So, Sister First Born tells me that peanuts are full of
yeast and mold and should not be consumed in any form. Wait!
Mixed nuts are my go-to snack, my defense at the office, and the
low-carb-savior-in-a-snack-bag lurking in the bottom of my purse. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love other nuts,
but on a budget those peanuts and mixed nuts fit in well. On top of it, Sweetie and Only Child love
peanut butter.
Now, my change in dietary lifestyle included a promise to
myself that I would not try to force my family into changing their lifestyles
by some kind of I-am-the-goddess-of-all-things-consumed-in-this-house complex. So, I only inform, and right now I’m not sure
about this nutty information. But, since
I’ll give most things a try, I’ve dropped peanuts from the plate. That, my dear reader, has led to almonds—truly
my favorites. Hence today’s experiment:
almond butter.
I’ve read here and there about making your own butters, and
it all seems pretty easy: put it in a
good blender, blend the heck out of it, enjoy.
That was pretty much the way of things with huge emphasis on the “blend
the heck out of it” part.
So, I started with my Magic Bullet. No money rolling in here yet, but I love my
Magic Bullet! I use it pretty much on a
daily basis. Thanks to First Born
Sister, I now even have the blender attachment.
(Got my Bullet at the big box without it.) Thanks, First Born Sister! But I ride my horse Tangent here.
I used both of the blades—the blend and grind one.
I started with 1 cup of almonds and the blending blade—the one
with the edges that stick up.
I blended that until it was almond meal.
Then I changed to the grinding blade. I blended.
I shook the blender. I took a
break. (It gets really hot.)
I took the top off and used a knife to chop it up and loosen
it from the sides.
I blended some more.
I loosened it up some more. I
blended some more. I loosened it up some
more. I let it cool down. It gets hot!
I blended some more. And
some more. And some more! I added a drizzle of canola oil. I blended some more, stopping occasionally
because I didn’t want to kill my Bullet.
I blended some more. Finally, I
got this:
Good stuff?
Yeah! Worth the effort? Well, if I’m the only one eating it, probably
so. I don’t eat peanut butter much, and I don’t think
almond butter would be very different.
When I make low carb peanut butter fudge, what will I do? Probably find an almond butter with good reviews on the market and
buy a jar of that.
In short, good stuff, but lots of blending and more wear and
tear on the Bullet than I was comfortable with.
Still, it is probably worth a try! It was tasty with banana bread muffin mess-ups from the banana bread post day. I sprinkled a little sweetener and cinnamon on them.
Here are some links on peanuts and the creepies they carry:
Check out these articles on the problems with peanut butter,
and then decide for yourself.
7/3/12 Update: We're liking the almond butter better and better. It's great on the banana bread--or any variation you make of that. Wonderful on my favorite chocolate cake, and that recipe's coming soon!
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