Organic Coconut Peanut Butter Cocoa Recipe & Review

Oh the weather outside is frightful..................

I feel like warming up the house with baking when a winter storm hits. However this isn't just a storm. This is a blizzard and we are getting 12-18 inches of snow! I didn't just want to warm the house. I wanted to wrap my hands around a hot mug and warm my soul with a treat.

Lucky for me a jar of Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Peanut Butter was delivered to me on Christmas Eve.  Let me tell you, I'm now a HUGE fan of Coconut Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa!  This is a cup of dreamy-ness.
 
Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Peanut Butter is made from organic peanuts and organic coconut. Two ingredients: nothing else! No fillers, no binders, no sweeteners, and no preservatives. The peanuts are 100% organic Valencia peanuts grown organically by family farmers in New Mexico and Texas. Grown in the dry climate of the southwestern United States, these peanuts are certified organic and free from aflatoxins. The dried coconut is certified organic coconut meat from the Philippines from coconuts that are grown with no fertilizers or pesticides. This premium dried coconut contains no additives or preservatives, and is not sweetened. Unlike most dried coconut on the market, their dried coconut products are not treated with sulfites to keep them white. Together, these premium organic roasted peanuts and the premium organic dried coconut are ground together to make a delicious and nutritious spread!

Coconut Peanut Butter Cup Hot Cocoa

4 - 5 servings

Preparation Time: 3 minutes

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 – 1/3 cup sugar/honey, more or less to taste*

Dash of salt

1/3 cup water

4 cups whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup Coconut Peanut Butter

Combine dry ingredients in a medium saucepan and whisk in water over medium heat. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Boil for 2 minutes. Whisk in Coconut Peanut Butter.

Add milk and whisk and heat until hot, but do not boil. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla extract. Serve topping with whipped cream.

*If using honey, use less then you would for sugar. Brown sugar may be used.

The wonderful people @ Tropical Traditions want to give away a jar of their Organic Coconut Peanut Butter to one lucky Money Saving Maine-iac reader!   Just hop over to Tropical Traditions Organic Coconut Peanut Butter Review & Giveaway to enter.



   

5 Meals in 1 hour {menu plan giveaway!}

I have been wanting to discover how to make my life in the kitchen easier for a long time now.   I've been researching freezer cooking and once a month cooking but I have to say I've been a bit intimidated by the process.  Enter Michelle from Make 5 Dinners in One Hour.  She has an easy weekly plan where you spend one hour in the kitchen preparing for five nights of meals. 

I received a months worth of meals broken down into 4 weekly menu plans.  Each week contained two sheets.  The first was a detailed grocery list broken down into categories like dairy, canned, and produce.  This made it easy to check my pantry for what I may have already had on hand and cross it off my list.  It also made shopping easy...no need to create a new list!  I just took that list right into the store with me.  She also includes tips and tricks on here.  The other sheet contained the menus.  It is broken into 3 easy to follow columns:  Menu, Ingredients, Assembly Directions.

I went through all 4 weeks of menus and chose the one that I thought my family of picky eaters would most like.  It included recipes such as Cheesy Ham and Potato Casserole, Slow Cooked Tortellini Stew, and Shrimp Roll Ups.  When I was ready to begin I followed her list of kitchen tools and pulled out everything I would need.  I layed out all of the ingredients and began following the assembly directions.  One hour and 15 minutes later (yes, it took me a tad longer than an hour BUT I'm slow in the kitchen) I had 5 meals in the fridge and ready to go for the week ahead.  Each day all I needed to do is pull out the prepared ingredients and follow the cooking instructions.   She pairs each meal with simple side dishes like a bagged salad or frozen veggies to make completing the meal a cinch! 

What I really liked about her menus is that she marks which ones are good for freezing.  If you are ambitious you could make 2 weeks worth of meals.  Pop the ones that are marked freezable in the freezer and keep out the ones that are best fresh.  In just 2 hours of prep time you'd be set for the next 2 weeks!

WIN!



Michelle is currently offering her menu planning service for $15 for 3 months of menus, which is only $1.25 per week.  What you get is weekly menus complete with a grocery list, assembly instructions and heating instructions.  You can contact her over at her blog AND you can enter to win a month of menus here!  She is offering two of our readers 1 free month of her menu service. 

Entering is easy!  Just leave us a comment and tell us your favorite trick for saving time in the kitchen.  Please be sure to leave an email address for easy contact. 
(leave in the form of lifeinthebatcave AT yahoo DOT com to avoid the spam bots)

Want a few additional entries?  Leave a comment for each entry.
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Grab our Button!  Be sure to leave a link so we can see it on your site. 

