Going "Nuts"

I somewhat recently discovered that I cannot eat peanut butter. PB & J was my go to sandwich all through elementary school. I don't have a severe reaction to it but I do tend to become nauseous. Enough so that I have to take something and hope I don't see it a second time. It took several times of ingesting it before I realized it was the culprit. The pain that had me in the fetal position on the couch no longer controls me.

My favorite candy bars tended to be ones with chocolate and peanuts or chocolate and peanut butter. Needless to say I was pretty disappointed when I found out. Granted I don't need the candy and it's probably the best thing to ever happen to me. Since I can't eat my favorite candy anymore I have started making my own granola type protein bars. This helps me in 2 ways. One, I have something to eat for breakfast that is quick and easy. Two I have something to eat as a snack that is healthy and quite delicious. It satisfies my sweet tooth without destroying my nutrition goals.

With that being said my protein bars use almond butter instead of the dreaded peanut butter. I am not sure if you know this or not but almond butter is fairly expensive when compared to peanut butter. I checked out a recipe book from my local library and in it there was a recipe for making guess what, that's right, almond butter! Let me tell you I was so excited that I did a little dance. I have not had a chance to make it yet but I have no doubt that it will be just as delicious and just as flavorful as the stuff I buy at the store.

As a side note, I do a good portion of my shopping at Sam's Club and they have a 3 pound bag of whole almonds for about $10. I have been buying them to chop and put in my granola bars but now they will have a whole new purpose: making almond butter which will also be used in my granola bars.

You may be able to tell how excited I am about making my almond butter by now since I have dedicated an entire post about it. I hope to have time this weekend to give it a whirl. I will keep you posted!