PB&J or Grilled Cheese?
Okay, so what if you had to pick between either having asm any PB&J sandwiches or grilled cheese sandwiches for the rest of your life, but for that, you had to give up the other. Which would you choose? And of course, all of the variations on each are welcome (i.e. PB&Honey and all kinds of cheeses).
I think that, as much as I love grilled cheese sandwhiches in all of their lovely variations, there is just something so comforting about a nice thick PB&honey or grape jam on a nice dark bread (like pumpernickel or multi-grain or rye) that I just don't think that I could give up...
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
52 Comments:
I feel guilty - I don't really eat either very often, so it's almost like it doesn't matter which I choose.
When I was 3, I threw a fit when the waitress asked my parents if I wanted a PB&J sandwich. They said yes. I defiantly yelled, "I don't want a peanut butter & jelly sandwich!! That's baby food!" I wanted what I normally ate at home -- whatever my parents ate.
In the end, my mother ended up with the PB&J and I ate her dish. They told me that I would have to learn to read, so I could order what I wanted from the menu myself...which I did soon after.
What to choose...I will on occasion order PB+banana+honey on french and havarti, spinach, on rosemary foccacia at the corner sandwich shop. I'm lactose intolerant, too.
Guess it's the PB&J. :P
Cassaendra at 1:21PM on 07/21/08
grilled cheese- a no brainer for me!
bisbee at 1:22PM on 07/21/08
PBJ--definite no brainer
pbisNOTmyname at 1:33PM on 07/21/08
Hands down grilled cheese ! I have never even eaten a PB & J sandwich in my life and don't really care for peanut butter.
deefine at 1:37PM on 07/21/08
Grilled cheese! For suuuure.
Ham egg and cheese, apple cheddar and red onion, gruyere and fennel, etc, etc, etc!
You know, I bet you could figure out if a person is a sweet tooth, or a, um, salty one. It's like asking someone to choose between pizza and chocolate cake. I'd always choose pizza, but I bet my husband would go with the chocolate cake.
bitchincamero at 1:38PM on 07/21/08
Dios mio, what kind of question is that?! How do you choose?
I guess PBJ, by a crumb. But only if it's on toasted, homemade honey wheat bread with seedless blackberry or apple jam, and natural (no sugar added) peanut butter. With an enormous glass of milk. Or in my case, Lactaid.
savecara at 1:40PM on 07/21/08
Oh, grilled cheese! Is there really any doubt? Occasionally I'll eat PB&J if there's nothing else in the house, but I would definitely go out of my way just to get the ingredients for a perfect grilled cheese.
kfarrel3 at 1:47PM on 07/21/08
@bithcincamero: I don't know about that, though. Personally, I have a salt/vinegar tooth and regularly crave mustard, sauerkraut and salty snacks. Even if I have something sweet, I have to finish it with a bite of something salty or vinegary. Odd, I know. Maybe for me it's just a memory thing, and I have such good memories of PB&J's. However, I do like them on pumpernickel with carraway seeds, which are savory, not sweet, so maybe there is something there, too...
Traveller at 1:52PM on 07/21/08
Peanut butter and jelly--I just had a peanut butter, cherry jelly 'sandwich' on some dark chocolate, and I can't remember the last time I had grilled cheese, actually. Too greasy for me in general.
HeartofGlass at 1:55PM on 07/21/08
@Traveller - I do that too! After a bowl of ice cream, I'll have a couple of crackers or pita chips.
bitchincamero at 2:12PM on 07/21/08
@B: Oh, i am so glad that I am not the only one! :)
Traveller at 2:14PM on 07/21/08
Grilled cheese....in all of it's many varieties!
mepolo at 2:52PM on 07/21/08
PB&J for me, too. As much as I love the occasional grilled cheese, I actually prefer my cheese unmelted.
Granted, I'd have to give up tomato soup, as well, but I think it'd be worth it.
cyberroo at 2:56PM on 07/21/08
Grilled cheese.
bessfour at 3:37PM on 07/21/08
I'm gonna have to choose grilled cheese, but it's pretty close. I think there are more possibilities with cheese though!
bobcatsteph3 at 3:45PM on 07/21/08
Give up tomato soup? Never! I would jsut switch back to saltine crackers. There is nothing quite like a bowl of tomato soup with saltine crackers...yum!
