Our Nutty Runner friend over at A Runners Fuel: Cooking in a Runner’s House talked about how important it is to her to be able to KNOW what each ingredient is that she puts into her body – and to actually be able to pronounce the words!  That’s one of the reasons why she loves all-natural Krema PB, because its made from just one thing : PEANUTS!!!

She suggested this open-faced Sammy of the Week made from toasted flax bread, creamy Krema PB, banana slices and rolled oats sprinkled on top as a healthy breakfast that will keep your tummy happy and full

Lisa is the Snack Girl who loves healthy snacks and of course loves Krema PB too!  She recently blogged about Jif PB and how they are trying to “compete with the Kremas of the world” by coming out with a ‘natural’ Jif PB.  She cautions her readers to beware of tricky advertising – just because a label may claim “Natural” does not mean that they don’t have added ingredients.  So, what should choosy moms do according to Snack Girl and Yours Truly??  Choose KREMA!!!  (even though I may be a little biased )

♥ Kimberly

To make Monkey Sundaes at home; put a scoop of vanilla ice cream in your bowl, drizzle warmed-up, all-natural Krema creamy PB over the top, then add any fun toppings you like!  These kids used honey-roasted peanuts, broken pretzel pieces, bananas, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate syrup, candies and whipped cream!  Look at these silly “monkeys” !!!  I told you my family was full of nuts!

♥ Kimberly

Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America and the Netherlands. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, especially in the iconic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The United States and China are leading exporters of peanut butter.  Peanuts are native to the tropics of the Americas, and were mashed to become a pasty substance by the Aztec Native Americans hundreds of years ago.

Ummm…ew?  Does any one else see a problem here?  Peanuts are NATIVE to our region but somehow CHINA is one of the leading exporters of PB??  Does that mean that China buys peanuts from us, makes PB, and then sells that PB back to us?  Isn’t that a little backwards?  I mean, do YOU buy PB made in China?

If you just answered yes, then I will temporarily forgive you.  But only if you promise to change.  Don’t worry, because I have a solution to this backwards problem – buy Krema or Crazy Richard’s PB! Our high-quality Peanuts are grown in Georgia and ground into all-natural PB here in AMERICA!  Yay!  Let’s continue…

Although some peanut butter marketed as “natural” contains only peanuts and salt, most consumer-brand peanut butter today, even if labeled “natural”, contains other ingredients. These include hydrogenated vegetable oil to stabilize it and prevent oil separation, salt to prevent spoilage, and dextrose or other sweeteners to enhance flavor. Sometimes palm oil is used instead of hydrogenated oils to prevent oil separation.

My favorite line: “even if labeled ‘natural’ (most PB) contains other ingredients!“  I think its widely accepted that ‘most consumer-brand’ PBs contain loads of additives and junk in addition to peanuts, but Wikipedia is claiming that even ‘most natural’ PBs contain additional junk too!!  HA!!!  Once again, my solution to this yucky problem remains the same – buy Krema or Crazy Richard’s PB! Our all-natural PB is a single ingredient product.  That’s right – we only use ONE ingredient!  Peanuts of course!  Who needs anything else?  Peanuts are Perfect without the added junk, oils or preservatives.  We want you to enjoy the natural flavor of peanuts in our PB, we don’t try to mask the flavor with salt or sugar.

If you look up my definition of PB on blog.kremaproducts.com, you’ll find this…

Peanut Butter is…well…Krema.  Just try it.  You’ll know what I mean.  (or Crazy Richard’s )

♥ Kimberly

Hi Kimmie- Hope I got this right, but this granola is to die for.  I broke my diet for it!!

Here are some pictures of my before and after of the granola and the recipe.

Addictive PB Granola

(found on the blog lifeloveandfood24.blogspot.com)

2 1/2 c oats

1/2 c flour (I used whole wheat)

1/2 t Baking Soda

1 tsp Vanilla

1/3 c oil

1/3 c Krema Crunchy PB

1/4 c Brown Sugar

Add in’s – PB chips, chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, whatever!!

Mix the oats, flour, baking soda in a large bowl.  Stir in vanilla, then add oil stir well.

Then add the PB, brown sugar and the add in’s.

Spoon into a square pan, Bake for 18-20 min at 350 or until light brown.

Cool 10 min before devouring!!

Enjoy!

Good find Auntie Nanette!

This granola looked so yummy that I made it for breakfast the morning after I got Nanette’s email!  My family ate the ENTIRE pan!  It was so delicious and satisfying, and I felt full almost all day   Until the next morning when I woke up and was CRAVING this granola, so then I made myself a double batch and I CAN NOT STOP eating it!! Morning, Noon, and Night!

The add-in’s I’ve tried so far have been a handful of white chocolate and a handful of dark chocolate pieces, coconut and unsalted peanuts.  And of course a little flax to make it a bit nuttier!   I also DOUBLED the amount of Krema PB this recipe calls for and I tried it with both the creamy and crunchy PB.  Both rocked. 

Here are my cutie pies eating up their Addictive PB Granola breakfast!  Oh, but honestly, this photo is a little skewed because they RARELY have their hair fixed and are dressed for the day at breakfast.  This was just a fluke   But fantabulous granola none-the-less!!

Another simple sammy this week – just slice up your Sweet Gherkin pickles either lengthwise (like above) or horizontally (like below) and layer them onto your all-natural chunky or creamy Krema PB!  This top photo was taken from ABC’s website when this PB & Sweet Pickle Sammy was featured on Good Morning America.  Except they used white bread (gasp!) and store brand PB (double gasp!)  I of course only recommend Krema PB and a natural, high fructose corn syrup-free whole wheat bread!

