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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Unilever.
Growing up we used nothing but Country Crock and other cooking type spreads. I remember going to my great grandma’s house and it was always so weird to me that she left her stick of butter in a butter dish out on the counter. Aren’t you supposed to refrigerate that Grams? Where’s the tub it came in? Part of me always wondered why we didn’t use real butter when I was growing up, but as I grew up and started doing my own grocery shopping and reading labels, I soon realized why. Real butter is loaded with saturated fats and calories! I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter has 70% less saturated fats and 30% fewer calories than butter. As an occasional calorie counter myself, I know that every calorie counts and if the stuff I’m spreading on my toast in the morning is going to cost me my serving of ice cream later that day, I’m not having it!
We’ve always been Walmart shoppers for groceries. Well, ever since I met Cory anyways. It’s amazing how much money we save by shopping at Walmart vs. the other grocery stores in our area– especially the one in our small town. They’re especially good at hiking up the prices, but when we shop at Walmart we know that we’re getting a good deal and the lowest possible price. Cory and I always giggle because I start having heart palpitations and get a little anxious with our overflowing cart as we head towards the checkout at Walmart, but then our total ends up coming to $200 or less.
After a trip to Walmart, we’ve decided to put these I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter sticks, spread, and spray to the test to see what we can make and create with them! I’ve been searching and searching for the perfect summery recipes to use with them. The possibilities with these cooking spreads are absolutely endless. I began my search for recipes and kind of laughed at myself because you can add this to basically ANYTHING! You can add a little spray to your veggies or use it to bake banana bread. You name it! What recipes do you add butter alternatives to?
Here’s what I’m thinking:
Salmon topped with a dill & I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter sauce wrapped in foil on the grill
Grilled corn on the cob with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray and maybe a little dill on the grill (that rhymed!)
Sweet potato made like this recipe on Pinterest, but adding butter and brown sugar to the slots instead.
Chocolate chip cookies from this I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter recipe
But of course, I’ll have to cater to Cory’s taste buds as well. He’s not a big fan of sweet potatoes OR salmon, but those are two of my absolute favorites. In place of the salmon and sweet potatoes, we’ll make steak and regular baked potatoes. Now I’m on the mission for the perfect marinade for his steak. He always does all of the steak-making in our house (he does a pretty darn good job) so I think he’d be pretty impressed if I knocked it out of the park and made it delicious. I’m thinking of replacing this butter steak marinade with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. What do you think? What do you marinade your steaks with?
I’m thinking this will make the perfect meal this weekend while we want nothing more than to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather. And the cookies will make the perfect little recipe for Alea and I to do together. She’s always requesting that we make cookies, but we usually don’t make them because that means someone has to eat them! Cory doesn’t like sweets and Alea and I like them a little too much. It just doesn’t work out in my favor! But when we picked up a bag of chocolate chips at Walmart, Alea’s eyes lit up! She knew exactly what that meant… we’ll be baking cookies together. I love that that’s such a special treat for her! I’m so excited to share our finalized recipes with you all and let you know what we thought about the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter products!
Cooking your favorite recipes using Unilever buttery spreads is a deliciously smart move.
With 0g trans fats per serving, less saturated fat and fewer calories than butter, cholesterol-free spreads are a better option.
Visit itsgoodtoknow.com for more information and recipe ideas now!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Unilever, but all thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own.
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I love the i cant believe its not butter spray. And I didn’t know they made it into sticks, cool! lol
The spray is PERFECT for corn on the cob 😉 And the sticks, yes! Isn’t that great? We’re using the sticks for our chocolate chip cookies! I can’t wait!
I love the spray! We use that in our house all the time, I think it’s the perfect substitution for less calories!
I agree, I think the “less calories” aspect of it is my favorite part! And you don’t have to trade out on the taste– it tastes great!
I used to use I can’t believe it’s not butter until I realized how processed it is and how many unnecessary chemicals are added to it. 🙂 Now I use butter, in moderation. 🙂
I agree with you about shopping at Wal-Mart- they usually have the best deal on groceries!
I wish I was better at that “in moderation” part, then maybe I could handle real butter! I love all the good deals they have at Walmart and it’s really crazy how much we’ve saved by doing our shopping there!
