Peanut Butter Review & Recipe: Christina's Crazy PB&J Smoothie

Nanette from Krema Products was nice enough to send me some of their peanut butter to review. I was really eager to try their products because they contain only one ingredient: peanuts! How awesome is a peanut butter that has no added sugar, salt, or hydrogenated oils? Crazy awesome!


Speaking of crazy, Krema Products also makes the Crazy Richards line of peanut butters. The Krema line is found in the Midwest and the Crazy Richards line is found on the East Coast. There is no difference in the peanuts or the manufacturing process used to make the two lines--they just have different labels.


I was excited to see that I had received a crunchy and creamy peanut butter from both lines.

Peanut butter testing is serious business. I grabbed my roommate for Mission: Devour Peanut Butter. First, we tried the crunchy. As soon as we opened the jar, we could smell the peanuts. It smelled so fresh!

Before I sampled it, I could tell that it was going to be good. The aroma alone made my taste buds sweat.

My thoughts: nut perfection in a jar! The nuts are ground perfectly--not too crunchy to the point of wearing down your tooth enamel, but crunchy enough to make a delicious pb&j on toast. 


Boding's thoughts: This tastes very natural. Despite the viscosity, this peanut butter still retains that "stuck to the roof of your mouth" quality. 


Next we opened the creamy. Holy liquid on top. Boding was concerned that this wasn't even peanut butter, but I reminded him that the oil separation was normal. A quick stir with a knife was all we needed to get this butter ready for tasting!

Do not, I repeat, do not dump out the excess oil. I learned my lesson with my last peanut butter samples.

My thoughts: creamiest peanut butter ever. It was incredibly smooth. This peanut butter would be perfect to drizzle over oatmeal or Greek yogurt. It's so creamy that spoonfuls just kept falling into my mouth like magic. I wasn't mad...


Boding's thoughts: The texture is extremely soupy. It had a true to taste flavor in that you could tell there were no added preservatives. It would be great for mixing into cottage cheese or oatmeal. (Great minds think alike!)


We may or may not have busted out the Nutella for a delicious sweet & salty combo.

How fun are their labels? I love the colors. I think Krema Products should take note of this awesome lime green color and consider redoing the labels one day ;)

And again, how often do you see nut butters with an ingredient list like these:

Because I have no problem overdosing on peanut butter, I decided to make a smoothie so I could indulge a bit more.


Christina's Crazy PB&J Smoothie!
In the blender:

• 1-2 tbsp Crazy Richard's crunchy peanut butter
• 1 frozen banana
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries (or any fruit for the "jelly" flavor)
• 1 container vanilla Greek yogurt, 5.3 oz
• 1 tbsp flax seed
• splash of skim milk

YUM! This smoothie is a great source of protein. It is lightly sweet with a bit of crunch from the peanut butter and flax seed. Make one now!

For more information about Krema Products, please visit their site. They also have a blog! Crazy Richard's daughter writes this blog to educate people on the health benefits of peanut butter and she has a bunch of great recipes. Check it out!

As I blog this, I'm laying in bed watching Food Network (duh) and wearing this crazy contraption:

Sad story: I have shin splints. I noticed some pain when I was doing lunges yesterday, but I thought I was just being a wuss from too much tequila the night before. When I started running today I nearly flew off the treadmill because of shooting pains. I limped to the bathroom and big, beefy dude whose name I cannot remember asked if I was okay. He confirmed that my pain was shin splints and that I need to stay off it for a week. GAH. I said, "Ok. That's fine. I'll just stay in the man zone and get buff." His response: "Yeah! Let me train you for a week and you'll get swoll!" SWOLL?? REALLY?? Men are crazy!

What's your favorite peanut butter recipe?

What's your favorite smoothie combo? I need recommendations!

Here's to a great week!