Contest is open until Sunday, November 28

Congrautlations to Mippy and Angelene!  Winners have been contacted via email. 

Saucy Mama Stovetop Stew

Hi, everyone!  As you may have noticed, all of the ladies here at From Blah to Ta-Daa are doing a Saucy Mama theme week with our recipe posts.  Saucy Mama sent us a sampler of her products so that we could create a recipe to enter her contest!  Each of us also gets to give away that same sampler on our individual blogs, so make sure you come visit to enter!

I'd been trying narrow down which recipe to post for the Saucy Mama contest (I've made 3 so far!), when we got a tiny glimpse at Fall weather last weekend.  That 10 degree temperature drop (and 20% humidity drop) was all it took for me to settle on making stew.  But I didn't feel like lugging out my crock pot and making a big, planned-out ordeal of a meal.  I wanted a simple stew, and I wanted it done within the hour.  So, I made it in a heavy saute pan, right there on my stovetop.

Some tips for making a quick stew:  Use only tender cuts of meat.  Cook the potatoes in a separate saucepot while you make the stew and add them in at the end.  Chop your veggies and meat into smaller pieces than usual so that they cook faster.  Use a sauce - like the Saucy Mama marinade - with lots of flavor.

We both loved this stew, and Bo didn't hesitate before going back for seconds.  I rate it a 4 Spoons, he gives it a 5 Spoons (but we've always known that he's a meat and potatoes kinda guy).  I also made a roast chicken with a Saucy Mama marinade that was honest to goodness amazing.  I didn't have time to photograph it for you, so I'll try to make it again and get it posted in the next few weeks.

Enjoy!




Saucy Mama Stovetop Stew

2 c. potatoes, cut into 1" pieces

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 lb. beef tenderloin tips (or tenderloin cut into 1" pieces)
1/2 c. flour

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 c. carrot, diced
2 Tbsp. minced shallot
8 oz. mushrooms
1/2 c. red wine

1/2 c. low-sodium beef broth
1 c. water
1/2 c. Saucy Mama Cracked Pepper Marinade

Fill medium sauce pan with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add pinch of salt and potato pieces to the pan and cook over a low boil for 8-10 minutes, just until fork-tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in a heavy saute pan over medium-high heat. While the pan is heating, toss tenderloin tips in the flour to lightly coat. Add meat to heated pan and saute until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium and add the additional tablespoon of butter to the pan with the carrot, shallot, and mushrooms, and saute until softened. Deglaze the pan with wine, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan, and reduce until nearly evaporated. Add in the meat and cooked potatoes, and then stir in the broth, water, and Saucy Mama Cracked Pepper Marinade. Simmer over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Ingredient Lineup:

After browning the tenderloin, saute the veggies until tender.

Add in the liquid ingredients and Saucy Mama Cracked Pepper

Marinade, and simmer until thickened.

I love Autumn!!

Be sure to come visit me at ~~ my personal blog ~~ to

enter my giveaway and win this whole set!

Nacho Mama's Nachos

This nacho recipe combines quite a few veggies like bell peppers and purple cabbage with ground turkey to create some yummy and healthy nachos.

To make:

Combine 1/2 chopped red bell pepper, 1/2 chopped yellow bell pepper, 1/4 red onion chopped, 3 finely minced garlic cloves and 1/4 chopped purple cabbage in a saute pan coated in olive oil. Saute for 3 minutes until crisp tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Add 1 lb of ground turkey and 1/2 cup Saucy Mama Lime and Chipolte Marinade. Break up turkey and cook through.

Top tortilla chips with meat and veggie mixture and top with 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Melt cheese under broiler.

This was a quick easy way to use up meat mixture from my recipe submission Tasting the Rainbow Turkey Burgers and Spicy Baked Corn on the Cob!

I love that these nachos pack a punch nutrition wise while still tasting good. This recipe was rated 4 spoons by Hubby and I - kids were at a sleepover and didn't get a chance to try it.

Thanks to Saucy Mama I have a set of mustard, olives and marinades to giveaway at Getting all my Ducks in a Row - Make sure you stop by to enter to win!


I was provided with Saucy Mama samples to review and giveaway but was not compensated in any other way. All opinion expressed is mine and mine alone.

Lil Fruit Pies and Curious Chef Giveaway

To coordinate with our Curious Chef review and theme week, I decided to invite my borrowed children over for more messy fun.  I decided that it would be fun to make miniature fruit pies, and the girls were really excited about the idea.

