{The Everyday - Two Essential Spreads}

Whether for slathering on toast, apple slices, celery or carrots, these two spreads are full of omegas and protein.  I like to start my day out with food that will fill me up and provide energy for the day and raw Almonds and Sunflower Seeds are an easy go to for me.  

Almond Butter and Sunflower Butter are my two favorite spreads out of all the nut/seed options out there.  Raw Almond Butter, in my opinion, is the best whole and nutritional nut spread you take eat and Sunflower Butter just plain tastes delicious and is very similar to Peanut Butter.  I have a subtle allergy to peanuts, so this is my treat instead.  These spreads can be quite pricey at most health food stores, so if you are going to buy pre-made spreads I have to recommend buying from Trader Joe's.  They offer a much less expensive raw (that's the key), not roasted, Almond Butter with the options of crunchy or smooth and salted or unsalted.  As for the Sunflower Butter it's a similar story when it comes to price, so TJ's is still the way to go.  My only pause with the Sunflower Butter is the sugar content.  It, like Peanut Butter, has more sugar than I would like to advocate for others or just put in my own body on a regular basis, so I recently looked into creating my own. 

 If you are interested and own a food processor or VitaMix I would definitely recommend making your own butters.  It's actually quite simple.  Pour 1/2 to 1 cup of seeds/nuts in with a tablespoon of your preferential oil (I like to use Coconut or Grapeseed) and any other additions flavors for taste.  If you want a smoother more spreadable butter, just keep adding oil until it reaches the consistency you desire. 

In the batch I recently made I added 1 to 2 tbsp of Agave a dash of Cinnamon and a 1/2 tsp of delicious Vanilla.  After processing my spread I scooped it into a glass jar I recycled from another spread and put it in my fridge.  It's lasted me 2 weeks so far and seems like it will keep for a few more.  

An easy inexpensive and nutritious treat if you ask me! Give it a try and share what flavor you used to spice up and flavor your butter.  I'd love to hear about your experiments.

Enjoy!