4 out of 6 people in our house love peanut butter. My oldest daughter (she's 15) and my son (he's 10) are just not that into nuts -- unless, the peanut butter comes mixed with chocolate -- but, my youngest daughter (she's 7) takes a PB&J sandwich to school, for lunch, every day.
We're joining the Parent Bloggers Network in trying out Maranatha nut butters as Hope demonstrates how to make a perfectly healthy peanut butter & jelly sandwich.
Sit back folks, she IS a professional.
Maranatha (pronounced "mare-uh-Nah-thuh") has been manufacturing organic and natural nut and seed butters in Ashland, Oregon, since 1982 and, in light of the recent peanut butter contamination scare, I thought I'd pass along some quick facts about their manufacturing facility:
- Maranatha sources peanuts from only approved growers and the company's stringent food safety and quality control standards include the testing of all peanuts that come into the facility.
- 100% of Maranatha nut butter production takes place at the Ashland facility, a facility that is dedicated entirely to the production of Maranatha products.
- Compared to conventional peanut butters, Maranatha's natural and organic peanut butters have 85% less sodium per serving, and Maranatha's line also includes no salt, no sugar options.
- Maranatha peanut butters are made in small batches with a special grinding process using only the finest, heart healthy peanuts. Maranatha uses carefully roasted Organic Valencia or Natural Runner peanut varieties with the choices of creamy and crunchy textures.
- Maranatha is all natural, has no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, is rich in monounsaturated fat (the good fat) cholesterol free, gluten free, vegan and has certified organic varieties.
For this review, I headed to our local Whole Foods and picked up a jar of Maranatha Organic Cruncy No Stir Peanut Butter, because it would be hard to convince my children that the oil rising to the top of the peanut butter jar is, you know, a good thing.
"Wow, these are some great coupons!"
At $4.99 each, I agreed and told the cashier, with the chic and very fashionable eye glasses, that it was one of the perks of being a product reviewer.
"Who do you write for?"
[big toothy grin]
"I have a blog called This Full House!"
[sound of old record player scratching]
"Oh, that's nice."
Actually, she thought it was pretty cool that our family gets to try new things, like buying an organic peanut brand of peanut butter, I even picked out a big honking jar (read: 16 ounces) of almond butter... just for me.
"That'll be $14.50, Ma'am."
I started handing her $2.00 and she must of thought that I did not hear her right, as the realization that I also totally misread the price sticker, came on me like last night's Mexican dinner.
"WHOA, are you kidding me?!?"
Look, I appreciate the fact that shopping for organic products means consumers are going to have to pay a little more attention to the cost of processing a healthier choice of foods. Still. I'm just not that into almonds.
"Would you like to go back and chose another jar."
I thanked my very chic and fashionable cashier and told her that I had embarrassed myself enough, already, took my $4.99 jar of peanut butter and went home.
Now, onto the PB&J demonstration, using Maranatha Organic No Stir Crunchy Peanut Butter and taste test:
FINAL VERDICT: Both, my youngest daughter (a.k.a. our resident PB&J aficionado) and I appreciated the intense peanut flavor of the Maranatha brand of organic nut butter, but the slightly sweet flavor was a pleasant surprise, compared to the sharper, more bitter taste of other natural brands of peanut butter we've tried. I also happen to think that -- considering, I didn't have to deal with any messy oils, or have to explain to my kids that it's supposed to look like that -- their "no stir" peanut butter is pure genius. That alone, my friends, makes this organic peanut butter definitely worth the effort.
FIND MARANATHA ONLINE HERE: http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/nspired/maranatha/home.d2w/report
You can also find Maranatha Nut Butters at Kroger's, Whole Food Stores and for your convenience, are now available for online purchase at Maranatha's new webstore.
[This review was made possible by the Parent Bloggers Network]
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