Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches are a classic. Simple as that. Easy to make, easy to pack, easy to eat Kids love them, parents love them, and they can be an awesome snack or meal IF you make them right. See that “IF”? That’s what this post about: How To Pimp Your PB&J!
What’s wrong the OLD PB & J?
Everything!
- Eating white bread has a similar effect on blood sugar and energy levels and dumping a spoonful of table sugar in your mouth. NOT GOOD!
- Standard Peanut Butters (Peter Pan, JIF, Skippy, etc) contain hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils. TRANS FATS! Also NOT GOOD! I could write an entire blog post on this subject alone, so I’ll just say this: If your peanut butter has any ingredient other than nuts and possibly some salt, you couldn’t pay me to eat it. And I don’t think you should eat it either!
- Most jelly is made with tons of excess sugar and only 10-25% actual fruit.
Still think that Peter Pan and Grape Jelly on Wonderbread is going to make you beast? Well, maybe so, but I mean an athletic beast! Not a beached whale.
^Beast? YES. Athlete? NO!
Here’s how we PIMP our PB & J.
Option #1
- Swap the white bread for a sprouted grain bread like Ezekiel. 2 slices of this stuff has 6g Fiber and 8g of complete protein. The grains are minimally processed and don’t spike insulin like white bread.
- The nut butter is up to you. 1 rule however, it must contain only 1 or 2 ingredients: nuts, and possibly salt. Almond butter, peanut butter, macadamia nut butter, walnut butter, pecan butter, etc.
- To boost the protein content and spice up the flavor, we’re going to add some protein powder to the nut butter and stir into a cake batter consistency. You’ll need a few drops of water, but ERR on the side of too little water, we’re not making French Toast! The flavor of your protein will hugely effect the sandwich, so choose wisely. I like strawberry, chocolate, banana, and vanilla for this recipe.
- To avoid the added sugars and fillers in most jellies we’re going to select a 100% fruit spread or No Sugar Added Jelly.
^No Sugar Added Apricot Jelly, Almond Butter, Banana Whey & Chocolate Casein Proteins on Ezekiel Bread.
Option #2
- P28 bread. This stuff has 28 grams of protein per serving and limited carbs. With this option, adding protein powder to your peanut or almond butter is not necessary.
- Same rules apply for selecting almond or peanut butters. Only 2 ingredients: nuts and possibly salt!
- Again, same rules apply for the jelly: 100% fruit OR No Sugar Added.
Get creative, mix it up and enjoy some combinations other than strawberry or grape jelly with peanut butter. I like apricot preserves, raspberry, or blueberry jellies with pure almond butter or natural peanut butter. Don’t forget you can try macadamia nut butter with the raspberry jelly, another one of my favorites!
CREATE YOUR FAVORITES AND POST THEM BELOW FOR EVERYONE TO SHARE!