Quick Breakfast Bread - courtesy of Aunt Sandy

So scrolling through Facebook yesterday I came upon a picture of beautiful bread.

Picture Courtesy of my Aunt Sandy

Isn't that bread gorgeous!? Studded full of dried fruit and looking absolutely delicious. I had to know.

So going through the post I discovered that my Aunt Sandy had made this bread, she calls it "Quick Breakfast Bread." In the words of my Aunt "Just made Quick Breakfast Bread - my own creation. This recipe is super easy to make and pretty healthy - no oil, low sugar, and full of healthy fruits and nuts! Took some last night to a gathering and it disappeared! Had to make another loaf this morning for our house."

After that description on top of the picture I had to make it. Of course I'm cheap so I didn't buy any nuts to put in it but I can tell you it would just make it taste even better I'm sure.

So I scanned the ingredients. Flour, check. Brown sugar, check. Baking powder, check. Salt, check. Ground cloves and cinnamon, check. Milk, check. Only thing I didn't have was the dried fruit and nuts.

So after working out and sending the handsome man off to work I headed to Walmart for the missing ingredient and to maybe hunt down a fruit and nut mix.

Upon entering Walmart in any town of any state you are bound to have an adventure. Honesty there really isn't a way not to in some way. You are at least entertained. It's comical to me.

Anyway, my adventure began soon after entering the doors. I had walked in wearing my sweaty workout clothes (they do fit and cover all parts necessary). As I walked in there was this little girl (about 7) who had stopped dead in her tracks as she had been leaving with her mother and her eyes popped out of her head and she started to bounce. She had spotted a friend at the Subway in the entry and was obviously excited. Her mother stated "Well don't have a heart attack" and I proceeded to head for the back of the food section. Then about 20 feet in I hear this LOUD belch come from between the two doors you walk through. I turned around momentarily and just kind of snickered to myself. After walking past the produce this young man looked and me and said "do you run track?"

I had to quickly think, well technically no but I ran track in 7th grade and then in June as well. Mind you this was internal talk to myself. I smiled and said yes, because I do run everyday. The man had this triumphant look on his face as he said "I knew it, I have a knack for these things." I just smiled and kept walking. It was 9 pm and I really wasn't in the mood to chat with someone as I was on a mission.

I found the dried fruits but couldn't find a delicious combo of fruits and nuts that would work in my bread that wouldn't cost me more than $3. (I'm a cheapskate - ask Mike).

So headed home and break out all the ingredients and begin to follow the directions:

It already looked magnificent. Though I changed a few things. I didn't add nuts and I used 1/2 flour and 1/2 oats. Up the fiber a bit since I was using unbleached white all purpose flour.

Then add milk.

It smelled heavenly with the cloves and cinnamon, almost Thanksgiving like.

Now the fun part, deciding on a pan. For whatever reason I have not replaced the loaf pan I used to have and tossed due to wear and tear. So I found this pan hiding under all the casserole dishes.

Make due with what you have. So I do.

The recipe said to bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees F. Well, my electric oven runs a bit hot. Also, on another note, I can't stand electric ovens/stoves. I miss my old gas oven. So I only baked for 20 minutes to start. It wasn't done so I added another 10. It came out perfect at 30 min in a larger pan and my oven.

Anyway, I digress. This came out beautifully. Flat - but beautiful. I think I may have actually forgotten to add the baking powder. Oh well, still amazing.

So this is fresh and smelling wonderful. My kitchen now smells irresistible. I of course, cannot wait to dig in. 1. It's fresh, hot bread out of the oven. 2. Perfect timing to add butter or other toppings as desired. 3. This just looked AMAZING.

So I sliced up a sliver and taste tested.

I must say this is DELICIOUS! Perfection in a loaf. You could of course add any sort of dried fruits you want or any nut. My aunt recommends pecans or walnuts but get creative by all means. The fruits I used were a berry mix (cherries, blueberries and cranberries). I found this combination to be perfect. Though I can guarantee I will try apples, raisins, goji berries etc. Whatever strikes my fancy that time.

I will probably be making another loaf tonight just because I could literally eat this whole pan of bread by myself in one sitting. Hopefully Mike likes it too, he didn't get home until 8 this morning and am unsure if he had some for breakfast or not.

So thank you Aunt Sandy for the delicious recipe :) Keep them coming.

Quick Breakfast Bread
Courtesy of Aunt Sandy

Makes roughly 8 servings

Ingredients
2 cups flour (or 1 cup flour and 1 cup old fashioned oats)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried fruit of choice (I used cherries, cranberries, and blueberries - get creative with your choices)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I omitted because of cost - that's me)
1 cup milk (I used skim)

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease a 9 1/2 inch loaf pan (or 8 inch square pan in my case) and set aside.

