This Post Should Be Titled "How Many Foods Can Hannah Describe As 'Thick'"

In light of National Peanut Butter Month, I decided to write out my top 10 Favorite Ways to Consume Peanut Butter. I could probably write more…But I would hate to bore you. Or if this is the first post of mine you’re reading, weird you out so much you choose not to come back. Hopefully, that won’t be the case.

My 10 Favorite Ways to Consume Peanut Butter:

#10 - Out of the Jar

Pure peanut butter, nothing gets in its way, nothing violates it, just peanut butter. My dessert is often one or two (or three) scoops of peanut butter. And since I often have much more than one type in the house, I have a wonderfully varied dessert.

#9 - Peanut Butter and Yogurt

I love Greek yogurt. Being lactose intolerant, it gets difficult to eat it. There are some brands that sell alternatives, however, there aren’t many stores reasonably near me that sell it. So I made my own. Using So Delicious yogurt and PB2 (powdered peanut butter) plus a vast amount of peanut butter, I’ve created (what I think) is an even better version. Leaving the mixture in the fridge for as long as possible allows it to thicken up to mimic the texture of Greek yogurt.

#8 - Oatmeal

Oatmeal is one of my first choice bases to work off of, while it has a flavor it’s not overbearing and goes with pretty much anything. Adding peanut butter helps to make it thicker (I like thick foods, haha). Oatmeal, even Old Fashioned, can have a big impact on my blood sugar, so having some protein in there helps balance things out. Plus, not only thick, the oatmeal gets gooey; gooey oatmeal is never a bad thing.

#7 - Instead of Milk

It started out with just Cheerios. It was an improvisation on dinner at work. I had planned yogurt and peanut butter, but upon opening my yogurt I found a nice blot of mold. Figured that would be bad to eat. It then spread of Honey Nut Cheerios, then an organic version. Then, one of the best choices I’ve ever made came into existence: Peanut Butter and Honey Bunches of Oats. If you follow my Twitter or Tumbler account, you realize just how obsessed I am with this dish. I use a 50/50 mix of Honey Roasted and With Almonds flavors, and then coat them in excessive amounts of peanut butter.

#6 - Peanut Butter Pasta

Peanut Butter Pasta is my version of Mac and Cheese. Don’t get grossed out, I don’t use cheese. The sauce that coats the pasta is water, peanut butter, PB2 (seriously, if you haven’t already, look it up. You need to.), and spices. I tend to like my food with flavor but hot. I add cumin, curry, red pepper, cinnamon, and sometimes a little nutmeg (minuscule amounts); besides the nutmeg, I usually add a good dosage of each. The sauce, as it cools, tightens and thickens around the pasta (again, with the thickening, what can I say?).

#5 - Between the Bread

Classic. No way to get past it. Toasted, roasted, grilled, refrigerated, or even as is. Not much else to say, honestly. It’s a sandwich, who doesn’t love a sandwich?

#4 - With Rice

Please believe me. Please, please believe me. It tastes good. It really does. Make a good batch of rice throw in just enough peanut butter to flavor and bring the rice all together but not enough to be obnoxious. Peanut butter and rice is sticky, silky, good warm or cold, and mushy. (Mushy in my book is a good thing, if a food is supposed to be mushy.) Like, not soupy mushy, but not grainy or crunchy (less you prefer crunchy peanut butter, in that case it should be crunchy).

#3 - Ants on a Log

You know how all different things can bring a person back to a memory? Well, I’m extremely sensitive to tastes. Apple juice and Pringles bring me back to sleepovers at my Grandparent’s. Ants on a Log brings me back to my childhood. I think of my mother, when she shared her favorite treats with my brother and I. Besides the way that celery’s watery, crunch and the chewy sweetness of raisins mixes heavenly with Jif peanut butter, my love for Ants on a Log is almost completely about the sensory experience.

#2 - In Sweet Potato

I thought I was weird for this one. Then I joined Tumblr. Apparently, it’s not so weird. So you should try it. Because frankly, it’s number two on this list. Which should say a lot. In sweet potato soup, sweet potato mash, just on a sweet potato, or any other way you can think of. The distinct sweet potato flavor plus the nuttiness of peanut butter…I’m sort of at a loss for words with it.

