DIY Peanut Butter (1st Guest Post by Kylie Wolf, a.k.a. Zippaloo)

A staple in many families, perfectly paired with jelly, honey, or chocolate is the one and only PEANUT BUTTER.

Peanut butter is and has been a pivotal ingredient in my life.  Here are some classic ways to enjoy peanut butter:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (PB&J) - I personally don’t like jelly but the majority of this country does, I just eat it plain, though some of my relatives and my siblings would eat a peanut butter and butter sandwich coined the “butter butter” sandwich.

All the Reeses products – Growing up, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups would get shipped in from the US to the Commissary in Dhahran. My friends and I would beg our parents to buy many more than we needed because we didn’t know the next time they would be available. Sometimes they would be out of stock for months!

Peanut Butter Cookies -  I enjoy these the most right out of the oven, and with a Hershey’s kiss in the center.  YUM!

The list can go on and on and on… with snacks and even more gourmet options like restaurants using peanut sauces on entrees (grilled chicken skewers with a thai peanut sauce is one of my favorites).

But growing up in Dhahran I loved Peter Pan creamy peanut butter (with the yellow cap) it was super smooth, sweet, and would get stuck to the roof of my mouth.

Which is all great except for the ingredients!

Peter Pan Creamy Peanut Butter’s INGREDIENTS:

Roasted Peanuts, Sugar, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (Cottonseed and Rapeseed), Salt, Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil.

YIKES!

I care a lot about the food that I put into my body.  I changed my ways and now (thanks to being educated about food) I only buy and eat all natural, organic peanut butter.

Making sure the only ingredient is: Dry Roasted Peanuts.

Over the holidays in Dhahran there was no all-natural peanut butter at the store, so I convinced my dad to do something I had wanted to do for a while:  make my own peanut butter.

If true peanut butter is just ground up peanuts it had to be simple enough and with looking on the Internet and in the Cuisinart cookbook, it was true!

Recipe for Peanut Butter:

Ingredients:

• dry roasted peanuts

(we used raw white peanuts, but I would now recommend buying dry roasted peanuts)

Directions:

• Place peanuts in food processor.
• Process the peanuts for 3-5 mins. Enjoy watching the peanuts turn to powder then form a dough-like ball and roll around the processor. (Dad and I were so amazed I forgot to take pictures!)
• Let the paste sit for about 3 mins for the oils to separate from the peanuts. (You should see the oil bead).
• Process again for as long as you want. The more you process the creamier your peanut butter will be.

With all the excitement and the intensity of the peanut butter (it had a pure peanuts punch!) we skyped Sam to include her on the fun.

The three of us had lots of laughs, oohs and ahhs, and bounced around ideas:

• To decrease the intensity, add honey to the recipe or drizzle honey on the saltines with the PB.

• Try it with ice cream -
  • Vanilla Ice Cream, homemade PB, Hershey’s chocolate sauce.

• Try it with banana slices -
  • Here is an elaborate but delicious snack. Banana sliced, topped with a little PB, sprinkle with cinnamon and coconut flakes.

• Bake it into brownies.

• Try it with oatmeal.
  • I eat oatmeal almost ever day of the week.
    • Cook ½ cup rolled oats with ¾ cup water and a dash of salt in the microwave for 3 mins.
    • Add PB, raisins, generous amounts of cinnamon, and a splash of soy milk.

Health Facts about Peanut butter:

PB should NOT include sugar, HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), salt, or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.

Good, healthy, pure peanut butter is JUST ground up dry roasted peanuts.  No need for extra oil, or extra anything.  Make sure you check the ingredients because even Peanut Butter’s that claim to be “Natural” are still made with some of these intruders.

Sugar and HFCS get put in because the US loves sugar and it enhances the flavor. HFCS is incredibly cheap to produce (it’s made from Corn) and is found in thousands of products. It is really just another form of sugar.  Unfortunately adding these ingredients increases your sugar intake, your calorie intake, and your insulin levels.
Hydrogenated vegetable oils are added to stabilize the peanut butter, make it easier to spread, and to prevent oil separation.  I don’t think any of those things is worth the risks that Trans Fats (trans fatty acids) can cause: atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, or a stroke.
Salt is added to prevent spoilage.

Benefits:

Peanut butter does contain mostly fats, but these fats are monounsatuarated fats and they help protect against the risk of cardiovascular disease and lower levels of LDL (“bad” cholesterol).

