Healthy Peanut Butter

At last a great tasting healthy peanut butter....welcome to Oh Mega. Crede Natural Oils asked me to review their new Peanut Butter range:

• Enriched with omega-3 flaxseed oil
• No salt and no hydrogenated fats
• Sweetened with honey
• Available in smooth and crunchy

Peanut Butter is loved by both adults and children alike, but due to the high sugar, salt and hydrogenated fat content not something that I have recommended as a sandwich filler until now.

To review the products I called in the lunchbox specialists.....equipped them with jars of both the smooth and crunchy butter and told them to tuck in and give me their verdict.

VOILA! Lots of laughter, fun and tastebud tickling followed. Neither of the girls have been part of a product review before and were quite keen to have themselves heard.

Both of them liked the crunchy... I however, prefer the smooth, don't like juggling bits of nuts on my sandwich. I was expecting a rather bitter flaxseed taste, but Crede has somehow managed to mask the bitter flavour.

One can only pack so many PB & Jelly sandwiches, but with a house filled with Oh Mega jars I sat down and filtered through some of my older posts to compile this list of Peanut Butter Ideas.

15 Other Things to do with Healthy Peanut Butter

1. Make no bake peanut butter energy cookies.
2. If you are looking for a decadent dessert that is a healthy treat too try the peanut butter and banana ice-cream.
3. Whip up a healthy peanut butter smoothie.
4. Try the cream cheese and peanut butter dip for crudites.
5. A healthy lunchbox favourite the peanut butter and banana pita pocket.
6. Looking for something really different? Try these apple sandwiches filled with peanut butter.
7. Fill a jar with some peanut butter and insert celery sticks for a novel snack on the go.
8. How about a peanut butter and banana wrap?
9. Lose the nitrate filled sausage and try the hot banana dog.
10. Another healthy lunchbox favourite, the double decker peanut butter daisies.
11. Are you a sushi lover? Try the peanut butter sushi rolls.
12. Something on a stick, make raw chocolate and peanut butter pops.
13. Almond and peanut butter stuffed celery sticks.
14. Raw chocolate peanut butter pudding.
15. Rolled peanut butter cookie balls.

Subscribe to my Peanut Butter Pinboard for more healthy peanut butter ideas on Pinterest.

Competition: Win a Smooth and Crunchy Oh Mega Peanut Butter Pack

All winners of our contests are chosen at Random.org and will be notified via email, so please make sure your email address is correct. You will have 3 days to respond to me, or a new winner will be chosen.

How to Enter
This giveaway is open until 12pm on Saturday the 30th June 2012. It is open to all contestants in South Africa only.

Follow the instructions below to enter. 

You can leave one comment (entry) or many comments (entries) by picking one or more of the commenting options below.

Each seperate comment will be counted as an entry by the random number generator. You must also leave  a comment in the box below indicating or linking to the page where you have left your comments.

To Enter 
Leave your comments below to qualify for an entry:

1. Follow my boards on Pinterest.
2. Pin this post onto your Pinterest boards and submit a link.
3. @Twitter follow me @debbielangley
4. Tweet this giveaway, being sure to include my Twitter handle (@debbielangley). Here’s a sample tweet you could use or make up your own: Win a CRUNCHY and SMOOTH Oh Mega Peanut Butter from http://thehealthylunchbox.blogspot.com/
5. Pick your favorite Healthy Lunchbox & leave a comment on that post linking to it below.
6. Sign up for my RSS feeds
7. Link to this post (or any of my posts) on your blog.
8. Post this site onto your Facebook Timeline and leave a comment.
9. LIKE US on Facebook.
10. Share another great peanut butter idea in the comment box below.

The Winner will be announced on the 2nd July 2012.

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15 Snack Ideas for your healthy lunchbox

Adults and children alike love snack foods or snacks as we more commonly refer to them. They are eaten to reduce hunger pangs between meals or for pure enjoyment (which is usually the case). They provide some mystical feel good factor through spiking blood sugar levels and providing instant lifts when energy levels dip. Snacks foods receive far more advertising and media coverage than their nutrient dense counter parts and it is hardly if ever that a child or grown up will opt for an apple instead of a chip. So as part of your healthy lunchbox overhaul start reading the labels, don’t be conned by the bright colourful headlines that claim to be “sugar or preservative free”, as these usually contain other ingredients far more harmful to your health. Search for the actual ingredients and avoid any items that contain hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated oils, sugar, preservatives, colourants, flavourants , MSG or any other numbers or letters that have no meaning. There is no half-healthy junk food, clean out the cupboard completely and replace it with some of the following healthier snack alternatives.

