Product Review: Wild Friends Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter

Today while shopping for a client I stumbled upon this pretty packaging.  I like peanut butter, I love coconut and I LOVE chocolate so I bought it.

I spend a lot of time in grocery stores.  Honestly,  I probably visit Harris Teeter, Trader Joes, Whole Foods and Safeway once a week.   As a bit of a health food whore, I get excited by Non GMO & USDA Organic stamps on packaging pretty packaging.

Today we are talking about Wild Friends brand Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter.  First of all, it tastes like heaven without out all the added sugar.  The ingredients are simple and natural: Peanuts, Coconut,  Organic Agave, Unsweetened Dark Chocolate & Sea Salt.  I bet your mouth is watering.  You will find only 5 grams of sugar in a serving compared to Nutella’s 21 grams.  The taste is natural and rich.  It is the savory kind of sweet that I crave.

We are talking gluten free, dairy free, vegan, Kosher and Non GMO.  Peanuts generally pack a fair amount of GMOs.

The protein content comes in at 6 grams, which is pretty dang good for what I would consider a dessert.  Nutella only has 2 grams of protein.   The nutrition facts are pretty comparable to an organic peanut butter.  You will notice there is a slightly higher saturated fat in Wild Friends.   That is due to the coconut.  Coconut is high in saturated fat but it is one of those healthy fats our bodies thrive on.

So would I buy this product again? ABSOLUTELY.  I will probably have to buy it soon because I don’t think this jar is going to last all too long.  Five Stars.  I would give it six but I only have five to give.

Cheers!

Gooey Pumpkin Bars

Gluten free, dairy free, vegan, full of fiber, guilt free and absolutely delicious.  This recipe screams fall without an over powering pumpkin spice flavor.  I wish I could say I came up with the genius secret ingredient, but the credit goes to the Purely Twins.  The ingredient that makes these bars gooey and flour less is pureed plantain.  I had all the necessary ingredients in my pantry, with the exception of a plantain, so chances are you have most of these ingredients already at home! I modified the original recipe just bit.  See below:

Ingredients

• 1 medium ripe plantain
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 cup turbido sugar
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (1oz), liquid
• 1/2 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Puree the plantain in a blender or food processor
• Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl but hold the chocolate chips
• Add the plantain, pumpkin and coconut oil to the dry ingredient bowl and mix well with a spatula
• Fold in chocolate chips if you so desire
• Spread the mixture into an 8×8 baking dish greased with coconut oil and bake for 20-25 minutes

These bars are gooey and decadent, but are best when stored in the refrigerator.  They are moist and prone to molding if you leave them out for days at a time.  I have a bar recipe similar to this one and I always keep cool or even freeze if I know I cannot gobble them up in less than a week.  I usually do not have that problem…

This recipe packed with fiber and makes for a great snack, breakfast or dessert.  Feel free to experiment and add your own mix ins.  I think pecans or sliced almonds would add a great crunch! If you try anything out, let me know how it goes 🙂

Super-Gut-Food Almond Butter

I have been dealing with Leaky Gut Syndrome for a while now, but my flare ups have become irregular and almost obsolete.  In fact, my gut has been fairly healthy in the past year and a half.  However, this past Monday I was completely blind sided by the side effects of this crap syndrome.  So for a few days I was consuming mostly liquids (coconut milk, kombucha, hot tea, and lots of water).  I eased my way to coconut milk yogurt, sauerkraut and mashed up bananas.  My stomach was inflamed and my energy level was insanely low due to a calorie deficit.

So now I am on a mission to repair my intestinal lining and get back to a healthy gut.  My diet for the next 2-4 weeks is going be restrictive, more or less Paleo with some extra rules.  I cannot eat soy, sugar, legumes, dairy, night shade vegetables, grains or anything processed by any means. Last night I had a dream I was eating Chinese food. I don’t even like Chinese food.  I have been Gluten Free for almost seven years and I remember in the first year I would have dreams I was eating sandwiches all the time.

It is not complete torment, I still get to eat most of the things I love.  I will be consuming lots of coconut products like coconut milk, coconut milk yogurt, coconut oil and coconut butter.  Fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi are great for gut health and I do love an excuse to splurge on kombucha.  I will be attempting my first bone broth this weekend which is supposedly deeeelish, I just hope I can find some chicken feet.  Another great food group for gut health is sprouted seeds (like flax seed, chia seed and hemp seeds).  Which brings me to my creation this morning.