Peanut butter (and peanuts) also provide proteins, vitamin B3, folate, vitamin E, magnesium, and fiber.

If you have a peanut allergy:

First, I’m sorry, I have a serious love for peanut butter and can’t imagine a life without it.

Second, please be very be very careful – a reaction to peanut allergy is anaphylactic shock and many factories use the same machinery for peanuts as other things, check labels. Better to be safe than sorry.

I hope this post will make all you readers more excited and aware of America’s simple and classic snack, peanut butter. And be sure to check the ingredients of the peanut butters you now purchase!

If you have a food processor I recommend that you buy 1/4 kilogram of peanuts and try this recipe out!

Its easy and delicious.

Kylie (a.k.a. Zippaloo)

*** Check out Kylie’s new blog here! ***

Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: Best Shop

Jim’s mom Susy is not a shop, but she’s been been ever so helpful in collecting and delivering goods to us that we cannot find down here in Costa Rica. She has been my Fairy Mother-in-law of Goodies!

Pictured: Soy Milk Powder (x2), Potato Starch (x2), Arrowroot, Goji Berries (x2), Quinoa, Brown Rice Flour (x2), Raw Cashews (x2), Garbanzo and Fava Flour (x2), Spelt Flour, Coconut Oil, Medjool Dates (x2), Raw Pistacios, Raw Walnuts, Vegan Chocolate Covered Caocao Nibs (x2), Turbinado, Tumeric, Nutmeg, Alspice, Garam Masala.

Pictured: Coconut Flour and Xanthan Gum (they were hiding in Susy’s suitcase a little longer than the rest)

Magic Jack allows us to have a US number of our choosing. All we need is an internet connection. We have a Colorado number and we’re thrilled to have it so that family or friends can call us from their cell phones when they aren’t close to their computers to Skype.

I love Dwell. It’s where architecture meets modern art and innovative ideas for earth friendly building/living. This is the first/only magazine that I’ve ever read cover to cover. The images are incredible too. Dwell continues to inform the running list of ideas for the house I will some day design/build. (The others magazines, I really should have sent to my sisters until my subscription ends.)

Jim used to love walking to our mailbox everyday during his lunch break to get our mail. He eagerly opened all the mail his mom brought along with her for him.

Pictured: Green Curry Paste, Molasses (x2), Sesame Oil, Turbinado, Agave, Coriander, Ginger, Cardamom, Raw Pine Nuts (x2), Raw Almonds, Sesame Seeds, Measuring Spoons.

Note: The first round of goodies brought to us by Susy also included many items that my wonderful Momma found in Huntsville, Alabama and sent to Susy in Connecticut. The second round of goodies delivered by Big Jim but were collected mostly by Susy (although a few were collected by Big Jim). In about a week Susy and Jim’s older sister Meg will be bringing a whole new batch of fun things. I feel like I’ve already has Christmas a few times! Thank you to all my food angels/elves!

Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: Best New Food

Lychees are a very odd looking yet very sweet fruit! They sell them on the side of the road here in Costa Rica. Jim and I weren’t so sure about them until our friend Pax showed us how to eat one. We bought a sack full at the Farmer’s Market and keep them in the fridge, as they’re even more refreshing when cold.

To eat one all you have to do is hold it between your fingers with the nub (that attached it to the plant) away from you, bite the outer shell off (I know you have to put that funny looking thing in your mouth, but it’s not bad), spit it out, suck out the round white fruit, while squeezing the outer part to pop it out, and enjoy (not eating the almond shaped pit), disposing of the other prickly half and pit when finished.

They are so yummy and have been an excellent after meal treat for us!

(This post entitled “Lychees” was originally published on October 5, 2009.)

Ceviche

Now if you’re not into eating Fish, stop reading and find another post. I am still eating fish and was recently introduced to a yummy dish called ceviche. You can order it from the fish market with just fish, sprimp, mixed, or full (which is the mix plus some octopus, and other ocean dwelling creatures). We’ve had the mixed ceviche. So it’s not just fish. If it were I probably wouldn’t be into it. What makes ceviche is the lime juice, cilantro, and onion they put on it. People get it to go here and eat it with a little chili sauce and saltine crackers. It has inspired me to make more lime inspired dishes. We’ll see what I come up with!