Creamy cashew buttah

When I was a young thang growing up in CA I loved the rain.  In elementary school indoor recesses were a novelty.  In junior high and high school, the rain meant we had an excuse to get insanely muddy (yes, I was a bit of a tomboy).  Especially playing soccer in the rain…so fun!  Cut to my years on the East Coast…

In NYC I hated the rain.  I’m not really sure what prompted this drastic change of heart, but I suspect it had to do with the fact that there was ALWAYS the chance of showers.  Always.  I carried my umbrella from October to September…you just never knew.  One second sun, the next second storms.  Blah. 

Now that I’m back in CA, my love for rain has returned.  So this week’s cloudy days haven’t been causing me any distress.  You’d think I would embrace the opportunity to cuddle up with a blanket and a good book and call it a day, but oddly enough, I’ve been even more eager to get outside. 

I did cuddle up with a cup of coffee. 

And the most amazing breakfast. 

You see last week I embarked on a cashew soaking journey…

It all started with 1/2 cup cashews, which I soaked in water for 24 hours, threw in the refrigerator (water and all)…and subsequently forgot all about. 

It wasn’t until a Meatless Monday email arrived in my inbox featuring – you guessed it – cashews, that I recalled the little suckers floating in the abyss of the fridge. 

Cashew butter was the goal, but once I put it in the blender it looked quite sad.  Obviously 1/2 a cup wasn’t going to be enough to make anything substantial, so I added in another 1/2 cup of raw (unsoaked) cashews.

The blender did an okay job, but next time I will use my baby instead.

Slowly, but surely I blended away, continuously stopping to scrape down the sides and add water drop by drop. 

I mean it.  Drop. By. Drop.  Too much water would have ruined it, so I was practically misting in the liquid, I was so cautious!  At the most, I probably added in 2 tbsp water. 

So worth it. 

I tupperwared it up and then made out with the blender like our plane was going down. 

Do you blame me?  I mean that’s precious blood, sweat, & tears food in there!

My first meal with the creamy nut butter was better than I ever expected. 

I toasted an Ezekiel 7-grain english muffin, added the cashew nutbutter and diced figs. 

And dug in.

Granted I’ve never had store-bought cashew butter, but this was seriously delicious.  It’s unlike any other nutbutter because of how, well, creamy it tastes.  It’s rich and decadent, but not overpowering.  It went perfectly with the sweet figs.  All in all, a winner of a way to start the day. 

I had a few more figs on the side, and then set out to accomplish a thing or two.  I wanted to ride my bike to do my errands, but the rain put the kybosh on those plans…

I came home for a very simple lunch.

It revolved around (what else?) hummus.  Cedar’s roasted red pepper hummus, to be exact.  I’m in a Cedar’s rut because Whole Foods carries it and it’s thick and creamy like Sabra, but costs half as much.  Why is Sabra so expensive? 

Mary’s Gone Crackers are nearly that – gone!  The original flavor has won my heart over through and through.  Whatever issues I had with the curry stix flavor is completely erased from my memory. 

So light and airy!  I can’t get enough of them. 

I also assembled a snack plate of sorts, with veggies galore. 

Bell peppers, cukes, baby carrots, and apples. 

Yes, I used my finger to get it that clean. 

After lunch the time really got away from me.  I tended to my plants (wait ‘til you see my cute mini garden!), ran a few more errands, and chatted on the phone with my dad for nearly an hour. 

As much as I craved a run outside, it was still raining, so I went with level 3 of Jillian’s Shred instead.  Jumping jacks WITH weights?!  This chic is loco. 

I don’t recall how many apples I had in the afternoon, but I think it was upwards of a bushel.  For dinner, I had leftover enchiladas and a Mexican avocado & kale salad. 

To make the kale salad, I took a whole avocado and mashed it up with salsa, raw corn, and a splash of lime juice.  The lime juice makes the dish so don’t omit it!

Once the avo mash was ready I scooped some atop the enchiladas…

and some atop the kale…

and since I still had leftovers of both avocado and kale, I made a bonus side salad.

Mexi-kale salad. 

• Avocado
• Kale
• Salsa
• Raw corn
• Lime juice

Done. 

Done and done.

Check out that fabulous beany inside! 

Mmmm…

Dessert was a project and a half.  Remember these?

Which turned into this?

Well, the hippie (and the foodie) in me really couldn’t stand to waste such beauty.  Trying to salvage them as best I could (despite their melty mess of a state), I put the entire box in the freezer.  At night I took them out and to thaw in the fridge and this what I ended up with…

That’s what 8 truffles look like as one massive truffle.

The part I had was a mix of raspberry, caramel, and maybe pecan (?). 

It may look hideous, but it tasted AHH-SOME!!!