Yogurt adds nutritional goodness, a distinctive taste, creamy texture, and wonderful moistness to your cooking. The possibilities range from simple combinations of yogurt and fruit to dishes made with Greek yogurt or homemade yogurt cheese.
Yogurt has many health benefits including probiotics which are living organisms found in yogurt, and helps your digestive tract with the "good" bacteria. According to WebMD, yogurt may help prevent osteoporosis, reduce the risk of high blood pressure, yogurt containing active cultures may help certain gastrointestinal conditions, may discourage vaginal infections, and will help you stay more full for a longer period of time.
Next time you find yourself reaching for the chips and dip, reconsider your decision and go for some fruit to dip in yogurt instead. You can make the perfect snack by pairing high-protein yogurt with a high-fiber food like fruit and/or a high fiber breakfast cereal to add to your yogurt.
If you want to customize your own flavored yogurt, start with your favorite plain yogurt and stir in all sorts of foods and flavors. Here are a few ideas:
- Add chopped strawberries (1/4 cup) and 1/8 tsp of vanilla extract to 6 ounces of plain yogurt to make Strawberries and Cream Yogurt.
- Add canned crushed pineapple (1/8 cup) and a tbsp of flaked or shredded coconut to 6 ounces of plain yogurt to make Pina Colada Yogurt.
- Add 1 tbsp of cool espresso or extra-strong coffee and 1 tbsp of chocolate syrup to 6 ounces of plain yogurt to make Mochaccino Yogurt.
- Add 1/4 cup chopped orange segments or mandarin oranges and 1 tbsp reduced-sugar orange marmalade to 6 ounces of plain yogurt to make Orange Julius Yogurt.
One of my favorite fruits are strawberries. For dessert tonight and snacks for tomorrow, I decided to create FRO-Yo Strawberries! I also decided to make FRO-Yo Dip'n Dots. Can't wait to give these a try...
Fro-Yo is absolutely amazing. These Dip N Dots sound like an adorable idea for a healthy treat! Let me know how they turned out because I would really like to make them!
ReplyDeleteI never knew how healthy yogurt was for you. It kind of blew my mind that there are healthy bacteria in yogurt and it helps with so many other things. I think i'm really going to start to eat yogurt and fruit in the mornings, its so simple and so healthy. That is exactly what I need to get super charged in the morning, especially with me having a low immune system. Good to know!
ReplyDeleteYea it's actually really good for you, and that was kind of surprising to me too! I knew about a few of the health benefits, but wasn't aware of the full realm. Enjoy and thanks for reading!
DeleteI'm not really into yogurt but your strawberry recipe sounds good. I will have to give it a shot, the picture makes me hungry just looking at it haha.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post and am officially craving yogurt! I'm a big fan of the yoplait yogurts, they are always in my grocery cart. I've never really thought of mixing my own fruit yogurts, though and I'm glad this post informed me of the very obvious possibility. I'm extremely intrigued by the mixing of expresso coffee with yogurt and can't wait to try it. I wanted to ask if you recommended a specific brand of plain yogurt? and would you suggest using plain french vanilla yogurt to get a sweeter taste?
ReplyDeleteFro-yo is amazing and I always was told that yogurt was good for you but reading this post made me a true believer. There are so many things you can do with fro-yo to make it a healthier lifestyle than basic dairy items. Love this post!
ReplyDeleteYea the options for yogurt is almost endless! I've become a big yogurt fan, but there are some mornings where I just don't crave it and go for something more like a slice of whole-wheat bread with a fair amount of peanut butter topped with sliced bananas... Sooo good!
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