Jiffy, Peter Pan or Skippy

Serious Eats, a website dedicated to celebrating foods people love, determined that April 2 was National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. To celebrate, the editors provided us with an in-depth special report on how to build the world's best PB&J sandwich. I decided to celebrate and made my own.

I started to investigate the nutritional value of my sandwich. I was not happy to learn that my childhood favorite delivers 18 grams of fat and 400 calories. If I think about the PB&J only in terms of its calories and fat, this sandwich will be limited to a rare appearance at the lunch table. Fortunately I choose to look on the bright side: Peanut Butter is a good source of protein (my sandwich had 12 grams) and if I use natural peanut butter, I'll get less sugar. If I replace the white bread with wheat, I'll get more fiber and other nutrients. And maybe I'll try a sugar-free jelly to cut some calories. A half a PB&J is a satisfying snack, and the joy it brings is worth keeping it in my diet.