PB Crave Review and Giveaway: What Flavor Do You Crave?

What? All natural peanut butter in flavors like chocolate, banana, white chocolate raspberry, and cookie dough? Give it!

Those were my thoughts when I first heard of PB Crave gourmet peanut butter.  My excitement only grew when PB Crave sent a jar of each of their 4 flavors for me to review. The flavors include Choco Choco (chocolate), Coco Bananas (banana), Razzle Dazzle (white chocolate and raspberry), and Cookie Nookie (cookie dough?).

Any of these flavors are spoon-worthy alone, but you can make smoothies (Kelley loved the ones I made her), no-bake cookie balls, smear on a PB&J (I did this with my homemade PB Banana Protein Bread), and slather on sweet potatoes. Mmmmm, I’m “craving” pb sweet potatoes now (slash) always.

Picking a favorite is never an easy task when all of your choices are as good as PB Crave’s.  That’s why I’ll go off of how empty each jar is after having them for 2 weeks.  So, ranked by the amount left in the jar, the least one being first (and most likely favorite), here are my thoughts on these all natural peanut butters with no hydrogenated oil or high fructose corn syrup.

CoCo Bananas

Peanut butter and bananas go together like, ummm, peanut butter and sweet potatoes.  The combo is out of this world delicious! This is why I smothered a baked sweet potato with Coco Bananas, and now I can’t get enough.  If I had a jar exclusively for using with sweet potatoes, it’d be gone in a week!  Probably why this one hardly has anything left.  Upon opening, the strong scent of ripe bananas escapes the jar and fills the air around you creating an instant craving.  Get a spoon and eat alone or with Greek yogurt for the easiest and tastiest breakfast or dessert.  This one also has the least amount of sugar per serving, which is a win to me!

Cookie Nookie

Ever crave peanut butter cookie dough? Then this is your pb! Mix it with pureed squash and cinnamon to savor a “cookie dough” you eat with a spoon.  The sweetness of the MEL-O honey mixed with chocolate chunks in peanut butter had me searching for ways to use just so I could like the knife or spoon when done.  To sum it up in one word…”YUM!”

Choco Choco

A combo of milk and dark chocolate that’s perfect mixed with Greek yogurt for easy icing on a cake.  My choice would be to only have dark chocolate, which is why it isn’t at the top, but still a pleasure to eat nonetheless. Nutella lovers, get rid of that sugar filled, low protein disgrace to nut butters and get this instead.  Better in taste and nutrition, there’s no reason not to choose this chocolatey peanut butter goodness in a jar.  I used this to make chocolate peanut butter protein brownies that were begging to jump in my mouth. I happily obliged!  Recipe to come in a future post.

Razzle Dazzle

I’m not a fan of white chocolate to begin with, so this was naturally the least favorite for me.  That being said, it’s still pretty darn good.  I used it to make a vanilla berry protein smoothie for Kelley while working in the Texas heat and to make no-bake Razzle Dazzle PB Cookie Balls that I shared with my co-workers.  Both Kelley and my co-workers enjoyed the treats, but would I buy it myself?  Probably not, I’d rather get the CoCo Bananas!  Check back for the Razzle Dazzle PB Cookie Ball recipe in a future post!

In a “pea”nut shell, PB Crave offers a unique way to enjoy peanut butter in four delicious flavors.  I like my peanut butter plain with no added sugar or anything, but PB Crave has shown me a new way to indulge and still be healthy.  The sugar is in the form of honey, which is better than just sugar, to me anyway.

Another good thing from PB Crave is that they support Project Peanut Butter by donating a minimum of 2% of the profits from every jar they sell. Project Peanut Butter is a non-profit organization that focuses on providing for malnourished children.  So why not buy scrumptious peanut butter and feel helping others….and your taste buds?

Are you ready to go out (or online) and buy a few jars to savor at home, work, or when traveling? Well, go ahead and do that. Since you’re going to want more, the incredibly giving people at PB Crave are offering one fabulous Just Add Cayenne reader a Choco Choco Variety Pack. Valued at $20.97, you’ll get the 3 jars of mouth-watering peanut butter seen in the pic below shipped right to your door!

How do you enter for your chance to win? It’s simple, you can enter up to 7 times by completing each of the action items below.  Please leave a separate comment for each action you complete.

1. Visit the PB Crave website and tell me what flavor you want to try the most.  If you’re lucky enough to have tried, tell me what your favorite flavor is.

