*Banana flavoring/extract can vary in strength, so I suggest starting with ½ tsp., then adding more as desired. Personal taste buds vary a lot when it comes to banana flavoring. Feel free to leave it out entirely if banana isn't your thing.
**The cottage cheese adds some texture to the pudding, so you can substitute with Greek yogurt if you prefer. I prefer the flavor of cottage cheese to Greek yogurt, personally. Another option is to mash the cottage cheese with a fork before stirring it into the pudding to remove most of the lumps.
***To decrease calories, I like to use pretty dry natural peanut butter for this. We buy Smucker's from Walmart, and if the bottom of the jar doesn't get stirred well, it ends up dry without much oil. This works perfectly in this pudding because the peanut butter stays in chunks. Using peanut butter without the extra oil cuts back on the fats and keeps the pudding on the lighter side. You can use defatted peanut flour instead of the peanut butter for an even lighter option. (The pudding would still be THM:S because of the chia seeds.)