An American Staple: PB & J {PowerHouseCreatives Contest}

Hey guys! I hope everyone is enjoying the week so far! It is quite toasty here in Atlanta this week, but I'm not complaining (yet) because it has still been lovely in the morning and the evenings. I enjoyed time with friends yesterday evening. One of them I had not seen in about a year and a half since she moved back up home to New Hampshire. We met up at one of the restaurants that I went to back for my birthday (Flower Child), and it was so perfect outside that we just sat and ate the meal on the patio. Such a wonderful time with dear friends!

Enjoying food really is such a comforting way to share a memorable experience with loved ones. In the #powerhousecreatives Discord chat room (and most others I am a part of) it is a common theme that transcends any cultural borders. Though we might all have different regional cuisines, most of us share those with gusto! Of course as a food-lover myself I couldn't help but jump on this latest community contest put out by @zord189 which requests that we share our own daily or staple comfort food. My mind went straight to one of my childhood favorites: Peanut Butter and Jelly!

Though I can't say that I eat PB & J daily, I have not outgrown the pure joy that the combination of creamy (no crunchy in my house) nut butter, sweet and slightly tart jelly and a few slices of good bread can give me. I think I did eat them daily as a child, though the quality of my components has much improved since then. 😉

After picking fresh strawberries, I made a batch of homemade strawberry chia seed jam last week as just one of the many ways we are enjoying the seasonal treat. I think my mom mostly used Smuckers on our sandwiches as childrend, but now I love getting the chance to make my own. It still tastes amazing, however I have much more control over the sugar and other ingredients when putting it together in my own kitchen. When you have really ripe berries you hardly need any added sweetener!

I have also tried to get in the habit of making my own nut butters more often. The sandwich above had one of my personal favorites--walnut butter! It is so easy to make because the walnuts break down so quickly in the food processor into a creamy, delicious spread. I adore this in dates for a quick pre- or post-workout snack, but found it was dreamy with the strawberry jam on sprouted grain toast.

Speaking of bread, I need to look back to find the yummy English muffins that @birdsinparadise shared last year. They were a wonderful vehicle for both of my toppings when the berries were in season last year. No highly processed white bread in my house anymore. I often keep sprouted grain/legume bread in the freezer to pull out a few pieces as I like or always love the organic sourdough from the farmers market. I keep saying I'm going to try my hand at making more of my own, and those English muffins were easy as can be!

So there you have it! One of my all-time favorites. Though I probably enjoy avocado toast more often these days, sometimes nothing will suffice other than PB & J. Or perhaps now it's NB & J? Nut Butter & Jam to not leave out any of the wonderful nuts that turn into scrumptious nut butters. Surprisingly there's no green in this post @zord189. Don't worry I have plenty in my other meals to balance it out...😉

I also promised a little recap of my recent event that I was so busy preparing for last week, so instead of forgetting to get around to it here's a link to where I shared it on my website to make sure all of the attendees had access to a few of the local resources where I bought some of the recipe ingredients. Perhaps I'll take the time at some point to do a more thorough write up on here, but just in case I don't and anyone is interested they can still go check it out. I had a blast sharing my love of healthy food (though no sandwiches were served) with everyone in an engaging face-to-face setting!

Now I can't wait to see what some of the other @steemitbloggers bring to the communal table...

Banners by @zord189, @woman-onthe-wing, @dksart and @bearone for @steemusa