Tasty Tuesday: Santa Fe Chicken

This is a recipe that I have modified from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. The first time I made it was before Mr. Z was born. I made a double batch, and put half in the freezer for the postpartum period.

Then a few months ago, I decided to make it again. Wonderful Man, told me that this was something to add to the regular rotation.

It is a easy, one pot meal, especially, if you have a deep ovenproof skillet.

It is also a meal you can customize to your tastes.

Vegan? Just skip the chicken

No need to be gluten free? You can use all purpose flour instead of brown rice flour.

Want it spicy? Add some cayenne pepper.

Santa Fe Chicken

Recipe modified from Better Homes and Gardens

Printable Version

Chicken:

1-2 Chicken Breast, boneless and skinless, cut into chunks

¼ cup Brown Rice Flour

1 ½ tsp Chili Powder

½ tsp Black Pepper

Rice:

½ cup chopped Onion

½ cup chopped Green Bell Pepper

1 ½ cup cooked black beans (or 1 14.5 oz can black beans)

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup Tomato Juice

1 can Corn, drained (or 1 cup frozen Corn)

⅔ cup Long Grain White Rice

½ tsp Chili powder

½ tsp Cumin

2 cloves Garlic, minced

In a medium bowl combine the rice flour, chili powder, and pepper. Add the chicken chunks and stir to coat.

In a nonstick deep oven proof skillet, brown the chicken, about 5 minutes per side over medium high. Remove from pan, place on a plate and cover with a foil tent to keep warm. Wipe out the skillet.

Return the skillet to medium, and saute the onion and bell pepper until transparent and very tender. Add the beans, diced tomatoes, tomato juice, corn, rice, chili powder, cumin, and garlic. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and add the browned chicken on top. Cover and bake at 375F for 45 to 50 minutes until chicken is fully cooked, and the rice is done.

Serves: 4-6

Before Baking

After baking

This is a great dish to double and save half for a night you don't want to cook.

To freeze, just get ready to bake, and freeze instead. I like to put it in a foil pan, that way, I am not having a pan tied up in the freezer, and I can just toss the pan. Quick, simple, and fast!

This is our meal ready for the freezer.

Covered in foil, and then directions written on a ziploc.

I like to write the directions on the meal before freezing, either on the foil or the ziploc, or on a card.

Hope you can enjoy this meal, as much a Wonderful Man does.

Closer

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I rarely share my beliefs, mostly out of fear. This post is not to try and convert you, it is just about the thought I had driving home from church this afternoon. I feel that no matter your belief system, you can get something out of this. Please, open your mind and heart, and think about who you can get closer to.

I have been struggling with my faith, for quite some time now. Events in life, have led me to start asking questions. Questions, that sometimes, I do not want the answer to.

I was never one to just accept what I was being taught at church. I remember making a few Sunday school teachers mad with my questions.

When my mom died, I had a really hard time, I didn't let on. I didn't want to appear weak. I was pregnant, I kept telling myself,  "I needed to be strong, I HAD to be strong. If not for me, for my baby."

About a month before my son was born, I had the realization, that I needed to start finding my faith again. I needed to know what I believed, so that I could have the hope that so many at church would talk about. This hope that told them, despite how awful the world is, they know everything will be alright, if not now, in the eternities.

My husband and I were married in the Temple. We participated in a special ceremony, that as members of the LDS faith, we believe that if we are true and faithful, we are bonded together as husband and wife for all eternity.



Even with my wavering faith, I knew, that I loved my husband, and I wanted to be with him for all eternity (even on the bad days). I knew, that the promise to be together in the eternities, would be fulfilled, but I just needed to find the faith to continue to live the way needed for that fulfillment.

It has been over a year since, that realization.

I don't feel that much closer to my Heavenly Father (God), nor do I feel much stronger in my Faith.

Lately, I have been asking myself, why? Why do I feel such a disconnect from Him?

Is is because, even after 5 years in the same congregation, I still have no close friends?

Is it because, we don't live in an apartment complex? (90% of the congregation lives in apartments, and most live in one or two different complexes. We live in a duplex, away from "apartment land".)

Is it because, no one sits next to me?

Is it because, of who I am?

Sometime, when I get depressed, I start to wonder, do I stink, is that why no one sits next to me? Is it my personality? Do I have no social filter? Does no one, want to be my friend, because I am judgemental? Or have done something to ostracize myself?