Traveller at 4:17PM on 07/21/08
Team Grilled Cheese!
Kerosena at 4:20PM on 07/21/08
Grilled cheese, easily. I am actually shocked that there are so many pb&J lovers. I guess i don't have much of a sweet tooth, especially for "meal" type things, and it's so sticky!
Cary at 4:56PM on 07/21/08
It's a very easy one for me since I am not all that fond of peanut butter (even though I do love peanut butter mousse (mmm....peanut butter mousse tart!) or peanut butter cheesecake... or even Reese's pieces! Go figure!), so grilled cheese it is!
brooke29 at 4:56PM on 07/21/08
Grilled Cheese!
I love PB&J, but it's not something I could eat daily. I could, however, eat grilled cheese daily (not that I would though) in all of its variations. grilled cheese plain, with tomato & mayo, with basil or other fresh herbs, with multiple cheeses, bleu cheese & chutney, cream cheese & green olive, brie & pear...the possibilities are endless.
sfgoo at 5:08PM on 07/21/08
I am also on Team Grilled Cheese!
izatryt at 5:41PM on 07/21/08
PB&J all the way. never been much of a cheese fan, and grilled cheese just always seemed kind of...boring to me. I love bread, and feel that it shines through more in the PB&J :)
Pammeh at 5:44PM on 07/21/08
Grilled cheese! You can do so much more with it than PB and J!
modysoul at 6:39PM on 07/21/08
Oh holy cats. That's a really difficult decision for me. My first reaction was "grilled cheese, no question" because I eat them so much more often and I'm fairly certain it'd be my wife's choice so that would help with the household harmony. But, then I thought about the severity of the PB&J craving when they do hit. If I were to create a points system to rate the craving level and the satisfaction level when the craving is appropriately sated, I bet that they'd come out about even over a year. Far more frequent but less intense cravings for grilled cheese and less frequent but very intense PB&J needs.
Pressed to make a choice, I'd go with...um....uh....ok, I'm thinking. I'll get back to this...
ccbweb at 6:58PM on 07/21/08
My last meal will be grilled peanut butter & honey which is closer to PB & J than grilled cheese...so I'm with the PB team!
JEP at 7:07PM on 07/21/08
grilled cheese, no contest. i loathe pb&j.
cybercita at 7:10PM on 07/21/08
grilled cheese.
not. even. close.
z911empire at 7:38PM on 07/21/08
Grilled cheese is my friend. I'm not a fan of PB&J. One fateful experience with a jar of grape jelly and PB swirled together as a teen and I've never looked back. It was awful. I shudder when my eyes lock on the swirly stuff on the shelf at the store now. Granted, that's the lowliest of PB&J experiences and there are all kinds of great peanut butters and jellies that could be combined charmingly on a sandwich, but still...
holdthemayo at 7:43PM on 07/21/08
I much prefer grilled cheese. I go through phases where I pretty much eat variations of it every day. Sometimes I like jam on it- is that going to be passable?
Most of my jelly and jam is homemade.
cmtigger at 8:31PM on 07/21/08
Wow so the count right now is PB&J - 9 and grilled cheese - 17.
waterbaby at 8:48PM on 07/21/08
For sure the Grilled Cheese. So many breads, so many cheeses, and so many add-ins. I'm not sure, but I think if you put enough effort into it, you could eat a grilled cheese every day for a year, and not have the same sandwich twice. Can you really do that with PB&J?
beth1 at 8:56PM on 07/21/08
So easy. Grilled cheese.
