Empty Peanut Butter Jar Oatmeal

A while back I saw quite an interesting concept on fellow blogger KathEats‘ site – oatmeal served in an *almost* empty jar of nut butter. Um… sign ME up!

It’s taken some time for us to remember to actually leave some nut butter scrapings in one of our jars…

{insert image of Ryan or me… or both, squeeking out every last morsel of nut butter goodness from the jar with our hungry little fingers… I mean, with a spatula}

…but finally, we were able to keep ourselves away from the almost empty jar long enough to throw together this quickie recipe.

The recipe itself was a fairly standard frozen berry oatmeal recipe, but you can substitute whatever ingredients you have on hand, and/or any other oatmeal recipe that would go well with nut butter.

And, you can also substitute any nut butter as well – i.e. peanut butter, sunflower, almond, cashew, etc. I made a deal with Ryan that he could have this one, if I could have dibs on the jar of sunflower butter that we are also working through. He agreed and we shook on it. Ok, no we didn’t, but it sounds so much more definitive if we did.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (40g) rolled oats
• 1 cup water
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 medium banana, sliced (mine was frozen today)
• 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
• 1 tsp stevia (or agave nectar, or honey)
• 1 tsp vanilla (my new favorite brand; what they are lacking in web design, they make up in flavor)
• 1 tsp ground flaxseeds
• 1 almost empty jar of crunchy Trader Joe’s Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flaxseeds

Directions

In a medium size pan, heat the oats, water, and salt over medium heat with the lid on. Once the mixture begins to simmer, approximately 5-6 minutes, remove the lid and set aside, and stir in the banana and mixed berries (it’s ok if they are still a little frozen).

Continue to stir, almost whipping, until the banana breaks down and the mixture thickens and becomes creamy, about another 5-6 minutes or until it reaches your desired consistency. Add the stevia and vanilla, and stir until incorporated. Pour into the empty peanut butter jar and top with a sprinkle of ground flax seeds.

The peanut butter melts and combines with the oats so you get pb flavor, and pockets of peanut butter goodness with every bite… Ryan did share a bite with me and it was oh so delish.

Microwave

If you are into microwaving your oats rather than heating them on the stovetop, this works too. I would recommend heating them in a non-plastic bowl first, and then pouring them into the jar after heated.

Nutritional Info

Note: Nutritional data is approximate, as I did not measure the peanut butter in the jar, and am using a guesstimate of 1 tbsp.

1 servings = per serving

Calories: 325
Fat: 11 g
Carbs: 50 g
Protein: 10 g

Check out more recipes from my 30-Day Oatmeal Challenge.