2. Follow PB Crave on Twitter 

3. Like PB Crave on Facebook

4. Follow PB Crave on Pinterest

5. Follow me on Twitter and Tweet the following – "I entered to win tasty peanut butter from @PBCrave with @I_Love_Cayenne! Enter for your chance too! http://bit.ly/Lb0dfv"

6. “LIKE” Just Add Cayenne on Facebook. If you already “Like” Just Add Cayenne, leave a comment letting me know.

7.  Help support Just Add Cayenne and subscribe to my blog. Just post a comment if you are already subscribed.

The contest will end Friday, July 6, 2012 and I will choose a winner at random and announce on Monday, July 9, 2012. Winner must be from the lower 48 states.

This contest has expired, but please keep checking back for the next giveaway of something healthy, tasty, and fun!


Congrats to Judy for winning the PB Crave Choco Choco Variety Pack!

In the meantime, check back here for healthy, easy, and delicious recipes using PB Crave as well as healthy meals!

Good Luck!!

The Weekly Routine.....with Grass-fed Roast Beef!!

Do you ever get bothered by going through the same conversation week after week? I am sure, for the majority of the working population, we go through the same conversation with people each week.

On Monday, when asked the all-too-common “How are you?” most of us give some type of generic response like “I’m good…. it’s Monday, ughhh.” As the week progresses, most responses form around whatever day we are on; “At least its not Monday,” or “Half-way there, almost Friday!” This cycle, along with people always asking “What’s up?” or “How are you?” as they keep walking past you really gets to me. I’m just as guilty as the next person, but have been trying to stop asking unless I sincerely care to stop and know how a person is doing.

This routine has been weighing on me for a while, so I’m using my blog as a way to vent. I’d like to start responding with something related to food, but most people don’t care if I cooked Overnight Oatmeal Crisps or dehydrated okra and green beans with my new food dehydrator. But on my blog, the people reading actually do care (hopefully!) for my thoughts on food and health, so it’s nice to have Just Add Cayenne as an outlet. I just want to thank everyone who stops by to read this, if you like it, please share with others you know.

I’m done now. On to food!

On the topic of work and the weekly routine, I am excited about some of the meals I made for Kelley and me to have for work lunch. We very rarely buy beef or bison since it is pricey for the type of high quality meat we demand. While at the store, Kelley and I saw a lean cut of grass-fed beef and decided we should have some red meat this week. I already knew what I would do with this round cut……beef stew in the slow cooker! Kelley was/is excited to have this meal this week.

One thing I’ve been trying to work on is not taking so long in the kitchen so I can spend more time with Kelley. You might think “Really? Doesn’t she enjoy a husband cooking?” but I agree, I take way longer than usual. For example, I woke up at 7:45am on Sunday, and basically stayed in the kitchen up to 7pm. So, I constantly have ways to reduce time in the kitchen running through my head while still making 5 lunches ready to bring to work throughout the week. Kelley says I don’t have to do this, but it’s just my “thing” and I enjoy providing meals from home…….I really despise relying on going somewhere that I can’t control how my meal is prepared.

With time saving on the mind, I decided to use the slow-cooker with a healthy mix of garlic, onions, barley, veggies and the cut of beef on top. I let this cook on low for 8 hours while I cooked and prepared other food items for this week. In order to save time with the slow cooker (sound odd, huh?), I used half of the 1.1lb cut of beef for another dish. We have a meal with Jersey Sweet potatoes and a veggie bean mix just about every week, and I figured using slow roasted beef chopped and served with veggies and the potato would be a tasty change. Kelley liked the idea, so that was all I needed to be inspired for this simple dish. That’s 2 meals for us right there; actually 3 meals since I made enough beef and barley stew for leftover leftovers. No complaints here, this is an excellent meal full of flavor and nutrition!

I still made the other vegetarian sweet potato meal since it is pretty quick to make; steam the potato, steam the veggies and beans, season with herbs and spices, and it’s ready to go. For the final meal, I soaked dry black beans that I used for a hearty black bean with long grain and wild brown rice dish that is sure to please. Rice and beans provide an inexpensive meal that supplies you with complete protein and can take on many flavor variations.

We are looking forward to week full of healthy beef lunches; did you make anything you’re looking forward to this week? Next time you are confronted by a co-worker; try discussing something else like food instead of talking about what day it is or isn’t…..you’ll probably catch them off-guard.