Mix all ingredients except milk.

Add milk and mix well.

Put batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour. (I baked for 20 to start then had to add another 10 min to that to cook completely).

My aunt recommends toasting and serving with butter or cream cheese.

Also can mix up all the dry ingredients the night before and then just add milk in the morning and bake while you get ready in the morning. Warm breakfast bread fresh from the oven in no time. :)

Now go out and cook!

National Cookie Day Celebration - with Peanut Butter of Course

Well, duh, if you're gonna celebrate National Cookie Day you have to have peanut butter. But I did not make just plain old boring peanut butter cookies. I made "fancy" peanut butter cookies.

Thing is I love peanut butter, if you haven't figured this out yet. I mean, LOVE peanut butter. Mike tells me I eat it too much and I'll go through a jar a week if I'm not careful. Seriously I love it that much. I've been trying to buy better for you PB that doesn't contain added sugars or hydrogenated oils. I don't do a lot of health food but when I do, I pick and choose carefully. This means I decide upon foods that I truly enjoy and deserve higher quality - some things just need to be held to a higher standard.

So the peanut butter I used today DOES have added sugar, cane juice and molasses - I wasn't terribly thrilled but I was at Walmart and was limited - I can't say I care for the Smucker's natural peanut butter. That has a taste that is, to me, off putting and burnt. It is fine to use in recipes but I can't say it makes the best sandwich or spoon-able snack.

I also did not desire to go to two stores after work, so I was stuck with Walmart's pathetic and commercial selection of nut butters. Next time I'm definitely making the trip to Whole Foods. It is worth the time and effort to get a higher quality nut butter.

I digress. The peanut butter I purchased is called "Naturally More." I have had the almond version of this when I was at Costco.Delicious! The peanut version is about the same, this is 80% peanuts with an ingredient list of the following (more ingredients than I care for - typically I want to see only two, perhaps three dependent upon brand): Roasted Peanuts, Soy Protein, Flax Seed, Evaporated Cane Syrup, Salt, and Molasses.

The problem I have is with the soy protein and the cane syrup - pick molasses or cane syrup - you don't need both - and what is the purpose of the soy protein? Makes the protein content go up, yes but necessary? No.

For me there is no reason for sugar in peanut butter - but I prefer it that way. I say salt and peanuts is all you need - peanuts have plenty of oil on their own. Anyway..TO THE RECIPEEEE, CHARGE! *tosses on warrior dash hat - has horns mind you - and rushes to the kitchen for the recipe, arm out and proud like a Roman soldier* (Yes that just happened - things are weird when I'm by myself sometimes.)

I've wearied you enough with my nutritional rant.

So, I made these cookies, modified my mothers recipe ever so slightly to achieve the desired result. I've been toying with this recipe a little each time to find out the best way to make these and when they taste their best.

You can see my homemade white bread back there ;)

 To start with what I have altered from my mothers original recipe is to use natural peanut butter rather than a commercial brand. I prefer Whole Foods brand, has the perfect balance I think. Of course I have used others like Maranatha. Second I use all butter instead of shortening. I just like the flavor better. I also feel they tend to give the cookies a chewier consistency - my type of cookie (crunchy edges with soft centers).

And lastly, I like to dust with powdered sugar when they cool (obviously the below cookies have not made it that far).

So here is my mother's fabulous PB cookie recipe (by the way, this makes a lot of cookies, so halve the recipe if you don't plan to feed a classroom of small children or the office).

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup shortening (butter in my case), room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour (I used bread flour this time, will see how that goes over - they taste fine to me)
1/2 cup peanuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream butter/shortening, peanut butter, and sugars. Beat in eggs. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Place small amounts of dough on an ungreased baking sheet. Flatten cookies with a fork dipped in sugar.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, dependent upon your oven. **I have a gas oven and had to go with 9 1/2 minutes**

Go crazy, modify and change the peanut butter to almond butter or Nutella. Add chocolate chips or butterscotch chips. Use your imagination. That's the great thing about cookies. Once you have a great base you can play around a little and make it into something completely different or more amazing than what you started with. This is how greatness happens. How do you think our Gooey Butter Cupcakes came into existence? Exactly!

Now go out and cook and bake!!

Foodie Pen Pal Reveal

Welcome to our first Foodie Pen Pal post. We are Foodie Pen Pals, well, I'm the one that wanted to do it, Mike helped find things and helped put the whole thing together and suggested things for me to put in the box for the person I was sending to. I ask for his input on a lot of things. So here we go. Reveal day!! I have been just itching to write about what was sent to me :) SOOOOO excited!!!

