Peanut Butter and Jelly has its own national holiday. Although I am bummed to read:
Our research did not find the creator, or the origin of this day.
This is referred to as a “National” day. We did not find any congressional records or presidential proclamations for this day. But, we believe America’s favorite lunchtime sandwich deserves a national day.
I am still thrilled to celebrate it!
At our house, peanut butter and jelly is good for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes a snack. Yesterday Fuller had four waffles slathered with peanut butter. And later he had half a PBJ.
Here are some interesting ways to celebrate peanut butter and jelly:
Easter conjures a lot of different images for people- church, the cross, Jesus Christ, eggs, candy, bunnies, family, ham, lamb, and… well you tell me what else.
I guess my top three would be singing Morning Son by James Ward, eating a few a box of Cadbury eggs, and having ham with my Great-great-Grandmother’s mustard sauce.
Today I spoke to my Grandmother and asked her if she would mind me sharing this recipe with the internet. As far as she knows, it was a sauce her Grandmother (my Great-Great-Grandmother) learned to make and now it has been passed down to my generation. When I told her how much it the mustard sauce meant to me, she said I was welcome to share it.
I think I like this because of the hint of apple from the cider vinegar. And it is well established I love all kinds of mustard. If you choose to make this some day, please let me know how you liked it.
Great-Great Grandma Sanford’s Mustard Sauceall rights reserved
1 egg, beaten
1 T dry mustard (use good stuff, such as Coleman’s)
1 T sugar
1 T flour
¼ c cider vinegar and ¾ c water
Mix egg and dry ingredients well. Add liquid and cook, stirring constantly with whisk until thick. This does not take long – less than a minute.
It took a commercial from Arby’s to tell me what was missing from Fuller’s diet- smoothies. He hasn’t been eating very well since being sick, and we have to get him to stay hydrated (the other day it was a challenge). Smoothies seemed like a great compromise.
What I love about smoothies is I can just throw in any kind of fruit with OK and it will probably come out ok. And if I add frozen strawberries, I can leave out ice, so it is mostly fruit. My favorite is the strawberry-banana-OJ smoothie, which is what he is currently dining on right now. I found one recipe that added honey, which is a favorite remedy for sore throats.
Any other tips on keeping kids hydrated in illness? Not that I really need it right now, but I have a feeling one day Fuller will get ill once again.
This time of year always conjures up memories of Christmas past and strict adherance to family traditions. I think because we will be spending Christmas with my side of the family I think about traditions more, since those are the traditions I grew up with.
I think a lot about the food. We have cheese fondue every Christmas Eve (attempting to replace it with meat fondue has never worked out), and we can’t leave out Christmas coffee cake, Gluhwein, egg nog, and bransweiger pate.
Maybe a lot of other people think about Christmas cookies or sweet treats (peanut butter balls!). If I’m at a Christmas party I usually try to head for the chocolate stuff, like the Ferrero Rocher chocolate wrapped in gold. This year they have introduced Rondnoir, the dark chocolate version of the luscious treat.
When I bite into a Rondnoir, I love the velvety smooth dark chocolate center. I have one left in the house and I am saving it for a special moment of me time, probably some time during Fuller’s nap.
Right now, Ferrero has teamed up with Share our Strength, an organization working to end childhood hunger in America. If you head over to Share Something Sweet, you can send a snowglobe greeting to your friends and family to spread the word about the organization and the problem they are trying to solve.
And if you head out and find some Rondnoir in the store, let me know, because I have only one left.
In January I go back to the dentist for my annual cleaning and to find out what will happen with the gap where my baby tooth used to be.
Since it was pulled I have noticed my teeth are not as sensitive as they used to be. I still have a slight problem with really sweet things hurting my teeth, but cold is no longer a problem.
When I was suffering before the tooth fell apart, my dentist had me using Sensodyne to help with the sensitivity thing. It helped a little, but I felt like I wasn’t getting my teeth as clean.
I got a sample of Biotene Sensitive in the mail to write a review. I used it for about a week.
As I stated before, I really don’t have that much of a sensitivity problem any more. But the product also touts the ability to help with dry mouth and claims to promote healing of bleeding gums (something I could have used when I was pregnant). It also claims to have a “great taste.” And this is where my review goes a bit south.
I don’t think Biotene tastes great. It is a bit gritty and really blah. I prefer minty freshness to blah and grit. If I find I have a real medical need for Biotene, I would endure the taste. But since I don’t really have a sensitivity problem or a dry mouth issue, I plan on sticking to the toothpaste I bought for my family.