I have a hard time going to church, mostly because of these feeling. I want people to come and WANT to be my friend, and to sit next to me. I want to feel welcome and wanted at all of my church meetings.

These feelings have started to creep into other parts of my life. I go to a mom's group, and sometimes if I get there early, I feel like the people I would normally sit with don't sit with me. I makes me feel very unwanted. I have started to come late so that I don't have to sit at an empty table and pray someone sits with me. This is how I feel at  EVERY SINGLE CHURCH FUNCTION. 

But if I get there too late, I have to sit alone anyway.

As I was driving home from church, I had a sleeping baby in the back, and I was listening to the radio, the song Get Closer, by Seals and Crofts came on.

Darling if you want me to be closer to you

Get closer to me

Darling if you want me to be closer to you

Get closer to me

Darling if you want me to love, love only you

Then love only me

Darling if you want me to see, see only you

Then see only me

There's a line that I can't cross over

It's no good for me and it's no good for you

And there's a feeling deep down inside me

I can't explain it and you're wondering why

You say we been like strangers

But I'm not the others you can hang by your fingers

Darling if you want me to be closer to you

Get closer to me

Darling if you want me to be closer to you

Get closer to me

Darling if you want me to love, love only you

Then love only me

Darling if you want me to see, see only you

Then see only me

There was a time when you would come running

You dropped everything for the touch of your hand in mine

I was blind and know I regret it

I can't forget it, it's locked in my mind

And I can't go on living

Wondering if you'll be here tomorrow

People change and you're changing

And I've given you my all

There's no one can borrow

Darling if you want me to be closer to you

Get closer to me

Darling if you want me to be closer to you

Get closer to me

Darling if you want me to be closer to you

Get closer, closer, closer, closer

If I want to be closer to my Heavenly Father, then I need to get closer to him. That was the first thought that popped into my head.

Sometimes, the answer to our problems isn't ME, but that we aren't letting THEM in.

We need to let others, help us, we need to let them in. I want to be closer to my God, and I need to let him in at the same time.

Getting closer to someone, is a two way street.

Finshed Friday: Clutter to Art

It has been a while since I have done a Finished Friday post.

I want to share with you something we have been working on all year.

It is a process, and we are in the "worst stage". You know the stage where everything is in shambles before the calm.

It is driving me crazy.

I just want to pack everything up and toss it, but there are things I know we do not want to lose.

We had on our bookshelf a shelf devoted to nick nacks. Most of them were from our wedding, and just collecting dust.

Mr. Z is a climber and I wanted to try to make our bookshelf less of object of desire.

This year we are in a MASSIVE de-cluttering movement, and I didn't just want to box them up and store them. And to make the bookshelf less of an obstacle. I took the bottom shelf off and moved everything up.

Doing that, I had to find a new home for the nick nacks. This finally got me to make two shadow boxes, something I have been wanting to do for years.

I made one for Mr. Z of some of his items from the hospital, his homecoming outfit, and the notes on the birth from the doula.

Then I made a shadow box of some things from our wedding and honeymoon.

It took use a couple of days, but we found the perfect home for them.

Shadow boxes, are not cheap, actually the cost for them has put me off for years. But we wanted a nice way to display these happy memories and mementos.

Everything else, was from stuff we already had, the pins used, and even the background paper. They did take some time to set up, but we love them.

What is a recent project you have recently finished?

Discovering Health: Accepting Food Allergies

In November of 2011, I found out I have a food allergy. After YEARS, of being told my digestive problem was IBS, I finally found a real answer.

This one food allergy started me down a path of wanting to know more about the food I was eating, and how it was prepared.

I started reading about food, and watching food documentaries, and researching how to eat.

I felt like there was a different diet for every person who has ever lived on this planet.

Cutting out DAIRY has been hard, I still struggle.

A few months after having Mr. Z, I went on an Elimination Diet, I didn't stick with it long enough to find anything. After Mr. Z started solids, he started to show signs of food allergies.

I started back on the diet, and we started to find out what Mr. Z is allergic to.

I thought since I had this DAIRY allergy, I might also have a WHEAT/GLUTEN allergy. They tend to go hand and hand.

I ignored this for years, as I wasn't ready to go through the grieving process that would follow the change needed.

This last weekend my sister was visiting. And after being good for a few weeks, I lapsed, and we gorged ourselves. It didn't help any that she was pregnant and I have little to no will power.

As I write this, my gut is churning and gurgling. I have been farting non stop, and my joints ache.