So first off, I had gone for a nice run Monday September 17 and came back to check my mail. Well as I was digging through my stock pile of mail, due to being out in St. Louis all weekend, I found the oh so sought after key that the mail man leaves when you have a package, unlike UPS who likes to leave me notes and keep my package from me until they can either magically find me at home or I have to go pick up the damn thing. I digress, so I excitedly opened up the special mail box to find my lovely package sitting there, patiently waiting for me. Oh man I was excited. I immediately snapped this picture as I was walking back to my apartment and sent to Mike and exclaimed "IT CAME!!!!"

So then I rushed to the house, so very excited to get this baby inside to crack open and rifle through like a kid on Christmas morning.

I opened it to find a glorious range of foods and goodies that I couldn't wait to dive into. (Yes there is a picture of a snickerdoodle cookie in my kitchen, I used to work in a local Costco Bakery, that was my parting gift). 

I found the card included after examining each item and drooling. I wiped the drool from my face so I could read what was in my card. My dear pen pal asked what I liked and would like included in my box. I had said I was a health nut a little and was training for a 5k mud run and that I loved peanut butter. Caitlin said in her note that she decided to do a peanut theme since I love peanut butter so much. How awesome!!!! And to top it off I love the card because being the Kansas girl I am, I adore sunflowers, they are my favorite. Such happy flowers :)

So now we dive into the box of deliciousness that is peanuts and peanut butter. She included Trader Joe's Salty, Sweet & Nutty Trek Mix. She said this was one of her favorites, it is now mine too! Oh my, the deliciousness that this bag of yumminess is! I almost ate the whole bag in two days. I adore this Trek Mix and still need to get my butt down to TJ's and pick up a package, or two, or ten! Sweet honey roasted peanuts, peanuts, cashews, and peanut brittle!! Mouth orgasm! And then there is the beloved PB & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams, which I knew was going straight to work to be enjoyed when I needed a healthier alternative to those days I crave chocolate but don't need a chocolate bar. YUM!!! :) Thank you.

Then we have Justin's Classic Peanut Butter. I have only tried the Justin's honey roasted and almond butters. So I again stashed these in my purse to take to work for days I didn't have time to eat or forgot breakfast (like that ever happens) or just needed something to nibble and not have to go raid the vending machine. :) YUMMM Peanut butter - perfect by itself.

Then, yes THEN, I found this. I went a bit crazy happy with this because I've been meaning to try it. I just haven't wanted to spend the money on a jar of it (my local Hyvee charges $6 for the stuff, bit pricey for something that won't last long in my house - PB is usually gone within a few days if not a week). I wasn't sure how I was going to use this though. Should I make a sandwich? Nah, too boring. Should I try adding it to something like cookies? No, I really don't need cookies. Oatmeal? Wasn't in the mood. I know!! I added it to a chocolate banana protein shake one day and made it chocolate peanut butter banana. Oh yum!! This would be a great addition to my protein shakes after my Insanity workouts. Add a little more protein and some delicious flavor. It didn't taste fake at all and satisfied that peanut butter craving that I have about 90% of the time.

Then I found the "Organic High Antioxidant Trail Mix." YUMMMMMM Almonds, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, walnuts, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, raisins...ooo it goes on. Delish - only thing is I found something delicious that just wasn't familiar to me. Anyone know what this is?

Next we have our bars. MoJo trail mix bars and a Luna bar. We had MoJo Mountain Trail Mix Sweet & Salty and then we had MoJo Peanut Butter Pretzel Sweet & Salty. Oh my yes! The PB MoJo was better in my opinion but both were great for work when I hit that 3pm slump. The PB Cookie Luna bar was fantastic, not covered in sicky sweet coating but enough sweet to combat the salty. Mmmm, definitely a go to if I need a quick bar to eat to supplement a crappy lunch.

As you can see I enjoyed, can you see that pretzel stick right on top there!!! YUMMY Real food :)

Now we have the "Women's Vitality Mix." Can I just say that I absolutely ADORE trail mixes. And these are all fabulous!!!! This had cashews, almonds, dried cranberries, raisins, pistachios, dark chocolate chips (which I ended up picking out and eating while at my desk one day hehe, then I was left with all the really healthy stuff - shhhhh). I thoroughly enjoyed and all trail mixes are gone, done, eaten quickly. 

Thank you foodie pen pal for the splendorous box of goodies. YUM YUM YUM!!!!!!

Check out Caitlin's Twitter @Hopefulhels and see what she got ;)

And here is the link to the person we sent to here at Kids and Canning Jars.

Now go out and cook, or eat some trail mix with peanuts like me hehe :)

 Here are the details:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.