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

Peanut butter layer:

  • 1/2 cup White Chocolate Wonderful peanut butter
  • 1/4 tsp. almond extract
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tbs. chia seeds
  1. For the cherry layer: puree cherries with almond milk. Pour a small amount in the bottom of the popsicle mold (bottom third). Place in freezer 30 minutes. Add a layer of chia seeds.
  2. For the peanut butter layer: puree peanut butter, almond milk and almond extract. Pull the popsicle mold out of the freezer and add a layer on top of the chia seeds (next third). Place in freezer 30 minutes.
  3. Remove from freezer and add a small layer of chia seeds and then add the rest of the cherry mixture. Add popsicle sticks and freeze again for at least 2 hours.

Again, here are the contest rules: Go to the Peanut Butter & Company Facebook page  or www.pinapopsweeps.com and vote  for your favorite peanut butter popsicle (we hope you vote for us). The contest runs from July 13-31 and you can vote once per day. The popsicle that receives the most votes wins and one voter will win $500 and a year supply of peanut butter! Now, that’s cool (just like our popsicles)!

 

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Peanut Butter Pumpkin Fudge and Giveaway

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Pumpkin season is back!

(can you see us doing our happy dance?) :)

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With pumpkin season back in full swing (check out the Halloween decorations and costumes at Costco and Target), we find ourselves happily back in the kitchen whipping up new pumpkin recipes. Yay!

BREAKING PUMPKIN NEWS!

Our good friends over at Peanut Butter & Company have just released a limited edition flavor called Pumpkin Spice. As members of their Yum Squad, we were lucky enough to receive an early sample of it and we have to tell you – IT ROCKS!

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OMG! Ah-mazing!

The spices are subtle, not in-your-face and fake like so many pumpkin spice products on the market.

We’ve been having fun creating new recipes using the pumpkin spice peanut butter as well as eating it straight from the jar 😉

Enjoy our super easy Pumpkin Peanut Butter Fudge recipe – it was a HUGE it in our test kitchen. It was gone in minutes.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Fudge and Giveaway

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Fudge and Giveaway

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup Peanut Butter & Company Pumpkin Spice peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Place the white chocolate and peanut butter in a bowl and heat in the microwave on HIGH for 1 minute.
  2. Stir until smooth. If needed, heat in 15-second increments until melted.
  3. Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and stir until smooth.
  4. Pour into a 9x5-inch dish and refrigerate until set.
  5. Remove from refrigerator and cut into 20 pieces.
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Here’s even better news – one lucky U Rock Girl subscriber will win a #psILoveYou gift box from Peanut Butter & Company. Just enter for your chance to win! And please share with your friends because if they win, then you should have them share it with you!

PSiloveyou-Giftbox-v1-Raffle

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We were given this product to try and review. The opinions are ours and not paid for in any way. 

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Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats #oatober

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Happy October!

Or should we say, #Oatober?!

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As members of Peanut Butter & Company‘s Yum Squad, we were presented with the challenge to come up with a delicious recipe that features both peanut butter and Bob’s Red Mill’s Organic Old Fashioned Rolled Oats.

Oh the possibilities are endless!

Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Peanut Butter oat energy bars

Peanut butter oat cookie dough bites

Peanut butter stirred into a hot bowl of oatmeal and topped with dried tart cherries

But in fall, we move toward seasonal fruits – apples, pears, and pomegranates – and use them as the star players in many of our recipes.

Breakfast is Queen!

As lovers of all things breakfast, our inspiration for this recipe came from our Much Ado About Muesli recipe from our cookbook, “No Excuses! 50 Healthy Ways to ROCK Breakfast!”

Muesli is a version of overnight oats. Search the term “overnight oats” in your search engine and you will come up with hundreds of recipes.

We’re sure that most of them taste pretty good. But of course, we like ours best 😉

The beauty of overnight oats is that you can make a bunch of them at once and have them ready to eat for the whole week! There’s no excuse NOT to eat breakfast! As the oats sit in the peanut butter and almond milk overnight, they absorb the liquid and get nice and soft and chewy.

Our overnight oats are this season’s new comfort food.

When you eat it, you will feel the warmth of the cinnamon fill your body with joy. The textures of the creamy peanut butter contrasting with the crunchy chia seeds will intrigue your mind. And the sweetness of the sauteed cinnamon apples will make your spirit sing.

And then you will say, “Thank you, may I please have another” 😉

Sure thing. Keep ’em coming!

overnight oats

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats #oatober

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill organic old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 2 tbs. Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful
  • 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 1 tbs. chia seeds
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup
  • 1/2 tbs. organic, virgin coconut oil
  • 1 organic fuji apple, sliced thin
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions

  1. In a Mason jar, combine the oats, almond milk, peanut butter, protein powder, chia seeds, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Stir to combine.
  2. Cover with a lid and place in the refrigerator overnight.
  3. Place a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add coconut oil. When hot, add the apple slices and then sprinkle with cinnamon. Cook about 4 minutes, or until lightly golden. Flip each slice and cook an additional 3-4 minutes.
  4. Remove from the heat and place hot cinnamon apple slices on top of cold overnight oats. Add more apple slices as you make your way through the Mason Jar.
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As members of the Yum Squad, we are pleased that we will be giving away 2 jars of your choice of Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter and a bag of Bob’s Red Mill Organic Old-fashioned Oats!

