This is a great grab your keys and go breakfast recipe that I got from Addie, a runner and southwest Missouri local, over at her TWISI xanga blog. I think this recipe is genius in its simplicity and clean, not-too-sweet flavor. The exact recipe (thank you, Addie!) is after the jump but how can you possibly go wrong with all natural peanut butter, soy (or skim) milk, and non-fat yogurt (milk or soy)? Isn't that pretty much the definition of healthy breakfast?
The counts for a large glass that easily filled me up are Calories: 205; Protein: 13; Carbs: 12; Fat: 10 (from the peanut butter); and Fiber: 3.5. For those on Weight Watchers...4 points.
Just for fun--how may local plugs can you see in the pic? I grabbled a plastic glass from the cabinet and threw my keys down for the pic, and then when I uploaded the photo, I couldn't help but laugh. Can you tell where I've been? Let's see... now you know the name of my gym, can see what my library card looks like, and you now know that I have, once upon a time, frequented the Buzzard Bar at Big Cedar Lodge, owned by Bass Pro. Speaking of Big Cedar, doesn't that sound like a fun weekend getaway now that it's getting warm? I love just walking around looking at all the flowers and watching the boats on the lake from the hillside.
A word about peanut butter. If you love your Peter Pan, Jif, or Skippy then immediately stick your fingers in your ears and run away from this next paragraph singing "LALALALALALA" at the top of your lungs because if you don't already know, what I'm about to tell you will gross you out to your socks. You know how all natural peanut butter is sort of sticky with oil sitting on the top that you have to stir in? Yeah. That's a GOOD thing. It means that the peanut butter has peanuts and salt. Before you buy your peanut butter thinking it's a healthy protein source, make sure the ingredients listed are ONLY peanuts (or cashews or almonds) and salt.
If you buy one of the traditional brands and happen to look on the ingredient list guess what you're going to find? The thing that makes your smooth peanut butter so smooth and creamy on the tongue is that it's mixed with shortening. Yep, next time you think about eating that Peter Pan, Jif, or Skippy, think about dipping up yourself a big O' heaping tablespoon of Crisco and licking it right off the spoon, or spreading that thick layer of Crisco over your bread and chowing down. YUUUM yum.
My personal favorite peanut butter is the local Hallam's in Ozark. Their peanut butter doesn't even have added salt, just peanuts. I also get a lot of my honey and sorghum from them. Addie recommends Smucker's All Natural. By using the all natural you give up a little of the smooth spreadability but you certainly make up for it by not clogging your arteries in one fell swoop with transfats!
Addie's Peanut Butter Cup Smoothie
In a blender, mix until smooth:
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk or non-fat milk
1/2 cup non-fat yogurt
2 Tbsp all natural peanut butter
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp Splenda
Sweet!!! Glad you like it - I made a banana smoothie this morning and it's fantastic. LOVE the local plugs in the picture!!! Have a terrific Monday!
Posted by: addie | May 12, 2008 at 08:50 AM
Thanks, Addie! Hey, I'm thinking the peanut butter WITH the banana would rock! Sort of an "Elvis Smoothie". Whatcha think?
Posted by: Glenna | May 12, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Since I love natural (and unatural) peanut butter--that looks marvelous to me!
Posted by: sher | May 12, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Very neat drink - and thanks for pointing out the obscenity of most peanut butter!
Posted by: DaviMack | May 12, 2008 at 12:15 PM
That does seem like close to genius. Love peanut butter.
Posted by: MyKitchenInHalfCups | May 12, 2008 at 07:10 PM
Sher--LOL! It is good without being too sweet. That's what I loved about it!
David--No kidding. Gross, eh?
Tanna--Me too! One of my favorite flavors although I'm think almond butter or cashew butter would be good too!
Posted by: Glenna | May 12, 2008 at 11:04 PM
And sugar. Remember Jif and Peter Pan and "Store Brand" peanut butters have added sugars, too.
