We're having a nice storm right now that is supposed to FINALLY usher out the 18 day heat wave we've been enduring. Good riddance! I don't mind heat and humidity, but this heat has been HOT - high 90s, and the humidity has been HUMID, and just going from one air conditioned venue to the next can render one soaked with sweat in no time flat. Outdoor activity has really been almost impossible, unless you get out before the crack of dawn, which I haven't even though I'm up then. I don't usually mind heat and humidity, but this has been extreme, and made all the more memorable by the 3 days and nights without air conditioning! I'm happy to say the new $7000+ system is doing an exemplary job keeping Leslie cool.
Finally - a few months back, I broke down and ordered PB2 that I'd read about in several blogs.
It's real peanuts somehow defatted and powdered to be a much lower calorie and purportedly equally delicious version of traditional peanut butter. I'm a peanut butter fiend and have to handle it with GREAT CARE because this girl has been known to eat 3 or 4 big spoonfuls of regular crunchy peanut butter as an addition to whatever amount I'm using on a "measured" sandwich or piece of celery. I LOVE IT. Yes, it's protein, but no one needs the amount of protein I ingest when I partake. Nor the fat, heaven forbid.One of the issues with this product is that the smallest amount you can order is 4 jars! That's a sh*tload of shady powdered quasi-peanut butter when one has yet to sample it.
Perhaps I've not used it in enough ways to give it a fair trial; in fact I've only stirred it into oatmeal and tried mixing it per the directions on the back of the jar with warm water and tried it on a cracker like "real" peanut butter. I have to say I'm UNDERwhelmed. It's not bad, but definitely not good enough to warrant having to buy 4 jars at a time.
Finally, any Madmen fans out there? I'm so excited that the 4th season premieres tonight at 10 on AMC. It's a great show. I spent a good bit of time when I was recuperating from my knee surgeries watching the first 3 seasons and got totally hooked. I've been "jonesing" for the new season since March. Enjoy the diminishing remnants of the weekend, fellow bloggers.
I wondered how that PB stuff tasted. The other blogger who wrote about it uses it in smoothies, not alone. I also love PB and have to watch how much I eat. But I think this stuff has sugar which is a no-no PB addition for South Beach.
ReplyDeleteMad Men - I will be recording it and watch at some point. I started watching late in the game and got caught up first on DVD. With these types of shows I feel I need to go back to the first episode or I never figure out what is going on. I did the same with Grey's Anatomy and Sex and the City.
Awwww--yet another hope dashed. So many have written rave reviews on it that I was hoping yours would match them. If it did, I was ordering the stuff!
ReplyDeleteBut, now I'll skip it until I can find a sample.
I'm leary because I like pb STRAIGHT. Just right off of the spoon--no need to mess with bread or crakers! Although spreading it on Ritz crackers and then dipping them in cramy, sugary tea is an all-time favorite snack for me. Yep, snack--about 1500 cals worth of a snack, I'm sure!
Soooo, I'll pass. It's not worth it to me if it's only good mixed with stuff. I don't like the real stuff mixed! Like I said, I like it neat. chuckle. I wonder if there is a store where one can buy one jar... or if the manufacturer provides samples... Hmmm.
Thanks, Leslie! It's raining here, too, and I sure am lookng forward for cooler weather! (I'm 20 miles south of Pgh.)
Deb
I'm totally watching Mad Men tonight. Phones off and God help the family member who asks me where the "fill in the blank" is.
ReplyDeleteI love peanut butter....cups preferably :)
ReplyDeleteYep...it's not hard to figure out why my latest wardrobe accessory is cellulite!!
Good job on getting to the gym.
I'm so with you on the AC...I seriously thought I was going to melt. You would think the 2 of us would've dropped at least 8 lbs in that smoldering heat!! Nope...not here. I figured...poor me...no air....big bill....by all means EAT it makes it better. Repeatedly bang head into wall!!!
Way to go on the gym attendance! Perhaps this was the universe speaking, who knows. Anyway, use it while you've got it. Glad to hear your AC is working as it should and for that price, it certainly should.
ReplyDeleteI don't have cable, so I haven't seen Mad Men, but lots of folks I know are anxiously awaiting it's return. Must be good. I'll have to catch it on DVD one of these days.
Leslie, I think we must be sisters from a different lifetime - I'm the same way around peanut butter. It's another one of those thinks I cannot keep around.
Bummer about the PB2. The Better n Peanut Butter is OK and has lots less calories and fat than regular PB but more than PB2. I like crunchy, though, so it doesn't get it for me.
ReplyDeleteMy deadly PB treat is worse than Deb's--I spread on graham crackers, drizzle with honey, and dip in hot chocolate with marshmallows. "Sigh"
We got the cold front-thunder storm this afternoon, too. Our temp droped 25 degrees from the 103 I noticed on the thermometer at noon. YAY. Glad your AC is behaving as it should now. I'm so glad I live in the AC age.
ReplyDeleteI'd read about PB2, but not tried it. I tend not to like stuff like that. Thanks for your input. I like PB on granny smith apple slices. The WW portion is ridiculously inadequate to properly cover one sliced apple. My handsdown favorite PB is Crazy Richard's brand (either Safeway or Whole Foods, I think) which has no added sugar, salt, or hydrogenated fats. Just the nuts, nothing but the nuts. Amazingly good (and won't kill your wallet, either).
It would be too good to be true for a product with 85% less fat than the original to be tasty. Sometimes I wonder about those claims. Like 50% less fat than WHAT? A bucket of lard?
ReplyDeleteGood job at the gym!
The youngest and I have very 'adjusted' palates. And we could not eat PB2 either. This fact really surprised me. The even more surprising fact was the middle child, who is picky, COULD happily eat the chocolate PB2. It didn't matter if it was plain or chocolate, the youngest and I could not choke it down, no matter how we ate it.
ReplyDeleteIf I pay for something - I am there, I use it. So I can totally understand, now that the $$$ really MEANS something, you're now going to the gym faithfully. And I wonder if the $$$ focus will then shift to fitness focus.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts on trying PB2 sound like yours were. I love my natural PB (or other nut butters), and for some reason I can't imagine a powdered PB would suffice.
ReplyDeleteFrom now on, LOL stands for Less of Leslie!
ReplyDeleteI think you're better off just rationing out the real PB than messing with that other stuff. I just think overly processed food can't be as good as the real thing and probably isn't worth the money or effort. I've actually been known to throw stuff away.
I've never heard of the powdered PB, but thanks for the heads up. I suppose the first clue should be that they make you buy 4 at a time.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I adore Mad Men. What did you think about last night's episode? I like that Peggy finally seems to be coming into her own more.
I loved this batch of PB2! It was WAY better this time than is has been in the past. I do like it as a snack on apples, and I also add it to my oatmeal. I know they have recipes available on how to use it and I have added it to home made granola bars.
ReplyDeleteTrying to catch up! I haven't even opened that jar yet because I'm not a big peanut butter fan...but I was thinking it was another way to get in lower calorie protein sometimes because I eat WAY too much meat. Such a carnivore. I forget to do it though, lol. I need to buy a jar of that Smuckers low sugar jelly...maybe that will inspire me....who doesn't love a PB&J once in a while? :)
ReplyDelete