Depending on how fast you eat peanut butter, those glass or plastic containers can start to pile up. Instead of trying to find evermore ways to re-use them, a much simpler solution is to make your own peanut spread.

Another benefit to making your own: you can avoid the transfats in commercial brand peanut butter: to avoid oil separation some of those good fats- the mono- and polyunsaturated oils- are converted into harder fats, or trans-fats. You can keep the good fat structure if you make your own, or if you buy natural brands.

For vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians, peanut butter is also a source of protein. While it’s not as protein-dense as a slice of meat, if you combine it with whole wheat bread, you’ll get a more complete source of protein (and with a glass of milk and even larger portion of your daily protein needs).

If you’re counting calories, studies show that peanut butter eaters tend not to overeat daily calories.

While most of us are used to buying it out of a jar, peanut butter is actually pretty simple to make. There are even recipes just for kids.

In this video, faircompanies’ Kirsten Dirksen tries out a recipe that requires just a food processor (or blender), a pinch of salt and a bag of peanuts. Warning: it’s extra crunchy.

We also have a video where Kirsten makes a less slightly less crunchy peanut butter with olive oil.