My mom called me awhile ago and told me she has some random food items that she thought I might like (her fiancé ordered a bunch of food online and I guess this came with it). Not going to lie, when she said “organic raw pecan butter” I got really excited, because hello, that stuff isn’t cheap.
Yesterday, I picked up my windfall. The foodie goodies from my mom, along with a jar of homemade reduced-sugar blueberry jam gifted to me from a good family friend (actually, she’s an angel in my eyes since she lived with and took care of my grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s, before my grandma went into the convalescent home) made me a very happy camper. I mean, check out this stuff (and, I don’t have to review it unless I want to, heehee).
According to J.D. over at Get Rich Slowly, if you experience a windfall you should take care of your immediate needs and save some for a rainy day (like, when you find yourself suddenly out of nut butter, I suppose). However, I don’t follow anything that they recommend on Get Rich Slowly—ask me how that emergency fund is doing—so I immediately dug into that mini jar of the pecan butter. Much like the first time I tried almond butter, I didn’t like it at first but the second time I tasted it I was a big fan.
I had been planning for weeks to make banana bread a la Foods of April. I’ve come to terms with the fact that my sweet tooth is not going away, so I wanted to have a healthier option around for my after-dinner treat.
Side note: I’ve been finding myself more snacky at night lately, which I’ve never had a problem with before. I know it has a lot to do with the fact that I’m alone a lot for dinner nowadays, due to Mitch’s school schedule. I’ve recognized it though, which is a start, right? I’m trying the classic “kitchen is closed” and “hot tea” tricks too, which help.
However, I was not feeling great last night (nothing big) and therefore I realized after putting in the oven that I had used baking soda instead of baking powder.
Oops.
I did a quick Google search and learned that baking powder makes things rise whereas baking soda makes things rise and neutralizes acid (like lemon juice, vinegar, buttermilk, etc) in recipes. This recipe didn’t have any acid, I don’t think, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Wasting ingredients makes me really mad so I was hoping this wouldn’t be a baking fail.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that leavening did, in fact, occur.
I think 40 minutes was a little too long because it was a little more browned on the outside then I would have liked. Otherwise, it came out pretty good! (I’m sure it would have been better with baking powder though, don’t get me wrong). It definitely tasted like a “healthy treat” but as such, it was really flavorful and comforting, two important components to banana bread. I think a slice of this, toasted and served with some crack Dark Chocolate Dreams (or raw pecan butter, if you will) is a much better nightly treat than, say, white chocolate chips and Cadbury Crème eggs.
The lighting wasn’t great here, but I think you can see how I overcooked the outside a tad but inside the bread is moist (gross word) and delicious. Great job on this one, April!
I still can’t get over this time change! It’s almost 6:30 and still light out. I know I’m not going to be loving it when I have to take Nina on her walk in the morning before work, but I’m thinking I’m going to do most of my weekday running after work once I start seriously training for my half marathon. Oh have I not talked about that in awhile? Yep…still registered. Slightly freaked out. But I’ll survive…training officially starts in less than a month!
Are you “snacky” at night ever? How do you deal with it?
Are you signed up for any races or sporty-type events? If not, I highly recommend signing up for something…it’s great motivation if you need a little push!
Later gators 
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Yay! Thanks so much for the shoutout! I”m so glad it ended up turning out right! I agree- it’s best with nut butter on top!
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I am always so snacky at night. And uh, I deal with it by snacking. Which isn’t what I need to be doing! Glad your bread turned out okay.
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How awesome to get all those goodies for free! I don’t really get snacky at night, but we tend to eat our dinner a bit later (7:30-8:00) and I usually have some sort of small dessert that is enough for me.
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Am I ever snacky at night…well…I suppose the answer to that question yes. I am. For example, last night, I bought a doughnut, hershey bar, and king sized reese’s from 7-11 and gobbled them right up. Tonight I bought Orange Soda, Lemonade, and Sprite. I think I have that thing that is the opposite of diabetes where your blood sugar is too low so I constantly need to eat sugar. Yeah that explains it.
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i’m always snacky at night. that’s why i’m always drinking hot cocoa!
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I am always snacky at night. And I indulge in it. All the time.
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I find that being snacky at night usually means you need to eat something and you haven’t eaten enough during the day, it sure catches up to you. I would just a) eat, or b) eat more earlier = problem solved!
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bread looks good! i was just rambling about my sweet tooth~ sure wish it would go away! but at least there are healthier options to satisfy it, like this here
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I’m not signed up for any event but I’d like to sign up for my first 5K this year. I just want to finish P90X and then get back into my running.
Sometimes I’m snacky at night…actually a lot of times lately. Not totally sure why.
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That is SERIOUS windfall! Frankly, I think your mom’s fiance is a little crazy to be getting rid of it.
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Ha, I made April’s low-carb sweet bread not that long ago and forgot the baking powder all together!!! I felt like such a twit. I was left with this totally flat plank of baked flax. I still ate it all though – flax is expensive. Plus, there’s few things a slather of nut butter can’t solve
I allow myself 200 calories after dinner every single night. I’m still not counting calories, but putting a limit on it helps (so I don’t all of a sudden find myself eating half a box of cereal). I’m much better when I pre-plan a snack and stick to it, I end up eating a lot less that way.
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Mmm, pecan butter? I have never heard of such a thing! But I guess it makes sense that there would be pecan butter. I wonder if there is walnut butter? I bet that wold be great too!
This bread creation sounds wonderful. I’m glad your experiment didn’t fail. I think baking soda and powder work fairly similarly, the real problem occurs when you use TOO MUCH or TOO LITTLE of either of them, I think.
When Nick works at night I find that my snacking goes through the roof. It’s like when I don’t have someone here with me, to keep me company, all I want to do is snack. I try to do stuff like mints, gum, or brush my teeth, or drink hot cocoa or tea. I also like the giant 100 calorie packs of popcorn. Those take a while to eat and really fill me up!
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