Gaining Nuts of Wisdom

One day hubby brought home some Nutella.  I didn't have it before because it is more expensive than peanut butter so I don't buy it.  Well, one morning the little man and I had toast and Nutella spread for breakfast.  Wow! That stuff was great!  It did not stay in the pantry long and Hubby didn't get any.

Finn ate the salmon that ate hazel nut and thus became a great Irish ruler.  I wonder if we take out the middle fish and eat the nut as a spread if we will still receive such wisdom?  Yes, if you eat the homemade version of spread instead of the store bought.  Nutella has 21 grams of sugar in 37 grams of spread!  That's right, almost 1/8th cup of sugar in just 2 tablespoons of spread.

The bag of hazelnuts in shell cost me $3.99 [shelled $4.39]; a 12 oz jar of Nutella also costs $3.99.  While 10 oz of my homemade version has a tablespoon of cocoa it has no sugar.  So, I can't make the hazelnut spread cheaper than the store bought, BUT I'll be saving a lot of calories!

Well, the little man tried my homemade version and SURPRISE . . . he did not like it like the candy version from the store.  I think what I'll do is add some sugar AND each time I make this spread reduce the sugar amount and retrain his, and my, palate.  Oh, and use the spread in my homemade rolls [see the Homemade vs. Pillsbury post].

Now if I want to save a lot of money on nut spreads, I'd be better off making almond spread!  $3.99 for a 12 oz bag of shelled nuts vs. $11.79 for 16 oz of spread!