Peanut Butter, Banana and Nutella Smoothie

My go-to breakfast is often a smoothie. I got a pretttty awesome new Nina blender with single serve smoothie attachment. I ran my last one into the ground (circa 2004?). It is still kicking but my new one is freaking amazing.

Smoothies are filling enough when there’s protein (read: Greek yogurt) and several servings of fruit. My key is liquid to make it blend nicely (milk or low-calorie juice). I was craving nutella too, which is a new ingredient for my smoothies.
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Ingredients:
¾ cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1 small-medium banana, sliced
¼ cup reduced fat peanut butter
2 tbs nutella
¼ cup milk (if needed)

Directions:
Add yogurt and banana into the blender.
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Add peanut butter and nutella
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Blend until smooth.
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Add milk as needed.

I loved this one. It was sweeter than some of my other smoothies. I think the banana with the peanut butter was perfect. It was thinner than I usually make. Freezing the banana chunks or adding ice would have made it more thick/frothy/luscious.

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Do you have a favorite smoothie combo?

Chinese Pork in a Crockpot

This was just what a snowy day needed. We shoveled a lot last weekend and it was great to have this welcoming us back with a lovely porky scent. It may have driven the pups crazy though. I know I was salivating whenever I stirred it!

This was suuuuper easy, only a few ingredients, and was definitely the best Chinese dish I’ve ever made.
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Cantonese Pork in a Crockpot
adapted from Happy Tummies

Ingredients:

1-2 pounds pork shoulder, sliced into thin strips
1 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
salt & pepper
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 tbs brown sugar
1 can tomato sauce, 8oz
1 green pepper, chopped
1 can water chestnuts, sliced
3 tbs rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbs sesame oil (optional)
2 cups bean sprouts
4 scallions, chopped

Directions:

Trim the fat from the pork shoulder and slice thin.
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Heat a heavy skillet to medium heat and add vegetable oil.
Add tomato sauce, onion, brown sugar, green pepper, water chestnuts, vinegar, salt, Worcestershire, and sesame oil into a large crockpot.
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Toss pork slices in flour, salt, and pepper until evenly coated. A few at a time.
Pan fry pork, turning for just a minute on each side, in batches. (They don’t need to fully cook, just get a crispy sear on each side).
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Remove and drain on paper towels.
Add pork into crockpot, stir, and turn to low heat for about 4-5 hours.
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Enjoy over rice!

This was so good. I’ve attemped only a few Chinese dishes but they’ve never been great. This was great. I like that this is a bit different and would easily vary the dinner menu.
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The pork was falling apart. It was really good, but I think 4 hours was plenty. I cooked mine for 5 ½ and think it was borderline too long. I think it could use a bit more salt. Unlike take-out Chinese, it wasn’t overly salty. Soy sauce, more Worcestershire, or table salt would do the trick.

There were only a few ingredients and I think this would turn anyone into a pork believer. I forgot bean sprouts and was so early to the grocery store they didn’t have all the produce out! I debated getting a huge bone-in pork shoulder and making half into pulled pork, but those suckers are pricey and I hadn’t ever seen the little ones.

French Bread Pizza

Hope you had a deliciously snowy weekend like I did! Just you wait. I cooked some fun stuff I can’t wait to share with you. Too bad I don’t have an recipe for snow, because we got walloped and there’s plenty to go around. I think our official count was 22 inches.

I’ve shared a great deal of pizzas but I hear all the time how annoying/tricky dough can be. I agree. It can be tough. I’ve had a few struggles myself (like here, or here), so I figured it was about time for a pizza without a doughy crust.

Enter: French bread pizza (forget that the bread packaging says Italian Bread)
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Ingredients:

3 tbs butter/margarine
1 tbs garlic, chopped
½ tsp garlic powder
4 tbs grated Parmesan/Romano cheese
sprinkle of salt, pepper, & Italian seasoning
1 cup tomato sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella
toppings of your choosing

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Melt butter, adding garlic, cheese, and seasonings.
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Half bread, lengthwise.
Spread butter, garlic, and seasonings onto each half and bake for 5 minutes.
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Remove from the oven and top with sauce and cheese
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Bake 15 more minutes or until melty and crisp.
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I loved how quick this pizza is. Everything is already cooked. It also cuts into a lot of pieces if you wanted to serve it at a party. 1 loaf ended up being 5 servings. I think it would be the fastest freezer meal to have on hand for when nobody feels like cooking.