#1 - Out of the Jar

Honestly, who are we kidding? I mean, we can think up as many fancy ways to eat it as we can, but does anything really beat straight out of the jar?

Okay, there's one more. 

As I was promptly alerted, I forgot to mention one important way I love to consume peanut butter. When The Boy cooks for me!

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hannah-friendly Peanut Butter Donuts

Birthday Veggie Stir Fry with Haitian Hot Pepper Peanut Butter (with teriyaki mixed in the sauce)

Flourless Peanut Butter Muffins

I enjoy dating a cook.

Making Yogurt Hannah-Friendly

So I went through this weird phase when I was little.

(Okay, I went through a lot of weird phases, but this one was probably particularly annoying to my parents.)

So Delicious yogurt, peanut butter, and Triscuit Thin Crisps

For a long time I wouldn’t, well couldn’t, eat yogurt out of one of the large containers. Don’t ask me how this happened or why my brain decided to outlaw the big (and cheaper) containers of yogurt, but it did.

Same yogurt, same brand, same amount, couldn’t do it. It HAD to be one of the small containers.

These days, I pretty much stick to my small containers because my local grocery store (and most others around here) only sell Hannah-friendly yogurt in small containers. I mainly eat So Delicious coconut milk yogurt. I didn’t think I’d like it because I absolutely cannot stand coconut, but my taste buds have gone through so many changes over the past couple of years that I’ve actually fallen in love with it.

I rarely even miss Greek Yogurt (my favorite).

There are three reasons I do not eat just yogurt.

1. Hannah-friendly yogurt is expensive.

2. Hannah-friendly yogurt comes in small containers and is at large risk of being eaten way too quickly.

3. Yogurt tends to have a lot of sugar, plus it's easily digestible. Two things that are not good for hypoglycemics.

So because of these reasons I like to make the most out of it when I get it.

First:

During my snooping around the Internet for various recipes and mixtures, I stumbled upon different parfaits. Thinking that a normal parfait just wouldn’t do, I mixed my own.

The ingredients: Your yogurt of choice (I tend to use mango or raspberry), peanut butter, and your favorite bowl. (In my opinion, a meal is never complete, without the perfect dish.)

Pour yogurt in bowl.

Add peanut butter.

Stir. Enjoy.

Second:

Yogurt and Cereal. (Plus any additives you like. Fruit, peanut butter, etc.)

For the most part, I do a combination of stuff. Yogurt, peanut butter, and cereal. What I’ve found this does, is make those little itty-bitty containers of yogurt, last so much longer. It’s also better for me because of the sugars in yogurt. With more stuff to digest my blood sugar doesn’t spike or drop as quickly as it would with just yogurt.

Yogurt, Cheerios, and peanut butter

Last night I made a dinner out of it. I started with mango yogurt and mixed in some PB2 (powdered peanut butter). If you try this, make sure to thoroughly mix it for two reasons. One, so that all the PB2 gets incorporated and you don’t have little clumps of it. Two, the longer this duo is stirred, the thicker it gets. PB2 is supposed to be combined with water to create a lower calorie peanut butter. But I read somewhere that it imparts great peanut flavor (that it does). Since when added to water it was supposed to thicken up, I figured it would act the same in yogurt (that it does). Next I added my homemade crunchy peanut butter. Then I topped it with some cereal. Last night’s choice was Honey Bunches of Oats Honey Roasted. Of course the last step is to stir it all up (without crushing the cereal of course).

What’s my favorite thing to do with yogurt though? My third option:

I’ll call it…Mock Greek Yogurt? Or insert whatever other witty title you can come with (I’m never good with the titles).

It starts out pretty much the same as the mixture above. However, for this, leave it in the fridge in an air tight container for as long as you possibly can. (I usually do overnight. But I put it in the afternoon before, and eat it for lunch the next day.)

Take your yogurt; mix in 2 tablespoons of PB2 (blend thoroughly). Drop a spoonful of peanut butter and stir that in. I prefer crunchy to give it some varying textures. Leave it in the fridge.

I haven’t had Greek yogurt in a while…But I can almost guarantee it’s almost the exact texture. It’s light, while still having some bulk to it.

(I’m actually starting to crave some right now…)

Maybe I'll create a new yogurt concoction tonight for dinner.