The Peanut Butter Sandwich: Reinvented

Who said that peanut butter sandwiches had to be 1) boring 2) just for kids and 3) the same every time? I’m a huge fan of PB&J, probably because I had it almost every day when I was a kid and eating it for lunch has some element of nostalgia for me. And even though I can be a creature of habit a lot of the time, the same three ingredients (which for me are: sprouted wheat bread, almond or peanut butter, and blueberry preserves), can get a tiny bit monotonous. Then I heard about this PB&J sandwich shop in Portland that makes the coolest PB&J sandwiches, and I was inspired to get creative with one of my childhood favorites. So here goes – the peanut butter sandwich: reinvented!

The Ingredients

These were the ingredients I used, but you can obviously experiment with your own. My list included: Sprouted wheat bread, walnuts, sliced bananas, cinnamon, a mix of almond and peanut butter, and honey.

The Directions

Step 1: Spread the peanut & almond butter mixture on both slices of bread, and top one half with sliced bananas

Step 2: Chop 3-4 walnuts, and add on top of the banana slices along with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey

Doesn’t that just make you want to take a big bite out of that sandwich? I couldn’t resist taking more than one picture of it.

Step 3: Top with the other slice of bread (that already has peanut/almond butter spread on it), and put into the panini press (or grill in a pan if you don’t have a panini press)

At this time, the nut butters, banana and honey are getting all melty and gooey…

Step 4: Once the top has browned and is slightly crispy, remove from panini press and let cool for 1-2 min.

I love the grill marks!

Step 5: Cut sandwich in half (I always like cutting on the diagonal because I think it looks more fun)

Eat and enjoy!

Lunch at The Crepe House!

This Saturday, we spent the day in SF before going to a holiday party hosted by one of our good friends in Lower Pac Heights 🙂 We started the day at REI – shopping for our upcoming trip to New Zealand!! After all the shopping, we were STARVING! So for a late lunch, we stopped by The Crepe House on Polk Street (recommended by my brother).

I have to say, the crepes we got totally hit the spot. A low key, cozy spot in Nob Hill – it almost looks like a coffee shop from the outside vs. an amazing crepe place! The owners and people who work there are super chill and nice – you just walk up and order, and they bring the food to your table. The menu is really cool…

I love how colorful and creative it is! And they have TONS of offerings and are willing to customize things to your liking too! We started off with two large hot teas

LOVE the ginormous coffee mugs! The two crepes we got were awesome. One was the Pesto crepe: filled with cheddar, tomatoes, avocado, pine nuts, feta, pesto and spinach!

You can’t see the filling in this picture but it was seriously the most flavorful filling / crepe I’ve EVER had! And of course, you can’t get crepes without getting one dessert crepe. So we got the Banana Nutella Crepe with Walnuts and Strawberries (with whipped creme on the side!)

It seriously doesn’t get better than that! Thanks to The Crepe House for an awesome lunch!! If you’re ever in SF – you should definitely check this place out. We’ll definitely be back again soon 🙂