Monday, April 4, 2011

Sun butter on a cloudy, miserable day.

My gosh, why does the weather always have to be absolutely miserable every time I decide to go to the gym (the gym is on the other side of campus, and I don't have a car)?  Normally, I wouldn't mind the walk to and from the fieldhouse -- it's akin to a warm-up and cool-down power walk.  But seriously, I can literally hear the wind howling outside, and it's really pissing me off, because I really want to get a 20-30 minute run in before class!  Ugh.  Yesterday, it was spitting rain when I went into the gym...however, when I came back outside half an hour later, the ground was covered in hailstones!  Welcome to springtime in Michigan...

I find that the only way I can sit still / pay attention in class is if I use up all my energy beforehand.  So I think I'm gonna show Mother Nature who's boss after I finish typing this up and head over to the rec room.  Just had some coffee and a big bowl of Greek yogurt, so Imma ready to go. 

Has anyone ever tried Greek yogurt?  In the world of yogurt, it is my absolute favorite.  It's so thick and creamy (sometimes I make vedgie dip with it), and it has twice as much protein as regular yogurt.

Favorite brand.

Well, I made the best batch of butter yet yesterday!  Man, I feel like most of this blog is devoted to nut butters (I'm thinking about selling them in the not-so-distant future, but I'll need to perfect the recipes first)...I promise I'll have some recipes for real food up soon!  Bear with me, guys.

OHBUTWAIT -- this recipe actually isn't for a nut butter.  Can you guess what this is?

Hm.  Looks kinda disgusting, huh (I haven't had the patience to dress up my creations and take real foodie pictures, as of late)?...Kinda like every single other butter recipe of mine, you say?  Hai nao.

Would you believe that this butter is made from sunflower seeds?  It was so good!

Yes, sunflower seeds.  I was in one of the little convenience stores on campus when I spied the little bags of Kars trail mixes.  I saw the sunflower seeds, and then inspiration struck.

The roomie gave me a funny look when I walked into the apartment, plunked down four of these bags next to my food processor, and was like "Soooo, do you, by chance, enjoy sunflower seeds??  'Cause I'm trying something new tonight!"  I'm very thankful for how cooperative she is in her role as my official NutButterTasteTester; however, for the first time, I thought she might bail on me!  Haha.  But she didn't -- despite how much this stuff resembles...eh, let's not go there...we found out that sunflower seed butter is pretty darn tasty.

I thought that it kind of tasted like very smooooooth peanut butter.  Make yourself a batch and let me know what you think!

Sun Butter
You'll need:

12ish oz salted sunflower seeds (as I mentioned earlier, I used four little bags of Kars sunflower seeds)
1/4 cup oil (olive oil seemed to work)
1 scant tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup honey. 
[If you omit the last two ingredients, you end up with a really tasty, savory dip.  But I wanted something that would satisfy my sweet tooth!]

Blend together seeds, oil, and cinnamon -- if it gets all soupy, you're on the right track!  Nuke your honey for about fifteen seconds, then pour over butter and puree for 10-15 seconds.  Once it thickens, you're done!

Ended up freezing half the batch and making "sun fudge" -- it's melt-in-your-mouth delicious!

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