PB&J Without Butter?

 A few Christmases ago, in fact, the Christmas just before her passing, my dear mom was not well enough to come to our family Christmas party. Not to be left out of the holiday spirit, as each family member visited, she had a gift for them...a jar of Smucker's Red Raspberry Preserves. To this day, I don't know who brought them to her, but I have always loved Smucker's products and didn't think to ask. Fewer than 3 months later, she was no longer with us, but the preserves were and an anecdote about PB&J sandwiches along with it.

To set the groundwork, several years ago when my mother was cleaning the home of a wealthy woman (she loved cleaning), we were visiting the home where she cleaned, and making some sandwiches. Let me say that my mother has always loved BUTTER...not margarine or spreads, she could believe it's not butter! The interesting thing I learned that day was she had NEVER buttered the bread on our/her PB&Js! I understood not doing the jam/jelly side, but I always buttered the peanut butter side, cause I love butter too! I probably gave her a bit too much ribbing for her butter-less peanut butter, and I felt bad afterword. Other family members were surprised too.

That brings me to this post. Since being diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes, I have had to find a better way to eat a PB&J. In keeping with the gift from my mom, I still use Smucker's Red Raspberry Preserves, but now the Sugar Free variety sweetened

with Splenda. My favorite replacement for the peanut butter is Sunflower Butter from Trader Joe's and I use Dave's Killer Bread, or Franz's 24 grain bread, and let us not forget BUTTER! This is a truly delicious replacement and a bit more healthy for me. We never had whole wheat bread growing up; just the soft, white, store-brand with an occasional loaf of Wonder Bread thrown in! Bless you, Mom, and thanks for all of the PB&Js, even without butter!