Look at this!!! I have about 2 minutes to type. And this is the small gem of information I want to share.
More than 7 years ago, when I first asked Traci what I could do to better my diet, this was the first tip she gave. I had 4 small children and I was expecting twins. She knew peanut butter was a main staple at our house. So the first suggestion she made was to switch out hydrogenated peanut butter for something more natural. Hydrogenated oils are very difficult for the body to process. I’m not a scientist. I don’t intend to be one. You can google it if you feel so inclined. I trusted Traci and took her word for it and have since learned more about it (takes more than 2 minutes to explain so doing so exceeds my time limit!) I now agree and even understand a little bit of why. The basic idea that I came to understand is that hydrogenated oils are altered. They are no longer considered “food” in my book; not intended by nature for our bodies. Some of you know what I mean. If you don’t believe me, go research it.
The hydrogenated oil is used in the peanut butter to keep it consistent and to keep the oils from naturally separating, as you will find occurring in a natural peanut butter. It is a bit of a mess to stir up the peanut butter. I like to store mine upside down. I tried using my cheap beaters to beat it up using a dough hook. Didn’t work… at least, not with the cheap beaters. I no longer own a hand mixer. So I use a long knife or meat fork and go to town on it.
Lately I’ve been buying my peanut butter freshly ground from the health food store. It is a treat! I don’t have to stir anything. We use it up so fast that it doesn’t have time to separate in the pantry. But if you don’t use as much as we do you will want to keep yours in the fridge.
With all this peanut butter we consume I discovered a nifty way to use it. In celery, yes, of course… that is not anything new. But look at this great way I discovered to make preparing it sooooo much easier! I don’t know if this is common knowledge but I just picked up on it last year and have wanted to share it with you ever since! It’s so easy!
Fill up a zip lock bag with the peanut butter, cut off a corner, and fill the celery boat. Throw the mess away. Be sure to top your raw celery boat with some “healthy” chocolate chips. Must use the chocolate chips… we did a taste test and they won out hands down. Plus, they look way more fun to eat! Great snack. Yum. I used to HATE celery! It has become an acquired taste. My kids quite enjoy celery and love when we make this as a treat. I can’t complain there!
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Have a great day!
~Linda =)