• Preservative free dried fruits
• Preservative free dried veggies
• Snack bars (Ideally make your own or include some natural way bars which are healthier alternatives).
• Raw unsalted nuts
• Raw unsalted seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin, sesame etc
• Homemade or preservative free trail mixes
• Replace regular chips which are high in salt and fat with corn chips or veggie chips.
• Rice cakes
• Sesame chips or bars (Opt for the sugar free variety)
• Oat cakes
• Vegetable crudités spiced up with some hummus dip
• Hard boiled organic eggs (You can draw on the shells or mould them into different shapes)
• Natural yoghurt flavoured with fresh fruit purees (Not for the lactose intolerant)
• Whole fruit
• Popcorn (use an air-popper if possible as stove popped contains saturated fat and microwave versions are filled with additives, flavourings and fat.)

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The Healthy Lunchbox: Double Decker Peanut Butter Daisies

Today the healthy lunchbox is packed with double decker daisies. Apple slices layered together with peanut butter,secured with a toothpick and topped with a dried cranberry. Some juicy red plums and fig halves finish off the box (a rare find).

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Lunchbox Recipes: Homemade Banana and Oat Bars

Last night we baked these delicious banana and oat bars and I would recommend bookmarking it to your lunchbox recipes. They are made from raw oats, desiccated coconut, raisins and mashed banana. I am extremely thrilled to have found a recipe that actually works and tastes good. We'll definately be making more of these in the near future. I also included some pineapple rings and a handful of litchi's. I wanted to pre-peel the lichi's before including them this morning but was a bit pressed for time so I simply threw in a beautiful serviette for the girls to wipe their hands with. They also have a bowl of mango and coconut rice to enjoy.



Homemade Banana and Oat Bars

Yields: 8 Servings

Ingredients

4 cups quick oats not instant
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins or chopped dates
4 large ripe bananas mashed
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

optional
2 Tbs Honey optional
1/2 Cup desiccated coconut

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
2. Mix ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Press dough in a 9"X 9" baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Cool on wire rack. When cool, slice into squares or bars and serve.

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Lunchbox: Carob dipped toffee apples

For todays lunchbox idea I dipped this baby red apple in some melted carob and inserted an ice-cream stick in the centre to resemble a toffee apple. A big hit with the kids. I splurged out and filled the lunchboxes with some decadent blackberries, strawberries and cherries a real crowd pleaser. I have also discovered these nifty nut prepacks which the girls are also enjoying.

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Kiwi Ice cream Lunchbox

Melissa and Kelsey both devoured their kiwi ice cream lunchbox. I also included some pineapple flowers, peach halves and one of Mary-ann's halva bars. A must for any grocery cupboard, simply reach for one when you are pressed for time or lacking creativity.

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Lunchboxes: Pear Mice and Tricoloured Pasta

Feeling creative todays lunchboxes turned into a work of art. I dipped two pear halves in some coconut and transformed them into two mice. Some strawberries, carrot balls and a bowl of tri-coloured pasta made with chopped peppers and peas finished the lunchboxes.

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Lunch Box Idea: Basil pesto tortilla stuffed with garden veg

Decided to try a wrap as todays lunch box idea. (Still trying to find a delicious wholewheat version though.) I filled it with basil pesto, shredded lettuce, bean sprouts, grated carrot and some chopped red pepper. Melissa devoured her wrap and Kelsey's came home without a bite. I also skewered some watermelon balls and large black grapes for a bit of variety and included some trail mix and a peeled minneola.

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Healthy Snacks: Peanut Butter balls

Healthy snacks do you find them? The answer is yes, but you need to read the labels carefully and often it is easier just to make them yourself. Melissa and Kelsey just love peanut butter and so we decided to try these peanut butter balls. We placed some of them in the deep freeze and they turned into "toffee", quite delicious.

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Healthy Snacks: Halva Bar and Spicy Popcorn

Healthy Snacks: Found some cubed mango yesterday and couldn't resist it. Even though the summer fruits are never quite as tasty out of season we had an early taste of summer. Raspberries are also always a huge hit in my home, it is a real pity about the prices though as this is definately a fruit I could stock up with. I also included some naartjie wedges and a few slices of sweet pineapple. I could also include a bag of popcorn everyday and it always comes home eaten. Kids love popcorn! This popcorn was made in my hot air popcorn popper, drizzled with cold pressed olive oil and then generously sprinkled with some of Mary-Ann's seasoning salt - delicious. The halva bar is made only from fresh ingredients sesame seeds, dates and raisins. It is one of my favourite Mary-Ann bars and I often tuck in as a treat. It is an excellent natural and sugar free alternative to energy bars but unfortunately my girls are not too fond of the taste, it is quite rich but decadent. I'm sure it will become an acquired taste in the not to distant future.

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Healthy Snacks: Coconut Ice

Healthy Snacks: Today Melissa and Kelsey had 2 slices of healthy coconut ice, which is free of sugar, condensed milk and colourants. They also had chunks of greenpepper, some strawberries, pineapple slices, an apple and a naartjie.I also included a berry juice bottle made from ceres juice and filtered water diluted 50:50.

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