Banana Bread and Nutella

At the Easton Farmers Market, we met a delightful woman who bakes via Spreading Joy Bakery in Stroudsburg. My daughter fell in love with her sample of banana bread so we bought a loaf and sliced it for breakfast. We had it with peanut butter or Nutella and wow was it heavenly.

Also-- my daughter leaves for camp today so does this mean I'll cook like a fiend to amuse myself or not cook at all?

Crêpes de la Canicule (Heat Wave Crepes)

I have had a batch of crêpes in the freezer. I don't even remember when I made them. I got them out of the freezer thinking i'd make a nice fresh berry sauce for them as breakfast. But my mom showed up and stole my daughter before I had a chance to feed her. So I moved that plan to dinner.

Okay, but I worked today and by the time I got home it was hot and I was tired. Knowing eventually I had to eat this crêpes, I had my husband buy berries, bananas and Nutella at Target yesterday. The Nutella was $3.19, for a jar I saw on sale elsewhere for $3.99. (of course, this was a specialty retailer.)

Tonight's dinner became a crêpe with a nice layer of Nutella and topped with a slice of banana the length of the crêpe and rolled. Sides of watermelon and raspberries.

I had separated these crêpes before freezing by slipping wax paper between each one and placing the stack in a ziploc bag. They tasted fresh even though I froze them months ago. Yup, crêpes are gone...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Milk

Today was one of those hectic Monday mornings... And I had a quiet vision of how the morning would go. My homemade oatmeal bars for breakfast, a big mid-morning cup of tea. I had a sore throat and was worried I was getting sick. Maybe I am and that's why I fell...

I fell on the sidewalk and broke 4 teeth and needed three stitches in my chin. Oral surgeon tomorrow. Liquid diet for a while.

Lunch was Pacific Foods Cream of Tomato Soup. Snack was Stonyfield Yo Baby Banana drinkable yogurt.

Dinner made me drool with anticipation. My husband made tiny elbow noodles with tomato sauce and velveeta and browned hamburger in tiny pieces. Trying to eat it revealed 3 things:
- I can't chew. At all.
- I have limited range of motion in my jaw
- sucking on food hurts

I couldn't do it, as hungry as I am, I can't do it.


Complicating the issue is the fact that my daughter wants to share everything I can eat. Like a good mom, I share.

So, I made a carnation instant breakfast drink in the blender.

- about 8 ounces plain soy milk
- two heaping teaspoons peanut butter
- two heaping teaspoons almond butter
- 1 teaspoon Nutella
- 1 packet dark chocolate Carnation instant breakfast

We loved it

Rice Krispies Treats

My daughter has discovered mass produced rice krispies treats for sale in the school cafeteria for 75 cents each. She likes them. At six, she doesn't quite get that they are not free and that they suck all the money out of her lunch account, especially when she buys them without my permission. One day she may go hungry because she wasted all her lunch money.

I told her we could make real rice krispie treats if she stopped buying them in the cafeteria and she said okay.

I don't like the plain ones, I prefer the peanut butter. So, I needed the recipe. And we disconnected the internet at home so I'm now in the library on the Rice Krispies web site.

Rice Krispies treats from the official Rice Krispies site

Summary of the original recipe:
3 tablespoons   butter or margarine
1 package   (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups  miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup  peanut butter
6 cups   Rice Krispies®

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until melted. 2. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.
3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

For best results, use fresh marshmallows.
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow crème can be substituted for marshmallows.
Diet, reduced calorie or tub margarine is not recommended.
Store no more than two days at room temperature in airtight container. To freeze, place in layers separated by wax paper in airtight container. Freeze for up to 6 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.


Comments from others that I took to heart:
-There's always a weak peanut butter flavor. So I usually add just a tad bit more. 1/4 cup or so, or I add some peanut butter chips to liven up that taste!
- I made this recipe with Nutella instead of peanut butter

so we'll see what daughter and I do after school!

The best breakfast I've had in weeks

A big glass of water.
Fresh raspberries, sliced banana.
A leftover pumpkin crêpe with cashew butter.

Yum.

My husband had a similar breakfast. My daughter got a crêpe with cashew butter and Nutella. I served her raspberries, banana and some canned fruit salad on the side.

Crazy breakfast

I thought I posted these, but I can't find the entry. My husband made these "sandwiches" for my daughter for breakfast...

From left: Graham cracker, nutella, count chocula;
Graham cracker, peanut butter, count chocula;
Graham cracker, peanut butter, raisins...

Unplanned snack time

 Lunch was a success (on the Superman plate). We each ate the equivalent of one carrot and about twice what is on the plate in muffin. But we were trying to use them up. I almost served cheese cubes with this, and I probably should have. By three p.m. I was starving. So, the family and I decided on snack (striped plate). Daddy made cocoa (Swiss Miss, some bittersweet shavings, a hearty dose of powdered milk someone gave me). To up the protein count in the snack (preschooler requested granola), I added a slice of homemade bread with peanut butter and nutella.