Not so recent find...

I'm allergic to nuts. It's a relatively new thing, so it's still sort of a transition for me. I grew up eating all nuts, peanut butter sandwiches, etc. When I was 20, I was waitressing at a local italian restaurant for the summer. On my break one day, I went down to the kitchen to make myself a salad. I put a spoonful of pinenuts on the top of my salad, for a little crunch. I take one bite of my salad and within seconds, I realize something is wrong. My throat and mouth are covered in bumps and I realize my throat is closing up. Really scary stuff!! My boss takes me to the ER, where they give me some shots and tell me I was in the beginning stages of anaphylactic shock. Luckily I got there quickly, because it could have been alot worse. UMM WOW. So I go to an allergist later that week, where he tests me for ALL nuts, and they all come back positive. He's not sure why it happens, but he tells me that alot of adults do develop allergies to foods they've eaten their whole life.

So that leads me to the next 6 years of my life, where I have to be super careful with what I eat and cut out alot of the foods I used to enjoy. It definitely sucks, but what are you going to do. The hardest part is that I really do miss eating alot of foods, because I know how good they are (pb and j sandwich?? YUM! All candy with peanut butter?? DOUBLE YUM!). It's not like a little kid, who has never eaten these foods, so they don't really know what they're missing. My mom and I started doing some research into alternatives that I could eat and after alot of trial and error (including eating some really gross stuff), we found Sunflower Seed Butter.

I tried soy butter, but really didn't like the consistency and it didn't taste quite right to me. But the Sunbutter, as it's called, is delicious!! I love the taste (it actually tastes SO close to peanut butter, you really wouldn't be able to tell on a sandwich) and I like that it comes in both creamy and chunky (my fave). You can only find it at like Whole Foods or Trader Joes, but I'm hoping that eventually they will start to carry it in regular grocery stores. With all the food allergies out there, it's a great option for any families that can't even keep peanut butter in house (my allergy isn't any where near that bad...I have to actually eat nuts to have a reaction). I use it all the time, even in recipes that call for peanut butter, and it always comes out well. So while this isn't a recent find for me, I wanted to share for anyone who is allergic to nuts and is looking for a peanut butter alternative. Even if you're not allergic to nuts, you may want to try it...it's that good!