A Few of My Favorite Things {food edition}

I wish I could live in Christmas carols. Truly.

I had this post written and ready to be published, and then yesterday happened.

I’m glad I had it written, because I can’t bring my heart back to it’s usual, optimistic state. I know our God is bigger, higher, and stronger than any other force or being, but sadness and frustration are quickly fighting for that position in my thoughts. Fear and despair won’t win. Love and faith will drive it out. I’m confident of that. But after the darkness of yesterday…it’s going to take some time.

So yea, I wish I lived in Christmas carols. As I sit here and watch The Polar Express with my precious, special, treasured little boy, I can’t help but wish for a world in which love, compassion, faith, joy, hope, and kindness are the norm. I know this won’t be truly realized until we meet Jesus, but part of me still desparately hopes for it for our world. We must continue to pray…

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I wanted to share some products that I’ve discovered in the past year that have made me so excitedly giddy. However, being such a lover of food, I didn’t want this list to be 374 items long. So, I decided to only include the products that I felt may not be known to some. The products that I myself, who can spend hours strolling through grocery store aisles, didn’t know about until this past year.

So we’ve got a list of five. I’m all about de-cluttering. Unless it’s my craft supplies.

PB2

PB2. Peanut flour. This stuff, if you like peanut butter as much as we do, is life-changing.

My best friend introduced me to it, and I was sooo skeptical. She thinks healthy stuff tastes good. I don’t.

Just kidding, I really do. But she does have a palate that is more accustomed to healthier substitutions and add-ins. So yea, I was a bit skeptical. But I ordered some on Amazon, and was totally obsessed. All you have to do is mix the the PB2 with half the amount of water, (like 2 Tbs PB2 to 1 Tbs water) and stir. It really whips up smooth and creamy, but it isn’t quite as thick as regular peanut butter. The taste is awesome however, and the fat/calorie savings is amazing. And, though we still keep regular peanut butter around for things apple slices, I use PB2 in pretty much anything else calling for it. Smoothies, peanut butter pie, granola bars…it subs perfectly.

If you’re using it just for flavor (smoothies, frozen peanut butter pie, etc) you can just add the powder. For things like cookies or granola bars, where you need the binder, I mix it up with water.

And, you know what?

They also make a chocolate pb version.

You know whats even better than that?

They now sell it at HEB!

Refrigerated flour tortilla dough

As in, you can make homemade tasting tortillas at home, in 5 minutes.

I’m all for making homemade tortillas. In fact, I love doing it. My schedule just unfortunately does not allow for it every week. These are an excellent alternative, and much, much better than pre-made store-bought tortillas.

These have to stay refrigerated, and once you are ready to use them, you simply peel off one already-rolled-for-you-tortilla at a time and place on a hot griddle.

When the tortillas start to bubble (after about 20-30 seconds)….

…flip and cook on the other side for another 20-30 seconds.

This is all approximate though! It depends on how hot your skillet is, so make sure you check the first one to see about how long it takes.

After a few minutes, you will have a pile of soft, warm tortillas ready for whatever your little heart desires to make with them.

Cedar’s Tzatziki Dip

This is another one of those things that I love to make from scratch. The fresh flavors of the cucumber and lemon juice and dill (or whatever you put in yours:)) are just unbeatable. However, it is again one of those things that can take a little bit of time if I haven’t prepared my ingredients in advance.

This tub of tzatziki I bought on a whim, because I had made these buffalo chicken strips for dinner, and didn’t have any dip. I saw this, and thought it would be a little better for us than ranch. It’s well-known that greek yogurt dips are much healthier for you than mayonnaise or cream cheese based dips, and I’m a sucker for Tzatziki, so I went for it. And I rarely purchase premade sauces and dips…I think they taste processed, overly salty, overly garlicky, etc. This Cedar’s brand dip was DELICIOUS. It tasted very comparable to the tzatziki I’ve made at home, and it only has 35 calories per serving.

I have an awesome recipe for Chicken Souvlaki I will share soon!

Fischer & Wieser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Ok don’t roll your eyes! I know this stuff has a cult following, and it’s no new discovery. But I just recently remembered how much I luvvvvved it. See-opened bottle…I couldnt wait. I’ve had it numerous times before, and I don’t know why I don’t keep it around more often.

I cannot, though, vouch for its use in main-dish recipes, which I’m sure is 75% of it’s intended use. Because I only eat it straight. With crackers and cream cheese. It is SO yummy. SO.

I had it served over cream cheese at a party once, and the cream cheese was molded into fruit shapes using ice cream molds. The sauce was then poured over. Cute, right?!

Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

This isn’t a super unique find, obviously. It is just wayyyyy more amazing than I anticipated.

Benj went to bed really early last night, and I wasn’t tired, so I sat in the dark by the Christmas tree and watched a Hallmark Christmas movie. With this cocoa. It was wonderful.