The garlic base helps elevate it from a frozen pre-made pizza to an easy but delicious one. I took out half a few minutes earlier than the half we were eating that night. I hoped it’d help the lunch-reheating portion not to be overdone. That’s something you can’t do with a regular pizza!

Also, you remember my sous-chef? Here’s Windsor. He was sitting pretty but the delicious smells of pizza on the counter got the better of him. Don’t his white whiskers make him look distinguished?
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Allow me to introduce my new sous-chef. Bailee comes to us from Maine (much like Windsor) and has been a fixture in the C family for all 8 years of her life so far. She’s living with us now (and maybe for keeps). I’m also her favorite when I’m cooking. She’s a bit portly so Mr. J has a grand-slimdown-plan. So far it has only involved fewer snacks than she’s used to and a few extra trips up and down our stairs. The snow is taller than she is so she’s not overly impressed with the backyard right now.
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Ice Cream Gift

The other day, I came home from work after being gone for 12 hours to find a surprise from one of my favorite people, Mrs. Z! I’m proud to be her friend and so impressed she found ice cream to send to me. She even themed it for my life and one of my favorite shows.

Mr. J and I are doing really well dealing with everything and trying to keep on, keepin’ on. It is just so nice to hear from all the people who want to offer condolences and encouragement (note: it doesn’t get old and is greatly appreciated).

That’s just how Mrs. Z rolls. She picks you up, thinks of exactly what you need, and serves it with a smile. She’s one of the kindest people I know and I appreciate her, all the time, but especially now. She just gets me and I know she’ll have a thoughtful response to whatever I throw at her. Her hubbie, Mr. B, is equally awesome (and he was a guest blogger woo hoo!). I only hope I get to meet baby Z allll the way in Houston sometime. I don’t get to see her nearly enough, but we’ve shared some big-time memories, unforgettable moments I’ll never forget.

She sent me eCreamery! I haven’t even heard of this!
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She named it after Parks & Rec
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It was delicious mint WITH brownie bits and oreo pieces. This is seriously good ice cream…and I know ice cream 😉
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I didn’t even know you could send ice cream. A snowy New England day needs ice cream, right?

(pssst. If you’d like to repay her with some kindness, support her on her crazy adventure!)

Cocoanuts Chocolate tasting

In the midst of everything else happening in my life, I was ever so grateful to spend a random Tuesday with Blog & Tweet Boston at Cocoanuts Boston  for a chocolate tasting. Just. What. the Dr. Ordered.

It was fun for a sweet treat and encouragement to go out in bitter winter. It was great to see Liz from Eating Places and Jessica from Little Miss Runshine there!

I joined some fellow bloggers from Blog and Tweet Boston for a fun night of chocolate samples, info, and champagne!
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The owners were truly an inspiration. These best friends decided it is never to late to do what you love. They left careers in advertising and real estate (did I get that right?) to open up a shop in the North End in Boston. I loved hearing how passionate they are about quality products and their focus on local and artisan treats.
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I liked seeing other goodies, like ice cream toppings, in addition to the many candies. I thought I could easily grab a gift for anyone, for any reason. Their items range in price big time. I felt like there was lots of options to a little something and they will also build huuuuge gift baskets.
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I swooned over the toffee from Little Bits Toffee. Toffee miiiight be my favorite sweet treat. That’s a bold statement, but I’m going there…
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We also got to meet Yes Chocolates. Sadly I devoured my sticky bun chocolate before snapping a photo. It was amazing, but I couldn’t believe this Walpole, MA candy maker hadn’t been to the town institution, Watson’s Candies, which has been in business continually since the 1930s. Tisk. Tisk. It is my alma mater/high school job. My loyalties will always reside with Watson’s.

That being said, Cocoanuts was super cute, classy and creative. I loved the inside and was thrilled they thought of the blogger community to introduce themselves.
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Are you drooling yet? They’re hosting a wine & chocolate tasting on Thursday Feb 7th 6-8pm. 

Full 3 Bite Rule Disclosure: I attended this complimentary event as part of the Blog and Tweet Boston group. The product samples were completely complimentary but my experience, thoughts, opinions, and words are entirely my own.