Sous Chef Sunday: Snickerdoodle Crescent Rolls

While I could go on and on about these perfect little pastries, I’ll get straight to the point for you guys. Today the sons and I are bringing you peanut butter, cinnamon, and sugar wrapped up in crescent rolls for an easy breakfast, snack, or even dessert. Be sure to sit down with a glass of milk, then pile up a gorgeous Snickerdoodle mountain of them. Eat your way to the top one crescent at a time!

Snickerdoodle Crescent Rolls

 

1 tube Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
4 teaspoons peanut butter (crunchy or creamy)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl combine the cinnamon and sugar.
3. Unroll the crescent dough and carefully seperate into individual triangles along the perforated lines. Spread 1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter onto the top side of the crescents, starting at the wide end and leaving a little space along the edges. Sprinkle each with a pinch of cinnamon sugar. Roll into crescents.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes, until golden brown. While still hot carefully roll them in the cinnamon and sugar.  Roll again after they’ve cooled.
5. These can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Can also be frozen for up to one month. Then you’ve got a quick, on-the-go breakfast or snack for busy days!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake

Gah, kids grow so fast! I look at the sons at least ten different times on any given day and find myself taken aback. They look so… grown. When did that happen? Wasn’t it just yesterday even son # 1 still need his tears wiped away and boo boos kissed by Mom? I’m always surprised by how fast they grow. I’m thinking that won’t ever change, no matter how old they get or how much they eventually tower over their Dad & I. That being said, feeding said growing boys has proved quite the challenge over the past few years. When they enter the ‘hungry phase’ (although it’s really not a stage since the hubs hasn’t left it behind yet) it strike immediately. One day they will have been eating a nice normal portion of food, and the next, next, next, and so on after that…they’ve become walking, talking garbage disposals eating us out of house and home and peppering the rest of my days with hungry pleas for more. The only feasible solution that we’ve found is protein. Protein, protein, protein. The fuel my 5 hungry guys need to stay full and, incidentally, focused. I’ve gotten pretty creative at finding affordable ways to incorporate more of it into their meals snacks, and even desserts, to help keep their bellies and my bank account as full as possible.

Knowing the struggle, as I’m sure every other parent has juggled before, I knew this little ditty was going to be taking a test run. Packed with a whopping 28 grams of protein (yes, you read that right) I was fairly confident they’d guzzle it down without a second thought since all that protein was hidden under layers of chocolate and peanut butter. Two things the sons never turn down. And why would they when they combine so beautifully here. An easy, healthy peanut butter chocolate smoothie tasting just like a peanut butter cup. What’s a Mom, or anyone really, not to love about that?!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Shake

recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction

1 large banana, peeled, sliced, and frozen
3 Tablespoons sweetened cocoa powder
6 oz Chobani 0% Greek Yogurt (or 2%, flavored or unflavored)
3/4 cup skim milk (or your favorite kind of nondairy or dairy milk)
1-2 tbsp honey, maple syrup, or agave
1 tbsp creamy peanut butter

Directions

1. Put all of the ingredients into the blender, in the order listed, and blend on high until thick and smooth. I would start with only 2 tbsp of cocoa powder, blend, and then add 1 more for a stronger chocolate taste.
2. You may need to stop and stir/scrape down the sides of the blender a few times. Drizzle glass with 1 tsp of chocolate syrup (optional), hold the glass up and let it swirl around inside for a bit, pour your shake in, and enjoy!
3. If you prefer a less sweet smoothie, you may leave out the honey. Add more peanut butter for a stronger peanut butter taste. Add more milk to make the smoothie thinner, if desired. Add 1 cup of your favorite greens for added nutrition.

Peanut Butter ‘Lo Mein’ Noodles

The sons go crazy for these easy peanut butter noodles. The first time I made them they looked at the ingredients I was pulling out with total confusion. I think I detected a hint of fear. Sons # 2 kept repeating orange juice & peanut butter? Orange juice & peanut butter?! Like I was some sort of professional recipe butcher-er. Ye sons of little faith…

One bite and his little peanut butter loving eyes lit up with joy! My reaction? A totally juvenille normal , ‘ha ha I told you so!!’ moment. (Everybody has those, right?)

Short on time? Looking for an alternative type of lunch? Trying to appeal to your pickier little foodies? These do the trick.

Peanut Butter ‘Lo Mein’ Noodles

recipe originally from Mom Foodie

½ lb. of dry fettuccine or linguine noodles
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup crunchy peanut butter (natural)
2½ tbs. soy sauce
2 tbs. white vinegar
2 tbs. brown sugar (either light or dark is fine)
½ tsp hot chili sauce (more if you want it spicy)
*optional* squeeze a wedge or two of lime juice into sauce
1 tsp oil
¼ cup sweet onions, sliced
1 clove of garlic minced

Directions

1. Put on pot of boiling water for pasta. Cook the fettuccine to al dente.
2. While the pasta is cooking, whisk together orange juice, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chili sauce and lime if you are using it.
3. Heat oil in skillet over med-high, once hot add the onion and garlic. Stir fry, until onion is cooked, but still has a little firmness, not mushy, then add the noodles and stir fry for 2 minutes,
4. Pour the sauce over noodles, and stir to coat, continue folding and mixing the pasta over heat for about a minute.
5. Serve with a splash of soy or Ponzu sauce, or wedges of lime.

Have a larger family? Feeding a crowd? Making for dinner rather than lunch? No worries. The recipe easily doubles to accommodate your needs.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Popcorn

What is it about the combination of pb & j that kids loved so much. Seriously? I remember eating peanut butter & jelly sandwiches every chance I got as as kid. Any meal, any time. I didn’t care. I’m pretty sure I o.d.ed  on it I ate it so much. As an adult the thought of eating it makes me feel slightly ill. Yep, definitely o.d.ed on the two as a kid. Thankfully, my own kids seem to have managed to avoid the same fate. They beg for the stuff. I’ve caught all of them at least once, ok maybe twice, hiding in the pantry and eating peanut butter by the spoonful out of the jar. They love it on celery sticks. Apple slices? You bet! Even tortillas. My crazy kids use peanut butter like it’s a condiment.

With that in mind, we decided to get creative with our next popcorn experiment. I hit the web and found this simple, but totally awesome, looking recipe for Peanut Butter & Jelly popcorn. The finished product knocked their little socks off. I’m talking toe-curlingly delicious level. It was snack time and dessert all rolled into one. Even I enjoyed the stuff.

Fix a batch for your own pb & j fans and rock their world.

PB & J Popcorn

recipe originally from Something Swanky

8 cups popped popcorn (about 1/4 cup kernels, popped)
1 cup white chocolate, divided
1 1/2 tbsp. grape jelly & 1 tbsp. peanut butter

Directions

1. Divide Popcorn as evenly as possible into two separate bowls.
2. Over medium low heat on the stove top, melt 1/2 cup white chocolate with 1 tbsp. peanut butter. Stir until smooth. Pour over 1 bowl of the popcorn. Use a rubber spatula to mix well and coat thoroughly. Spread out on a silicon mat or parchment paper to let cool.
3. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1/2 cup white chocolate with 1 1/2 tbsp grape jelly over medium low heat on the stove top. Stir until smooth. Pour over the other bowl of popcorn, and stir with rubber spatula to coat well. Spread out on silicon mat or parchment paper to let cool.
4. Once both batches of popcorn are cooled enough that the coatings are set, mix them both together in a bowl and serve!