Just Add Cayenne: pb crave

Go ahead, try to say this title five times fast! It's not only a tongue twister, but a brain buster too.

What do you think? Can snacking in large amounts still be sensible, or is just senseless?

Like most answers, it depends. Snacking on a copious amount of cheese crackers and a Big Gulp is just senseless, but a lot of carrots, celery, and most other produce it totally sensible! So, if you snack substantially, is it on sensible or senseless food?

I happen to love snacking on vast amounts of fresh, unpackaged produce, and consider myself quite the sensible snacker. I try to keep a healthy rotation of eating what's currently in season, and right now I’ve been snacking on crisp baby bok choy. The sturdy, wide leaves provide enough room to fill with delectable delights like cottage cheese, homemade bean dip, or maybe even peanut butter...hmmmm.

Rhubarb is another fun food that’s in season, and while it's usually made into some sugar laden baked crisp, I simply steam the stalks and eat plain. Does this make me crazy? No, I’m plenty crazy for other reasons, this just adds to it. But seriously, plain rhubarb is good eats; try some mixed into a salad with other veggies for a tangy twist to treat your palate.

For sweet and sensible snacking, I’ve been making big batches one of my Healthy Dessert Dips with soaked beans, greens, protein powder, and purees. This week I used aduki beans which are easier to digest (Kelley appreciates that part), and made enough to last through the week. Unless I get uber hungry! : )

Don't let the look deceive you, this almost peanut butter thick dip tastes like vanilla peanut butter. Hey, they need that flavor...PB Crave, are you listening?

So, get to snacking sensibly and substantially (on healthy whole foods!) and enjoy your week! Now let’s delve into What I Ate Wednesday!

I keep forgetting to say it, but I’d like to thank Jenn over at Peas and Crayons for making Wednesday’s so fun and interesting. Not to mention tasty too!

[B] Zilks Foods Jalapeno and Cilantro Hummus with beans and veggies; PB Crave peanut butter and Plain 0% Chobani Greek Yogurt on a sweet potato; French press coffee with cinnamon, clove and splash of skim milk.

[S1] PB Crave Choco Choco and homemade Strawberry-Rhubarb Chia Jam sandwich on homemade PB Banana Protein Bread; plain green tea with stevia

[L] Chilled Millet, Aduki Bean, and Salmon Veggie Salad; dehydrated okra; baby bok choi; Ak-mak Crackers

[S2] Jay Robb Chocolate Egg White Protein Drink and dry roasted soy nuts

The nice folks at Jay Robb sent me several flavors to review; I'm working on trying them all and will post my review soon. So far...YUM!

[D] Giant salad with steamed rhubarb, veggies, and homemade salsa with lots of cilantro for dressing; kale omelette; another PB Crave and Chia Jam sandwich; Plain Greek yogurt mixed with my green healthy aduki bean dessert dip

Another good day of eats for another great What I Ate Wednesday.

Hope you all have a great day, and don’t forget to enter for your chance to win a variety pack of luscious PB Crave peanut butter here.

Q: Is it hard for you to choose healthier foods that aren’t packaged or have very few ingredients? Or do you prefer these foods anyway and it’s not a hard choice at all?

Luckily, I enjoy all fresh produce and have no problem choosing most types over anything that comes in a box or bag.

Happy WIAW!!

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.~~

~~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.~~

~~Follow PB Crave on Twitter~~

~~Like PB Crave on Facebook~~

~~Follow PB Crave on Pinterest~~

~~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"~~

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

~~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!