It is time for me to mourn the loss of the staple of the American diet.

It is time for me to let go, and let my body heal.

I have cleaned my house out, and we don't allow any gluten into our house.

I have a menu planned.

I have groceries and full cupboards of SAFE foods.

I need to find the WILL POWER to be strong.

I have some great examples around me of friends who have made this change. I need to lean on them more. I hope they don't mind. I need some cheer leaders.

Here is to one day at a time, gluten free for a healthy body.

Yesterday, I had my last meal. It wasn't a healthy one, but sometimes you just need some comfort food. Goodbye, dear friend, Gluten, Goodbye!

A New Life to Leftovers

Sorry there were no posts last week, but I had a sick baby. He is doing much better and now I can blog!

Leftovers are a thing that contribute to refrigerator stink. They also, are one of the major contributors to food waste. That and not using food before it spoils, which reminds me I have a head of cauliflower...

This is a topic I hope to hit on a few times, there is so many directions it can go in.

Here are my 5 leftover tips.

1) Think Simple

Having a simple meal, not to extravagant on the spices and flavoring, and then you can easily reuse left overs. One of favorites is reuse spaghetti sauce for pizza.

2) Use the Freezer!

I really wish our freezer was twice its size... There is so much you can freeze! We freeze a lot of left over soup, we easily get two meals out of a batch of soup since there is only two of us. Here is a great resource on what and how to freeze a lot of common items.

Here is a link to a printable list of how and what to freeze. You do have to sign up for the email list to receive the printable.

Here is a third link on how and what to freeze.

Be sure to check out my Pintrest board, Leftovers, for more links to how, what, and what not to freeze.

3) Make Broth!

It is slightly cheaper to buy meats with the bones (and skin for chicken). Save those bones and some extra meat and make broth. I like to add some veggies to my broths, and I will save a lot of the skins, peels, and little leftover parts. I actually keep a bag in my freezer for them and when it is time to make broth I just dump it in the pot. You can also just make vegetable broth from the leftover scraps from everyday cooking.

4) Plan Ahead!

Similar to number 1, but schedule your leftovers. If I try to schedule them so that they don't just spoil. Here are a few of our meals that get a second life.

Ham to Navy Bean Soup
Roasted Chicken to Chicken Salad Sandwiches or taco meat or soup
Tacos to Taco Soup

5) Vegetables

Vegetable leftovers are a great way to "beef up" a meal. We have a side of steamed veggies with a lot of our meals. and I always steam extras to use in our next meal, just to help a make it rounder. You will be surprised at how great pasta sauce and broccoli and carrots go together.


What do you do with leftovers?

Green Smoothies!

I have a new morning ritual.

I love it!

So does my baby.

I think if I let him, we would drink that whole glass!

We love GREEN SMOOTHIES!

At first, I tried making up my own recipes, and I was having to choke them down, they tasted very earthy. Then a good friend, suggested adding some orange juice. It was life changing.

Then in December I saw a post on facebook, about the site Simple Green Smoothies and their 30 day challenge they were doing in January. It was free, they would send you recipes, and shopping lists! I signed up and I LOVED IT!

There were a few that I didn't enjoy, I am not a fan of avocados, or pineapple. But there were a few that were so delicious that they are now a staple in my freezer.

Green smoothies are great quick breakfasts or even a quick pick me up. There are about as many ways to make a green smoothie as there are "ratios" of greens to fruit.

If you are wanting to start doing green smoothies here are a couple tips that I have learned and have really helped me.

1. Start small. Don't jump right in with a bunch of greens to a little fruit. You won't enjoy it. Start with your fruit and then slowly add greens. I started with one cup greens to 3 cups fruit. Then after a couple of weeks, add an extra cup of greens and take away a cup of fruit, (or add and 1/2 and take away a 1/2 cup of fruit). I pack my greens down, but you can start by not packing, and then packing.

2. Prep. To make a big change in your life, prep work can help you stay on track. I like to prep all my smoothies for the week, for a quick, no thought breakfast. I use ziplocs, and store everything in the freezer. I keep prepped fruit one ziploc with anything that needs to added, ie liquid base. I also store greens in the freezer. I buy a couple of containers of greens, we rotate kale, spinach, and romaine lettuce. I measure my 2 cups packed greens and then label and into the freezer they go. No need to thaw before had, just dump and blend.

3. Blend your greens first. Starting with your liquid base, and your greens, blend them separately until completely smooth. This will help break them down, and keep you from having a lefty smoothie.