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Enter now for your chance to win! And please share with your friends (if they win, maybe they’ll share with you).

And please follow us over at Yum Squad! You can find Peanut Butter & Co. flavors at many supermarkets and superstores, such as Target, as well as at their website (far more flavors there!).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We received free product in exchange for our blog post. This in no way influenced our opinions of this product.

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Smoothie 101

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Smoothies. Those fruity, refreshing, icy-cold beverages that just scream, “summer.” But if you buy the ones at the market or from the local smoothie shoppe, you could be taking in far more calories than you bargained for. And on top of that, you could be short-changing yourself on your nutrition.

What? How could a seemingly innocent blend of fruits and juices be a poor nutritional choice? Aren’t we supposed to be eating more fruit? Yes, it’s ideal to eat 3-5 servings of fruit a day, but getting it from a bottled smoothie drink isn’t the best way to go. Read the ingredient list on the smoothie bottle label. What kind of juices go into it? Apple juice, white grape juice, pear juice. Cheap and lacking in important nutrients. These mild juices make a great neutral base for a smoothie as they don’t overpower the flavors of the fruit going in. They would be so much better if they were made with pomegranate or tart cherry juice, brimming with antioxidants. And don’t forget to read the label before you down that smoothie. One serving has 150-200 calories and one bottle has two servings. Most people I know will drink the whole bottle, quickly consuming 300-400 servings, and that’s usually in addition to the meal they’re drinking it with.

Another problem with the bottled smoothie is that most of them are just pure carbohydrate, which will boost your energy level, but won’t sustain it for a long period of time. It’s missing both protein and fiber, the two important elements to balancing your blood sugar and sustaining your energy level. Plus, liquid calories empty out of your system faster than calories from food, leaving you hungry sooner.

All that being said, a smoothie can be a great way to get a great snack or meal, especially if you are on the go or short on time, or a great post-workout recovery meal, but you have to make it yourself. That way you control the quantity and quality of the ingredients and ensure that you’re getting a good balance of carbs, protein, fat, and fiber.

Here’s our smoothie “cheat sheet”. Pick one food from each category and put it together to make one great smoothie. Make sure you have a good quality blender to handle some of these ingredients.  Our favorite is the Vitamix!

Group A – liquid base

  • 8 oz. juice: orange, pineapple, pomegranate, tart cherry
  • 8 oz. nonfat milk, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, rice milk, hemp milk, or nonfat soy milk

Group B – fruit & vegetables

  • 1/2 – 1 cup fresh or frozen berries
  • 1/2 -1 banana (frozen makes for a great smoothie consistency)
  • 1/2 – 1 cup fresh or frozen mango and/or pineapple
  • 1 cup leafy greens – kale, spinach
  • 1/2 sliced cucumber
  • 1-2 carrots
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 -1 cooked sweet potato

Group C – added protein

  • 1 scoop protein powder – whey, egg, pea, hemp, rice (about 15-20 grams protein)

Group D – healthy fat and fiber

  • 1 tbs. ground flaxseed, chia seed, or hemp seed
  • 2-3 tbs. slivered raw almonds or walnuts
  • 1 tbs. almond butter or natural peanut butter
  • 1/4 c. old-fashioned oats

Group E (optional) – flavor enhancers – a little goes a long way

  • pure vanilla extract
  • ground cinnamon
  • espresso powder
  • cocoa powder

 

How to make your smoothie:

1. Place your liquid (Group A), 2-3 ingredients from Group B, one scoop of protein powder, one to two items from Group D, and any optional flavor enhancer from Group E into a high-powered blender. If the fruit chunks are frozen, pulse about 10 times to break them up. Then turn the blender to HIGH and blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and enjoy.

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Recipe: Flourless, Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

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We’ve been really into peanut butter lately. We don’t know if it’s the nostalgic feeling of childhood or the fact that it’s just so yummy (very technical word choice!), but adding a little bit (or a lot) of peanut butter to our recipes just hits the spot.

For a long time we were peanut butter-phobic. Back in the “fat-free” days, foods like peanut butter and other nuts and nut butters had no place in meal plans we designed for our clients. Fortunately, we know better now and have plenty of scientific evidence to back us up. Nuts and nut butters absolutely have a place in a clean eating world. Their blend of carbs, protein, healthy fats, and fiber make them a very well-balanced food. They are heart-healthy and can help you stay fuller for longer, which will help you achieve your weight management goals. Yes, the calorie count is pretty high, with 1 tbs. of nut butter clocking in at 90 calories, so make sure to measure it out and enjoy.

