Powdered Peanut Butter: Space Food Gets Real
By raincoaster
Remember Tang? It’s what we had before we had SunnyD. Old people remember Tang, and the thing we remember best about it is that the astronauts had Tang in their space ships, and so we wanted it. We wanted it with all the blind zealotry that preschoolers can muster. We wanted to be astronauts, too, and we knew we had the right stuff, and we figured we might as well get a head start by acclimating to the menu as early as possible. But we refused to eat the dehydrated peas, and so we grew up to be bloggers instead.
Where was I?
Ah, yes. The astronaut menu was all about the dehydrated, the freeze-dried, the vacuum-packed, the foil-lined, and the otherwise meddled-with. If you were off to the Moon you wouldn’t think to pack an apple until it had been reduced to something resembling the stuff you scatter on your driveway when it’s icy. THAT is real down-home astronaut cooking. Unappealing, impractical, expensive, and synthetic.
my head almost exploded when I recently found PB2. PB2 is my newest peanut butter obsession. Basically, it’s just powdered peanut butter... a fine, insanely delicious-smelling, peanut butterlicious powder that is EXTREMELY versatile.
According to Bill Keith, head of sales and marketing for Bell Plantation, the company that sells this delightfully bizarre foodstuff, it’s better for you than regular peanut butter.
Here are the nutritional facts : Reg PB has between 190-200 calories per serving, PB2 has 54. Reg PB has between 140-150 fat calories per serving, PB2 has 25. PB2 is all natural. There are no additives.
But wait, there’s more! Sure, it’s self-evidently astro-fabulous, but it is also delightfully reminiscent of some of the shall we say less orthodox archetypes of the Sixties.
As HungryGirl says:
I literally spent an entire Saturday night experimenting with this stuff and had the BEST time (it was not nearly as pathetic as it sounds, I promise).
No word on if she put it in brownies. And from Bill’s recommendations on the RandomThoughts blog:
You mix 2TBS of PB2 w/ 1 TBS of the liquid of your choice. Water will reconstitute it to the consistency of regular PB. You adjust the formula to your taste. JC’s granddaughter likes it w/ grape juice. Try it with your favorite liquid. I know someone that mixes it w/jalapeno juice. Talk about a kick.
Hmmmm. Who would do a thing like that?
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 pm
I will try it with the deluxe vodka and let you know…
(I am being PC enough, Yes?)
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Yes, but if it’s any good I expect you’ll forget to tell us how you liked it.
April 3rd, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Better living through chemistry. It’s a brave new world out there.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:32 pm
If it is good and I forget, then I will not post and you will know it’s good… Is this like a time loop? I will post if it’s good and I remember but if it’s great I don’t remember it’s good but if it’s awful and I don’t remember is it good? I think I am confusing myself so I will eat peanut butter and drink vodka… Try it yourselves!
April 4th, 2008 at 2:36 am
The first thing I thought of was to put this in brownies. Hmmmm…
April 4th, 2008 at 2:53 am
There is vodka in every OTHER flavour. Why not good old-fashioned PB vodka. If you use one of the berry-flavoured ones, you could have PB&J vodka!
Glinda, I’m SHOCKED!
Seriously, since you have to order four jars at a time I think I’m going to go in with a couple of friends and order some of this. I adore peanut butter and put it in sauces and soups all the time, to say nothing of my famous PB and Coffee Milkshake.
April 6th, 2008 at 10:52 am
[…] Raincoaster… Remember Tang? It’s what we had before we had SunnyD. Old people remember Tang, and the thing we remember best about it is that the astronauts had Tang in their space ships, and so we wanted it. […]
April 6th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
I’ve been drinking about a quart of Tang a day since I was about 5. My immune system is nearly bulletproof from the vitamin C and my blood is a pale orange color.
I must have skipped the part while growing up about the “growing up”. I still eat cocoa puffs and trix, and I get a Burger King kids meal every so often-though when they ask if I want a toy for a boy or a girl, I say “surprise me”.
April 6th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Burger King still gives out toys? This is what I miss by being an A&W loyalist.