The Peanut Butter Boy

Ricotta and Crispy Prosciutto Pizza

Nick — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:32:54 +0000

There’s nothing like a fresh pizza. The melted mozzarella and crispy crust are a perfect combination. Traditional pizza is delicious but feels like a solid block of cheese by the time it hits your stomach. Sometimes I feel like pizza but want something a little bit lighter. The first step is to switch out the greasy cheese in a way that doesn’t sacrifice flavor. In this respect, my girlfriend often mentions my steady progression as a cook over the years. When I first started cooking I would try to make everything as healthy as possible without much regard for taste. After a few years I realized that if it doesn’t taste good, why eat it? I’ve tried many substitutions here but my favorite is creamy nonfat ricotta and salty parmesan cheese. Topped with crispy prosciutto or ham, this pizza is full of flavor and the perfect model of healthy and tasty cooking.

Recipe for Mega Man

Nick — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:01:52 +0000

I’m a child of the 80’s, a time of tacky hairstyles, jelly shoes and gaudy pajama pants worn as everyday attire. 1987 in particular was a good year – a gallon of gas was $0.89, Nirvana was formed, and a brilliant man named Akira Kitamura created Mega Man. The Mega Man games were simple to play – one button to jump, another to shoot – but they were impossible to beat, which is why I never played them as a kid. But as I’ve aged so have video games. Games nowadays are flashy but they are expensive and have steep learning curves, too many buttons, and lack a simple pick-up-and-play aspect. When I purchased a PS3, I longed for some good oldies that I could play in my free time. I soon stumbled on a compilation game that contained all 8 original Mega Man games and have been a man obsessed ever since. So when Halloween was near there was only one idea floating around in my head. Read on to learn how to make a Mega Man costume for under $24 as well as what I call “Mega Man Power Juice”.

Turkey and Cranberry Sandwich

Nick — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:41:33 +0000

Thanksgiving is coming – my favorite holiday of the year. In anticipation of this joyous food-based holiday, I’ve begun making these Thanksgiving-leftover-esque sandwiches. I went through several iterations of this recipe, finally settling on the one you see here. Deli turkey breast just doesn’t cut it – it’s watery, slimy and lacks in flavor and texture. Solution: go to Costco and get the “kettle fried turkey breast” in the refrigerated section. Despite it’s name there is no added fat and it’s solid meat (no bones, no fat) that tastes just like a roasted Thanksgiving turkey. Disregard the directions on the label, just cut open the package, dry it and slice for consumption. The other key ingredient to this sandwich is cranberry sauce. I tried using dried cranberries but they didn’t add much to the experience and often just fell-off the sandwich. Solution: get canned whole-berry cranberry sauce, store brand if possible. Yes, the sweetener is high-fructose corn syrup but check this out: 1 serving (70g) of whole-berry cranberry sauce has 22g sugar while 1 serving (40g) of dried cranberries or “craisins” has 26g sugar! The cranberry sauce has 4g less sugar in a serving that is 75% larger! Besides, cranberry sauce makes this sandwich twice as delicious and addicting. There’s one other ingredient here that brings the whole thing together, read on for details.

A Soup-er Pasta Sauce

Nick — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:52:53 +0000

I love leftovers, especially during the week when there’s no time to buy groceries and cook an entire meal, unless you like eating dinner at 10:00pm. I can eat the same thing 4 or 5 nights in a row but not all people have that kind of stamina or dedication (you know who you are). Using leftovers in a creative way is often difficult, unless you enjoy lasagna shakes or chicken and broccoli popsicles. But I gotta hand it to myself – and I was pretty excited about it – this is one of the best uses for leftovers I have ever come up with. I mentioned previously that I had an excellent leftover use for the peanut butter sweet potato soup and here it is, a delicious pasta sauce!

