Natural Peanut Butter Woes

Day 80

I am not talking about the “natural” peanut butter that mainstream PB makers have started making, the stuff you don’t have to stir. I mean the real deal that has the layer of oil on top that you do stir into the peanut butter layer below and then keep in the refrigerator. The brand I buy has only peanuts and salt listed as the ingredients. One can even get it at a great price at Whole Foods (of all places!).

I keep it on the middle shelf of my fridge with a friendly label to let everybody else in the house know that the PB belongs to me:

The only drawback to natural PB is that it eventually hardens in the fridge to a clay-like consistency thus making it impossible to stir. I believe one has three options when faced with this situation:

1. Sell it to a mason for use as mortar.
2. Scoop it out of the jar and use it as sculpting clay. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a giraffe made out of natural PB.
3. Salvage it for its original purpose. (Hint: Choose this option.)

Naturally, (Get it, natural? Ha! I kill me.) you want to salvage what you have left, and you want it to be soft and spreadable (please, no comments from the peanut gallery).

Of course, to save it, you need some heat to melt it down while still trapped in the jar. The microwave is not an option. Besides any remnants of the foil seal, the microwave will be too hot and will melt the plastic too. I learned this at a young age when I put one of those bear-shaped honey containers in the microwave to break down some crystallized honey. One minute and thirty seconds later I opened the microwave to find that poor ol’ Winnie the Pooh’s head was melted off . Oops.

Fear not, you can still get the most out of the PB you have left! Simply fill a 5” deep pot, pan, or other kitchen container with very warm tap water. Leave your PB jar in the standing in the water for a few minutes and when you come back you will have restored the PB to its ooey, gooey self!

Stir it and put back in the fridge and you are all set.

Of course, this still can’t bring back that poor honey bear’s head from all those years ago. Poor, silly ol’ decapitated bear.

Talk to you soon!
meatlessman@yahoo.com
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Some of the Food I’ve Been Eating, Part 5: Meats/Proteins

Day 72

As the people who know me best are aware of, I love meat. Even though I am meatless for the year, I still can’t deny the fact that meat tastes great. It is succulent and savory. You can bake it, fry it, broil it, grill it outdoors and spice and slice it anyway you want. How can something so flavorful pose such a health hazard?

Well, besides the fact that consumption of meat can increase one’s chances of heart disease and cancer, there is this other factor to be aware of as well.

Better living through chemistry? No thanks.

The minuses of eating meat far outweigh the risks for me. In addition to the above negatives associated with eating meat, there are other factors one should consider as well. The meat industry’s treatment of the animals it uses in production is simply deplorable. I covered this in an earlier entry. Go see for yourself. I’ll wait.

Sad isn’t it? There are also environmental concerns such as the high emission of greenhouse gases from livestock production and the industry’s vast consumption of grain, water and fossil fuels that could be better spent elsewhere on our planet.

I also feel the best I have in years since dropping meat from my diet. My energy levels are up and I am taking off the extra pounds (I have shed 16 lbs. as of this writing).

With all these factors coming into play why would I ever want to go back to eating meat? And, with plenty of other, healthier foods to choose from: natural peanut butter, legumes and more that give me most of the vitamins and nutrients found in meat, I don’t have to!

If you are reading this blog right now and want to drop meat from your diet, then do it! What have you got to lose?

Talk to you soon!
meatlessman@yahoo.com
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All writing and pictures copyright the author of this blog unless otherwise noted.

Day 2

Today will just be a brief update. I had complete balanced meals for dinner last night as well as for breakfast, lunch and dinner today. They were all meatless and consisted of items such as apples, bananas, Greek yogurt, whole grain bread, peanut butter and other healthy items that I will discuss in depth in further entries.

How do I feel? Well, very good for it only being 24 hours since I made the switch. The meals are satisfying but do not make me feel overstuffed and better yet—they don’t make me lethargic after I eat them!

Talk to you all later!