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 Rolling the peanut butter balls in chopped peanuts. |
Meals Kids Might Eat:
Peanut Butter Bonanza
by Jyotsna “Jo” Sreenivasan, from the March 2006 newsletter
Did you know that March is National Peanut Month? Peanut butter is a favorite of many kids, which is a good thing: it’s nutritious (full of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, B vitamins, Vitamin E, iron, magnesium and other minerals) and it’s cheap.
A good way to celebrate National Peanut Month is to read a book about George Washington Carver, who was born as a slave and who became the nation’s peanut expert, discovering more than 300 uses for peanuts. We like a book about Carver called A Weed is a Flower by Aliki (she does not use a last name), which is available through the ValNet system at the Moscow library.
What can you do with peanut butter besides make a sandwich out of it? You can make “Ants on a Log”: cut celery into sticks, spread peanut butter into the hollows, and stick raisin “ants” to the peanut butter. You can use the yummy dried blueberries at the Co-op for very small “ants.” You can make a “Peanut Butter Flower” by slicing apples into thin wedges, spreading peanut butter on one side, and arranging the wedges into a spiral flower shape.
Here are some recipes featuring peanut butter.
Peanut Butter Crunch Balls
(adapted from Peanut Butter by Arlene Erlbach)
Everyone in our family thought these were really good!
½ cup peanut butter
½ cup honey
½ cup dry milk powder
¾ cup chopped peanuts
Combine the peanut butter and honey in a bowl. Add the dry milk a little at a time. Use your clean hands to mix this; it gets stiff. When the mixture is the consistency of play-dough, pinch off pieces, roll into balls and roll the balls in the chopped peanuts.
NOTE: I tried replacing the dry milk powder with unsweetened cocoa powder, but the mixture turned out sticky. I added about a tablespoon of dry milk powder and that helped. This cocoa version was very good too.
NOTE #2: You could try reducing the amount of honey. This version is quite sweet.
Peanut Butter Nachos
(from The Peanut Butter Cookbook for Kids by Judy Ralph and Ray Gompf)
If you want to make a few nachos but don’t want to open an entire can
of refried beans, here is the answer. My husband and I thought these were delicious!
Our older son took one bite and refused to eat any more. Our younger son enjoyed
them.
12 tortilla chips
1 tablespoon unsweetened peanut butter
5 tablespoons salsa
¾ cup cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Place oven rack near center of oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Arrange tortilla chips on baking sheet. Mix peanut butter and salsa, and spread a little of this mixture on each of the chips. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the chips. Bake the chips for four minutes.
Barbecued Tofu with Peanut Butter Marinade
My mother-in-law got this recipe from a friend of hers. She once served it
to my father-in-law and told him it was barbecued beef (because he wouldn’t
eat tofu). He believed her and ate it! This does not look or taste like beef,
but it is good. This is a great dish to take to potlucks. You can use ready-made
barbecue sauce to save time, but I must say that the homemade version is
worth it.
Start this part the day before:
2 pounds extra-firm tofu (NOT silken tofu; buy the kind sold in little plastic
tubs in the refrigerated section, or the bulk tofu in the giant bin); freeze
overnight at least. The next morning, set the tofu out to thaw.
Peanut butter marinade:
6 tablespoons peanut butter
1/8 cup oil
1/8 cup water
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
BBQ Sauce:
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups tomato puree (one of those big 28-ounce cans)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablepoon molasses
2 teaspoons mustard (the kind in a jar – not the powdered mustard)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
a couple of shakes of crushed red pepper – or more, to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Squeeze as much water as you can out of the thawed tofu. Cut each tofu block into cubes. Mix the peanut butter marinade ingredients together. If your peanut butter is stiff, you might want to add some water to make the mixture easier to spread. Lay tofu squares in a large unoiled baking pan. Pour or spread peanut butter mixture over the pieces and use your fingers to make sure every piece is covered, front and back. Bake tofu for 20 minutes. Stir, then bake again for another 20 minutes. While tofu is baking, saute onions in oil until transparent. When onions are almost done, add garlic and stir. Add all other ingredients for sauce. Stir and simmer this mixture for several minutes to allow flavors to blend. When tofu is done baking, pour barbecue sauce over it and bake again for another 15 minutes. Serve with rice.
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