Peanut Butter Whipped Cream

Are you a lover of peanut butter? 

Adam is in love with peanut butter.

One pro about their relationship is that I can see how loyal and dedicated he is.

Tragically, peanut butter is expensive in China. 

I'm always looking for recipes that incorporate peanut butter. If we're going to spend money on the goo, we might as well make it worthwhile! There are lots of delicious recipes out there that specialize in enhancing one of food's greatest (according to Adam) innovations of all time. Although I'm not a committed fan of peanut butter, I must admit that this one of my favorite peanut butter recipes. We like to use peanut butter whipped cream in parfaits, but I can imagine that it would make a delicious topping to any kind of chocolate dessert or fruit ensemble. It's sinful. I LICK THE BOWL CLEAN. 

Strawberries, bananas, chocolate mousse, and PEANUT BUTTER WHIPPED CREAM! 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 C. heavy cream 

2 Tbsp sugar 

1/4 C. smooth peanut butter 

Directions

• Whip 1 cup of cream with 2 Tbsp of sugar until soft peaks form. Set aside. 
• In a separate bowl, warm up the peanut butter in the microwave for 10-20 seconds. Mix the remaining 1/2 cup of un-whipped cream with the peanut butter and whisk until smooth. 
• Here comes the good part: mix the peanut butter mixture and whipped cream together until combined. Refrigerate until serving. 

Ta-da! 

Really, at this point, it's incredibly hard not to eat all the peanut butter whipped cream. But if you can resist temptation, you can assemble some scrumptious parfaits. It is important to not make this while Adam is standing in the kitchen, or else the parfaits will never come into existence.

Here are some ingredients we've used:

• Oreo cookies 
• Peanut butter cookies 
• Mini chocolate chips or peanut butter chocolate chips 
• Vanilla, chocolate, or banana pudding 
• Chocolate mousse 
• Sliced bananas or strawberries

Once you've assembled your parfaits, refrigerate until serving. Try it out and tell me what you think. It's a great no-bake dessert for summer time bliss. What's your favorite no-bake dessert? 

Don't forget to lick the bowl. 

~julie 

Obligatory Food Pictures

For the first, I bought an avocado in Shenyang. I love avocados a lot--and usually make ordering decisions at restaurants based on whether or not it includes avocado. I had only ever seen avocados being sold at an expensive Japanese import store, for almost $15 per avocado. That obviously was never going to happen, but I would often consider splurging. The other day, I saw avocados at a new import store for only $2 an avocado. Granted, this is still expensive, but I was much more willing to splurge within this price range. I bought two. Willow tried some out and loved it. I made grilled cheese with tomatoes, avocado, and fresh cheddar. Yum.

It may seem a little silly to post a picture of my avocado. It may seem frivolous to post TWO pictures. But, I nearly cried when I cut into this avocado and saw the green inside. I was so happy, I yelled out, "It's beautiful!" And then I had to take a picture or two.

Yesterday, Adam surprised me by a sudden desire to be domestic. He vacuumed our rugs and made sweet potato casserole. I'm not sure what got into him, but I was enjoying the results.


This picture doesn't really do it justice, but this chicken and broccoli casserole is one of our favorite meals. It's sinfully delicious.


As are these parfaits. Layer chocolate or vanilla pudding with this homemade peanut butter whipped cream. Add chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, oreo cookies, banana slices---yum.

~julie