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I grew up eating a slice of toast with a little butter, peanut butter, and a banana sliced on top, every single day for breakfast. Sometimes marshmallow fluff as well. Practically never ate it otherwise though, and never craved it. Did have the occasional pb& J,and the much preferred pb and brown sugar sandwich. It's also very good on waffles with maple syrup.

My peanut butter love now is peanut sauce on linguini. I sometimes make up the whole jar of pb as sauce so it's ready.

My can't eat just one problem is potato chips.

I have to say Ed, reading about both you and Frank Bruni's struggles with peanut butter have made me feel so much better about my own 'problem'--it's funny, as a kid I didn't like pb sandwiches that much, but then as a prepubescent I got into the deadly 'spoon Skippy chunky' from the jar mode and it was downhill since...

I go through periods when I don't eat it, but for when I do, single-serve containers like this
http://www.justinsnutbutter.com/products.php

have saved me--when you genuinely have a single serving of peanut butter, it is amazing to realize how little there is in two tablespoons--a real wake-up to how much I can eat if I give myself free reign. The words 'even out the swirl' and peanut or any nut butter are deadly in my vocabulary.

Interestingly, I'm the complete opposite with peanut butter, and if you speak to many nutritionalists (including the one at the gastroenterology department at UVA, who first told me this) they have quite a different take on peanut butter. Used in moderation, it is a weight loss aid. If I am getting peckish in the long hours of the afternoon, I help myself to a teaspoon of peanut butter. Very filling for its calories (if you pause for 15 mins to give your stomach time to register it), it is the perfect filler to carry me through to the evening.

I guess the real point is the 'moderation' part :)

Peanut butter has HFCS in most brands. Which is no good for you even without the diet it is bad. I look for peanut butter without it. Lucky for us the local market carries some without.

I use for Mr Tomato when making his peanut butter sandwich a plastic spoon. It is not a full teaspoon it is deceptively 3/4 of one. He "thinks" he is getting 2 teaspoons of peanut butter but he is only getting 1.5.

Also another big issue is store bought bread and HFCS. They hide it in there too. I find only Arnold brand bread comes without it (not all the flavors but about half of them) http://arnold.bimbobakeriesusa.com/product.cfm/upc/7341002552
and you have to ask your bakery section if they use it in their bread/check the label.

@kimberlymac. I will scoop Dark Chocolate Dreams out of the jar with medjool dates or turkish apricots. It isn't pretty. The White Chocolate Wonderful's also deadly - it tastes like spreadable peanut butter fudge!

I hear ya on the pb addiction. I hide the jar behind other stuff in the cabinet simply because if I see it, I'll eat & eat it. I have an addiction to all things nut-related.

lately its been almond butter and cashew butter calling my name. they call, they write, they send emails. relentless bastards.

@kimberlymac and KarynMC, dark chocolate dreams is my achilles heal. I can go through half that thing in ten minutes without even thinking. on sliced apples for breakfast, so good! I'll have to try the white chocolate.

Ed:
I share your obsession.
Once I start eating peanut butter I can't stop. I'm guilty of peeling a ripe banana and spreading 6 - 8 mountains of PB across it...and devouring it in seconds.

I applaud your efforts in attempting cold turkey but I'm proud that the new ed can handle it *pats you on back*

Its a great source of protein overall and tastes like heaven. no one should HAVE to rid it from their cubards if you can train yourself to eat it as a treat :) CONGRATS YOU DESERVE IT

I love PB as an ingredient in my Asian-inspired soups (the crunchy kind) but I like the creamy kind on my "banana snacks" haha

portioning helps to keep things under control, but i've found that this is only temporary when you're dealing with your weaknesses. for example, i stopped buying cereal because i'd nearly finish entire boxes in one sitting. years later i decided to give it another chance with the goal of keeping a measuring cup in the box to make sure i'd never have more than 1 cup at a time...it worked for awhile, but eventually i ended up going back for another scoop. and another scoop. as much as i adore a good bowl of cereal with cold milk, i just don't go near the stuff anymore. sniff sniff.

I applaud you Ed for being able to go cold turkey for 18 months without
peanut butter.

Oh yeah, have to keep PB out of my cupboard as well. I eat it with a spoon, any size spoon! I haven't had any in the house in about three months. Last night it tried to jump into my grocery cart and I thought better of it. My favorite is chunky. And yes, it is all about portion control.

