Today is National Peanut Butter Day! Peanut butter is my favorite food. I love it in any form. Heck, I've been known to eat it out of the jar with a spoon. Wash that down with Dr. Pepper and I'm a happy girl. Unfortunately, that's a lot of calories and fat grams, so I no longer do that. At least, not often. Anyway, in honor of National Peanut Butter Day, I'm posting my favorite dessert recipe ever. I've made this many times, and everyone begs for more.

PEANUT BUTTER PIE

2 Graham Cracker pie crusts

8-oz. cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 c creamy peanut butter

1/2 c milk

1 large container Cool Whip

1 c sugar

Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add milk and peanut butter, mixing slowly. Blend in Cool Whip Divide into 2 crusts. Freeze overnight. Keep frozen until right before serving.

Yummy, huh? Happy National Peanut Butter Day!

Here at The Self-Taught Cook, it's Low Carb Thursday. I've set aside one day a week to post a low carb recipe for those who, for one reason or another, are trying to cut carbs. The rest of the week is, well, whatever we're eating that week for the most part. But at least we have one healthy day each week.

HONEY-MUSTARD PORK CHOPS

from "The Weight Watchers Complete Cookbook & Program Basics, 1994

Serves 4

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp honey

1/4 c Dijon mustard

1 tsp cider vinegar

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

4 pork chops, with bone

In small saucepan heat honey over low heat until it liquefies. Add mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper; stir until blended completely and cool to room temperature. Place pork chops in a gallon-size zip-lock bag. Pour marinade over chops. Seal bag, turn bag to coat chops. Refrigerate for at least one hour, to a minimum of overnight, turning bag occasionally. Preheat broiler. Remove chops from refrigerator 30 minutes before broiling. Drain and discard marinade. Broil on rack, close to heat source, until done, about 6-7 minutes per side.

CALORIES:                   218
PROTEIN:                       24 G
FAT:                                     9 G
CARBOHYDRATES: 8 G
SODIUM:                     505 MG
CHOLESTEROL:        67 MG
FIBER:                                 0 G

Healthy, low-carb, and they taste good! Yay! And did I mention how easy to make?!?

Until next time, Happy Cooking! : )

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BOOK REVIEW

Babylon’s Falling : The Story of Belteshazzar, also known as Daniel

By William G. Collins

Babylon's Falling is a fictionalized account of the prophet Daniel's life in Babylon during Nebuchadnezzer's rule. The story begins as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are being led into captivity, along with thousands of their fellow Judeans, by the Chaldean army. The storyline continues as Daniel and his three friends find favor first with their captors and then King Nebuchadnezzer himself. The life of Daniel is explored from this point until his death many years later.

While I prefer to give positive reviews, this is one instance where it is not entirely possible. Christian fiction has had a bad reputation in the past for poorly structured plots, sappy, unbelievable dialogue, and, dare I say it? a tendency to heavy-handed preaching disguised as fictional novels. While Mr. Collins avoided the preaching for the most part, somehow the dialogue often came off as too modern in its phrasing or flippant in the author's attempt to show Daniel with a sense of humor. While we are aware the Biblical characters were indeed human and shared the same emotions and day-to-day experiences that we have, somehow it seemed that Daniel tended to make jokes at the oddest moments. And the author's completely unnecessary attempt to describe Daniel's wedding night was just awkward and painful. Also, I found myself distracted by his frequent use of exclamation marks! They are fine in their place, but just because a chapter or a paragraph has come to an end is not a reason to throw in extraneous punctuation.

In short, I was disappointed. Perhaps I expected too much of what is, of course, a fictionalized account of people who lived thousands of years ago. We cannot possibly know what their daily lives were like in detail, nor we can imagine their personal conversations. It is not a horrible novel, it just did not live up to my expectations.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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