4. Have fun! Try new things and different combinations. I never thought of putting cacaco powder in a smoothie but it is now one of my favorite additives!

5. Follow this simple formula:

image from: Simple Green Smoothies

The Great Cloth Diaper Laundry Detergent Myth Busting Experiment

I am SO ridiculously excited about this experiment. Which is not like me, because I HATE HATE HATE laundry, almost as much as cleaning the bathroom...

In my post about why homemade detergent will not work, I said that I was going to do an experiment to show you that it doesn't work.

But because this experiment, most likely won't be done until the fall, I thought I would try to give some kind of regular update with it.

First off, the procedure, the most important part.

We have 13 cotton prefolds that we aren't using yet, and 15 microfiber (MF) inserts (I actually found more, but I already started the experiment... LAME)

So each load will consist of 6 prefolds, and 7 MF inserts.

Each load will be washed with a level two scoop of "detergent". The scoop I will be using if from our regular detergent.

Each load will be washed, with the following washing machine settings:
Water level: Medium
Water Temperature: Hot (machine will only do initial filling with hot, so the rinses will all be done in cold)
Wash Cycle: Quick wash (aprox. 10 min agitation cycle)

The loads will then be line dried, and every 5th washing, dried in the dryer, on high for 50 mins. (This is to save on our energy costs)

Any noticed differences in texture (feel) will be noted.

I have a spreadsheet to note the washes, dries, and any other things noticed.

We will be using the homemade detergent and Arm and Hammer Perfume and Dry Free.

100 washes each, goal is to wash twice a day, and to alternate the two loads every 5 washes or so.

When it come time for the test on how the detergent affected the absorbancy of the diapers, I will get you the details on that.

Homemade detergent, the scoop, and Arm & Hammer

Diapers drying. (I marked one load, so that if they ever get mixed, we can tell the difference)

Cleaners and Grades

Wow! I never thought I would get so many pageviews! I hope that post about using detergent helps someone! And that if that someone needs help finding a new laundry detergent, I hope with helps you too!

When I was researching a better way to wash our cloth diapers, and I looked up detergents to try on EWG.com to see how the rated.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) put out a data base of cleaners and their ingredients and graded them. From their website:

Environmental Working Group’s mission is to use the power of information to protect human health and the environment. EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning gives you practical solutions to protect yourself and your family from everyday exposures to potentially harmful chemicals. U.S. law allows manufacturers of cleaning products to use almost any ingredient they wish, including known carcinogens and substances that can harm fetal and infant development. And the government doesn’t review the safety of products before they’re sold. To fill those gaps, EWG’s staff scientists compared the ingredients listed on cleaning product labels, websites and worker safety documents with the information available in the top government, industry and academic toxicity databases and the scientific literature on health and environmental problems tied to cleaning products. They used that information to create EWG’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning, which provides you with easy-to-navigate safety ratings for a wide range of cleaners and ingredients. (source)

I love checking out my cleaners. When we stopped making our own dishwasher detergent, we looked up different bands and the grade Seventh Generation got, made our decision easy. (Seventh Generation's Grade)

So when we were changing our cloth diaper wash routine, I looked up detergents to research. I took them to EWG.com to see how they were graded. 

I looked up Rockin' Green, and they weren't in the database, but it wasn't working for us, so I didn't really care to look up the individual ingredients.

The database has a few categories, one being laundry. When you are looking at just the laundry category, you can look at cleaners based on grade. I wanted to just look at detergents that ranked at least a "C" so I opened up a new tab for each grade, "A", "B", and "C". And then did some more research on the different brands and we decided to get Planet Laundry Detergent.

One of the most important things one our list was were we able to buy it local, We can buy Planet local and at a reasonable price. We also wanted a fragrance free detergent, and for it to be powder.

We also, picked a backup in case switching to Planet wasn't working. We decided on Arm and Hammer Perfume and Dye Free.

Here is a link the the grades for Planet, and the Arm and Hammer.

Some people claim that the EWG using arbitrary criteria for the grading scale, and if you feel that why, please read the info the EWG has, and do your own research. Always make the best decision for you, and your family. If you need to pick price over grading, that is ok, just make informed consumer decisions.

Peanut Butter and Blenders

I know we talked about nut butters last week, but I have a few quick things to add. 

1. Wonderful Man thought I needed to add that if you want make the same amount of nut butter you currently purchase, you will need to buy AT LEAST that weight in peanuts.

