Grilled Peanut Butter Banana & Jelly Sandwich

Easy. Plant-based. Delicious. These are three words you are probably going to hear mentioned many times on this blog. Why? Because that’s what Shane & Simple is all about. The very first recipe I’m going to show you is just that and it’s amazing: A Grilled Peanut Butter Banana Jelly Sandwich!

Hey everybody! I’m Shane and this is my first official post as a wannabe food blogger. Why a food blog? Thanks for asking. Grab a chair, sit down and I’ll tell you.

After my transformation from fat ass to sexy beast in 2013 because of a plant-based diet, my friends and family kept asking, “What are you doing?” I shared the tragic news I had watched the film Forks Over Knives and would no longer be eating anything with a face. No meat, no dairy, and no processed foods. Although they were very happy for me, they, like many others, lived under the impression eating “heathy” or “plant-based” was difficult, tasteless, and reserved for the well healed elite.

So after years of talking, I thought I’d just show them. That’s why Shane & Simple.

The Grilled Peanut Butter Banana & Jelly Sandwich

OK, enough about me let’s talk about this amazing little creation.

First of all, I’m nostalgic. I love remembering the happiness of a former place, time, or situation. It’s therapeutic in some ways, therefore, when I cook I want others to feel what I feel. It may be a little naive to think this way, and it probably is, but it’s the simple things, like food, that jog memories and evoke feelings of the past.

I was ten years old the first time I had a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich and still remember it like it was yesterday. My mother called me to the table because she had a “surprise” for me. I watched as she stood in front of an old yellow gas stove, preparing what I thought was a grilled cheese. Yet, what she put on my plate was nothing short of amazing. My favorite, PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY! And it was GRILLED! Amazing! I have never forgotten that moment.

My mother passed away in 2000 and I still miss her just as much as I did when she left. And, though it may sound silly, I feel like my take on her sandwich is one of the many ways I still remember her, honor her, and share how much she meant to me with others.

I hope you see why I’m excited to share my own version of this sandwich with you. Yes, it’s because this recipe is easy, plant-based, and delicious. But, most of all and most importantly, it’s because the inspiration came from a mother’s selfless desire to love her children well, even in the little things…like peanut butter and jelly. I hope this not only feeds your stomach, but your soul as well. Nostalgia.

Peace + Feast,
shane

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