Unbreaded

I <3 PBJ. I've been eating it almost every day for the past few weeks. Not sure why. Just give me some crunchy organic peanut butter (Trader Joe's ain't bad), virtually any jelly, jam, preserves, a banana, basically anything sweet, and some whole wheat bread, and I'm happy regardless of the ratios.

I <3 PBJ. I've been eating it almost every day for the past few weeks. Not sure why. Just give me some crunchy organic peanut butter (Trader Joe's ain't bad), virtually any jelly, jam, preserves, a banana, basically anything sweet, and some whole wheat bread, and I'm happy regardless of the ratios.

I grew up eating Skippy SuperChunk & grape jelly on toasted rye (dad's preferred sandwich). On my own, I switched to strawberry or raspberry preserves. In the most recent years, my version is TJ's Valencia peanut butter (chunky), some sort of berry preserves, and whatever bread (usually wheat, multigrain, or rye) is on hand. Ratio was pretty equal, careful never to overload the sandwich lest the filling glop out when biting the hot, crispy toast.

Fun variations: peanut butter/banana/honey (sometimes granola added for extra crunch). A favorite cafe used to serve an open face pbj with creamy peanut butter topped with roasted peanuts on one side, and strawberry jam topped with sliced fresh strawberries on the other. So good!

Mmm…need milk.

I grew up eating Skippy SuperChunk & grape jelly on toasted rye (dad's preferred sandwich). On my own, I switched to strawberry or raspberry preserves. In the most recent years, my version is TJ's Valencia peanut butter (chunky), some sort of berry preserves, and whatever bread (usually wheat, multigrain, or rye) is on hand. Ratio was pretty equal, careful never to overload the sandwich lest the filling glop out when biting the hot, crispy toast.

Fun variations: peanut butter/banana/honey (sometimes granola added for extra crunch). A favorite cafe used to serve an open face pbj with creamy peanut butter topped with roasted peanuts on one side, and strawberry jam topped with sliced fresh strawberries on the other. So good!

Mmm…need milk.

I eat peanut butter sandwiches at least 3 days a week; often 5 days a week. Here are some thoughts on peanut butter:

Plain peanut butter sandwiches are excellent toasted in the toaster oven if you use a heartier, whole grain bread.

Most grocery store peanut butter claims “0g trans fat” but are still made with Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, which is a source of trans fat. They can get away with it because the FDA allows serving sizes that contain less than 0.5g trans fat to list as zero. So if you eat peanut butter at all regularly, it is well worth it to get a variety that uses palm oil or some other natural oil. Peanut butters with no added oil are ok, but the oil separates making them hard to use and are less creamy.

Low fat peanut butter is a scam and it almost certainly less healthy than real peanut butter. Look at the nutrition information; you are saving maybe 2g of fat with this variety per serving by substituting highly processed fillers for the healthy oils that occur in peanuts (the ones that help prevent heart disease). The calorie and fat content difference is negligible, and of course it doesn't taste as good. Why do people eat this crap?

Don't even get me started on most jellies that are 90% high fructose corn syrup.

Sometimes I like to change things up with Sunflower Seed Butter from Trader Joe's. It's naturally sweet and has a great flavor.

Another excellent twist is combing tahini (sesame paste) with peanut butters. It's a little messier, but it's delicious.

All that aside, PB and PB&J are great, cheap, simple sandwiches.

I eat peanut butter sandwiches at least 3 days a week; often 5 days a week. Here are some thoughts on peanut butter:

Plain peanut butter sandwiches are excellent toasted in the toaster oven if you use a heartier, whole grain bread.

Most grocery store peanut butter claims “0g trans fat” but are still made with Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, which is a source of trans fat. They can get away with it because the FDA allows serving sizes that contain less than 0.5g trans fat to list as zero. So if you eat peanut butter at all regularly, it is well worth it to get a variety that uses palm oil or some other natural oil. Peanut butters with no added oil are ok, but the oil separates making them hard to use and are less creamy.

Low fat peanut butter is a scam and it almost certainly less healthy than real peanut butter. Look at the nutrition information; you are saving maybe 2g of fat with this variety per serving by substituting highly processed fillers for the healthy oils that occur in peanuts (the ones that help prevent heart disease). The calorie and fat content difference is negligible, and of course it doesn't taste as good. Why do people eat this crap?

Don't even get me started on most jellies that are 90% high fructose corn syrup.

Sometimes I like to change things up with Sunflower Seed Butter from Trader Joe's. It's naturally sweet and has a great flavor.

Another excellent twist is combing tahini (sesame paste) with peanut butters. It's a little messier, but it's delicious.

All that aside, PB and PB&J are great, cheap, simple sandwiches.