For example, we buy the large Adam's, which it's 36 oz. So I need about 36 oz of peanuts to make the same amount of peanut butter.

2. I got a new, and totally awesome blender for my birthday, and I can use it to make peanut butter in about 5 minutes! So if you have a professional grade blender you can use it instead of a food processor.

Here are some photos of this week's batch of peanut butter.

My new blender, the Oster Versa

36 ounces of peanuts

Blender doing its thing

Notice the volume difference between here, the finished butter and the previous picture

Can you tell which is store bought?

I did do the whole 36 ounces of peanuts in two patches, in my food processor, it would have been four. Sometimes homemade takes more time, but if you have to decided do you have time or money?

Why I Now Buy Laundry Detergent

We used for years homemade laundry "detergent". I thought I was saving us so much money.

In theory I was.

But our clothes were not "clean".

I didn't learn why, or more precisely how, until a few months ago.

Before Mr. Z was born I decided to cloth diaper, and while I was searching for a eco friendly detergent I found this.

And some pins on Pintrest on how to make cloth diaper "detergent".

Now, I am not a chemist, and I hated my chemistry classes, (except Thermodynamics and P-Chem, but I am just crazy).When on one of the cloth diaper facebook groups I am in, they were being very adamant that Rockin’ Green and other “Cloth diaper safe detergents” were just a bunch of water softeners and were not actually cleaning the diapers. I needed to do some research of my own.

The group had an article that one of the admins had written about the differences between soap and detergent. It got me thinking, and led us to switch cloth diaper detergents and our regular laundry detergent.

Now, I feel the need to let the world know that sometimes store bought is just better.

First, we will start with a basic property of water - surface tension.

The way the water molecules bond with one another, creates tension. I am sure you have noticed a bead of water on a hard surface. That bead is created because the water molecules have a greater attraction to each other than to the other surface. The tendency for the water is to stick together and not bind or mix with other objects (think of a water skipper "floating" on water) is called surface tension and is caused by the forces of cohesion.

To clean, we need to make the water “beads” spread out, or become “wetter”. (Wetting is a chemistry term that basically means to reduce the surface tension). Reducing the surface tension of the water allows for it to interact better with the cleaning agent.

Here is where the difference between soap and detergent is important.

Soaps are salts of fatty acids, usually made from animal or vegetable fats. Detergents are chemically engineered surfactants, which were developed due to a lack of vegetable and animal fats during WWI and WWII. A surfactant changes the way water molecules interact with each other, reducing the surface tension and causing the water to more easily interact with other particles.

The chemical structure of soaps makes them easily affected by the mineral content of the water. In hard water, the interaction of the salts of fatty acids (soap) with the minerals create insoluble compounds - soap scum. This same interaction is what causes, after multiple washings, ‘detergent build up’. Detergent build up is really soap scum on your clothes, towels, and cloth diapers! ( On cloth diapers it causes a whole world of problems.)

Detergents are very similar to soaps, both are surfactants. The difference with detergent is that it is less likely to interact with the mineral content of your water, and therefore less likely to form soap scum.

Let’s look at what is in homemade laundry soap; Borax, Washing Soda, Oxi Clean, Fels Naptha.

Borax is Sodium Tetraborate, and is advertised as a water softener.

Washing Soda is Sodium Carbonate, and is advertised as a detergent booster. Upon further research, it is also a water softener, as it reacts with the minerals in hard water, to help prevent the “detergent” from bonding and creating soap scum.

Oxi Clean is an oxygen based cleaner and stain fighter.

Fels Naptha is a stain fighter, but also the main ingredient is SOAP.

So, water softeners and stain fighters and soap. In theory it would work great to clean laundry, but when you only use a TABLESPOON of “detergent” it isn’t going to do anything. Maybe using a  normal about of homemade detergent would work, but then you are taking your dirt cheap “detergent” and making cost more equivalent to store bought.

Here are some numbers for you:

According to my previous post on homemade detergent, it cost $35.66 to make a batch for approximately 960 loads, which is about 4 cents a load. If we increase the amount of detergent to a normal store bought detergent level ( level 2 on a common scoop) it is about equal to 8 tablespoons. That takes our 960 load detergent down to 120 loads, and the cost up to almost 30 cents a load! Which is very close to the cost per load of store bought detergents. (Here is a list of some common detergents and prices)

Now, you might say, “Well it has been working on my clothes just fine. I don’t understand the big deal.”

