Week 1

Start by Adding Peanut Butter to Your Food Storage

The plan this week is to add peanut butter to your food storage. Or substitute another nut butter for variety or if you have allergies in your family.

An American staple, peanut butter is the almost perfect survival food. It tastes good, is full of nutritious calories, and is an inexpensive protein. And if necessary, it can be eaten as is, right out of the jar. It is one item that you probably won’t have to worry about sitting in your food storage and “going bad” because it will be eaten too fast. The challenge might be keeping enough on hand.

How Much Peanut Butter Should You Store?

The average American child will eat 1500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before they graduate from high school. A typical serving of peanut butter is two tablespoons, and a 28-ounce jar contains about 25 servings. Eating three servings of peanut butter a week, you would need just over 150 servings for a year. That turns out to be about six jars (28-ounce) of peanut butter.

Plan on a Three-Month Supply

To begin, plan to have enough peanut butter to last three months. You can always add more. A three-month supply would be about one and a half jars per person. For a family of four that would add up to six 28-ounce jars.

Track How Much Peanut Butter Your Family Uses

Wondering how much peanut butter your family really does use? The next time you open a jar of peanut butter, write the date on the label. Note the date when the jar is empty and that will give you a rough estimate of how much peanut butter your family typically uses. Next, calculate how much you need for a three-month supply.

Since peanut butter is convenient and requires no refrigeration, it is a great emergency food. Be aware that in an emergency, your normal food options may be limited, so consider increasing the amount of peanut butter you store.

What Is the Shelf Life for Peanut Butter?

Peanut butter is high in oil, so it doesn’t have a long shelf life. The “best-by date” for creamy, homogenized peanut butter is two to three years. If it is stored in a cool, dark location, it may last longer. It is OK to use peanut butter after the “best-by” date if it tastes and smells good. If peanut oil separates from the peanut butter, just stir it back in. This might take a little effort, but if the oil isn’t rancid, the peanut butter is good to eat.

Natural peanut butter and chunky peanut butter have a shorter shelf life, about a year. But again, if it is stored in a cool, dry place, the useful shelf life may be longer.

Try Peanut Butter Powder

Peanut Butter Powder is a good alternative storage option to regular peanut butter. It is made from roasted peanuts that have been pressed to remove the peanut oil and then ground into powder. It has the same nutritional and health benefits as regular peanut butter including the protein and fiber. Use it in smoothies, baking, and to make your favorite peanut sauces.

Reconstituting Peanut Butter Powder

Peanut Butter Powder can be reconstituted with water or with oil that has a neutral flavor. Mixing with peanut oil is also a good choice. Start with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter powder and mix with 1 ½ tablespoons of water until creamy. Adjust the amount of liquid until the spread is the consistency you desire.

Check out the PBFit website for a variety of peanut butter powder recipes. https://www.pbfit.com/recipes

Banana-Peanut Butter Smoothies

Banana-peanut butter smoothies are my favorite way to use PBFit Peanut Butter Powder. My recipe is super simple—blend one cup of milk, one frozen banana, and 1-2 scoops of PBFit until smooth.

Tips for Buying Peanut Butter Powder

PBFit is commonly available at grocery stores, warehouse stores, and online. It comes in no-sugar-added and organic versions. For the best buy, check the price per ounce.

Price Comparisons for Original PBFit

• Kroger $0.73 per ounce
• Target $0.64 per ounce
• Walmart $0.58 per ounce
• Costco $0.52 per ounce
• Amazon $0.77 per ounce
• (Prices as of March 13, 2023)

Dehydrated peanut butter is also available in #10 cans from some food storage suppliers such as Augason Farms.

Storage Life of Peanut Butter Powder

PB Fit has a manufacturer stated shelf life of 18 months. I have found that the open shelf life to be well over a year when kept at room temperature with the lid screwed on. Augason Farms Peanut Butter Powder is packaged with an oxygen absorber to minimize oxidation and it has a stated storage life of up to five years.

Make Your Own Nut Butter!

Nut butters are easy to make yourself! Nothing could be simpler. Put one cup of nuts (I have used lightly-salted mixed nuts with peanuts) into a small food processor like the little Cuisinart Mini-Prep Food Processor. Turn it on and observe that the nuts grind quickly into a dry nut flour. Continue processing and within a few minutes the nut oils will extract and make a creamy, nutty butter. In less than five minutes one cup of nuts becomes a half cup of delicious, spreadable nut butter.

Learn More

Find out more about storing foods nd other ways to prepare in Crisis Preparedness Handbook, Third Edition (2020). If you don’t already have a copy, you can find it here on my website CrisisPreparedness.com. Or, get it on Amazon in either the hard copy version or the Kindle version