I have to say - they were little pros with the Curious Chef knives.  You wouldn't know that you are looking at the hands of a 5 and 8 year old from the photos!  And because they were plastic and kid-friendly, the girls weren't even scared to start chopping away!

The girls gave the pies a 5 Spoons up, while I gave them a 4.  I'm not terribly fond of peach pie.  Please don't let the state of Georgia kick me out for saying that :)

Enjoy!

My Mom's Pie Crust

makes 4 crusts/2 full pies (so halve or even quarter this one)*

4 heaping c. flour

2 tsp. salt

1 3/4 c. butter flavor Crisco, diced and chilled

1 egg, beaten

ice water added to egg to make 2/3 c.

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.  Cut shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Stir in the egg water mixture until it forms a soft dough.  Do not overwork the dough or it will become tough!  Roll out on floured surface and cut with 4" circles for the bottom crusts, and 3 1/4" circles for the lid crusts.  Cut small shapes out of the lids to vent.  Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray, and place a bottom crust into each hole, pressing the excess crust up the sides.

* Yes, our family is all about pie. It wouldn't be a family gathering without at least 4 different kinds of pie.

Peach and Strawberry Fruit Filling

8 oz fresh strawberries

10 oz peaches (we used frozen thawed slices w/ their juice)

1/2 - 1 c. sugar, dependent on how tart your fruit is

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbsp. flour

Chop the fruit into 1/2" sized chunks and put into a medium-sized mixing bowl.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Spoon into prepared mini-crusts, filling each about 3/4 full.  Place lid crust on each.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until fruit filling is bubbly.  Allow to cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

The 5 year old chopping pro!

The 8 year old chopping pro!

Naomi dicing the chilled shortening:

Naomi used our Curious Chef rolling pin to make the lid crusts.

She loved that it fit her little hands!

Vienne did an amazing job with the bottom crusts!!

Spooning the filling into the bottom crusts:

Cutting the top crust vents:

After cooling 10 minutes, they pop right out of the pan:

The girls did such an amazing job!!!

p.s. I'm giving away a set of super-handy Curious Chef Pinch Bowls on my personal blog. Go there to enter!!!

p.p.s.  I've been mulling over doing an entire how-to with pie crust.  Would that be useful??  If you're interested, please let me know!!  I don't want to bombard you with tedious crust-making steps if I'm the only one who's obsessed with pie crust :)

Homemade Pizzas {Curious Chef Review & Giveaway}

My kids could not wait to get into the kitchen when Curious Chef's 5-Piece Pizza Making Kit arrived! The kit, which retails for $19.99, came complete with kid-friendly utensils {nylon knife, pizza cutter, pizza server and silicone spatula} as well as an adorable cutting board, a shopping list and fun stickers!


We decided to make our pizza from scratch, and we used some dairy & egg-free products due to their food allergies. From start to finish, the kids loved being involved in the process of making their very own pizzas and I was able to relax as they used the safe kid-friendly utensils {by relax, I don't mean napping in another room, I just mean that I didn't have to worry about them hurting themselves with the usual kitchen utensils.} And in the end, the pizzas were delicious for us all to enjoy!

Pizza Sauce:
1/2 C. onion, finely diced
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp. basil
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. minced garlic
3/4 tsp. pepper

Saute onion in medium saucepan in a dash of olive oil until soft. Add the rest of ingredients to the onions in the saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 10 minutes.

Pizza Crust:
2 3/4 C flour
1 package dry active yeast
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C warm water
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
corn meal

In a large bowl, which together 1 1/4 C flour, yeast, and salt. Add warm water and oil. Beat well, scraping bowl constantly. Using a spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. In the bowl, knead in enough remaining flour to make moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (knead 6 to 8 minutes total). Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.



Preheat over to 425 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet with cooking spray and sprinkle with corn meal, shaking over the sink or garbage to remove the excess.



On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 16-inch circle. Transfer to the baking sheet. Build up the edges slightly, and prick the crust with a fork. Do not let it rise!!! Bake for 12 minutes, or until browned.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Spread pizza sauce over the hot crust. Sprinkle any toppings on that you'd like {we did cheese and pepperoni}. Bake 10 to 15 minutes more or until toppings are hot. Then, enjoy!




Now it's your turn to have Curious Chef entertain your kids in your kitchen! Stop by my blog to enter a special giveaway of some adorable Spring Cookie Cutters! We are all about cookie cutters--every day my kids pick different cookie cutters for me to cut their sandwiches with! Be sure to check it out!