Posted by: Family Nutritionist | May 13, 2008 at 02:43 PM
FN--GREAT point! It's sickening how much sugar goes into those brands.
Posted by: Glenna | May 17, 2008 at 01:58 PM
Wow its a good thing I read this one. It caught my eye because my doc wants me to lose weight and drink smoothies in the morning. Since I have diabetes I eat a tsp of peanut butter before I eat my cereal. Need some protein to counteract the carbs. But oh my gosh, I didn't know my Skippy was made with Crisco! Its funny too because my hubby just bought some healthy kind of peanut butter and I was complaining away about it. I'm going to try this yummy sounding recipe it is close to 1 choice for me which counts as 15 grams of carbs, I can only have 3 choices per meal, and 2 choices/snack. I could probably add a banana and it would be fine it would get me to the 3 choices for breakfast. Thanks for the recipe!
Posted by: Dana | May 23, 2008 at 02:34 AM
Wow, that looks like an amazing way to start the day. Please consider entering this recipe in Peanut Butter Exhibition #2 Breakfast hosted by The Peanut Butter Boy and Foodaphilia. Submission Details: To enter your recipe, please submit the following information to [email protected] with "PBE #2" as the subject:
Name
Blog URL
Title of Recipe
Recipe or Recipe Permalink URL
Judging Criteria: Peanut Butter Weight, Well-Balanced Factor, Get-Outta-Bed Motivation and Preparation Time
Posted by: e | May 29, 2008 at 08:30 AM
Dana--hang in there and dump your Skippy. :-)
E--Thank you for the heads up!
Posted by: Glenna | May 30, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Hi, Just curious, where did you get your info about how much shortening is in peanut butter? I read somewhere that for a product to be called peanut butter, that it has to be 90% peanuts.-al
Posted by: Alan | June 02, 2008 at 12:17 AM
Alan--It is 90% peanuts but when you read the ingredients there are also hydrogenated oils and stabilizers in many top brands, as opposed to just peanuts and salt as most people believe. I was being facetious with the "Crisco" name but still, there are transfats. With my husband's heart condition, I'm really try to keep an eye on all of that. 10% doesn't sound like much but I remember being shocked when I found out that many peanut butters are mixed with any hydrogenated oils, or anything other than salt at all. The FDA reference on that is http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/FCF164.html
Posted by: Glenna | June 02, 2008 at 11:21 AM
I agree with you about the Skippy's/ Jiff's of the peanut butter world. I used to love eating them right out of the jar until I learned that they've got high-fructose corn syrup in them. Now we go the all-peanut way and my tastes have adjusted. At some of our local grocery stores they even have nut grinders and a variety of nuts to grind our own nut butters. It's awesome.
Posted by: renae du jour | June 05, 2008 at 01:24 PM
Sounds great! Is that plain yogurt?
Posted by: Amanda | June 19, 2008 at 06:32 PM
Renae--I'm the same way. My tastes have adjusted so that PP tastes nasty to me too! Love that you get fresh ground nut butters. That's awesome!
Amanda--yes, it sure is.
Posted by: Glenna | June 27, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Addie, I am doing the sb again. I felt great on it but I do not like using SPlenda. I think it is as bad for you as the crisco on a spoon. I am in phase one and this recipe sounded great till I get to the splenda part. I will try it with stevia, but are there any other sweetners that others have tried that works in the recipe besides Splenda?
Thanks for your suggestions.
Posted by: cindy bishop | December 03, 2012 at 08:00 AM
Honestly, I don't use Splenda at all. I don't like artificial sweeteners and I don't think they're good for you either. But. I use it in my recipes sometimes because I know a lot of people do. I prefer to use honey in almost everything. it's natural and if you buy local like I do it can support the immune system. But I've had some friends/readers balk about the extra calories. So...how do you feel about honey?
Posted by: Glenna | December 07, 2012 at 08:37 PM