[sha25]

What kind of peanut butter do you use? I keep looking at all the labels at the store when I go but always put it back because it's high in calorie for a small serving size. I want to have it for an occasional snack like PB and apple slices. But I can't bring myself to buy any. Even the natural PB has something like 190 cal for one serving.

Any suggestions?

[MamaP]

One of the things I look at with peanut butter is the number of carbs and how much sodium. I use Simply Jif - it has 190 calories but only 6 grams of carbs per 2 tablespoons. However, I rarely eat more than 1 tablespoon.

[lazylioness]

I shop at a natural foods store, and they have the peanut grinders. So, my peanut butter has no added sugar, salt or anything. Just ground peanuts. And its good. REALLY good. Granted not eat on a spoon straight good, but that is ok because I could eat a whole jar of peanut butter and not look back LOL

[astrophe]

Organic when I can, or fresh ground from the farmer market.

You can use this recipe to keep the peanutty taste, but knock down the fat calories a bit. It's from Sue Spitler 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian. The link for the peanutty and ham sandwiches is

http://books.google.com/books?id=Ufa...page&q&f=false

But the basic recipe for the PB part is to whiz this in the blender:

3/4 cup canned great northern beans
1/3 cup peanut butter

HTH!
A.

[popspry]

I buy a local brand (I think it's called krema). No sodium, and 2g of sat fat is what I look for. I don't mind the high calories because it's a powerfood for me, making me full when I'm on the go.

[nationalparker]

If you live anywhere near a Trader Joe's market - they have the absolute best (no, i don't work there ) ... the creamy salted is just peanuts and salt. Tastes like ballpark peanuts mashed up. I pour a little of the fat off the top as it's a natural one ... but keep enough for the needed blending of it. YUM

[Rochester]

My absolute favorite peanut butter is Peanut Butter & Co. Major yumness, and they have incredible flavored peanut butters also.

If you're looking for low-cal, I've heard people talk about Better'n Peanut Butter - 100 calories for 2 tablespoons. I've never tried it though.

[odonnela]

I use JIF - if I'm going to eat it I'm going to enjoy it. I have about 1 tbs a day on a wheat english muffin.
But if you wanted to go really low cal there is a product out there called
PB2 - its powdered defatted peanuts. You add 1 tbs of water to 2 tbs of PB2 to make a 2 tbs serving for I believe 25 calories. I used it a lot when I was first losing and I use it in protein shakes (it thickens them) and last xmas when I made truffles I used it to roll some of them in. It does not have quite the same "mouth feel" as peanut butter because it has no fat, but if you are looking for a substitute this is quite good. It does have a really peanutty and roasted flavor. And this is coming from me who does not like "substitute" or "fat free" anything. Its made by Bell Plantation. There is a chocolate one also - I have it but have not tried it yet. Now that I have PB2 on my mind I'll have to use up some. I'm thinking I will mix it with regular peanut butter so I can have a bigger serving for less calories.

[odonnela]

Heres the website - its 45 calories for 2 tablespoons - oops!
I actually get it from netrition.com

http://store.bellplantation.com/default.asp

[cherripie]

i use jif. i dont eat alot but i use enough for that extra mmmm..tadte on my apples,celery, or cucumbers.

[sha25]

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone.. I am going to keep my eye out for some of those..

I checked out that website and some of those look a little dangerous for me, lol.
Like the dark chocolate peanut butter.. Recess in a jar and I think I wouldn't have control over a serving size.. Yummy!!!

I have Jif, my kids love it. But I was looking for something with less calories, but I probably wouldn't use the full serving on some apple slices..

We have a trader joes by me. I'm in NY and find it way too expensive though!!

[Wildflower]

I buy generic natural PB...basically the same as Smuckers brand. Right now I have one from Whole Foods, but any store brand generic is good. It's just peanuts and salt.

I only use 1 T so it's 100 calories...not too bad, it fills me up well.

I didn't grow up eating Jiff or those types, so they taste weird to me - not like peanut butter "should" taste in my mind. Plus a lot of them have hydrogenated oils added along with the sugar...my fiancee will only eat this type of pb, and I found the Whole Foods 365 brand doesn't contain hydrogenated oils...and he approves of it. LOL, which he didn't for the Smart Balance or the natural ones I buy.

I have tried the Better Than Peanut butter stuff. It is crazy expensive and it is runny...other than that, it tastes pretty good.