Peanut Butter Sweet Potato Soup

Nick — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:41:35 +0000

Shout if you have a Vita-Mix blender! I got one for my birthday this year and love it. It whips up fresh ice cream in no time and like a dog, it can clean itself! As for this soup, if you haven’t heard me rant about it before, I love orange-colored soups. This one in particular is, as one reader put it, “like liquid gold.” Whether the soup is made from pumpkin, butternut squash, sweet potato, peanut butter, carrots, cantaloupe, oranges or any combination of those orange-colored delights, it is guaranteed delicious. And when your blender can process and cook your orange soup in one step, well, that is just bliss. This soup is very rich and full of flavor – so much so that your tongue may get confused with all the concurrent flavors. But stick it out, each sip is better. And freeze your leftovers, this soup doubles as an excellent pasta sauce.

Chicken Chana Saag

Nick — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:02:13 +0000

There is a restaurant in Hoboken called “India on the Hudson” that serves some exquisite food. I’ve been there several times and can’t get past the chana saag. It has the most incredible flavors and textures, like nothing else I’ve ever had. Now I’m no connosieur of Indian cuisine – my girlfriend’s father rips on me for loving the “yellow and orange stuff” at Indian places. But I challenge you to find a yellow or orange colored dish at a good Indian restaurant that isn’t delicious. This dish is neither yellow nor orange but delicious nonetheless. When you factor in that I recently won the Indian spice giveaway at Spiceaholic, I had no choice but to try my hand at this dish. I couldn’t decide between straight chana (chickpeas) or chicken (chicken) saag, so I went with both. Verdict: the chickpeas are much better so I recommend using only chickpeas for a full-blown chana saag.

Bison Burger with Peanut Sauce

Nick — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:30:05 +0000

My first encounter with a bull was at our farm in upstate New York. We used to rent out land to local farmers to house livestock like horses and cows. The curious kid that I was, I hopped one of the fences along with my sister to play with the cows. We were petting the cows for a while until we heard screams back near the house; It was our mother screaming and flailing her arms. It turns out that the cows that are black and have horns are in fact bulls. I learned the importance of animal distinction that day. Along those lines, the new lean meat grazing our grocery store shelves and plastering our food magazines, bison, is often mistaken for buffalo. So watch what you eat or you might get pierced by a bull.

Peanut Butter Club – Part 5

Nick — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:20:56 +0000

Being the Peanut Butter Boy is a tough job, there seems to be an endless supply of peanut butter brands and varieties. I’m not complaining though, and if you run your own nut butter company I’ll gladly review your nut butters! This round of reviews covers some fairly common brands and varieties. My current favorite peanut butter is also reviewed, I think I’ve waited so long to review it because I’ve been busy inhaling jar after jar. There is 1 review of a brand that I have never seen before but luckily the Peanut Butter of the Month Club brought it to my doorstep. I can proudly say I have 5 more peanut butters under my belt. Read on for the reviews or to see all of my peanut butter reviews, click here.

Salmon Tacos with Honey Mustard Sauce

Nick — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:02:56 +0000

Is it possible for one to tire of Mexican food? I think not. Whether it’s Mexican Lasagna, Peanut Butter Mole or a Taco Smoothie (recipe TBD), the possibilities are endless. This was a spur-of-the-moment recipe that ended up surprising me and the others who partook in its glory. This has since become a staple meal as it’s a simple and tasty way to get fish into your diet. To all my peanut butter lovers out there, I promise the next thing on this site will contain peanut butter.

Mexican Lasagna

Nick — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:25:54 +0000

Sick of Mexican food yet? Me neither. This delectable dish has been rehashed in many different forms. You could call it taco casserole, enchilada casserole or mexican lasagna – my preferred choice. It’s a crossover between enchiladas and tex-mex, prepared in a classic and convenient casserole fashion. I’ve made similar dishes before (see “Related Entries” below) but this is yet another delicious twist on my favorite cuisine. This dish was adapted from Reeni’s version to include beans and incorporate some healthy changes. If you’ve got all the ingredients handy, it will only take 1 hour to get it on the table and it will feed you for weeks, so freezing is recommended.