For those that are curious, here are the ingredients used for the beef and barley stew:

- Onions, celery, 5 cloves of garlic, and red peppers sautéed for 3 minutes to bring out their natural sugars; all but the garlic came in a frozen 12oz bag
- Frozen broccoli, cauliflower, and green beans; I just used the whole 12oz bag for each
- 1/2 cup pearled barley
- Jar of salsa (use your favorite kind) and chicken broth to top off
- Without measuring, I added cumin, chili powder, paprika, ground mustard, cayenne, basil, cilantro, and thyme

Just give everything a good stir, pan sear the beef round on each side and place on top of everything. Put the lid on your slow cooker, set the heat to low, and wait until done.

What’s on your Spice Rack? 10 Healthy Herbs & Spices to Always Have Around

Think you can’t have great taste without adding something sugary, salty, or fatty? Think again. To create interesting flavors, I spin our spice rack around for every meal I make. Its fun to try new herbs and spices to see what you can make; sometimes good…. sometimes bad (sorry, Kelley), but always healthy. If you aren’t using the following 10 herbs and spices, start today to see how you can add taste and nutrition to your meals.

1. Cayenne Pepper – Of course this is the first on my list!!

If you want to add a lot of intense heat to your food, cayenne pepper is the best spice for the job. A tiny bit of cayenne goes a long way (I know from experience; so does Kelley….again, sorry dear), so start with very little and work your way up to what you’re comfortable with. Several reasons to “just add cayenne” include its ability to relieve congestion by clearing mucus from the lungs and nose, boost immunity, prevent stomach ulcers by killing bacteria, help with weight loss, reduce blood cholesterol, triglyceride levels and platelet aggregation, prevent many types of cancer, and relieve pain. Use it in anything you want to make spicy; vegetables, salad, chili (duh), corn bread, various dips, soups, and even chocolate (you have to try it). An interesting note: The hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin it contains.

2. Black Pepper

Slightly spicy and incredibly versatile, it’s no surprise that black pepper is the most common spice in the world. Black pepper is a great way to top off anything from eggs and salad to cooked grains and meat. For the best flavor and health benefits, freshly grind whole peppercorns using a pepper mill or coffee grinder. Black pepper has antioxidant and antibacterial properties; it improves digestion, helps prevent intestinal gas, is diaphoretic (promotes sweating), and diuretic (promotes urination). Black pepper provides high-quality amounts of manganese, vitamin K, iron, and the peppercorn’s outer layer is said to promote the breakdown of fat cells.

3. Cinnamon

Cinnamon is one of the best spices around as it can be used in a variety of dishes. It is a very potent spice, and only a little cinnamon is needed to bring its signature intense flavor to a dish. Cinnamon aids in digestion, circulation, and helps to treat diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and menstrual cramps. This spice is also well known for its blood-stabilizing abilities.

4. Cumin

A popular food spice, cumin has a deep smoky flavor that is used in a variety of dishes, mainly Mexican and Indian recipes. Cumin is one of the best spices for cooking because it can be used to add a smoky flavor without the spiciness of chile peppers. Cumin’s list of health benefits include aiding the digestive system, improves liver function, promotes assimilation of other foods, relieves abdominal distention, gas, and colic, as well as migraines and headaches. I put this on cooked foods and mixed into salads for a wonderful smoky salad.

5. Oregano

Oregano is a powerful antioxidant rich in phytonutrients. One gram of oregano contains 42 times more antioxidants than apples, 30 times more antioxidants than potatoes, 12 times more antioxidants than oranges and 4 times more antioxidants than blueberries. Two of the most important components of oregano are thymol and carvacol which have strong antibacterial properties. A study showed that in Mexico, oregano was more effective against amoebas than prescribed drugs. Fresh or dried oregano can be added to Italian and Mexican dishes, salads, egg dishes, vegetables, meats and more.

6. Cloves

Cloves are the top spice that contributes to the distinctive smell of Indian food and drinks like chai tea. Cloves, whether whole or crushed, have a strong flavor and are best used in small amounts. Sprinkle a bit of ground cloves in your coffee or tea for a nice chai flavor, or add a pinch to baking recipes for something sweet and spicy.

7. Turmeric

 

Turmeric ranks among the best spices for adding color to a dish, and has a warm, peppery flavor similar to ginger and orange; it’s what makes mustard yellow. Most of its benefits are from curcumin, a compound in turmeric that has potent antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. This yellow-colored spice is the highest known source of beta carotene. Turmeric tones the spleen, pancreas, liver, and stomach, and strengthens the immune system, enhances digestion, it may help control blood sugar in diabetics, and it helps to dissolve cysts and gallstones.