My favorite to indulge in? Mashed potatoes with anything on them. I keep them out of the house as well as I can eat myself sick. I think it is a carb thing.

Losing weight isn't about dieting. For me it is about learning to eat all foods in reasonable portions. I still have a lot to learn.

Peanut Butter is my late-night vice. I am, in some ways, responsible about it. I only buy the natural, additive-free stuff. Nothing with added sugar or hydrogenated oil (it tastes better, too!) I keep a lot of it stocked in my apartment because I use it in my post-workout shakes: 1 scoop chocolate protein power, 1 frozen banana, 1 HEAPING tablespoon of PB, 1 cup skim milk (try it, a healthy and delicious reward for exercise.)

It's the late evenings that get me. I have spent years fighting off the bad snack habits of my youth and so I don't keep any other kind of snack food in the apartment (or much of anything, for that matter.) So when hunger pangs inevitably hit in the hour before bed, I reach for the PB jar and a tall glass of milk and go to town. Nothing else, I just spoon the stuff, straight up. There are certainly worse habits, but I need to start keeping veggies and hummus, or maybe popcorn around, to cut down on the PB (and milk, arguably the more offensive culprit) intake.

i'm in total sympathy with you on this one. i'm not much of a peanut butter eater, but i had to quit my le pain quotidien addiction -- i had a bad habit of slipping in at odd hours, ordering a huge plate of french bread, slathering it with butter, and then dolloping on the ultra addicting sweetened hazelnut paste. {and then eating it straight from my plate when the bread was gone.}

i've never had the nerve to buy some to eat at home for fear i'd hoover up the entire jar in one sitting.

i've been hosting two slender young girls from england this past week. they eat well and have obviously been enjoying their food, but they eat very slowly, are judicious with the butter, and are happy with small portions. i'm going to see if i can do the same.

Sigh, I have a massive peanut butter addiction. In fact I just threw out a jar yesterday... I can't have it in the house - I crave it and will eat it by the spoonfuls. I tried putting it in the freezer... But microwaves are quite powerful. One of my favorite peanut butter snacks: 1/2 cup of low-fat cottage cheese, scoop of chocolate protein powder, a sliced banana, and a hearty spoonful of peanut butter - throw it all in a bowl, stir and savor.

I did the same thing and avoided peanut butter for years! I also reintroduced it into my diet again in moderation when I read that labeling foods as evil leads to higher probabilities of bingeing on the very stuff later on. Every time I put some on a nice piece of hot toast and it melts a little, I think to myself...eat to the fullest enjoyment and savor every single bite. A bit obsessive but aren't we all about food?

To make matters a little more challenging, has anyone noticed that peanut butter is EVERYWHERE lately? NTY Bittman, kitchn, blogs, here!

I eat peanut butter every morning on toast for breakfast, and sometimes at night at work for a snack. This is not a problem! PB is a tasty, healthy, and cheap staple, and the one thing that keeps me from knawing off my arm between 6:30 breakfast and 13:00 lunch. Eat it in good health!

I never buy peanut butter myself, but I definitely steal my roommate's and eat it with (too much) abandon. Especially if I have a jar of Hero Strawberry Jam sitting around. Back before my addiction kicked in, I would make PB&J&CC sandwiches, which included PB&Co's Smooth & Creamy Peanut Butter, the aforementioned jam, and Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Chips, spread over Whole Wheat Country Bread and microwaved until melted and hot as lava (about 30 seconds).

Ahhh I want I want!

blerg ... 2 tbsp never seems enough

i miss days of opening the fridge and scooping out spoonfuls of the golden stuff ... mmm

i feel like i need to either go for it, or just avoid it, so i have been avoiding it for a while. i go through phases haha. im either a pb eating fool, or i wont touch it for months

A tablespoon of peanut or almond butter mixed into slightly melty good quality vanilla ice cream is a thing of beauty.

I love peanut butter. I spent the first 17 years of my life convinced I hated it/was allergic. That all changed with a taste of smooth, unsweetened, unsalted peanut butter. Now I have to teach myself moderation concerning it. My favourite applications are toasted PB-Banana sandwiches on sprouted squirraly bread....and PB-cream cheese sandwiches. Dried apricots dipped in PB too. I better stop before I get carried away. I've learned to control it though, for the sake of my pants.

My simple advise to improve your chances of sanity?

