Monthly Archives: May 2012

you know summer has arrived in texas when…

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I hope everyone had a wonderful memorial day weekend!!

Mine was fun and relaxing and included some outdoor activities, although it was a bit on the warmer side…

You know summer has officially arrived in Texas when…
 you’re already sweating and all you did was walk from the house to your car outside.  And the fact that my car was sitting outside baking in the heat does not help the sweat situation. at all.

and it only gets better from here on out!…Can’t wait to get in the car and burn my hands on the steering wheel and door handle. {catch the sarcasm?}
That’s when you know we’re in the depth of a full blown Texas summer.

I guess it’s a good thing I’m headed out of town for a bit.

Tomorrow I leave for Hong Kong, which in reality is not really any better weather-wise compared to Texas, since it’s super humid there during the summers.  But at least they have the some of the coldest indoor temperatures in the world, so that’s probably where I’ll be spending the majority of my time :)

I wanted to share a fun mochi recipe, but since I’m running a bit short on time, I’ll get it out within the next few days!

{sneak peak}

Have a great week friends! :)

What makes you think of summer?

cocoanut macadamia nut butter

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ello :)

Did you catch my last post about my raw cashew + macadamia nut butter infused with manuka honey? I’ve literally been eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon since I made it.  It’s great on a bagel or oats, but I like it most just spooned out of a jar.

And since I had already dirtied the food processor that day, I went ahead and made one more nut butter.
May as well, yeah?

this ones a little darker.
& happens to go quite well with bananas.

 

cocoanut macadamia nut butter

- 1 & 3/4 cup unsalted raw macadamia nuts
-  1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
- optional: 1/4 tsp salt

 {Process macadamia nuts for about 5 mins.  it should be quite liquidy (more so than other nut butters) and warm.  Add in chocolate chips and coconut.  The heat from the macadamia nuts should easily melt and meld the chocolate chips. Process for additional 5 mins.}

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

process raw macadamia nuts for about 5 mins

scrape down sides when necessary. it should be quite liquidy, more so than other nut butters.

at this point the macadamia butter should be quite warm…

add semi-sweet chocolate chips

and 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut {and optional salt, if using}

Process for another 5 mins or until throughly combined

Sometimes when macadamia nuts are raw they have a slight bitter taste, so I thought the chocolate and coconut seemed like a good addition.

This nut butter is especially great for drizzling.
It’s a lot more liquefied than cashew, almond, or peanut butter, but when I put it in the fridge it hardened up a bit and became very spreadable. it’s a versatile one.

macadamia nuts are known to be beneficial to our health {in moderation} and chocolate is full of antioxidants, so i think this nut butter is pretty much just a win-win :P

raw cashew + macadamia nut butter

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last month i was cereal-obsessed. this month I’m bagel-obsessed.

i’ve eaten the exact same thing 3 mornings in a row, a pumpernickel bagel drizzled with extra virgin coconut oil (so good!).
And i probably would have eaten it again this morning had I still had any pumpernickel bagels left.

but i’m not here to talk about bagels.

so moving on…

these two items have been in my pantry for quite some time.

for the longest time i’ve been meaning to make cashew + macadamia nut butter. cashew butter is my favorite, and i also love the creaminess of macadamia nuts, so i thought the two of them could make a promising combo.

raw cashew + macadamia nut butter
(infused with manuka honey)

- 1 & 1/4 cup raw unsalted cashews
- 3/4 cup raw unsalted macadamia nuts
- 1 T manuka honey
- optional: 1/4 t salt to balance out the honey

add cashews and macadamia nuts to food processor.
process for 2-3 mins. scrape, add honey & optional salt, continue processing until smooth and creamy.
I processed a total of 10 mins scraping down the sides two or three times total.
It may look like its ready around the 7-8 min mark (a bit stiff looking) but if you continue processing until the 10 mins mark, it will result in a much smoother and creamier texture.

 and for the visual folk, like myself…

measure out cashews and macadamias:

 

process:

after 3 mins, add in the honey (and optional salt):


process for additional 7 mins, scraping down sides once or twice:

scoop into jar and consume within a week:

i challenge you to get all the nut butter into the jar without it touching the sides up top.


it’s impossible.
for me, at least.

if you’d like to learn more about manuka honey and it’s healing powers, click here

otherwise, i think this nut butter would be quite wonderful atop a bagel :)