Like most Americans, I was raised on peanut butter. My elementary lunches concluded of the spread in various forms: sandwiches, granola bars, cookies and just straight up peanut butter for dipping. What isn’t there to love about peanut butter? It’s cheap, sweet, salty and packs a punch of protein, it is the whole package.
Peanut butter should be a total college staple for anyone living in a residence hall, but often I see people fail to recognize its full potential, so here are some ways you can utilize peanut butter in your day to day life that isn’t just a plain PB&J!
Peanut Butter and Banana Chips
If you have never tried banana chips, please drive to your nearest Whole Foods and buy yourself a bag. Banana chips are essentially just dried banana, but man are they good. And they make an excellent partner with peanut butter, just scoop a spoonful out on your plate, dip the chips in it and boom! Perfect afternoon snack.
Peanut Butter and Strawberry Crackers
This is my own play on the traditional PB&J, take some graham crackers and spread some peanut butter on them. After that add some halved strawberries on top, and voila! An amped up PB&J! This one is nice because you can whip up a bunch to share with friends, or make a few for an easy, and fairly healthy snack. Also feel free to go Picasso with how you arrange the strawberries, I always make unique patterns with mine!
Peanut Butter Dip
This is probably my favorite recipe on the list. It’s so easy and yummy. Plus it doesn’t push the bar in terms of calories. For this dip, all you have to do is combine ⅓ a cup of peanut butter, 1 cup of greek yogurt and a tablespoon of honey. Whisk it all together and you have the perfect dessert dip. Personally, I like to dip celery and pretzels, but go for whatever you want! This dip comes in handy for parties and get-togethers, it tastes like you put a lot of effort into it but in reality, takes less than ten minutes. Arrange a fancy platter and you’re set!
Peanut Butter Overnight Oats
This one is so freaking easy for a grab and go breakfast in the morning! Simply take about a half cup of almond or soy milk, half a cup of rolled oats, two tablespoons of peanut butter and a tablespoon of chia seeds, mix all the ingredients but the oats into the jar then after that is mixed, slowly add the oats. Make sure you get them all soaked and pat them down into the mixture! Cover with some sort of lid or cover and let sit in a fridge for six hours and voila! You’re done!