Celebrate Peanut Butter Lover’s Day with These Nutty Ideas!
Discover > Texas Mom Blog > Celebrate Peanut Butter Lover’s Day with These Nutty Ideas!
Peanut butter (how long does peanut butter last?) has been a quintessential food for many generations now. It’s a spread loved by old and young. So much so that there is more than one day reserved to mark the love for the nut and its butter. The 1st of March is celebrated as National Peanut Butter Lover's Day. What do we do on this day? Eat some healthy peanut butter and talk about it, of course! But first:
Here are Some Cool Facts About Peanut Butter!
The world's largest Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich was made in Grand Saline, Texas in 2010. It weighed a whopping 1342 pounds!
Over 75% of American homes have at least one jar of peanut butter in their pantry.
Texas is the second largest peanut producer in the nation.
The Lone Star State is the only one to produce all four varieties of peanuts, the Runner peanut, the Virginia peanut, the Spanish peanut and the Valencia peanut.
The Runner peanut is a smaller variety and is mostly used for making peanut butter. It accounts for about 80% of the entire peanut grown in US.
On average every year, Texas peanut farmers plant 200,000 acres of peanuts. One acre of peanuts can you give us 30,000 PB sandwiches (What wine goes well with sandwiches?), so that's about 6 billion PB and J’s coming out from Texas alone!
When it comes to the nut butter texture, women and kids seem to prefer a creamier PB whereas men like it chunky.
Although it may seem like a lot more, a little over 1% of Americans are actually allergic to peanuts, and so peanut butter.
About 540 peanuts go into the making of one 12-ounce jar of PB.
Texas peanuts are rich in high oleic monounsaturated fats, the good fats that we get from eating olive oil and avocados.
An average American adult eats about 3 pounds of peanut butter every year and an average child will eat over 1000 peanut butter sandwiches before they graduate from high school. And this is why we need to be sure we eat a good quality peanut butter.
Commonly found peanut butter brands are far from healthy, having excess amounts of mineral oils, sugars, salts and preservatives in them.
How to Pick the Right Peanut Butter?
Reading labels to know which ingredients are good and which aren't is very important. When you look for a healthy peanut butter, here are some helpful tips to lookout for:
The label should mention ‘peanuts’ as its first ingredient. We're not looking for a lengthy ingredients label. We only want a couple ingredients, preferably peanuts and salt in there.
Avoid added oils sugars and preservatives. Stay away from peanut butter brands that have hydrogenated oils, palm oils, high fructose corn syrup (how long does corn syrup last?) and preservatives.
Ditch brands that say ‘reduced fat ‘, or ‘low fat’. You may think low fat peanut butter is a healthy option, but to make it flavorful, brands usually add sugars to low fat foods. Stick with full fat, while being mindful of portion sizes.
Take note of sodium. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, over 90% children have too much sodium in their diets today. The main reason being: more consumption of processed and packaged foods. For children aged between one to thirteen, the daily sodium intake should be between 1500 mg to 2200 mg. Consider your child's overall diet and look for a peanut butter brand low or even sodium free.
Where Can I Find Great Peanut Butter in Texas?
Nuttsosweet, Texas Peanuts, Spread Happiness Nut Butters and GoNuts and Beans produce some organic and finger licking peanut butters here in Texas. Visit their websites and get yourself some locally grown peanut butter!
Why We Love Celebrating National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day?
Peanut Butter is a perfect add-on for all occasions. It is versatile and you can spread it on something, bake with it, mix it with noodles, or even turn it into a delicious sauce.
Peanut Butter doesn’t wreck your diet. Even though peanut butter has some decent of fat in there, it’s also very satiating. If you are on a diet, peanut butter will help keep you fuller for longer, thereby reducing your urge to snack mindlessly.
Peanut butter puts less strain on the environment. It takes a considerably lesser amount of water to grow an ounce of peanuts, compared to other nuts. You also shrink your carbon footprint by 3.5 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions when you choose to eat a peanut butter sandwich instead of a red meat burger. Going green can't get more tempting!
Acting towards reducing the impact of climate change is an urgent need as peanut farmers in Texas say they had a tough year in 2020 due to the lack of rainfall.
Can Babies Eat Peanut Butter?
Experts now recommend introducing good quality peanut butter to babies between 4 and six months of age. The American Academy of Pediatrics even supports introduction of peanut butter-based foods to prevent peanut allergies later on. However, it is always best to consult your pediatrician before introducing any nut butter to your baby’s diet.
Ideas to Celebrate National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day With Your Kids!
Read the adorable book on friendship Peanut Butter and Cupcake! with your children.
Get the little ones to whip up their very own peanut butter. It is so simple, and takes 5 minutes from start to finish. Here is a scrumptious recipe by pinch of Yum!
Challenge yourself and your kids to see if you can incorporate peanut butter in every meal for the day. May be start your day with this Buddha bowl that has a peanut butter sauce.
Go nuts taking pictures, have a great time, share it on social media and tag #nationalpeanutbutterloversdaytrf !
The combination of peanut butter's flavor, texture and aroma makes it a wonderful vehicle for mindful eating. Learn more about mindful eating here.
Peanut butter is a popular and healthful snack. Here is a list of healthy snacks to eat when you are hungry late at night.