8. Coriander / Cilantro

Coriander is known for being anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, and cholesterol lowering. It increases HDL (the "good" cholesterol), and may help reduce free radical production. Coriander is a good source of dietary fiber, manganese, iron, and magnesium. The leaves of the plant, commonly known as cilantro in the United States, may have anti-microbial and anti-bacterial properties. Dried coriander is used for making baked goods, as a component in curries, and as a pickling spice. Cilantro is best when fresh, but either dried or fresh, it makes great salsa and adds flavor to dips, spreads, soups, and stews.

9. Parsley

Parsley is found in two varieties, curly and flat leaf. Fresh parsley is more flavorful than the dried variety. The curly version tends to have a more intense flavor than the flat-leaf variety. Use it in soups, salads, and casseroles, or to top any savory meal with or without meat. Among parsley's beneficial properties is its ability to fight cancer; Animal studies have shown that it can inhibit tumor formation, particularly in the lungs. It's also known to reduce the effect of carcinogens including those found in cigarette smoke and charcoal grill smoke. As with most on this list, parsley is a rich source of antioxidants and essential nutrients like vitamin C, beta-carotene, and folic acid. It is also a great breath freshener and is commonly served at the end of a meal.

10. Ginger

Spicy and pungent with just enough sweetness, ginger should be in the kitchen of every home cook. Great for adding an amazing sharpness to Chinese and Japanese recipes or a touch of spice to baked goods like cookies and cakes, ginger is one of the most unique spices because of its usefulness. It is warming, stimulates digestion, and boosts circulation, respiration, and nervous system function. Ginger is an anti-inflammatory and is useful for colds and fevers, alleviates motion sickness and nausea, and destroys intestinal parasites.

You really can’t go wrong adding any herb or spice to your meals (unless you’re allergic), but these are what I consider some of the best to have and use daily. I think garlic powder deserves an honorable mention for the list, but this is best consumed as fresh cloves crushed and chopped in recipes.


How many of these do you currently have and use in your kitchen? If your answer was none or very little, make the change today and add some healthy zest to your next meal!

An example of how I add spices....And I wasn't done yet!!

What to do with your empty condiment bottles...

Mustard is awesome.  I've posted about it before, and for good reason....it's low calorie, minimal ingredients, and intense flavor can spruce up dull dishes.

If you are a fan of mustard and go through a bottle pretty fast, don't toss it once you are done.  The mustard on the sides and bottom that just won't come out can add flavor to another dish.  Simply fill the empty container with water, broth (chicken, fish, beef, or vegetable) and shake to get everything off the bottom and sides.  Now you have a flavorful liquid to use next time you cook a grain, soup, or anything requiring liquid.

I do this every week and find that it cuts down on having to purchase more chicken stock at the store.  Remember, when using the empty bottles for the liquid in cooking, you don't need to add any or as much salt since most condiments have enough already.

This simple trick can be used for any of your other favorite condiments too; tabasco, salad dressing, ketchup, salsa, etc.  Kelley has a very tasty smoked tomato salad dressing that I fill with water or broth after she is done and use it for cooking one of our meals for the week.  I use salsa for salad dressing and do the same with empty salsa jars too.

Next time you come to the end of a condiment bottle like mustard, add water or chicken broth if you have it, and cook brown rice, quinoa (our favorite), beans, or a combination.  Adding some extra spices is always good too; cumin, turmeric, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, and black pepper are several spices that pair well with mustard and most other condiments.

Here's an example of what I do:

After Kelley finishes her bottle of Drew's Smoked Tomato salad dressing, I fill it with water and some broth then shake really well.  I put a sauce pan on medium high heat, sweat chopped garlic and onions for a few minutes, then add quinoa to let it get lightly toasted.  After a minute or two, I'll add the filled bottled of salad dressing to the pot.  Oops, not enough liquid!  What else is there?!  Oh, empty salsa works....add water to salsa jar, shake, and pour into sauce pan.  Phew, close call, now there's enough liquid.

I then follow up with tossing a few frozen veggie mixes in the pot, add meat or beans, toss in herbs and spices then bring to a boil.  Once everything is boiling, I lower the heat, cover and let simmer for 15 to 30 minutes.  Once finished (quinoa turns translucent once cooked), I remove from heat, stir, and transfer to our glass Pyrex dishes for a tasty lunch at work.

Look around your fridge and pantry and plan ahead on what to do when that bottle runs out.  What will you make with your leftover bottle?