We used Country Crock and ICBINB growing up, too, and I can’t STAND real butter. My husband is the exact opposite, however. He prefers what he calls “real” food–so our fridge has two kinds of butter, two gallons of milk, two kinds of cottage cheese, etc. There’s only two of us, but it looks like we’re feeding a family of 4! Ha!
That is hilarious! Thankfully Cory isn’t too picky about his “butter,” but we do disagree on milk and cottage cheese! He likes 2% and I’m more of a skim kinda gal! I feel your pain, Kenzie!
Noo butter is the way to go 🙂 More calories but it’s Natural, and I’m for anything more natural then extra chemicals and substitutes. Try organic valley whipped butter- only ingredients are cream and salt! I saw a picture once of different kinds of ‘butter’ the real kind and fake substitutes on a plate, and a whole bunch of ants, the ants would only go after the real butter not the fake processed stuff! Ants know better!! 🙂 I did use to shop at Walmart when we lived just down the road from one, till we moved and switched to mostly organic. Our weekly bill went up a little bit but not as much as I would expect! Once we cut out almost all processed foods and just bought ‘real’ foods our bill is actually about the same but now with high organic prices!
Cutting out processed foods is recommended, buying organic is a personal choice, it’s not healthier but recommended if you can afford to buy it.
Obviously it’s all a personal choice what we eat 🙂 And many (myself included obviously) Do believe organic is healthier. Less pesticides and fertilizers for one is healthier in my opinion. But that’s all it is, an opinion 🙂
You know my feelings on butter & margarine. 😉 I agree with Tales of a young mama. We only use butter too because it’s natural. And, actually our butter has the same amount of calories as I can’t believe it’s not butter. We don’t cook with butter at all though, only olive oil. And we just don’t use a whole lot of butter in our house either.
we cook with olive oil also! or coconut oil. Just use butter for baking, or on toast, things like that 🙂
Sticks and spray?? What cave have I been in?? I could see where the spray would be perfect for summer corn on the cob! I love to use real butter in baked goods but I’m game for saving some calories so I’m trying the sticks out nest time! I’ll be on the lookout on our next grocery trip to Walmart!! Thanks for the info Chelsea!!
You are so welcome, Kathe! I’m excited to see how the sticks work with our chocolate chip cookies we’re making! I’ll definitely let you know 🙂
My parents are converts to the ICBINB olive oil stuff in the tub, but only because of my dad’s heart issues (and because he has issues trying to keep it in moderation. lol). I personally don’t like the taste of margarine. I am a butta lovah, through and through. I am all about the real thing in moderation when it comes to products. And really, I only use butter in baking and on my toast (which is few and far between, since I try not to eat bread).
I purposely bought the olive oil kind (minus the sticks that wasn’t an option) because I was curious about it! I agree with you though, butter is just fine in moderation. It’s just something we’ve never bought!
Hey Chelsea! I enjoy reading your posts every now and then, but when I saw the title on this one I took a double take! I’ve been learning a lot about nutrition in the past year and what I’ve found out is completely contrary to what most people have been taught, especially in the U.S.!
I don’t mean to go all health nut on you lol, but it’s become a passion of mine to share this info with others!
Firstly, Fat doesn’t make you fat! And saturated fats are actually healthy for you. Our bodies NEED these good fats for our cell membranes, immune system, heart, liver, hormones, bones, and more! It’s the unhealthy fats found in corn and vegetable oils that have been found to have negative effects on our hearts and immune system.
Secondly, so if fats don’t make you fat…then what does? It’s all those carbohydrates and simple sugars that are such a staple of the american diet. A couple months ago I did a presentation for a school project on the toxicity of sugar. While I could go into much more depth on this..I’ll keep it short: our bodies can’t process refined sugars and they are stored almost immediately as fat! What’s even more alarming is that all refined flours and starches turn into sugar as as soon as they are digested..so breads, pasta, cereal, etc. are all highly inflammatory and fat causing foods!
I’ll post the links to some articles,I always recommend to do some research for yourself and make an informed decision!
If you have any questions let me know! 🙂
~Rachel (Schmidt) Wurdemann
http://ultimatepaleoguide.com/why-eating-fat-doesnt-make-you-fat/
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/09/01/enjoy-saturated-fats-theyre-good-for-you.aspx
http://authoritynutrition.com/7-reasons-why-butter-is-good-for-you/
Love Dr Mercola!
