Nut McMuffin

for a protein-packed breakfast

My nutritionist suggested this as a breakfast option when I was getting sick of eating eggs every day. I can’t quite explain what it tastes like. It may even sound a bit gross once you read the ingredients, but just give it a try.

I don’t eat much meat, so this is the vegetarian version that I eat. See the “Variations” column for swap in ideas, and notes.

1 serving

Ingredients:                                                            Variations:

2 slices Morning Star veggie bacon                         2 slices real bacon, or 1 scrambled egg

1 English muffin                                                a honey wheat English muffin tastes the best

½  peach                                                            ½  apple or banana

1 ½ tbsp almond butter                                    any other nut butter

1. Begin to cook your “meat” (veggie bacon, bacon, or egg)

2. At the same time, peel open your English muffin, and put it in the toaster.

3. While your “meat” and English muffin are heating, slice your fruit into slivers: if a peach or an apple, cut slivers vertically, top to bottom, about ¼ inch thick. Then cut each sliver in half; if a banana, cut as though you’re going to put it on cereal.

4. Butter both pieces the toasted English muffin with nut butter. Cut each slice of “meat” in half (if egg, the just cut in half), and lay on top of nut butter on both pieces of the muffin. Add on fruit as desired.

The layers of your sandwich should be in this order:

            muffin, nut butter, “meat”, fruit, “meat”, nut butter, muffin

Hope you like it!

Norwegian Crown Cookies

These are my absolute favorite cookies, and this is my first time making them. Not only are they healthy, but they're delicious, and nutty. Norwegian Crown Cookies can also be made into a cake, sometimes called a Viking Wedding or Ring cake. I'll probably be making the cake for my grandmother's birthday in a few months...

Bake Time: 10-15 minutes

 

Ingredients:

2 cups almond meal

2 egg whites

¾ cup powdered confectioner’s sugar

½ tsp. baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.

2. Whip the egg whites until they peak. Fold in the sugar and baking powder – stirring until consistent.

3. Stir in the almond meal, little by little – by hand, in a food processor, or with an electric mixer.

4. (this part is the tricky part) shape half a handful of the dough into a roll, or a little ball. It might get sticky… Place each cookie on the papered baking sheet, about an inch apart. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Drizzle with honey if you want. Store in an airtight container.

Eat as many as you want. They're fatty, but they're good for you.

The Problem With Peanut Butter?

Everyone has a love-hate relationship with peanut butter. You probably remember hungrily opening your lunch box in second grade, only to find a heat-scorched, gooey peanut butter and crystallized jelly sandwich on crummy white bread. Day after day, peanut butter became a bit of a ritual; month after month, it became a bit of a drag…and before you knew it, you swore you’d never touch a peanut butter sandwich again. Now you might eat it every now and then for nostalgia’s sake, unless you’ve been totally and utterly scarred for life. But that nasty peanut butter sandwich is only peanut butter at its worst. And in fact, you probably don’t really know peanut butter at all.

I have a 100% love relationship with nut butter. It was my enemy throughout elementary school, then my savior in high school when I needed to gain healthy weight. So I eat peanut butter, almond butter, or nuts in general once a day, sometimes twice, and I have enough recipe ideas to keep any of it from getting boring. Depending on the brand, nut butter can be one of the healthiest foods you can eat. Depending on how it’s served, it can be one of the best tasting, too!

So this blog is here for a few purposes: for those who want to re-acquaint themselves or their children with peanut butter (the right way); for those who need a painless way to gain some weight; for those who’d just like to thrive on a nutritious food, and maintain a healthy weight; and for any peanut butter fanatics who may still exist, and need a few fresh ideas.  


Maybe no one will ever read this, and maybe I'll just get too busy to post. Right now, I'm just seeing if blogging is the right thing for me - to put something out there and help other people for a change. I'm no nutritionist (I'm in high school...) but I've gone to see my fair share. Peanut butter is my key to healthy living - maybe it can be yours too.