My Peanut Butter

Ya'll, we go through some peanut butter. It basically goes on or in everything and pretty much every grocery store list has peanut butter. I love it. I take it for a quick pre-workout protein shot, for breakfast on some bananas, Colt loves it with honey on "sammiches", to dip apples in and my new favorite: strawberries and peanut butter... I really could go on and on. So when we really started to check to see what was in what we were eating, the peanut butter was the first to get a quick look-see. Now, according to Food Babe, almond butter is really better for your health (check the links). BUT we haven't made that switch yet, remember baby steps... Anyway, once I saw the ingredients, I knew it wasn't so good for us. SUGAR is the second ingredient. Why I didn't notice it before...? I blame denial. 

 

So a quick 101 on reading food labels.... If you didn't know, ingredients are listed in order of how much are contained in the package. This PB consists mostly of PEANUTS, then SUGAR, THEN OILS etc. While I have a basic knowledge of what to look for, I am, again, no expert, so to learn from an expert go HERE. This link give a quick video on what to look for in ingredients list. This is the "100 Days of Real Food" blogger gal! Great resource.

So we switched from the Peter Pan creamy to this:

Now, some of you reading this really think this isn't a big change and it's really a no-brainer. But for us...it was HUGE. We are peanut butter FREAKS or maybe we're not and it's only me... but seriously, this was a big shake up. My Dad tried it and promptly put it back. I switched it up on the Little Dude and he didn't skip a beat... shows just how kids adapt :). For me, it took some getting used to. Now, I can't get enough. I must remind you that although PB is a great source of protein, it is also pretty high in fat, so really guys, a little goes a long way. I stick with a tablespoon... I'm not kidding, I use a tablespoon to scoop out my portion and I try to stick to only one portion a day, and maybe a finger lick. 

So we've been eating organic natural peanut butter for about 6 months now and the other day I tried the old stuff (because remember my Dad won't eat the organic PB so he has his own jar and we live with my parents) and I couldn't even take a second bite. It. was. nasty. It didn't even taste like peanuts. I am not exaggerating. Just you wait. Make the switch and see. These changes aren't about being that "organic" family, it's about taking charge of our health and the health of our families, one step at a time. Cutting back on disease and sickness and living a full life as free from preventable diseases and disorders as possible. We can take charge of our health and funnily enough, much of it starts in what we consume. Such deep thoughts when we're just talking about peanut butter, eh? I swear though, peanut butter is some people's religion.

One last thing about organic peanut butter.... many people are turned off by the "stir factor". I found a trick on Pinterest (and all the men groan) that basically eliminates the awful stirring-get-peanut-butter-oil-all-over-yourself-and-the-counter process. Store the PB jar upside down. Now, you'll have to stir it when you first open it, but after that, upside down it goes and you'll never have to stir it again. GENIUS.