Virginia Peanuts Create More Than Peanut Butter

If one acre of peanuts will make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches, then Hope and Harmony Farms will produce approximately 11.7 million peanut butter sandwiches this fall. (Honestly, the thought is great because that would mean no more lunch preparation day in and day out! You can place peanut butter sandwiches in cold storage, right?)

Furthermore, peanuts contains many vitamins, minerals, nutrients, so that means each of those 11.7 million peanut butter sandwiches would contain:

Potassium          Fiber

Vitamin B6         Choline

Zinc                    Vitamin E

Calcium              Pantothenic Acid

Selenium            Riboflavin

Magnesium        Copper

Manganese        Niacin

Vitamin A            Phosphorus

Thiamin              Iron

Manganese        Folate

Those vitamins, minerals, and nutrients help to promote good health for our loved ones, and let’s face it: the majority of those individuals consuming peanut butter sandwiches are our children.

It’s important to note that our Virginia peanuts can create much more than sandwiches, and if your kids are like mine then they tire of eating the same meal over and over. Therefore, I thought it would be appropriate to provide two more recipes that I like to cook to help fuel my student athlete. Now that school is in full swing and volleyball season is all consuming, it’s always helpful to find new recipes that we all love!

Breakfast paired with yogurt of choice:

Peanut Granola

3 cups cooking oats

2 tablespoons warm water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped Hope & Harmony Farms unsalted peanuts

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/4 cup  peanut oil or vegetable oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. I like to use wax paper for easy clean up.

2. Combine oats, peanuts, and wheat germ.

3. Separately combine honey, brown sugar, peanut oil/vegetable oil, water, salt, and vanilla.

4. Stir well and then stir in the oat mixture. Spread out on a cookie sheet.

5. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

6. Remove from oven, and cool before serving.

Lunch: Dinner cooked the previous night or meal prep completed on Sunday

Asia Chicken

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 ¾ cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons soy sauce

½ teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons  peanut oil or vegetable oil

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into strips

2 cups broccoli florets

2 small red peppers

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup Hope and Harmony salted peanuts

4 cups Hot cooked regular long-grain white rice

Directions

1. Stir the cornstarch, stock, soy sauce, and ginger until the mixture is smooth.

2. Heat one tablespoon of  peanut oil or vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry until it is well browned, stirring often. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

3. Reduce the heat to medium. Heat the remaining vegetable oil in the skillet. Add the broccoli, peppers and garlic and stir-fry.

4. Stir the cornstarch mixture in the skillet. Cook and stir until the mixture boils and thickens.

5. Return the chicken to the skillet. Stir in Virginia peanuts and cook until the mixture is simmering. Serve over the rice.

Happy Eating!