PB Bit Stir fry Sauce

Another whirlwind weekend is in the books.  Could you please tell the summer to slow down?  Before you know it, we’ll be seeing fricken Halloween decorations in the stores!   Friday both Hannah and Jacob worked so I had a whole day to recipe develop in the kitchen and I had such a fun day.  I had Spotify on, jammed to Macklemore and Pitbull (yes, I am 19 at heart!) and just enjoyed being Bizzy in My Kitchen.  The first recipe I am sharing today (the other two will be later this week) is a stir fry sauce using PB Fit.  PB Fit is a powdered peanut butter that you reconstitute with water.  I bought mine at Sam’s Club for like $13 for a 30 ounce container.  Which in case you are wondering, is a lot of peanut butter!  I even split my can with my twin sister and I still have a ton left.  But as with most things, it got pushed to the back of the pantry and was temporarily forgotten. 

I had some extra firm tofu in the fridge, and after breakfast took it out of the package and wrapped it in a clean kitchen towel and put my cast iron skillet on top of it to get all the moisture out of it.  The other veggies I had was broccoli slaw, mushrooms and zucchini, so tofu stir fry was born.

The stir fry sauce ended up being 2 smart points, and it was delicious.  Just enough to coat everything, and you got the peanutty taste from the PB fit, a hint of sesame from the oil and spicy from the Thai chili sauce.  I was so happy when Better Body Foods reposted my pic on Instagram!

I ended up making a deep dish pizza Friday night (duh!) but I will post that recipe tomorrow – I revamped my deep dish dough to make 1/4 of a cake size pan slice only 9 smart points!  Can’t wait to share that with you.

The weather on Saturday was perfect for a farmers market.  I didn’t do this market the Saturday before and it only made $650.  I was in Glenview and made $1250 at that market!  So I was back to Evanston, and not surprisingly if I can toot my own sales horn, sales were back to $1208! 

I drove with the Pokemon Go kid, but made him keep the phone in his pocket on the drive there, although I did notice he had his phone out the entire time while he was making wraps, with head phones in to boot!  I complained to the owner about how this kid works, and am happy to report that when I saw this weeks schedule, I am not working with him this week.  I am working with an 18 year old kid that has an amazing work ethic for his age, is super clean when he cooks, and most importantly, actually smiles to the customers!  So happy.

Both Hannah and Jacob worked on Saturday so I was home first and ended up making chicken wings that I found in the freezer.  I defrosted them in the fridge during the day, and just tossed them in flour seasoned with salt, pepper and creole seasoning, and then had them sit in the fridge for an hour before frying.  My four wings and 2 ounces of fries was 15 smart points and completely delicious.  I loves me some buffalo sauce!  Although my friend Helen tagged my twin sister and I that she was making pizza on Friday too (her husband loves pizza just as much as me!) and posted that she made a buffalo chicken pizza.  Um, how the hell have I not made that pizza before?  Let’s just make it clear, that pizza will be on my menu this Friday.

Sunday the weather looked a bit iffy.  It was super cloudy on the drive to Frankfort, but I kept thinking it might blow over.

Sadly, not five minutes after that picture was taken, it was a torrential downpour for 20 minutes, then drizzled pretty hard for another 25 minutes before it cleared up.  I got soaked, but had left my jacket in my car which was back in my car.  But my buddy Alberto took care of me and gave me his flannel shirt from his car.

My boss told me that the record for this market on a stormy day was $1090.  It became my goal to break that goal.   Um, I ended up selling $1750!   Pretty much a rock star.  But in between the rain I had a chance to talk to the guy next to me who was selling fresh gulf shrimp at a farmers market in a far south suburb of Chicago.  Huh.  As we were closing down, he asked me if I wanted any shrimp.  I asked how much and he said $8 a pound – sold!

I had planned to go to my Mom’s for Sunday dinner, so that was perfect.  So even though Mom had a chicken dish planned, we quickly switched gears and decided to make surf and turf.  When I got to my Mom’s house (which is literally 5 minutes from the store front!) I got to peeling and deveining the shrimp.  He even tossed in a couple giant ones!

We sat outside and it turned into a nice night.  I got to my Mom’s around 3:30 and I didn’t leave until after 8, so it was a nice time to catch up.  She stayed in Virginia several days after I left, so it was nice to see the pics of the places she went to with my Aunt and her boyfriend.

The shrimp was delicious!  We each had about 3-4 ounces of beef, the shrimp and Mom made fresh green beans and baby potatoes.  Perfect summer meal.

One of the vendors brought Alberto and me a croissant from Rustic Knead out of Lemont. 

Mom and I ended up splitting this for dessert.  We thing the filling is almond paste, but we aren’t sure – either way, it was delicious.  Croissants are so intimidating to make, I haven’t had the guts to try it yet – but it’s on my fall bucket list to attempt.  Look at all these flaky layers!

So a great busy weekend was had.  Hannah is off today and tomorrow as well, but has her cleaning pants on.  Last night she decided that it was time to tackle our basement.  Pretty much our whole upstairs is company ready since I’ve had my bedroom, living room and dining room done last October.  I am proud that I actually make my bed every day, something I never did before my bedroom looked so nice.

So Hannah, being a list writer and check off the list type of person, started writing down our list of things to do in the basement and we are going to spend a good chunk of the day tackling that project.  I guess I need to put my cleaning pants on this morning!

Hope you had a great weekend – what was the highlight for you?

Quote of the Day:  Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love.  – David McCullough   

Make it a great day!