Peanut-Butter Chocolate Oatmeal, now with (optional) Bananas!

Today's first food experiment was with chocolate and peanut butter, a classic American combination of tastiness.  I'm a fan of the Hungry Girl recipe for "Growing Oatmeal Bowls" of various flavors, but decided to expand on my repertoire of fruit combinations.

A friend was talking about using PB2 powder (a low fat peanut butter powder that can be reconstituted with water) for something else, but I had some in my cupboard and thought it might make for some yummy sweet oatmeal.  And also a sweet treat that is lower sugar and fat than it would be if I used chocolate chips and real peanut butter.    

I made up the recipe below pretty much on the fly and it was tasty!

Makes 1 Serving

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup vanilla light almond milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp. PB2 chocolate/peanut butter powder
• dash of salt
• approx. 1/2 tsp. Watkins peanut butter extract (or more or less, to taste)
• Banana, if desired

Instructions:

1. Combine salt, oats, water, and almond milk in a nonstick pan.  
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer
3. Cook about 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until it is thick and creamy
4. About halfway through, add cocoa powder and stir 
5. At the end of cooking, add PB2 powder and peanut butter extract and stir
6. Add slices of banana, if desired.