Our Butter Halves

When my butter half introduced me to his family’s energy bars, I was addicted. Their recipe is a highly guarded secret written on a tattered index card in his grandma’s perfect handwriting. When we travel we are usually gifted a big bag of them. They are perfect treats wrapped in wax paper and hold well without refrigeration. I feel better about eating these then a candy bar picked up on the fly in the airport shops. Funny enough Nick was never a fan of the bars, he much preferred rice krispy treats. We developed these as our happy medium. He prefers craisins to raisins. Definitely a fan of the Whole Foods honey roasted peanut butter versus the creamy peanut butter the recipe calls for. The list goes on. So what we came up with is a perfect blend of our likes. Funny enough when grams came into the kitchen as we were cutting these she side eyed them and said they don’t look right. We laughed because we knew that was going to happen because they are creatures of habit.

For this batch we had a bunch of left over ingredients from our banana coconut granola. We buy things like puffed quinoa, mac nuts, and craisins in bulk from the bins at whole foods or Costco. Chia seeds are pricey but found the big bag at Costco is the most affordable option. Chia jam, chia pudding, overnight oats, and these bars are all great ways to use the bag up. Another great place to get ingredients is TJ Maxx food section. I found a huge bag of pumpkin seeds and flax seeds. So anytime you are there just take a peek. This time we had a bottle of Mccormick’s Breakfast Toppers in Pineapple and Toasted Coconut. The topping includes ingredients chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, granola, sunflower seeds, toasted coconut, dried pineapple and granola. We added more chia seeds, puffed quinoa, and the staples of the recipe. If you can’t get your hands on the toppers, then substitute a mixture of toasted coconut, dried pineapple, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, or whatever favorite seeds you have laying around.

These bars are great as a quick breakfast or packed in kids lunches. We kept these stored in a airtight container and kept them in a cool spot in the kitchen pantry. Im getting ready to get on a plane again and head back to the mainland so I have a ziplock ready to go for the plane. Baby loves the craisins and actually tries to rip them out to eat first.

We have been away for a while. I think you all noticed that. We made the decision to step away while we took care of our family. One of us in the mainland and one of us back home. Our first night home together I had just spent hours on a plane with a fussy baby and exhausted. I needed comfort food and I think our family did too. We have two favorites for comfort foods breakfast and anything in a red sauce. I didn’t feel like slinging eggs to order and I didn’t feel like cooking a red sauce over the stove for hours. Scrolling through Insta I stumbled upon a William Sonoma post of this amazing looking dish in one pot. After a little googling I found the dish. Tuscan Frittata Affogato with all its glory. I didn’t have all the ingredients but I had some workable ingredients.

After a severe burn and about 30 minutes I had the most satisfying dinner for the family. We sat around the table dipping and shoveling food into our mouths. Talking about what the doctors had said during our visit to UCSF and hearing the stories about what had been going on at home for weeks without me. This dinner was the perfect fix when everything else in our lives seem to be drowning. For the next few months we will be taking trips back and forth to San Francisco. After weeks apart we agreed this will be the meal we make and sit around the table to catch up.

You can by all meals use a homemade red sauce of any kind and it will work with this dish. I didn’t have any in the freezer and I wanted something quick. We used Ragu Mushroom Sauce and it was yummy. I can’t remember the last time I reached for a jar of grocery store sauce but props to Ragu because it was tasty. This meal was such a success we had it again on Sunday night for a dinner party, served with a cheese platter, salad, and toasted crusty bread.

We are thinking about doing a series about comfort foods from a multicultural family, is that something you guys would be interested in?