A quick and easy snack is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I know what you’re thinking – what? That’s not healthy!?! Not so fast El Guapo! The classic PBJ with Jif, white bread, and totally sugared jelly *is* actually HORRIBLE for you. If you make a PBJ the right way, though, it can be nutritious, healthy, and has a plethora of good stuff in it. First off, use all natural peanut butter. No added sugar or anything, just all natural. We get a tub of it at Costco, but any grocery store carries it if you look closely.



For the “jelly” portion of it, I used Smuckers Sugar Free Red Raspberry Preserves. Raspberries are my favorite fruit…mmmm.



For 1 tbsp it is only 10 calories. It was yummy too. For the bread, I used two slices of 100% Whole Wheat Nature’s Own – only 50 calories per slice.



I don’t think you need a tutorial on how to make a PBJ…heh heh. As usual, I put all of the ingredients into fatsecret.com and got the nutritional information back for one sandwich:



Yes, it is a little high in fat, but it is the good kind of fat. You generally want your fats to come from plants (i.e. peanuts, avacodos, etc) as opposed to from animals (i.e. beef). It’s got a solid 17g of protein and 6g of fiber.

On another note, I ran the first soccer practice for my son’s team today. It was a bit chilly outside (in the 50s), but we made it through it just fine. I’m going to enjoy working with the 10 year old boys — teaching them soccer and teamwork.

PDA makes a great snack…if you’re 14. PBA makes a great snack for all ages, though (Peanut Butter and an Apple). The peanut butter is high in protein and the apple is rich in carbs (the good kind). Yes, there is fat in peanut butter, but your fats should generally come from plants (i.e. peanuts, avacodo), not meats (like Whataburger). The apple and peanut butter must have dated in a previous life, because it is match made of yumminess in a nutshell (pun intended). Don’t buy the peanut butter at the store that has a bunch of added sugar, though. Why do most food manufacturers think they need to add sugar to everything? Peanuts are naturally yummy without anything added to them. Get the natural peanut butter. I think it tastes way better than the other stuff anyway besides being healthier.

Sometimes it is hard to estimate an exact serving of peanut butter. How do you measure out 2 Tbsp with out it all sticking to the spoon and everything? I found an easy way with this measuring thingy that my wife bought years ago from a Pampered Chef party. Who ever invented calling those things parties? Not really what I think of when I think of a party. Parties shouldn’t involve pressure to buy a bunch of crap you probably don’t need. In this case, I guess I’m glad she bought this one particular item. You just push on the tube inside of the tube until it lines up with 2 Tbsp. Then shove peanut butter in there until it is to the top.


When you’re done, just aim it at the plate, and push the inside of the barrel out and the peanut butter plops out easily on the plate. Use a knife to scrap once against it and it all comes right out. Done. Easy. Consume. Yummy.

On another note, yesterday (Sunday) I did DDR for my cardio as planned. I was having so much fun that I ended up doing it for an hour (geek). My 10-year old son joined in with me on player 2 – good times. How many of you spend your Sunday afternoon doing DDR with your son? I knew it! There are a lot of closet DDR-ers (word?) out there in the world. Told ya so.