Even though I’m soon to be 63, I’m still a two-sandwich guy. A single sandwich, whether it’s part of a meal or as a snack, just doesn’t cut it for me.

But I’m not nearly as muscular as I was at 33, 43, or even (sad to say, but I need to be honest here) 53. So to stay lean enough to need a belt to comfortably wear the 32-inch-waist pants purchased during that more muscular time (an ongoing goal of mine), I don’t consume as many calories as years ago.

But I still have the same appetite it seems, so I’m always looking for ways to eat my fill while cutting calories.

The latter part I never did during college. In fact, what I did during the 15-minute break the professor would give us in the middle of a three-hour, 8 a.m. class during the spring semester of my junior year was just about the opposite.

Since I’d forsake a dining hall breakfast to run four or five miles before class, I’d race back to my dorm around 9:30, make two calorie-dense peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and wash them down with 16 ounces or so of skim milk.

My use of calorie-dense here is hardly hyperbole.

The whole-wheat bread I bought at the time was so thickly sliced that a single one contained 140 calories. The peanut butter contained 190 calories per the label’s suggested two-tablespoon serving size, but I ignored that suggestion, used at least double that amount on each sandwich - and probably tripled the suggested serving size of the strawberry jelly.

To provide context, my belated breakfast provided about as many calories as a petite, middle-aged, moderately active female requires over the course of a day. All told, a bit shy of 1850 calories.

Why I’m not shy to tell you this is also why this column exists. I’m back to eating two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches again, and - as unbelievable as it may seem - as an after-supper snack.

Two of these sandwiches, though, are a bit shy of 300 calories.

But here’s what sealed the deal to feature this radically reduced-caloric version of the PB&J sandwich in an article. All four of the recruited taste testers gave it two thumbs up.

Before I divulge the recipe, however, you should be aware of something else two of the four taste testers shared. That despite the good taste and staggering caloric savings, they’d probably never make this for themselves simply because some prep time is needed.

And I thought the big buzzkill would be the cost.

If you make the replacement peanut butter as I do, use 4 slices of ROYO’s 30 Calorie Low Carb Artisan Bread, 3 tablespoons of Smucker’s Sugar Free Peach Preserves, and buy the items where I buy them in bulk, the cost of two sandwiches comes to $3.85.

Now I would normally feel foolish instructing you on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but there is a knack to making the replacement peanut butter. My first efforts produced a nutritional heavyweight - but a taste and mouth feel featherweight.

According to the taste testers, though, the reworked version has turned that featherweight into a middleweight contender.

You make enough of it for two sandwiches by mixing 4 tablespoons of Original PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter, 3 tablespoons of erythritol, 2 tablespoons of Walden Farms Calorie Free Whipped Peanut Spread, and a bit of stevia. To make it creamier rather than thicker, add 1 more tablespoon of the Walden Farms product, but here’s a word to the wise.

Don’t ever use that product by itself as a peanut butter replacement.

It only receives two stars at the online site where I usually buy it, and - to be blunt - is overrated at that.

But if you use 3 tablespoons of water to reconstitute the Original PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter as the label suggests instead, you sacrifice mouth feel and taste.

Sacrifice. That’s a key concept in all of this, considering two of the four taste testers admitted they’d probably never make PB&J my way simply because of the prep time needed.

While I appreciate their honesty, it also disappoints me. After all, I’m the guy who three weeks ago urged you to “get the lead out and get cooking,” who wrote convenience and time savings should never supersede healthy eating.

So I see experimenting with a favorite comfort food to save calories and then taking the time to make it repeatedly not as sacrifice but common sense.

Yet I realize you may not get as turned on as I do by creating and eating a PB&J replacement - even if it contains 45 grams of fiber and only 280 calories. The idea behind it, however, is a good one.

So why not get cooking while applying it to one of your favorite comfort foods?

Like mac and cheese or meatloaf. Maybe even lasagna or chicken pot pie.