But, to each his own I guess

Oh yes, and I just loved this photo…Its a Happy PB & Jelly & Pickle Sammy!!  How cool is this??

Have a great Wednesday!

♥ Kimberly

Ingredients :
1 ripe organic banana
1/2 cup all-natural Krema Crunchy PB
1 T. organic raw honey
1/3 c. organic low-fat yogurt
1/4 c. almond or soy milk
1 T. wheat germ

I put all of these healthy ingredient together first, and then whipped up this tasty treat in my Magic Bullet (thanks mom!) in less than 2 minutes!  Wow!  The crunchy peanut chunks from the PB were almost completely smoothed out in the process so don’t worry that you’ll be drinking your shake and start choking on a peanut! Not quite large enough for a full meal replacement – but just the right size to fix that PB craving!  I think I added extra PB so my shake was thick enough to spoon it into my mouth….ahhh….a good shot of PB & banana works wonders!  I think I’ve become slightly addicted to the delicious combination

To make a Flatbread Flaxseed Sammy, use these Sandwich Thins or a copy-cat version like Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats.  Put a few spoonfuls of 100% all-natural Krema Crunchy PB in a small bowl and add about a Tablespoon of 100% natural, ground flaxseed (sold in most grocery stores).

Mix the PB and flaxseed together and spread the combo onto an inside layer of the Sandwich Thins.  Layer the other side with some raw honey or a natural fruit spread and stick them together.

Enjoy the grainy, nutty-ness of the peanuts, flaxseed and cracked wheat in this delicious Sammy of the Week!

♥ Kimberly

After getting our yogurts we were standing at the cash register when I saw a jar of PB – POWDERED! Now maybe I am just ignorant and ya’ll already knew this stuff existed but there was a huge display and tons of “NEW” signs all over the powdered PB jars.

I of course was completely intrigued and began reading all of the pamphlets about this “natural” PB with half the fat and calories.  The label claimed that they make this PB powder by using just peanuts and pressing them until 85% of the fat calories (i.e. natural oils) come out and they are left with a dry, PB powder.  Fascinating.

How do you eat this stuff you wonder?  Well, you combine the powder with water and stir it up until you get a reduced-calorie PB you can spread on your sandwich!  Sounds just delicious doesn’t it?

Then I read the ingredient list (which I assumed would be ONLY peanuts) and I was shocked to see that after the first ingredient – peanuts – there were two more ingreients – sugar and salt!  And this Atkins-friendly store was selling each jar for $6.95!

Hmmm…so lets get this straight – you can take a spoonful of our great tasting, smooth and creamy or nutty and chunky Krema All-Natural PB (with NO SUGAR AND NO SALT) and spread it onto your bread for your PB and J Sammy, or you can mix a PB powder (that has added sugar and added salt but without the flavorful, healthy oils that come from natural peanuts) with some water and slap that onto your Sammy?

Uh, I think I’ll stick with my tried and true PB of choice – Krema.

Ah, doesn’t it feel good to just say no sometimes?

♥ Kimberly

If you’re like me than you care about reusing and recycling products.  I feel like I recycle everything!  But sometimes its a little more difficult than I’d like it to be.  Like those PB jars!  We used to use only glass jars which were beautiful, old-fashioned, easy to clean and just the right size for reusing.  But we had to make the switch to plastic – but the new plastic PB jars can be cleaned, reused or recycled also.  Our all-natural PB can be very sticky and pesky to remove (even though I scrape as much PB out with my knife as I possibly can ), so here’s my tip…

After you’ve gotten out as much yummy PB as you can, fill your jar completely with some warm, barely soapy water and let it sit for a few days.  I put mine on my windowsill above my kitchen sink but you could hide your water-filled PB jar in a cupboard or behind a kitchen appliance.  Every other day I give it a shake and flip the jar over on its lid (and then back over again then next day) to make sure the water dissolves every PB particle.  Then when recycling day rolls around – I pour out the water and voila!  A nicely clean recyclable plastic jar I can be proud of!  Or I could just keep the clean jar to use around my house, such as on my husband’s messy tool bench.

♥ Kimberly

p.s.  I almost posted a photo of my current PB jar on my windowsill awaiting the recycling truck but I didn’t want anyone to see only the photo and think our Krema PB looks like skim milk with chunks of peanuts!  haha.

1 cup whole wheat flour (I often use King Arthur Organic Whole Wheat)
1 T brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 c flax seed
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt (optional)
1 beaten egg
1 c low-fat milk (or buttermilk for extra flavor)
2 T peanut oil
2 c blueberries (I love Cascadian Organic frozen blueberries)

combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl, plus optional salt.  beat egg (important step for fluffy pancakes ) stir in milk and peanut oil.  add egg mixture to dry ingredients.

i use a measuring cup to pour batter onto slightly greased, hot griddle or pan.  follow immedieately with tons of blueberries!  cover with a lid to help cook evenly.  TIP : of course you can use fresh blueberries (yum!) but if they are frozen, just rinse them in warm water in a colander to de-thaw a bit first.
cook pancake about 3 minutes on the first side and slightly less once you turn it over.  keep the lid on the whole time.  remember, whole wheat pancakes take a little longer to cook through to the center and might be a little brown-looking on the outside.  that means its just perfect!
***don’t forget the MOST IMPORTANT STEP in any pancake making – the TOP LAYER!*** i used Krema Crunchy this morning…generously of course!  after loading on the PB, pour some warmed up, 100% pure maple syrup over the top and wash it all down with some organic milk…pbbp = pure bliss!

oh yeah, and you can always substitute blueberries for chocolate chips – which is my little peanut’s favorite fun treat

♥ Kimberly