Peanut Butter Jelly Time

It'ssss peanut butter jelly time...



Hahaha, justttt kidding.

Anyway, this is a RANT. A rant about serving size, caloric density, and deceptive packaging. RANT. So, think what you wish.

I rarely go without having peanut butter 1-3 times per week. It is so delicious that I will willingly "trade-off" more food quantity for some PB, because PB is high fat and calorie. So, I traveled these past two weekend and part of this travel was a long-ish drive. I made some of Sarah's breakfast cookies and took them with me because...well, gas station snacks are less than ideal! As per her suggestion of adding a nut butter to the top, I went with it. To more easily transport peanut butter, I went after some single serving containers. I found these things called Jif to Go.


This homegirl is down with portable peanut butter. Holla (if only it came in crunchy?:-P)

So, I snapped a photo for you using my blackberry so you can see , next to my sharpie marker, exactly how big these cups are.



Looks reasonable, right? The packaging reads "6 single cups" as part of the hook. So, what would most normal people think? They give it to me in these cute little cups that are "great for dipping" (per the package), so I must be able to consume the entire cup and be cool with that! Pre-op, I would have been happily dipping my carrots away, consuming the whole cup, and saying pppssshhhhawww to the cookies I was passing on.

Now, I, of course, flipped the package over to look at the nutrition facts. There were two separate columns. Suffice it to say, I was shocked when I read the column for one serving (which I assumed based on the packaging was one whole cup) said 195 calories and 16g of fat (standard for a serving PB, this is why I was cautioned at its caloric density). The serving size was listed in ounces (who really thinks of peanut butter in anything other than tablespoons?!) and it was convolutedly referring to half of the cup. Why not just write 1/2 of "single cup"? I am envisioning consumer confusion and apathy abounding! I think this packaging leads people to believe that the cup is a serving...it seems really misleading there...even though the packaging doesn't say "single SERVING cup".

So, you go through and dip your carrots, pretzels, or apples in this whole peanut butter cup. You will have consumed 390 cal and 32g of fat. My eyes just about popped out of my skull. I'm not a calorie counter, but I AM very careful with things like nuts and cheeses...don't want to get too crazy! I myself could easily consume this amount of peanut butter (might make me uncomfortable...all of the fat) and I have a 6-8 oz. stomach. I can imagine busy moms and dads dropping these into their kids lunches as a "healthy" snack. How would the child know not to consume the whole creamy and delicious pack?

They say that low-fat diets aren't going to lead to any significant weight loss, which I agree with, but consuming 400 cal worth of peanut butter in one sitting...for an average person...is a bit much. If you're eating it with pretzels or an apple, tack on at least 100 additional cal, carrots 50. A "snack" at 500 cal? NOT ideal.

You had to be on your game and NOT a passive food consumer to notice this. That's what made me mad! Everyone around me is in such a hurry all of the time they may fail to notice that these are NOT single SERVING cups, rather a means to package 200% serving sizes into portable packages.

So, WTF, Jif? Why couldn't you just put it in a g*d d*mned single serving container and actually HELP the American public with our serving size issues instead of further exacerbating the problem on a particularly calorie laden food?

Party in The USA

“Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus

I seem to excel at writing blog entries on my flights to and from Seattle, so here we go.

I have the BEST seatmate next to me on the airplane right now. I mean. He is superb. He’s not passing judgement on me, he’s friendly, he’s selfless, he’s a cuddly teddy bear…and he loves carrots. He has big feet. And he’s canine. He is a seeing eye dog. His name is Cooper and he looks a little like Deb and Ed’s dog Heidi, except he’s tri-colored. It is thoroughly outstanding that the only food I happen to have in my bag right now is carrots, which are his “treats”. We may be soul mates. ☺ The guy across the isle should take note, he’s pretty darn surly and has a staring problem!


Not his best pic, but I had to take it on my blackberry.

I was in Seattle/WA this past weekend for enology camp for my WSU learnin’. I was in Seattle/WA the weekend before for grape camp for my additional WSU learnin’. I’m tired of traveling, but have had a series of outstanding weekends. This past weekend I got to see a few of the people I really liked from the enology class and got to know a few more…wine people are (for the most part) hella cool. We’re winemakers, or wannabes, for a reason. Winemaking attracts an eclectic bunch, and that is very cool for me. Mostly passionate, confident, driven people. The week before was viticulture camp, and this is all an amazing fantastic world to me. I know comparatively little about viticulture, but I am certainly enjoying learning. Bring on the vineyards! I can’t envision being a winemaker and not knowing anything about farming. I equate not knowing viticulture to picking up a book halfway through and expecting to have a thorough understanding of what is going on. It just won’t happen. I like farmers, anyway.

I have been undergoing a bit of a….food revolution lately. A food revolution, you say? I underwent a food revolution last May in a big way (yes, I still miss big tasty ciabatta rolls and ice cream) but now I’m fine tuning things. I am reading a fine hunk o' book called “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan. It is science dense and fantastic and I highly recommend it.



But, it has made me reconsider the foods that I eat where they come from. So, I’m setting off on a sort of quest to do my best at eating real food, grass fed meats, and un-processed as much as possible on a limited budget. I think that could be a blog in itself. I’m considering switching gears a bit here as this is consuming a considerable amount of my brain space and thinking time. Should I become a food blogger? Explore the world of being conscious about where my food comes from, how it is processed, and what that might mean for balance in many ways: environmental, nutritional, financial….balance. How can I try not to get bogged down in the buzzwords that are now corporate and government sponsored: “organic” or “sustainable”, etc? Do free range chickens REALLY free range? Can a woman like me wade through all of that crap…in addition to having limited financial means and no land to grow anything on and actually eat real food?

I don’t know. I’ll work on it. We’ll see. I’m working on a number of things at the moment…running a 5k next weekend (the 20th!). I’m pretty psyched. I will keep you all posted on how that goes.

Looks like we’ve started our descent into Oakland, so, I have to run!

Yes, I am listening to Miley Cyrus. I’m not too cool to admit it, I freakin’ love this song. “Got my hands up they’re playing my song, I know I’m gonna be okay…” Miley, you’re a little bit shady, but I sure do love this little pop-tart of a song! (And yes, I still have my Achy Breaky Heart CD, don’t hate.)