Category Archives: Peanuts

Powdered Peanut Butter?

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My husband took me on a date the other night which usually lands us in Cold Stone Creamery eating way too much fattening ice cream and leaving us feeling stuffed and sick for the remainder of the evening which pretty much ends our date on a sour note.  So on Saturday night I thought we’d try a new local frozen yogurt place a couple blocks away.  The store was full of sugar-free, carb-free foods from breads and frozen dinners to candies, chips and wine.  It is a self-proclaimed “Atkins Diet Favorite Mini-Market”.

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

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Recycle Much?

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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.

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PBBP (aka Peanut Butter Blueberry Pancakes)

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One of my most favorite ways to wake up in the morning is to whip up a batch full of these incredible pancakes!!  Whoever decided that pancakes were a breakfast food…THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

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.

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i use a measuring cup to pour batter onto slightly greased, hot griddle or pan.  follow immedieately with tons of blueberries!  IMG_9837cover with a lid to help cook evenly.  pbbpTIP : 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.pbbp
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!pbbp
***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!pbbp

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

♥ Kimberly

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What do chipmunks love?

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…PEANUTS!

But everybody knows that ;-)   Since this is my blog, I just thought I’d share this recent pic of my little peanuts at Disney World with their new favorite peanut-loving friends – Chip ‘n Dale.  So I guess I should’ve asked “WHO do chipmunks love??  – My little peanuts!” hehe.  Get it?  Sometimes I think I’m kind of funny :-) lilpeanutsw/chipndale

P.S. Yes, my husband is a Mets fan.  Who knows why.  And yes, my two-year old still has a pacifier on a limited basis.  Its gross.  I know.  I’m working on it.  It was a moment of weakness…

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My Nutty Family Tree!

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As promised, here’s the proof…my family tree is full of nuts!!!

Crazy Richard (my father)

This is my dad – the owner of the Krema Products Company.  Though he hates having his picture taken, he is a smart business man, and a very hard worker.  About 20 years ago he decided he wanted to work for himself, so he found Krema Peanut Butter – a fabulous all-natural product with a great history and a special roasting and grinding process.  The PB was awesome but the company itself was in serious need of a business savvy mind :)  A few succesful years went by and he then decided to buy Crazy Richard’s Peanut Butter and began filling the jars with his tried and true Krema PB – it was a huge sucess!  The best part of the story is that my dad’s name really is Richard!  HA!  And he really is crazy…well, about a few things at least; Buckeye Football, golf, chocolate & PB, and his girls!  Especially this one…

Melissa the Fruitcake Sister (my mother)

My mom is so awesome.  She is hilarious and crazy and super fun – and she is going to kill me for posting this photo!  But its just so her, smiling and laughing and acting silly :)   My mom has worked along side of my dad since I can really remember.  A few years after the PB business was growing steadily, my parents purchased a mail-order business called Grandma’s Fruitcakes.  Mom runs the fruitcake business and has grown so large they had to build a new office (across the street from the old building) complete with a beautiful store, a large office, and an even larger warehouse just so she had more room to work harder!  Like I said, she’s a nut!  But she might be tied for nuttiest in my family with this awesome lady…

Nanette the Fruitcake Sister (my aunt)

No they are not twins, but yes they are real sisters!  When Nanette joined this family nut business my mom and her decided to become the “Fruitcake Sisters” and I’m not exactly sure why.  But its worked out amazingly well for them!  They are quite famous in our town of Dublin, Ohio.  Which was a little hard to swallow for my sister and I who were in Middle School at the time and the fruitcake business just about killed us with embarrassment!  Who wants to say their mom is a fruitcake??  Well, they aren’t the fruitcakes (which in fact are quite tasty ;-) ) they are just the “Fruitcake Sisters” which means they dress up for all kinds of local events and make it in the news a bunch and are in a big parade and they now have their own store – “The Sister’s Sweet Shoppe”- which is absolutely gorgeous and full of incredible gourmet nuts and chocolates and candies.  Nanette is the queen of the shop, treating every customer as her best friend!  She couldn’t be sweeter….or nuttier!

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Grandma & The Fruitcake Sisters!  (my aunt Nanette, my grandma and my mom)

aren’t they awesome?  i told ya.  but still, totally nuts.

Danny the Warehouse Nut (my cousin)

Now over in the warehouse is this nut, Danny, who actually married into this nutty family!  (Amazingly enough :) )  Danny is Nanette’s son-in-law and he never, ever stops joking.  Never.  Ever.  It drives my mom and my aunt Nanette crazy!  HA!  Though he is a great warehouse manager – in charge of tons of things like managing all of the packaging and shipping and deliveries in the warehouse – he still somehow finds time to crack jokes at the Fruitcake Sisters!  (Didn’t I say we were a little nuts though??)  Now he’s not the only nutty offspring to work at “The Office,” I think all of my cousin’s, my sister, myself, my husband, and even my cousins’ spouses and kids have all worked at “The Office” at some point or another! :-)   Its just part of being in this crazy family…

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Nutty Family Workers

(Nanette with two of her grandsons helping her out in “The Sister’s Sweet Shoppe”)

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The Little Peanuts (my daughters)

Now these cutie peanuts aren’t full-time employees but they are Crazy Richard’s only grandkids!  So I thought that deserved a little mention on this post…and since they are MY girls and this is not MY blog after all ;)   These two could rival my mom and my aunt Nanette for nuttiest in the family!  These girls are crazy!  And they sure love their Crazy Richard’s PB sammys!  Just today we had Toasted PB & Jelly sammys since its so freezing cold outside :-)

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No Nuts, Peanuts Please (my husband)

Most likely I will be in big trouble for posting this photo, but my husband is so cute and he makes the best crazy faces for cameras!  He is a total goof-ball and I love every second of it!  We met in college and have been married for five and a half years.  Probably the nuttiest thing about my fun husband is that he married into the nut family and he is actually highly ALLERGIC TO NUTS!  HA!  Tell me that isn’t the craziest thing you’ve read all day?  Poor guy.  Here my family sells amazing, high-quality gourmet nuts and candies with nuts and chocolate covered nuts and fruitcakes with nuts and he can’t try a single bite!  After about an hour of just being inside the warehouse at “The Office” his throat actually starts to scratch and swell up!  But, his saving grace is that he in NOT ALLERGIC TO PEANUT BUTTER!  Ha again!  This is because my wonderful husband is only allergic to NUTS – not legumes.  And as we all know (or didn’t know) that peanuts aren’t really nuts – they are legumes!  (That’s a post for another day ;)

So, are you convinced that my family is full of nuts yet?  Just in case you were still doubting, here’s a picture of my youngest daughter pouting on a step stool today.

See, even a two-year old knows that in our family,

“We’re Totally Nuts!!”

Stay Nutty Folks!

♥ Kimberly

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