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Love Dr Mercola and love coconut oil and butter
I love grilling out! I think your meal plan sounds amazing! And caters to you both without a whole lot of extra effort! 🙂
Thanks, Taylor! Gotta accompany my picky man’s tastes, too I guess!
The sweet potato idea sounds delicious. I make our own butter alternative, because all of the ones available in stores where I live have palm oil in them. The rainforest is being destroyed to produce palm oil, so we don’t buy anything with palm oil in. It can be difficult since it’s in so many things.
I actually don’t buy butter unless it specifically calls for it. I grew up on margarine/spreads too and prefer the taste. I always use it in my baking too. To each their own…for goodness sake! 😉
Chelsea, thanks for this post! I too shop at Walmart for all of our groceries and find that it saves us a lot of money. I can relate to some of your butter stories! I never knew anyone to leave sticks of butter on the counter top until I met my mother in law. She does it all the time. It makes me laugh when we go to her house, but I see why she does it! It makes it much easier to spread! I’ve always bought Country Crock and have never tried “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter.” When we run out, I’ll definitely being giving that spray a try! Your menu sounds yummy. Got any extra room at the table for a guest?! Take care!
We’re usually a Country Crock family too and love it! I was excited to try out the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spreads, too though! They’re actually pretty similar products! I just had some I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter w/Olive Oil on my toast this morning and loved it! I love that it has some extra Omega 3’s in it! You’ll love it 🙂 Come on over this weekend! We always have room!
I love their spray! It’s great for making grilled cheese too!
You just blew my mind… brilliant! Guess I know what we’re having for lunch now today!
Fat is not always a bad thing 🙂 You should check into what’s in the margarine & spreads because the chemicals and processing are actually far worse for you than the fats in natural butter! Our body needs a few extra fats 🙂 I also used to think it was weird when I saw butter sitting out on the table, lol! But now I am that person because I can’t stand to have hard butter and try to spread it!!
I was just reading the ingredients actually and the first ones are vegetable oil blend, water, sweet cream buttermilk and salt! The rest are just preservatives and for color, so I’m not too concerned! I hear ya girl, butter is impossible to spread straight from the fridge!
I grew up on margarine so that has just been what I’ve always bought. There are good and bad to everything real butter is all natural but loads of fat. High cholesterol runs in our family so high fat is something I try to stay away from.
xoxo,
Melissa
You should try coconut oil! It’s 100% natural, it’s good for you, and you can use it just like butter! No guilt! I love it! In fact, I haven’t used any butter, or butter type products, since I tried it years ago! Oh, and it doubles as a FABULOUS full body {and face} moisturizer! You can get a big tub for about $25 and it lasts a really long time! Here’s a link to it on Amazon http://astore.amazon.com/ohsoni-20/detail/B000GAT6NG , it’s usually where I get mine, but I hear you can get it at Costco for a good deal now too! Give it a try, I bet you’ll like it too!
Those sticks seem like they’d be super useful, I will definitely check them out!
XO,
Samm
http://www.dysfunctionaleverafter.com
I had NO idea it came in a spray! Definitely keeping my eye out for that! So handy!
LOVE the spray, and I don’t think I have eaten ‘real’ butter in my entire life, we grew up on Country Crock and I still use that today, that big ‘ol tub is just easier. Had no idea ICBINB came in sticks, need them!!
AWESOME post!
I had no idea it came in a spray – perfect for corn on the cob! Can’t wait to try it out!
We don’t use butter either! But we use coconut butter. It tastes so light with a hint of sweet. It’s wonderful.
And I LOVE Walmart! 🙂
It’s all I use… love it and have been a faithful consumer for YEARS 🙂
Oh my…that salmon is going to be fantastic!! I love this stuff, too!! 🙂
I love the spray and I can not wait to see how it comes out!
xx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
I use butter & I puffy heart love butter! Lol. I really enjoye this post though & I may have to try I can’t believe it’s not butter. Oh & shopping at Walmart, yes yes yes!
My hubby likes to spritz the I can’t Believe it’s Not Butter on his popcorn after he pops it. Gives him a little extra butter without all the extra fat. He says he already lost the battle with being fat but he doesn’t have to lose the war LOL.