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Sticking with the PB&J

16 Comments

Inspired by iCarly (which I’ve only seen once… OK, Maybe twice) where T-Bo puts all his food on sticks, we skewered our lunch today.

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I’ve actually never liked the classic peanut butter and jelly together.  But My kids love it! This sandwich is so easy to make a health superstar, or a dietary disaster!

According to Wikipidia, the average North American child will consume 1500 PB&J’s before graduating high school! LOL  This makes it even more important to healthify the classic sandwich!

  • Replacing sugar infused, commercially prepared peanut butter with homemade nut butters may have the biggest impact on the overall nutrient density of this sandwich. So, how do you healthify this fave?
  • Replace sugar added jam, with jam prepared with only fruit.
  • Use whole wheat bread, or homemade bread.
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  • Peanut Butter swirl sandwiches (made with whole wheat cinnamon bread, peanut butter and jelly)
  • Peanut butter and sliced apples on whole wheat bread
  • Peanut butter, raisins and banana on whole wheat pita
  • Peanut butter and honey (or agave). We eat these often!
  • PB&J on a whole wheat waffle
  • Nut butter and applesauce
  • Grilled or toasted peanut butter and jelly
  • Peanut butter and Jelly Truffles
  • Peanut butter and Nutella
  • Soy nut butter with berries
  • A triple decker PB&J- Crust cut off, sliced into squares and skewered!
  • And the weirdest way- My husband eats his Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a bowl of milk, with a fork!

And for heaven sakes parents,  if the kids will only eat it with the crust cut off, just do it!  They grow out of it, I promise!

Do your kids like a “Beyond ordinary” Peanut butter and jelly?

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

Learn More about Natalie

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16 Comments

My husband likes his as: peanut butter, grape jelly, & pickles on toasted bread.
My son will eat them any way I offer. I like to do pb&j celery sticks.

Emily, you always make me laugh
Helen, Pickles? Inteesting 🙂
Christy- True- I never had either till we got married. Say’s he’s been doing it since he was a child.
Thanks Margot!!

I have 3 kids and they all like their pb sandwiches a different way.
12 yo-regular pbj
10yo-pb and sliced apples
7 yo-pb and raisins (or dried blueberries)

Who knew there were so many ways to eat a pbj?!

Great ideas. Our daughter still too young to make demands (18 months) but I’m sure it will come soon enough 🙂 She loves whole wheat bread, though.

My kids do PB and honey or some like just PB. I eat the crusts off first and save the middle for last.
ps. Thanks, now I’m hungry.

My husband eats pb, jelly, pickles, and hot sauce sandwiches. My 4 year old thinks it is the funniest thing she has ever seen. I just think it is disgusting.

My personal favorite is peanut butter and banana on whole wheat bread cooked on the George Foreman grill. (Yes, I own one of those things and no, I don’t have anything else in common with Elvis.)

My son has only had natural, organic blueberry preserves as his jelly with PB. So at least he’s getting a super food with natural PB & whole grain bread.

Recently at a friends house he was served an “uncrustable” and he didn’t like it. 😀

I have a 4 year old ‘problem feeder’… all she will eat is peanut butter and honey sandwiches (or toast) for breakfast, lunch, and YES, also dinner. She doesn’t eat ANY meats, or ANY vegetables. Fruits and dairy are eaten in limited, very particular selection. Dinner times are really frustrating, because my choice is to either give her yet another PB&H sandwich, or endure a multi hour meltdown, followed by a child who will finally fall asleep and go to bed without any food at all. At only 27lbs (4 years and 4 months old) this is not really an option 🙁 The struggle is real.