Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Peanut Butter and Jelly changed up

Tip- Expand your child's palate by changing ingredients

Here are some of my "peanut butter and jelly" ideas. I will break it down into three parts. The butter, the jelly, and the bread. Changing these three parts on a regular basis will prevent your child from becoming accustomed to one and will expand their tastes.  

Butter
Make sure you are buying natural peanut (or other nut) butter. Meaning its made from nuts only without added sugar. It will separate (the oil will go to the top...so we put it in the fridge upside down and this seems to work for us). Make sure to read your labels! I have made the mistake of almost buying a peanut butter that was labeled natural but when I read the ingredients it read peanuts then sugar. I would also suggest trying almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower butter, or, if you give your child soy, they make soy butter too.

Jelly
I don't like to give my children "jelly" as most jarred versions have a large amount of sugar in them. Some of the alternatives that I do like are thinly sliced strawberries, bananas, mangoes, or pineapples. I also use fruit butter. They come in so many different flavors and are only called butter if the ratio of fruit to sugar is less then 2:1 which isn't true of jams.
These are the two we currently are using in our house. (Yea for Trader Joe's coming to Miami....soon!!) 

Bread
I'm sure I don't have to tell you that whole grain bread is the best for your child. What I will suggest though is trying different kinds whether oat, wheat, rye, and whatever else you can find. I also like to change it up and use rice cakes, english muffins, or crackers.

Bonus Tip- Try adding in slivered almonds for added crunch and protein!


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