!!!STOP USING MEASURING SPOONS!!!

Get a cheap scale in grams, and then magically portion measuring because jokingly easy instead of painful and awkward. Put the bread on the scale, weight it, tar it, add the peanut butter on the bread, tar it, add the jam, done. No special spoons, just your usual knife like you always used before portion control.

Every food item has calories in grams, use them. With grams no fractions, no tedious cleaning measuring spoons, no waste, no hassle.

Great start, Ed!! Keep it up. But....Skippy.....was it the natural Skippy? My husband insisted on getting natural Peanut Butter from Trader Joe's and I haven't been able to go back to the "Corporate" stuff (like Jif and Skippy) since. My weakness...anything to do with potatoes. I know I can't control myself around chips and fries and such, so I buy the small portions when I crave them (and don't feel bad about finishing them off) and don't have them in the house the other times. :-)

It's one of my fave foods. I love all nut butter really. Almond butter and walnut butter...yum! Really I love buy the 'corporate' brands---- ie JIF. The BF buys them though and I occasionally take a big ol' sniff out of the jar, which satisfies me quite well! As a child I would have 'JIF spoons' as snacks, but now I am all about natural PB, and even make my own in the food processor sometimes.

PB = Heaven

@ Jerzee, with a nod to Ed, my special needs rescue requires three pills a day. Guess what? I use a collection of sturdy plastic spoons, and just fill up the tip with enough low sugar, low salt PB to stick on the meds. "PB lollipops" work better than any of the cheeses or meatballs I have tried.

PB, it isn't only for people!

Help!!!!!!!!! I've fallen into the peanut butter jar and I can't get out! Send milk STAT!
Seriously though, I just stumbled upon a new addictive taste treat.......please read no further if you have an addictive personality!
A few weeks ago they demoed a new line of my favorite Jif PB......Jif "Natural pb spread". OMG as they say........died & gone to heaven. Well, I also eat Murray's vanilla sugarfree sandwich cookies. Scanning the cupboards I hit on a new recipe [way too much Julia Child exposure lately]. Take a one of the Murray's, open the pb jar, and scoop out a healthy dollop. No double dipping! Throw the whole thing in your mouth. I can bet just one will make you swoon.......well, maybe two. Don't blame me if you steal back to the cupboard more than once!

Good for you, Ed! Great Willpower...I know what you mean, PB is one of my favorites things..my absolute favorite guilty pleasure is a fluffernutter sandwich (w/marshmallow fluff)..I just bought a jar of Smucker's Goober-the peanut butter/jelly striped combo in the jar..I dunnno why-I just had to. Congrats on the weight loss...:o)

My dad LOVES a toasted English muffin with crunchy peanut butter and a slice of bacon. The man knows what's good!

Mmmm peanut butter and bacon. Heaven.

I'm a huge peanut butter fan but I can generally control myself beyond 2-3 Tablespoons. I buy natural nowadays, so at least no HFCS. But honestly, the fat in the PB satiates me, I guess. Sugary things such as cookies, however? I have a tough time controlling myself eating those. Congrats on the weight loss!

Did I read that right..18 months without peanut butter? I would rather die!!

Shoot, I think I hear my organic honey roasted stuff calling me right now. Thanks a bunch!! BRB

Have you tried Mighty Peanut Butter yet? There's one with honey and one with maple.

I was inspired after eating the maple variety on various things, to try it on a ham sandwich. I know it sounds strange, but it was pretty good. Just be sure not to use too much.

PB is a staple in my house, even (especially) when I was low-carbing because it was a satiating snack. Now, I eat a big spoonful of natural PB after a workout if I won't be eating dinner right away. I have a friend who's in her late 60s who was overweight as a kid, and one day, she put herself on a Laura Scudder peanut butter sandwich diet. She told me she lost a bunch of weight, and just about every day, she eats a peanut butter sandwich. I hope PB moderation works out for you, Ed! It's a good source of poly- and monounsaturated fats, protein, and carb energy!

Reading all these comments inspired me to dip into the jar of PB&Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams my BF bought--so tasty and dangerous. I need to forget he has it and turn back to my all-nat. PB--still tasty, but doesn't hijack my cravings control! ;)

Peanut butter is soooooo dangerous. I've limited myself to 1 Tbs. mixed into my morning oatmeal. Yes, Peanut Butter & Co. Maple.