A peanut butter love affair

So today I made a yummy post work out snack with all of my favourite things all smashed together

All I did was get three beautiful plumb Medjool Dates and removed the pip

I started off by spreading some fresh cottage cheese onto the fresh multigrain bread and sprinkled some cinnamon on top, I layered the Medjool dates like a little blanket covering the cheese. I finished off by slathering a good layer of crunch peanut butter on the lid of the sandwich and squashed it all together to perfection.


Dates are an excellent source of iron and fibre, they are a great snack that will conquer sweet cravings in a healthy way. Dates are a good source of selenium, selenium is a potent antioxidant that also benefits thyroid function and the immune system.

Peanut Butter Peanuts are packed with essential vitamins and minerals. They are extremely rich in protein, which your body uses to strengthen and use as building blocks as they are very high in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils.

I have been somewhat deluded about this before, Peanut Butter contains the good fats!! I used to stay as far away from anything that I thought contained a stack load of fat, but I have now come to realise how essential these fats are for keeping your hair skin, nails and overall make you feel energised. We are all somewhat fooled by food that states “low fat” making us think that anything we consume with fat in the content will cause us to gain a lot of weight. Whilst when foods have been reduced in fat, sugar is added to enhance taste, therefore raising the carbohydrate levels also, which will probably be more damaging to your diet if you are trying to maintain your weight.

I have really become addicted to the stuff recently, I have begun adding it to daily meals, at breakfast I will add it to my warm oats so that it melts through, leaving a yummy nutty flavour. This is a great way to start your morning as it will give you instant energy. In my opinion, beginning your day with a higher calorie meal is a better strategy in maintaining your energy levels throughout the day. I will also have a snack about 30 mins before bed of carrot sticks and peanut butter, this has become a bit of a tradition for me now! Peanut Butter is also known to be a great sleep promoter as it is classified as “Sleepers” which are foods containing tryptophan, tryptophan is the amino acid that the body uses to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter that slows down nerve traffic so your brain isn't so busy.

It does not suprise me that when medical teams visit children like the poverty stricken youth in Africa they are given foods like toast with peanut butter as it is an instant energising meal.

I usually get stuck into Coles Home brand peanut butters but yesterday I convinced my boyfriend to drive us out to USA Foods in Bentleigh (about 30 mins from Melbourne CBD) where they stock a bunch of different American food products. So where else would you find the best brand peanut butters? Americans do it best. I bought a “JIF” creamy peanut butter which is 90% peanuts, compared to the usual 70-80% ones you find around Australia. I was really excited, and like $7.00 for peanut butter, it does taste pretty good. I think its because it came all the way across the world. Im scared to eat it all too quickly because it was a bit of an effort to get it!