Our canned chicken lunch was good. I ate one chicken breast and the rest of it ended up being eaten by Damon. I think that is good.
When Fuller and I went to Atlanta on Friday we were treated to lunch at Ted’s Montana Grill. It has a kid’s menu, but I didn’t really feel the family friendly vibe. Not sure why. Just a feeling I had.
But it was a good restaurant. I did appreciate the hostess taking the stroller and storing it for us. And our server was very friendly. The food was yummy. Ted and Travis both had a Ktichen Sink- bison burger with fried egg, ham, bacon, mushrooms, onions, and cheese. I had a caesar salad. Fuller played with the sugar packets and kept climbing under the table to gather whatever he had dropped.
One of Ted’s Montana Grill specialties is their half-done pickles. Sarah, our server, told us they like cucumbers seasoned like a pickle. And then I had a moment to shine to tell Ashley, who loved the half-done pickles, how to make his own at home. And now I share with you:
Get one jar of pickles and eat the pickles, leaving the juice in the jar. Get a cucumber, slice it as you like and put the pieces in the jar of pickle juice. Leave it soaking over night. And you have a half-done pickle!
My mom used to make these when I was younger and when I bit into one at Ted’s, it took me back to fishing pickles out of the pickle container with my fingers, hoping to not get caught.
This afternoon’s lunch will be one of our freezer meals from My Family Dinners. It is Canned Chicken, which is a first for me. It involves a whole chicken which has been rubbed down with spices (I did that back in September before freezing) and is now standing upright over a can of Coke in the oven.
Usually we cook our whole chickens in the rotisserie. It seems faster and really gets the juices flowing. But it seemed like to get the whole experience, I needed to cook this in the oven.
I also could have switched it up and used beer (someone left some here after a visit) but Damon is sensitive to alcohol in food (he doesn’t like the taste), so I stuck with the Coke.
Anyone ever try cooking a chicken like this? I have about an hour and half more to go before I taste it.
One of my favorite moments from Fuller’s birthday weekend was taking the time to make his car cake. Making his birthday cake is a special gift I can give him, even if he doesn’t yet truly appreciate the effort that goes into making the edible party treat.
I appreciate the cake pan my mom gave me, it made it a lot easier to make and to serve to the kiddos. I also got to exercise my cake decorating skillz, which I think need some work. I don’t have a dream to make anything like Ace of Cakes, but I do want it to look crisp, clean, and yummy.
And I would love to know how to mix food coloring with the icing to make the colors look more vibrant. I ended up with a blue grey car instead of a blue car. And the red for the stoplight colored cupcakes was more rosey. I do have a great tip for making black icing… buy it in a can.
The cake and cupcakes were a success and it was a great way for me to contribute to celebrating Fuller turning three.
I’m very excited about Fuller’s birthday on Friday. We will celebrate at Grandma Great’s house with a birthday breakfast (stick a candle in a muffin!). And then on Saturday at the lake we will have a family dinner with birthday cake/ cupcakes afterwards. Then on the 13th we will have another birthday breakfast here in Chattanooga when my sisters are visiting.
The cake I am going to make is from a Create n Celebrate pull apart cupcake mold. My mom found it at a Bed Bath and Beyond in Florida and thought Fuller might like a car for his birthday cake.
There are twelve sections to pour batter and when they are baked, you peel off the cake pan and put them together. Then you decorate the pieces like one whole car. When you serve the cake, you just pull apart the pieces.
I plan on using a cake mix from a box, but I am not sure about the icing yet. I don’t like crisco icing, but I want something I can pipe through an icing bag easily. Any suggestions? Or should I just slather it with cool whip and sprinkles?
It is no secret in our house that Fuller loves his PBJ sandwiches. He prefers them cut up in squares and so far has no preference in jelly. Strawberry is what I prefer, so it is usually what ends up on his sandwiches. Recently I switched it up and opened a jar of apple butter. He doesn’t seem to be picky.
Eating a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich instead of a grilled cheese or chicken sandwich saves 2.5 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. That?s almost half of what you?d save if you switched to a Hybrid car.
Now, I might venture to say every time I make him a grilled cheese sandwich (another top favorite) it cancels out the planet saving we do when he eats the PBJ. But it was an interesting read, nonetheless.