The ‘Big Deal’ comes down to absorbancy. The average person doesn’t need their clothes do be doing much absorbing. But to those of us who cloth diaper, absorbency is HUGE!

I am going to run a little experiment for you. I have some cloth diapers we are not using right now, and I am going to take half and wash them 100 times with my homemade detergent. The other half I will wash 100 times with our regular laundry detergent (just the detergent no additives). Then we will use them to clean up a controlled amount of liquid, and we will see how the absorbency is different. I am hypothesizing that there will be a noticeable difference.

I hope this helps someone to understand the differences and why maybe you should just buy detergent.

If you are looking for a great more in depth explanation between the differences, go here.

Sources:

http://chemistry.about.com/od/cleanerchemistry/a/how-soap-cleans.htm

http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingswork/f/detergentfaq.htm

http://www.cleaninginstitute.org/clean_living/soaps__detergents_chemistry.aspx

http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/about/what-is-borax/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax#As_a_water-softening_agent

http://www.armandhammer.com/fabric-care/laundry-boosters/Products/arm-and-hammer-super-washing-soda-detergent-booster.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_carbonate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OxiClean

http://www.oxiclean.com/in-wash/landing.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fels-Naptha

http://www.purex.com/products/laundry-enhancers/fels-naptha

Homemade Nut Butter

I have this friend, who is one of those “super mom’s” you hear about. She might not see herself as one, but I sure do. I look up to her.

Her house is always spotless, even when they are in the middle of reorganizing.

They eat real food, plant based meals. (I am willing to bet the most “processed” food item they have in their cupboards is rice pasta.)

They also eat gluten, dairy, and sugar free.

They don’t own a TV.

She makes everything from scratch, at least it feels that way.

She turned me on to green smoothies, something I will post about later. And has been the driving force helping me to clean up the way we eat and live.

As I am sure you know, eating whole, clean foods is expensive.  And one thing that we eat a lot of in our house is peanut butter.

One day, I went over to her house for a “cooking lesson” (we made Lara bars, there is no cooking involved). When I got there, she was getting ready to make some peanut butter, as she had just ran out that morning. With 2 kids, running out of peanut butter is a very bad thing!

In all my time of trying to budget and to find cheap ways to cook and clean in NEVER occurred to me to make our own peanut butter.

For two people, we eat a lot of peanut butter… and I buy two different kinds… Crunchy for Wonderful Man, and smooth for me (the chunks get stuck in my braces and I hate it!)

That morning, as I watched my friend make peanut butter, I was floored at how easy it was and how great it tasted.

I went home and told Wonderful Man, and he said, “Sure, but make sure it really is cheaper. And I still want chunky!”

At my local grocery store I can by bulk, unsalted dry roasted peanuts for $1.58 per pound, bulk peanut butter (the kind you grind in the store) for $1.98 per pound, and the peanut butter we regular buy, Adam’s All Natural is $5.52 for 2 lbs 4 oz or $2.45 per pound (2 lbs 4 oz = 36 oz, $5.52 / 36 oz = $0.15 per oz x 16 oz per pound = $2.45 per pound).

Buying your peanuts not in butter form is cheaper. So how much work is involved?

Not Much At All!

You do need a food processor though. No need for a super fancy one. (My friend has the best food processor ever, and it takes no time to make her stuff in it, but if you have a $5 garage sale one like I do, it is going to take a few minutes).

My $5 garage sale food processor

All you need are some peanuts and salt.

Your pour some unsalted dry roasted peanuts into the work bowl of your food processor and turn it on. Let it run until you reach the right consistency. I like to pulse mine a few times before just letting it run.

Add some salt, give the butter and other whirl in the processor, and BAM! Homemade peanut butter. Store in an airtight container.

Tips:

Because of the way food processor emulsify versus grinding, you do not have to refrigerate. I like to because it is very thin in comparison to store bought. Refrigerating helps to thicken it up a bit.

This same process can be used for almond butter, I like to toast my nuts before for a nice strong flavor. Or for you can use any nut you like for a butter spread.

Also, be sure to get UNSALTED DRY ROASTED peanuts. Oil roasted peanuts have too much oil and salted peanuts have too much salt.

If you want chunky, like Wonderful Man, pulse a few peanuts before to chop them, then add them with the salt.

Wonderful Man, approves of this new money saving change, and I love it too!

Hope you can enjoy some too!