I've eaten exactly ONE pb&j sandwich in my adult life, and that was just to decide whether I really don't like them, or whether it was just childhood pigheadedness. In the end, the pb&j was okay, but I would have been happier with just the peanut butter. Save the jelly or jam for use on toast or in some dessert recipe.
dbcurrie at 9:05PM on 07/21/08
I would give up grilled cheese in a heartbeat. Hands off my peanut butter!! There are so many other delicious ways to eat cheese...like with pickles...or unmelted with bread...or on pizza...or pasta...that I don't need grilled cheese in my life. But with PB and cashew butter and almond butter, all of which I dearly love, bread is the ideal receptacle. I prefer PB toast, but nothing beats a PB&J made with natural peanut butter with homemade apricot jam on whole wheat sourdough! - it's my favorite.
producestories at 9:29PM on 07/21/08
I decided on grilled cheese. My wife agreed. Harmony reigns.
ccbweb at 10:53PM on 07/21/08
another one for Team Grilled Cheese!!!!
MadelynRodriguez at 11:42PM on 07/21/08
Ummm....
PB&J, only because melted cheese is bad for you.
cowprintrabbit at 6:09AM on 07/22/08
well since I cant have real cheese anymore the choice is easy for me, make mine pb and salt (no jelly jam or preserves thank you)!
huneybumper at 7:41AM on 07/22/08
Grilled Cheese all the way. I LOVE cheese!
Linz0 at 8:30AM on 07/22/08
#cowprintrabbit, care to elaborate on that?
dbcurrie at 11:10AM on 07/22/08
Would I have to give up peanut butter entirely? If I could still have it in other incarnations, then I would choose grilled cheese; I can live without pb&j but not all peanut butter.
wellred at 11:25AM on 07/22/08
grilled cheese!!!! yum!
nichole at 3:20PM on 07/22/08
y'know though...I'm a bit unclear on the boundaries. For me, a grilled cheese+ham+apple etc sandwich doesn't fall under "grilled cheese" anymore! It's a HAM sandwich as much as a cheese one. :)
Pammeh at 3:35PM on 07/22/08
Oh I'm totally going PB&J. My life thus far has proven that I do not tire of the classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I could have it day in and out for lunch...and not be sick of it. What's more evidence than that?
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 4:49PM on 07/22/08
Comletely gr cheese, although I make mine in my panini machine and use less butter.
My kids disagree, they prefer PBJ with my homemade strawberry jelly.
kcogswell at 5:28PM on 07/22/08
@Pammeh: I was thinking the same thing.
@Beth: Statistically, when you consider the combinations, __ nut butter + jam(jelly) + bread = A LOT more combinations than cheese + bread.
I included the jam because I don't do jelly at all...and all we have at home is cashew butter.
Cassaendra at 7:35PM on 07/22/08
I choose death. There is no way this could be decided. I could never give up either of them. The past three days I have had pb&j. Don't ask me why-the craving hit me. About 3 weeks ago, I had grilled cheese cravings. Had two or three in a week and I was good. When the cravings hit, nothing satisfies until you have that item.
Butrflygirly at 8:03PM on 07/22/08
Grilled cheese. Hands down. any cheese, any bread, any combo, with all sorts of goodies added...heck, I'll even take the jelly on my grilled cheese! (I actually do a thing with bleu cheese and cranberry jelly on garlic toast, mmmmm.)
But my cheese-ophobic husband who won't touch the stuff with a pole of any footage. He eats PB&J daily. sometimes twice. bleh.
AliceBlue at 9:33PM on 07/22/08
Grilled Cheese!
However, I love peanuts, and also enjoy peanut butter, especially the 'chunky' variety, but I'm not a big fan of jelly.
FastFoodCritic at 10:46AM on 07/23/08
Grilled cheese FOR SURE!
hungrychristel at 3:13PM on 07/23/08
Peanut Butter no jelly ever. I like it on whole wheat toast with fake bacon bits or crumbled potato chips. I eat it for breakfast, lunch or late night snack.
eatorama at 5:18PM on 07/23/08
Grilled cheese without a doubt. I could definitely live without peanut butter and jelly in sandwich form. Peanut butter and jelly as separate items? No, but defiitely in sandwich form. I seriously love grilled cheese.
Schnauzer_Mama at 5:24PM on 07/23/08
Is this a food question impossible? Sorry I have to have both avail. when I have a certain craving, I love both too much.
pjracz10 at 11:23PM on 08/03/08