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When choosing a nut butter, it’s always best to go with an all-natural style, rather than the big name brands (you know which ones we’re talking about). The only ingredients in your nut butter should be nuts and maybe salt. That’s it. Check out the ingredient list of the most popular brands of peanut butter and you’ll find a lot of stuff in there that has no place in peanut butter or your body. Definitely not clean eats. Most have partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. Big no-nos.

cookie ingredients

A recent episode of  Unique Sweets on the Cooking Channel was all about peanut butter. They featured a flourless, vegan PB cookie and we thought, “We can do that!”. Of course we made a few tweaks to their recipe. Instead of granulated sugar, we used coconut sugar. We didn’t have plain peanut butter in the house, so we used the White Chocolate Wonderful from Peanut Butter & Co. Bonus – you can eat the batter because there’s no raw eggs in it! After the first batch came out, we thought to jazz up the second batch with chocolate (what  pairs better with PB than chocolate?). We found some delicious chocolate truffles in the pantry, sliced them up and placed a piece in the center of the cookie. Another delicious result. For the final batch, we decided to crack a hint of sea salt over the top for a little sweet-n-salty combination. Mmmmm. Here’s the recipe. We hope you enjoy them.

Flourless, Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Yield: 10 cookies

Serving Size: 1 cookie

Calories per serving: 159

Fat per serving: 2.6 (g)

Carbs per serving: 30 (g)

Protein per serving: 3.3 (g)

Flourless, Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-natural peanut butter (I used White Chocolate Wonderful by Peanut Butter & Co.)
  • 3/4 c organic coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • Flax egg replacer (mix 1 tbs. ground flax seed with 3 tbs. water; stir and let sit 15 minutes)
  • Sea salt
  • Dark chocolate (we used chocolate truffle, sliced)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat (silicon baking mat).
  2. Place peanut butter, coconut sugar, flax, vanilla extract and a pinch of sea salt into the bowl of a stand mixer (You can also use a bowl, wooden spoon, and elbow grease!) with a paddle attachment. Start the machine on low and gradually increase the speed to incorporate all of the ingredients. Stop the mixer once, scrape down and sides and mix again for 60 seconds.
  3. Scoop out 1 tbs. of batter for each cookie and place on the baking sheet. Flatten with the palm of your hand. Press a fork down onto the surface of each cookie to make the cross-hatch pattern.
  4. Optional: add a piece of dark chocolate to the center of each cookie; or just sprinkle with a little sea salt.
  5. Place in the oven and bake for 9 minutes. Remove and let cool on sheet pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.
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Elvis Inspired Peanut Butter Sandwich

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For this recipe, we wanted to take some of our favorite ingredients – peanut butter, bananas, and french toast – and combine them all into one dish. Little did we realize at the time, that this combination was made popular many years ago by a very famous rock’n roller. Do you know who we’re talking about? That’s right – the king himself – Elvis! Well, he didn’t do it french toast style, and we have heard that he liked bacon on his sandwiches, so that’s where the similarities end. In his honor, we call our stuffed french toast, The Hunka Hunka Burning Love!

By the way, this sandwich is a great way to get your healthy carbs (whole grain bread and banana) and a healthy protein/fat combo (nut butter). Makes for a yummy breakfast, especially for the kids on a school morning (yes, if it’s not already here in your state, school is steadily approaching). Another name for this sandwich is the “Trio” for the 3 main ingredients: bread, banana, and nut butter.

Health Benefits of Peanut Butter

A 2-tablespoon serving of peanut butter has 180 calories – which may seem high if you are counting your calories to lose weight (not that we recommend that) – but it also has 6 grams of protein, which will help keep you fuller for longer, so you eat less overall. Plus it’s so convenient – just slice open a banana, spread some peanut butter down the middle, close it back up, place it in a baggie and take with you to work or school. Choose organic peanut butter (ingredient list: peanuts, salt – that’s it) to keep sugar low and risk of mold (yes, peanuts are a moldy crop) at a minimum.

Research shows that eating peanuts can lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that including one serving of peanuts or peanut butter (about 2 tbs.) in your diet five days a week can lower your risk of diabetes by almost 30%.

Hunka Hunka Burning Love

Yield: 1

Serving Size: 1 sandiwch

Calories per serving: 494

Fat per serving: 18.9 (g)

Carbs per serving: 70.8 (g)

Protein per serving: 16.9 (g)

Fiber per serving: 8.6 (g)

Hunka Hunka Burning Love

Ingredients

  • 1 banana, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
  • 2 slices cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread
  • 1 tablespoon organic peanut butter (or raw nut butter of choice)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbs. virgin coconut oil

Instructions

  1. Coat a small nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat until hot. Add the banana slices and cook 2 minutes, or until golden on the bottom; flip each slice over and cook another 2 minutes.
  2. While bananas are cooking, spread the peanut butter on one slice of bread.
  3. Whisk together the egg, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in a flat shallow bowl.
  4. Remove the banana slices and place on top of the peanut butter, making an even layer completely covering the bread. Top with the other slice of bread.
  5. Place the sandwich in the egg mixture and let soak for 2 minutes; flip and soak the other side for 2 minutes.
  6. Heat the skillet again and melt the coconut oil. When hot, add the sandwich and cook 2-3 minutes until bottom is golden; flip and cook another 2-3 minutes, until golden. Remove from pan and place on a plate. Slice in half and enjoy!
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