Honey Sunbutter

Recipe challenge, week thirty-two.

I've always wanted to try sunflower seed butter because I often see it on the shelves when I'm at Trader Joe's or those rare occasions I go to Whole Foods.  I usually end up going with some kind of fancy peanut butter.  My favorite is Peanut Butter and Co. Mighty Maple, but it's tough to find, so I usually end up with Justin's Honey Peanut Butter.  Fun fact:  Justin's is between $5-6 at Whole Foods.  It's $13 at Safeway.

I'll let that settle in.

I never bought a jar of sunbutter because I don't want to not like it and have it go to waste. I'm not an almond butter person because I'll eat it with a spoon so I just don't buy it anymore.  This sunflower seed butter reminds me of almond butter.  I made it in the Vitamix because there was a "recipe" for it in the Vitamix cookbook.  However, I've made peanut butter and almond butter in the food processor before and I would probably just use the food processor if I made this again.  I love the Vitamix but because it's so vertical, I had to scrape down the sides a lot and that was time-consuming.  With the food processor, you just turn it on and hope it doesn't overheat.

I added honey because I like the peanut butters that have a sweeter flavor, but I also drizzled some over the top the way you'd often do with hummus and olive oil.

This was tasty to eat with a spoon too.

Though, disclaimer alert...I didn't love it.  I liked it. I would probably not eat it every day.  I prefer Justin's Honey PB or that Mighty Maple crack stuff.  However, if you're tempted to try sun butter and you don't want to spend x amount of dollars on a jar of pureed seeds, this is a good alternative.  The bag of roasted, unsalted sunflower seeds cost me two dollars and I only used half of it in this recipe.

Honey Sunbutter
adapted from The Vitamix Cookbook

2 1/2 cups of roasted sunflower seeds (I used unsalted.)
1 T. honey, plus extra for drizzling
1/2 t. sea salt
2 T. coconut oil, melted

In a high-speed blend or food processor, mix all ingredients until smooth.  Stop to scrape down the sides as needed.  This took me about 20 minutes.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Stuff and things.

-I've been drinking way too much coffee lately.  I don't know how to fix this.  You see, I'm so tired. And this leaving the house by 7am thing is for the birds (woe is me).  I used to get up at 6 and putter around until leaving at 8:15ish (oh, Alaska, maybe I do miss you).  Now, I have to be out the door by 7ish and I hate it.  The taste of coffee is the only thing that'll get me out of bed.  It's awful, really.

-Scott has it in his head that we need a camper.  I'm not opposed to the idea, because we all know I'm not camping in a tent anytime soon.   However, after I told him I was planning on visiting every Laura Ingalls Wilder museum in the country, this became his reasoning when he presented the camper idea to me: "Well, this will help us go to all those museums.  Pet-friendly hotels are a pain to find and it seems like a lot of those places *you* want to go are in the middle of nowhere."

Well played.

-If you  haven't made your own almond butter yet, you need to.  It's tasty.  I've never actually bought my own, but this is so good that you'll never have to anyway. A giant bag of almonds can cost anywhere between $4 and $8.  2 cups of loose almonds will make about 1 1/2 cups of nut butter.

In a food processor, put 2 cups of almonds and turn it on.  Add a few sprinkles of salt.  Maybe a drizzle of honey.  It takes about 15-20 minutes and, yes, your food processor may get really warm and start to smoke a bit.  It'll all work out, promise.

It tastes better after it sits in the fridge for awhile, so that's where you should keep it.

-I got my Great Pumpkin Swap package in the mail!

Thank you, Karen!  You are so sweet!  (Scott beat me to the Pop Rocks!)

-We started watching Jericho last week.  Scott's friend gave it to him with an "Eh, you might like this".  I made fun of it for the first few episodes.  Like, we hate this show.  But we can't stop watching it.  We're almost done with the first season and it's only been a week.

I think it was ahead of its time.  It's pre-all-the-other-apocalyptic-shows.  I feel it didn't last because, for the first time ever, CBS (America's most boring television network) was ahead of its time.  Let it be known: Jericho was the only amusing show that CBS ever did.  Then they canceled it.  The network should be proud.

Really, it's awful.  You'll hate it.  But maybe you'll be like me and be so intrigued by the fashions of 2006 that you won't be able to turn it off.

-Speaking of fastion...We went to the Rams game in St. Louis on Sunday.  (It was boring, in case you were wondering.)

But what I did notice was the sheer amount of well-dressed people in that city.  I'd never imagined that I'd see so many great boots and coats at an NFL game.  No Crocs in sight.  But I did see a pair of Danskos.  I was sure to point them out to Scott.

-Scott is taking the GRE in a couple of weeks.  Confession: I haven't taken it.  I haven't thought about taking it.  I don't really plan to take it. Two years ago, I didn't even know what it was. Since I don't have immediate plans of a Masters degree, I probably shouldn't worry about it.  ...Right?  I'm not lazy.  I'm just not spending $15,000 on extra education if I don't have to.  That makes sense...right?

Any Stuff or Things to share today?  Was anyone else practically bored to tears by The Walking Dead on Sunday?  I kept waiting for something big to happen.  Nothing did.