Barney Butter Review + Simple Life Update

Woo hoo! It's Friday!! Sorry I have been kind of lacking in posts this week, but I haven't been running so I haven't really been in the mood to post about my "not running." It's not that I'm still sore from the marathon (I think I would have been fine running on Tuesday) I've just been kind of lazy! The days that I could have run, I've been busy with meetings or going out to dinner for our 3 year anniversary. (Yeah, yeah I could run in the mornings. I know, I'm working on this, ok?)

Also, thank you guys for all of the well wishes for our three years, we had a great dinner downtown...more to come on that later :)

I actually have a ton of non-running things to post about, and I am especially excited about some product/food reviews coming up!

I'm going to start off my round of reviews with the Barney Butter samples that I got in the mail last week. I know that a lot of you (if you read food/running blogs) already know about Barney Butter and may already have your opinions, but until last week, I had not tried this popular all-natural, peanut-free almond butter that has swept the blog world.


Barney Butter was created by Jennifer Barney who started making this on her own, one jar at a time at her home in California. She wanted a nut butter that would be more nutritious for her kids than peanut butter, and was unsatisfied with the other almond butters on the market. Eventually she gained such notoriety in her home town that her friends were begging her to start selling the product. So in 2006 she launched her business and it's been all good since then!

What makes Barney Butter so unique? Jennifer says:

Taste, texture and locally produced as well as the convenience of no-stir. No oil to stir back in and no need to refrigerate makes it easy to spread and keep in your cupboard (or office desk). Barney Butter is made exclusively from roasted California almonds harvested from nearby orchards. It has an amazing fresh roasted flavor you don't get from other almond butters.

Barney Butter ingredients: Almonds, Evaporated Cane Juice, Palm Fruit Oil, Sea Salt.

What's great about Barney Butter:

Barney Butter is Peanut Free and made in an Almond Only Facility! Our new dedicated facility guarantees that Barney Butter is truly free of peanut particles and contaminants. Perfect for peanut free environments like schools and airplanes!

Barney Butter is part of a high protein diet and may actually lower cholesterol. (The American Heart Association recommends eating one ounce of almonds (that’s just one serving of Barney Butter) a day to reduce coronary heart disease.)

100% Natural
No Trans Fats
No Hydrogenated Oils
Less Saturated Fat than Peanut Butter
High in Magnesium and Vitamin E

Per serving you get:
More protein than an egg
As much calcium as 1/4 cup of milk
14% daily fiber
8% daily iron

My opinion:

Although I only sampled the creamy Barney Butter (I am more of a chunky nut butter fan) I wasn't head-over-heels for the taste of it. I personally don't like nut butters with oils and sugars added to them, so I was skeptical about this from the get go. It was a bit too creamy and artificial tasting for me and I don't think I would buy a jar of it for $7.99. I did like the roasted almond taste though, and may have an entirely different opinion if I had tried the chunky version.

I tried it first on 1/2 a bagel and then I had the other sample yesterday with a cut up apple.


Although it wasn't my fave, if you like Jif style peanut butters, then this would be perfect for you! I do think that this would be great for picky kids who love creamy Jif PB & J sandwiches, I don't think they would know the difference! Plus you would feel good knowing you were giving your kids an all-natural and wholesome product.

If you want to try it out for yourself, you can see if Barney Butter is available in your state here or you can order online through their website. I would love to hear what you guys think about it!

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I have some other cool reviews coming up (including my Phillips in-ear headphones that I wore in my marathon) so stay tuned!

I am also still trying to figure out what races are next on my plate. I went to the Team in Training information meeting last night and got some great info about the program. I am still weighing my options so I will be back with more soon on that topic!

The Simple Life Challenge has been going well! I have been making all of my meals at home, only went out to dinner once (which couldn't be avoided, definitely not going to cook on our three year anniversary!), have been washing out PB jars and plastic storage & sandwich bags in order to be more green, and even walked to my meeting last night vs. driving!

We are planning on buying some locks for our bikes this weekend so we can start riding them to the store/farmer's market, etc. I'm also going to be starting my balcony herb garden this weekend and may have a few more green ideas up my sleeves to bump up my points...

Today is our first day to turn in our points, so I'll let you know how I came out this week later on. Hope everyone has a fabulous Friday and is fully rested if you raced last weekend!