How To Make: Peanut Butter!!

I was so excited the first time even just the idea popped into my head. I’ve mentioned a number of times before that I’m not happy with how the United States runs our food industry. I’m not happy seeing studies that link soy to infertility, that link growth hormones (which is in our milk and beef) to puberty happening in our children at such an early age. And by early I’m not talking 12ish, I’m talking about parents brining they’re little girls into to see the doctor because she hit puberty in kindergarten. KINDERGARTEN! So I’m a HUGE advocate for buying local, buying organic and making everything I can possible can at home. It’s not just delicious meals that I like to bring to my readers, but I hope to show you that every day items you buy from the shelves really don’t take much effort to make in your own homes. Most of the time, it’s cost effective too. Take Wednesday post about making your own Jam. It cost me just over a dollar a jar to make. Peanut butter is the same way. I bought one pound of peanuts from the bulk section for under three dollars. When I compare that to the the popular brands at my local grocery store, it’s roughly the same price. However, the biggest difference is mine has much less sugar and no added salt. Do you know that Americans consume roughly 4000 mg of sodium daily. WHO (World Health Org) recommends not exceeding 2400 mg while other health agencies suggest not exceeding 1500 mg.  So now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that you need some fancy equipment to make peanut butter right? Nope, wrong. I made it in my food processor and I have to tell you, it’s not some fancy high powered brand either. Besides, once you taste real home made peanut butter, you’ll never go back. I’m certainly not. Oh and one more thing. I’m not sure if this will work for ALL types of nuts but I have also had success with cashew. If anyone try’s a different type of nut, such as almonds, please let me know how it turned out!
What You Need:
1lb roasted, UNSALTED peanuts, no skins (unless you like them in your peanut butter)
2 tbs honey
2 tbs Peanut or Veg oil
What To Do:
Grind the peanuts up a bit in the food processor until they’re chunky, like what you find to top ice cream with. Add in your honey and turn the food processor back on. With it running on high, very slowly add in your oil. You’ll see the peanuts go from chunks, to a paste. At first, it's going to look like a big glob and you'll think you need more oil, but trust me you don't. Just let your food processor do the work and in another minute or two, you'll see nice creamy peanut butter. You’ll never get “smooth” peanut butter that you would buy in a store, but the more you let the food processor go, the less coarse the peanut butter will become. The amount of oil needed will also depend on the fat content of the type of peanut you buy, Spanish peanuts tend to have a high oil content.  Store in an air tight container for up to 2 months in the fridge.
You can also do this almonds.