Apologies for a dumb question. I've never been much of a peanut butter fan. We never had it when I was growing up. But in the past few months I started buying it as part of my quest to get more protein into my diet despite the fact that I don't like to cook, am not much good at it and don't have time to clean up afterwards. And to my pleasant surprise, I've found pb&j sandwiches to be filling enough to help me cut back on calories and start losing the weight that I gained from too much candy and dessert last fall/early winter. (In fact they're so filling I can't imagine having one in the middle of a bike ride, but I digress.)

I've been buying a supermarket brand of natural peanut butter, the kind you have to stir and then store in the refrigerator. Here's my question -- when I first open a jar, it's ridiculously oily. I end up making a huge mess stirring the oil into it and the first sandwich I make has peanut butter oozing out the sides of the bread. Then it's okay for most of the jar. But each time I make a sandwich it gets a bit thicker and dryer, and by the time I reach the bottom of the jar it's very dry, hard to spread and not very appetizing.

So what am I doing wrong? I try to mix it thoroughly in the beginning. After that the oil doesn't separate any more so I don't stir it again. Is that the problem? Do you need to stir it every time? Or is this just not a good brand?

And is there a way to stir it when you first open the jar so you don't make a huge mess? I use a butter knife and try to stir up from the bottom rather than just going in circles.

(Yes I am over 50 and asking for help with pb&j sandwiches... )