Nut Butters, Breakfast cakes and mangos......

So I have just a few interesting little food items that I have tried and quite enjoyed and so....as such...I .am sharing them with you.

First of all, I have become a devotee of nut butters other than peanut butter. That would be almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower seed butter etc...etc...etc.. Imagine my delight when I realized that I could actually make these myself and add some extra flavours to boot.

This information I got from Kath Eats and another one from (if I remember rightly) one of her followers in this post of Kath's (don't forget to scroll down for the recipe.) My first attempt at almond butter was ok....but I found it to be frustrating because of the size of my food processor.....too little food, too big a processor....and also I found it too easy to burn the almonds when roasting them. My solution... buy already roasted almonds and add the molasses and maple syrup into the mix. So the next time I did the Almond Butter, I doubled the recipe and it made a large 1 litre canning jar....which lasted for quite a while. As for the pumpkin seed butter, I ran into the same problem so I also doubled the recipe and bought already roasted sunflower seeds. I have no pics of the almond butter, but I have some of the sunflower seed butter.....finished product only I'm afraid and please excuse the bits of butter on the counter....I was in a hurry to get the photo done :-)

The other food item I have tried out....this morning actually...was a Breakfast Cake, which originated from Kath Eats  but was changed slightly and posted by Marissa on her blog Loser for Life. I changed it yet again by substituting applesauce for banana and kamut flour for oat bran.....the changes made because of grocery shortcomings....in otherwards I didn't have any bananas (an unusual occurence) and I didn't have any oatbran.
So....here is the finished product....

and then toppd with Maranatha Almond Butter .....

It was quite filling and pretty tasty, but I did have to cook it for about 3 minutes in the microwave and it is very moist. I'll try it with the bananas and oat bran at some future time and see how it works......The good thing about this "cake" is that it is very quick to put together and cook in the microwave.

It never fails to amaze me how many different ways there are of preparing food.....a few years ago nut butters were not even on my radar. I thank my lucky stars that I have a daughter who is a total foodie and loves to try new things. She has opened my eyes to the myriad of options out there. For example... I happened to pick up some Ataulfo mangos   (they were on sale)and was raving about the good buy to her and she said...".oh yes they are the best....they are the only kind of mangos I get".....and they are the best....so sweet that I now just peel them, cube them, sprinkle a little 5 spice powder on them and have them as a side to my lunch time sandwich. The produce manager in our market calls them the cadillac of mangos. I guess it's the season for them now because they are always on sale and nice and ripe too.

I could go on and on about the new methods and ingredients and recipes I am trying, but suffice to say....I'm having a blast!! My interest in cooking as been renewed !!

There will be definitely more posts on this topic.....but that's all for this one.

Have a great day!!

Slainte!!

Aftermath....

After I published the last post I thought I would feel better....and I did...for a while. However, as grief does, it attacks you in other ways...especially in your weakest areas. In my case I ended up in a lot of physical pain,compounded by the emotional pain of loss. It was a situation I was totally unprepared for. 
However, I am now on the mend...

It's been a deep dark hole I've been in... filled with pain and anguish....which I'm sure sounds very dramatic but it's the only way I can describe how life has been for me recently. The grief threw me into a fibromyalgia "flare" which caused depression, insomnia and much physical pain. Sorting it all out without counseling has been a challenge.   I have my "cave" to retreat to where my emotions can be taken out, sorted and examined without involving anyone else.....just me. Now I'm having much more positive experiences than negative and the longer days with more daylight have added to the positive side of things. I've also started jotting down  the more negative thoughts to expunge them from my mind so they don't contaminate the good stuff. I don't seem to have the ability to separate positive and negative within my head, so I have to get it out on paper where it makes sense and then I can dump it into the emotional trash bin. I have also allowed myself to remember and shed a few tears and finally things get put into perspective ...

Although I have lost a dear friend, I still have much to be thankful for.....a loving husband, great kids and the anticipated arrival of a new grandchild in August, the love of other family and friends and the chance to do whatever I please whenever I please....the benefit of old age and retirement.

Sure...there will be other times when the darkness will creep in....but having got through this and other past experiences, I get stronger each time.....

Slainte!