I love peanut butter. I can think of all kinds of combos that I love that involve peanut butter. My problem with peanut butter or any nut butter is the fat. Yes, it’s a good fat and beneficial to my health, but it’s really not something I’m comfortable eating everyday. My biggest craving in life is nut butter because I do love certain combinations. For those day I want the peanut butter without all the fat, I found some alternatives to help meet my cravings and I thought I would share with you my love of the nut butter!

Here are a couple of my favorite full fat, full nut butters:

Justin’s Maple Almond Butter was the thing that inspired this post. A couple of weeks ago I found these packets at the local grocer for 89 cents. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to try almond butter but not break the bank because the stuff is kind of expensive. When I first tried it, I didn’t like it. The texture was a bit odd for me and it tasted different from peanut butter. I tried it on a slice of banana. I tried it again and still didn’t like it but it wasn’t as bad as the first time. And then this amazing thing happened, before a workout one morning I pulled out a banana and put some almond butter on it…and I loved it! It’s become one of my new favorites. That just goes to show you may not like something the first or second time, but that third time could make the difference. But this isn’t low in fat or calories, this would just be an alternative to peanut butter.

I loved Skippy as a kid but I’m kind of amazed at the amount of peanut butter I was eating throughout the years without worrying about calories and the fat content. This stuff is so good in moderation. When we changed our lifestyle, I wanted to switch to all natural products as much as I could so I was really pleased to see Skippy come out with their all natural line. It’s cheap and good. FYI: I am slightly concerned about the palm oil here, but this is definitely not something I eat all the time.

My peanut butter alternatives:

I found Better’n Butter by accident while I was looking at the new stuff in the gluten free section at the grocery store. This taste just like peanut butter but a serving is 100 calories and it’s way less in fat than the normal peanut butter. I did learn quickly though this is not good for baking because it really seizes up in recipes and it’s definitely not meant to be warmed up. This kind of stinks because this has to be kept in the fridge and it gets hard, so I have to leave it sitting out before I use it (if I care about that on a particular day). The only time that is really an issue is when I’m spreading it on my Flatout Bread or just a slice of bread. But I once tried to nuke it in the microwave and it came out like a brick after 10 seconds or so. In the same respect, I’ve used a tablespoon in my warm oatmeal and it melted/blended in quite nicely. This stuff is SO GOOD but a little bit on the pricey side, but totally worth it.

PB2 is new in my life. PB2 is powdered peanut butter and it’s something about pressing all the oils and stuff out. I personally believe it’s pressing all the nutritious things out of the peanut and leaving you with what is left. Like I said, it’s a peanut butter alternative and this one is just for if you want peanut butter flavor.

Peanut butter has always been a staple for the health conscious and physically active. But even peanut butter can be improved. PB2 reduces fat through a chemical-free process. Like all Bell Plantation products, PB2 and Chocolate PB2 are all natural, preservative free, and contain no artificial sweeteners. And that makes them a sweet alternative for active lifestyles, dieters, and moms who want healthy snacks for their kids.

I’ve seen it plenty of times at Whole Foods and say people piling it in their baskets, but had no idea what it was. Have you ever been to Whole Foods? It’s like a cattle call in there and sometimes it’s hard to shop there. Sometimes I like to go on fact finding missions and standing around and perusing the shelves at Whole Foods can get you run over sometimes.

We use it when baking our special sugar free treats. I mix it in my pudding that I love so much. I also use it in our oatmeal sometimes. I also found a good Pad Thai recipe that I might try to make it a little more health conscious. Like I said, it’s just for the flavor. It’s 45 calories and no saturated fat!  I’ve tried both varieties of regular and chocolate and I will be honest, they taste the same to me.  From now on, I’m just going to buy the regular version.

Now on to the fun stuff. What are some of my favorite nutter butter combinations? Here are just a few:

• Peanut butter and banana:  I like to make little peanut butter/banana sandwiches.  I usually just slice the bananas and put nut butter between the slices.  I usually have this in the morning before I do my workouts.  I also usually do it with Better’n Butter or a very small amount of almond butter.
• Nutter butter and apples: self explanatory right? It’s a great snack and so simple.
• Nutter butter, strawberry and banana roll up.  I spread the nut butter, slice up some strawberries and put some banana slices on a Flatout Bread and roll that sucker up.  It’s so good and it’s even better toasted.
• Nutter butter and celery and maybe some raisins.  Didn’t they call this ants on a long when we were little?
• Nutter butter and chocolate.  I like to make the sugar free chocolate fudge pudding and mix it with some PB2 or just a tablespoon of nut butter and eat it.  So good!  If I’m feeling especially happy, I’ll slice up some bananas too!
• Froyo and nutter butter.  It’s my new favorite combo.  Pick your flavor accordingly though.  I like to put it on cheescake, coffee or birthday cake froyo and eat it right up. I’m obsessed but this is definitely only on date night!

Do you like the nut butter? How often do you have it?  What is your favorite combination?