Chicken Pot Pie with Curious Chef Giveaway

As you probably already know this week is Kids week so we each got items to review from Curious Chef with our children, or friends children... and I got four fantastic items to review, check out my full review on THE BUZZ and see my cutie in action!


Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
2 Cups water
1/2 Cup dry white wine
2 cubes chicken bouillon cube, crumbled
2 Medium Carrots, chopped
1 Cup frozen green peas
2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, chopped
3 Tbs white all purpose flour
5 oz. fat free evaporated milk
15 1/4 oz canned white corn, drained
6 sheet phyllo dough (can use any type of pie crust)



Place Chicken, water, wine and bouillon cubes in a medium pan. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cook gently, uncovered for 15minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Set aside one cup of broth and chop chicken into chunks.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a deep 8 inch pie dish with cooking spray.


Vegetable Scrubber

Microwaves carrots, and peas for 2 minutes. Drain. Heat oil in a medium nonstick pan, and add onions and cook until soft. Stir in flour and cook over low heat for 2 minutes.



Remove pan from heat and stir in milk and reserved broth. Return to heat and cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Add carrots, peas, chicken and corn.

Pour Chicken into prepared dish. Layer sheets of phyllo over pie, trim edges and press down firmly to seal. Lightly coat with cooking spray.


non stick rolling pin

Bake for 10 minutes, lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 20 additional minutes.


Kitchen Timer





So our changes are as follows: We couldn't find Phyllo dough and we wanted to make our own pie crust so we used the following recipe for a pie crust from ALLRECIPES Pie Crust:

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup water

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half, and shape into balls. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
2. Roll out dough on a floured counter. Don't over work it. Use as directed in pie recipe.

nylon frosting spreader


OK onto the fun!

We rated it a 4.5 SPOON- Useful and Yummy!
We will be making this one again!!!

We tripled the recipe and feed my parents and siblings and their families and the 12yr old niece wasn't a fan of all the veggies, but everyone else said they really enjoyed it!




Now if you want to read my full review on the products from Curious Chef and enter my giveaway for this cute:



Lemon shaped cutting board

then run over to THE BUZZ to enter!

2 Recipes - Fruit and Vegetable Kabob's

I am so excited to share 2 recipes with you guy's this week! I took my 7 year old Avery into the kitchen and we had a ball making 2 side dishes for Pizza Night. He had a blast using some of the utensils that were sent to me from Curious Chef and thought that it was really cool that he got to do every step except the oven!!

Vegetable Kabob's
From: Southern Food and Recipes a blog by Dianna Rattray

Ingredients needed:

1/2 lb whole small mushrooms
1 1/2 lbs zucchini cut into one inch pieces
12 to 16 cherry tomatoes
Italian dressing
and pineapple chunks


Directions:

Wash mushrooms; remove and discard stems. Place mushrooms, sliced zucchini, and cherry tomatoes in salad dressing. Let marinate in refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Drain vegetables, reserving marinade. Thread vegetables alternately with pineapple onto skewers. Cook on grill over medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally and basting with reserved marinade. Vegetable kabobs serves 4 to 6.

We had plans for this to be our first grilled dish of the year...but we had snow in the middle of March...not to uncommon for Ok, We baked our kabob's in a 350 degree oven until veggies were tender.

Fruit Kabob's
by Avery & Mom

Ingredients needed:

Strawberries
bananas
pineapple
vanilla yogurt
honey bear

Directions:

Mix a cup of yogurt with a drizzle of honey, refrigerate until serving. Thread fruit on skewers.

Not sure if you would really call that second one...a recipe...but we were having a great time and didn't want it to end. We just looked around in our fridge -- for what we could put on a stick!

This was a great experience for Avery - he got to try raw mushrooms for the first time...I had to stop him and his brother though. They kept trying to sneak them and the tomatoes too!


We give both the recipes 5 spoons - we wanted more but it was all gone.

Both recipes were a welcome change to our routine. I noticed that out of 6 of us...only 2 went back for seconds on the pizza...they were full of veggies and fruit.

Don't forget to stop by Getting all my Ducks in a Row...I have posted a review of:

8 Pc Cutlery & Serving Set

and will be hosting a giveaway for these 2 cookie cutter's!

You can also stop by Money Saving Maine-iac
for you chance to win a 3 piece prep set too!

Thanks to Curious Chef I was sent an eight piece cutlery and serving set for the purpose of a recipe post and review. All opinion expressed is mine and mine alone. :)