Sometimes You Score. Sometimes You Want to Vomit.

Black Bean Nacho Pizza

I'm still doing the cooking every day thing (for the most part). Week three of this so I'm giving myself a pat on the back for keeping it up. I had a pretty good score last week: Black Bean Nacho Pizza. It was delicious. Black beans all mushed up with enough cheese to feel like a guilty pleasure, but not enough to cause constipation. Which to me sounds just right.

This pizza was a good low-cal alternative. I used a pre-made Boboli whole wheat thin crust instead of making my own pizza crust. Because I'm adventurous, but I'm not gonna pretend like I'm Martha Stewart. Because I'm not. Not even a little bit. I guess that gene skips a generation.

The pizza was a score, but I also did a Quick Shrimp Enchilada Bake and just the thought of it makes me want to vomit. It sounded like a decent idea, but I actually used fresh shrimp (hello, I live near the sea for a reason) and that was a waste of good shrimp. Anyway, the cooking and then baking gave the whole thing this weird sloppy, chewy texture and nasty taste that made me gag in my mouth. Seriously, Chef only had a bite or two. I swallowed nearly a whole portion but made Chef chuck the rest and gagged the next day when I thought of it. Maybe I was just getting sick because I didn't eat anything substantial again until dinner last night.

I hope tonight is better. Last night's four cheese pasta and cauliflower was decent, but I need a win.

What's your most spectacular dish that hits a homerun every time?

What I'm Loving Now: Cookie Butter

So normal looking,
but so great tasting.

Reading the title of the post, you might think to yourself: What is this cookie butter you speak of? It's a valid question. Without seeing a picture, you might think: Is this butter made especially for use in cookies (a Paula Deen invention to be sure)? Is it a butter that is sweetened to have a sugar cookie taste? Is it body butter or some other lotion labelled to lure you into thinking something delicious and then being super disappointed because it's just another lotion product?

I'll tell you what it is: HEAVEN.

Peanut  butter consistency.
Yes, I have eaten half the jar
 in 10 days.
Don't judge me!

Speculoos Cookie Butter leaped out at me from the shelves of Trader Joe's a few weeks ago and I immediately went back to get more. That was not as easy as I had anticipated. I tried two stores that were completely sold out (and told me their warehouse didn't have any either) before I found out that one store in my area had 5 dozen jars. I promptly went back and bought nearly a dozen. This stuff keeps for a year and is seasonal, so you can't blame a girl for stockpiling like the Unabomber.

Cookie butter is the consistency and color of smooth peanut butter. It spreads like it and can melt quickly if it's on something warm. I know this because I put a tablespoon of cookie butter on my English Muffin each morning and it can be messy eating this in my car on the way to work. Don't worry. I grab a napkin and don't let licking my fingers of cookie butter prevent me from merging with oncoming traffic.

It tastes like a cross between a sugar cookie and a gingerbread cookie. Lots of the spices that I love from the season (ginger--clearly--nutmeg, cinnamon, everything else needed to make pumpkin pie spice, etc). It can make a whole wheat English muffin taste like a sinful treat.

Bad picture of the nutrition label-
if you care about that stuff.

Good new is that it's only 90 calories per tablespoon and you can effectively use one tablespoon to cover an entire English muffin.

Bad news is that it doesn't have any of the protein or nutritious values that peanut or almond butter have. And Trader Joe's (if you have one) is probably sold out.

Because I am selfish and evil, I waited until I had secured my stash before blogging about it because frankly, I didn't want to tell the world of Cookie Butter's deliciousness without knowing I could have some for months on end. You're welcome.