If you grew up in the 1960s like I did, your Batman/Barbie lunch box probably carried PB&J sandwiches to school at least twice a week. In all my years in the school yard, elementary school through high school, I never knew one kid who was allergic to peanuts – not one. Now it seems like every other kid has a peanut allergy. I wonder why?
Some public schools now ban peanuts and products containing peanuts from school grounds altogether but they still keep serving that mystery meat they’ve been serving our kids in the school lunch program for years – which I always suspected was more Mr. Ed than bovine.
Not long ago the famous chef-author, Jamie Oliver, tried to gussy up the school lunch program here in the U.S. – West Virginia to be exact. I don’t think it went well. Despite some of the criticism leveled at him, I believe Jamie’s heart was in the right place and I have to give him major props for giving it a go.
I think Jamie would approve of this recipe.
Need This
4 hard apples (like Red Delicious or Gala)
1 jar of Natural Style* chunky peanut butter
1 lemon
Cayenne pepper (optional)
Do This
Wash the apples well under hot running water for a good minute or so.
Core the apples and slice each into 8 equal slices.
If you are not going to eat them immediately, squeeze some lemon juice over them and they won’t brown so fast, otherwise save the lemon for something else.
Put a good blob of peanut butter into small bowls and sprinkle a little cayenne over it – if using. Serve the sliced apples on the side. As Jamie Oliver would say.. Tuck in!
Serves 4. My cost approx. $ 3.95 total – about 98 cents per serving.
*You want peanut butter with no added sugar which is often (but not always) identifiable by the word “Natural” on the label. Read the nutrition label. The sugars per serving size should be no more than 1g. Smucker’s Natural is a good one, but there are others. Sugar is the enemy. GMN