Friday, September 26, 2008

I Love the Smell of Peanut Butter in the Morning

Brian loves peanut butter, taking a line from our friend Nathan, he could bathe in it. We go through jars very, very quickly. He has the smell of it on his breath almost every morning and evening, so much so that I was joking with him that when he dies I will bury him with a jar. He suggested it might be better to just to go ahead and stick his ashes in the jar.

We used to buy the huge peter pan can from Sam's, the one that says "great for daycares, churches, and Brian". Then a dark, dark day arrived in Brian's life. Peter pan was recalled. He held fast to the hope that next week, maybe the next it would be back. Grocery stores were checked week after week, month after month. Tears were shed, prayers were prayed...still nothing. We tried jif, we tried skippy, generic, you name it, we tried it. In his opinion, nothing could hold a candle to Peter. Then, one day, success! I read something about the dangers of partially-hydrogenated oils and suggested he try a natural brand. Smuckers, friends, smuckers is what saved us. It took a little getting used to, but it is now Brian's #1. Here is one of our favorite recipes featuring the beloved smuckers (or any peanut butter).

chicken and cashews in lettuce cups

3 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs honey
2 Tbs peanut butter
3 Tbs canola oil
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken, cut up in 1/2 inch pieces
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1 Tbs finely diced ginger
1 bunch scallions, sliced
1 8-ounce can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1/4 cup roasted cashews
1 small head boston or bibb lettuce (you can also skip the lettuce and serve over rice)

Combine soy sauce, honey, and peanut butter, set aside. Heat oil in large skillet, stir in chicken. Season with pepper and stir till begins to brown. Lower heat to medium and add garlic and ginger. Add scallions and cook for 1 minute. Stir in chestnuts and soy sauce mixture, stir until chicken is cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and sprinkle with cashews.
Serve with lettuce, rice. Cilantro and chili-garlic sauce are yummy accompaniments.

3 comments:

ErinL said...

Yummy recipe! I'll have to try it. Thank goodness he doesn't have a peanut allergy!

Anonymous said...

oh my gosh! it must be a huelskamp thing..joe is OBSESSED with peanut butter too! he really cant go a day without it. it doesn't matter what brand either...we'll have to try that recipe

Anonymous said...

After waiting all this time to finally be blogged about, it feels a little anti-climactic....probably just that my biggest weakness - my achilles heel - was just exposed to the world. Now the cause of my death will probably be poisoned peanut butter (instead of being stabbed while attempting to remove a new kid's toy from the plastic).