Peanut....peanut butter (jelly)!

Do you remember that song from when you were young? My Jeffrey always loved it, and we used to sing it when I'd make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich -- to this day, STILL the only cold sandwich he will eat.

First you pick it, you pick it, you pick it pick it pick it then you crush it, you crush it...etc. Done with hip gyration and hand movement.

This is a post about peanut butter. I have an unnatural addiction to peanut butter, and I blame my mother for it.

I was raised in a house with serious food problems. My mother was bulimic, and she in turn passed that on to me. That meant one thing: When you bought a jar of peanut butter into my house, the whole jar was consumed on the spot.

We didn't make PB sandwiches. We didn't make PB cookies. We took a spoon and ate the whole jar.

When I got to be a mom, I got more comfortable with Peanut Butter and can actually keep it in my house.

But that doesn't mean my favorite way to eat it isn't still alone, with a spoon, in the dark.

Most people don't understand this. But I get what I want with no frills. No extra calories. No extra baggage. I would have never made it through the elimination portion of the GF process without PB and hummus this last summer. That is what I lived on.

I've gotten picky about my PB in the last couple years. I want lower sugar, fewer fats and sat fats, no trans fats, and now, gluten free. (Most are, but one has to be sure).

Today, I give you the peanut butter hall of fame: To make it, you must be 1) affordable 2) lower in fat than traditional Jif 3) not be oily and messy like other naturals, requiring stirring and stuff and 3) be certified Gluten Free on the Label.

1. Peanut Butter and Co. and its line of flavored, GF butters:



Shout out to Joy Peterson, the GF Detective, who found this at Wally World, and I found it yesterday and promptly ate WAY too much of it last night (with a spoon, in the dark).

THIS, my friends, is a Reese Cup in a Jar! AMAZING. I'll bet it would make great cookies....I've got a recipe I can't wait to try with it. I am sure the other five flavors are wonderful, too.

www.ilovepeanutbutter.com

2. Smart Balance Peanut Butter



two words: Mryuuuum MMryuuuuuum (that's me trying to say YUM YUM with PB in my mouf...and that's it pictured on the far left.

Nutty. Chunky. Spreadable. Tast-eeeeeeee! I love it.

www.smartbalance.com

3. Home ground. You know, the kind from the health food store. I'm sorry, but I love it. I don't have a picture of it. It doesn't look that good in a picture, you know?

4. Simply JIF

A distant third....but still good in a pinch.

OK, NOW I'm hungry...

Much love and pass me that spoon!

Ging