My favorite part of swim practice was the ride home. My carpool would split an entire bag of peanut butter cups. Nothing like fast acting sugars for post workout nutrition, right? Riiiggghhhttt!

Anywho, this weekend I was craving peanut butter cups so I popped into my station wagon kitchen to see what I could create. Since I  banned peanut butter from my house after too much spooning, I had to do a little improv. Speaking of improv…

Why did the vegetarians stop swimming?
They didn’t like meets!

I’ll be here all week.

Ok, back to the kitchen…

I tossed a handful of almonds into my Magic Bullet blender with a tablespoon or two of water to create instant homemade almond butter and then smothered it between a piece of extremely dark chocolate.

Needless to say my grown up almond butter cup turned out swimmingly!

Now I really must go brush up on my stand up and dive into another pool of chocolate.

I haven’t done my research to uncover the origins of this very special day, but I suspect a very clever marketer was behind the scenes of this joyous celebration.

By the way, I plan on launching a National Fitness & Spice Day this year. We’ll all have a day off from work or school, there will be sales galore, and probably a parade. Don’t even get me started about the number of Hallmark cards that will be sold in honor of Fitness & Spice Day. More on that later, I don’t want to take away from (cue the confetti) National Almond Day.

Registered dietitian and James-Beard award-winning healthy recipe developer Cheryl Forberg recommends almonds for more than just a satisfying snack. She says,

“Not only are they linked to heart health, but they’re a perfect complement to chocolate and berries.”

Who am I to argue with an award-winning RD? In case you plan on whooping it up in celebration of National Almond Day you might want to add this recipe from Clean Eating Magazine to your dessert tray…

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted almond butter, stirred well
• 3/4 cup Sucanat (I didn’t have any of whatever that is so I used NuNaturals Stevia Baking Blend instead)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 3 oz dark chocolate (70% or greater) broken into small pieces

Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir together first 5 ingredients until blended. Stir in chocolate. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

I’m not going to lie, these cookies are fabulous and fabulously-simple! And for all of you that are dairy-free, gluten-free, and/or guilt-free, you’re welcome!

Now I really must go make the guest list for the party tomorrow…I’m inviting a bunch of nuts!