Super Gut healthy Almond Butter

• 2 tablespoons of Almond Butter ( I use Trader Joe’s Unsalted Crunchy)
• 1 teaspoon of Chia Seeds
• 1 teaspoon of Ground Flax Seed
• 1 teaspoon of Coconut Oil

Mix them all together and enjoy! I spread mine on apple slices for a mid morning snack.  This is a very filling spread so you might not need to eat the whole two tablespoons in one sitting, but it’s so good I cannot help but lick the bowl clean.

Decadent Peanut Butter Oat Energy Bites

I am not kidding. These things are decadent.  I recently posted on powdered peanut butter and promised a recipe to follow.  Behold, deliciousness made from dehydrated peanuts and a few other clean ingredients! As always, this recipe is gluten free!

The recipe makes 4 bites.  I had two after lunch…they took care of my sweet tooth.  I found the recipe on Betty Lou’s Inc.’s website  and made a few modifications.  The chocolate chunk was my touch.  It’s not dessert unless there is chocolate.  My philosophy: without chocolate, it’s breakfast.

Makes about 4 bites

• ¼ cup + 1 Tbsp Organic Powdered Peanut Butter
• 3 Tbsp gluten free quick rolled oats (I used Trader Joe’s)
• 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp water
• ½ Tbsp organic honey
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 4 pieces of dark chocolate

1. Mix Organic Powdered Peanut Butter and oats together in a small bowl.
2. Add water, agave, and coconut oil and mix until well blended and consistency is like cookie dough.
3. Roll into small balls.
4. Chill for about 15 minutes to firm up, or eat immediately for softer truffles.
5. Store in the refrigerator.

This takes about 5 minutes to whip up (dangerous).  I think I will be making these until I kill my jar of powder.  I ate them before refrigeration when they were soft and creamy like a peanut butter truffle. I am not very patient when a sweet tooth strikes.  Ask anyone who has ever eaten a meal with me, 30 seconds after my last bite I am hankering for chocolate.

Enjoy!

Product Review: Powdered Peanut Butter

NUTS. I love nuts.  Filling, satisfying, crunchy, whats not to love? Nut butter? I’m obsessed.  I often have a big spoon of almond butter and call it a snack or dessert.  It’s indulgent, delicious and satisfying.  I bitch and moan at Trader Joes when the Raw Unsalted Crunchy is out of stock.

Now with peanut butter, I’m a little picky.  Any “Jif like” product contains hydrogenated oils and has a weird filmy texture.  My dog loves it, but it’s not for me.  I do enjoy a good, all natural peanut butter from time to time–mostly in desserts 🙂

Nut butters are high in fat, which for me is a good and a bad thing.  I maintain a pretty plant based diet and sometimes I really need the fat in nuts to satiate my hunger and keep me satisfied.  However, I am a junkie for sweets, so any way to naturally reduce the fat and calories in my sweet treats is worth a try.

Enter Powdered Peanut Butter.  I saw this product (Just Great Stuff  the Original Organic Powdered Peanut Butter) when I was picking up my dog’s peanut butter yesterday and bought it out of curiosity.  Just Great Stuff is Organic, Non GMO, Gluten Free, Corn Free and Low Glycemic–wohoooo! I also love the short and simple list of ingredients: Organic Peanuts, Organic Coconut Sugar, Sea Salt.

Powdered peanut butter is basically dehydrated peanuts with salt and sugar (sans oil).  This is why the powdered version has 90% less fat.  Since the majority of peanut butter’s calories come from fat, the powdered version has about a quarter of the calories.  A popular powdered brand on the market is PB2.  I saw this product but decided to spend the extra money for organic and GMO free.  Peanuts are a highly sprayed crop, so it is worth paying extra for organic and GMO free peanut products.

So I mixed up one serving of powdered peanut butter (2 tablespoon dry) with one tablespoon of water to do a taste test after lunch yesterday.  Sadly, two tablespoons dry yields a little more than 1 tablespoon wet, so in reality I would double the calories and fat if you are looking for two tablespoons of creamy peanut butter. The taste is very similar, but the texture and mouth feel cannot compare to a nut butter with natural oil.  I do foresee myself using the powder in desserts, mixing it in my Greek yogurt and adding to protein shakes and smoothies.  I’ve even pondered mixing it with coconut oil for some healthy fat.  Stay tuned, there will be a powdered peanut butter concoction on the blog next week!

In addition to the lack of creamy mouth feel, you miss out on all the healthy fat that clean eaters need to stay energized! This society has a fear of fat, when the real culprit in  Americas’ diet is sugar.  The powdered version yields the same amount of sugar as creamy peanut butter (which is relatively low).   Powdered peanut butter has half the protein when compared to it’s creamy & oily counterpart, another reason to keep the real thing in your pantry.

If you have not tried powdered peanut butter yet, i recommend giving it a whirl. If you have already added it into your recipe repertoire, tell me how you use it!