Yogurt

I have a love hate relationship with yogurt. 

A few years ago I was in love with it.  I read all about how healthy it is for you and how you should eat it everyday.  I started making homemade granola and would sprinkle it in my yogurt for my daily afternoon snack.  I couldn't bring myself to buy the "regular" kind with all it's calories, fat and sugar so I went with Dannon Light and Fit.  Vanilla was my favorite and I bought it by the quart.

I knew it had sucralose in it, which I discuss in detail here.  However, this was before I really read about sucralose so I ate it anyway.  Then, a couple years later when I read more and my guilt overtook me I parted ways with my beloved afternoon snack.  I know, so sad.

Enter phase 1 of the hate relationship with yogurt.

Fast forward to a year or so ago and I was excited to learn about Greek yogurt.  As you have all probably heard it's supposed to be much healthier and extremely good for you.  I was sold, but it took me awhile to find some that I liked.  Let's be real here, something that looks like sour cream when you're eating it can be interesting.  Well, I finally found some at Aldi that I liked.  Score!  Delicious and cheap.  

This went on for several months, but I always ate it sparingly because of all the sugar.  One of these containers has 19 grams of sugar.  Yikes!  (I try to eat no more than 24 g in a day so....you see the problem)  But, still, I was excited it tasted so yummy and tried to convince myself it was okay it had that much sugar because of all the other benefits of eating yogurt.  

I was back in love...albeit, cautiously.

Then, this bad boy showed up in my inbox from sugar free mom.  (It's about 7 minutes long, but if you have time it explains Greek yogurt nutrition labels better than I ever could.  Very much worth your time)

You guessed it: flavored Greek yogurt and I were over.

I was motivated and I tried so hard to enjoy the plain yogurt she talks about.  I knew she was right, I knew it all along, but I just couldn't do it. I am a FIRM believer that eating healthy does not mean eating food that doesn't taste good.  Everything I eat I make sure I enjoy.  Since I didn't like plain Greek yogurt I would keep it in the fridge and add it to fruit smoothies whenever I made those so I couldn't taste it.

Don't worry, this story has a happy ending.  The other day on Pinterest I saw an intriguing recipe where you add peanut butter, vanilla, and honey or maple syrup to plain Greek yogurt.  I had tried adding honey and fruit myself, and I think I even added peanut butter once, but it still was sour to me.  I never tried this combo though and I had some Fage in my refrigerator.  (I buy this at Aldi also)

 

I'm back in LOVE with yogurt.  I have eaten this for an afternoon snack twice this week and it's fabulous.  Yogurt is one of those foods that keeps me full for a long time and I'm always looking for those kind of snacks.  Now, yes, there is some sugar in it from either the honey or the syrup (make sure you use 100% pure maple), but that's all natural, God made and I'm absolutely an advocate for it-sparingly.

I'm going to type the recipe on here because I think it's easier than having to click on a bunch of stuff, but I want to give credit to the one who posted it.  It came from http://www.girlgonecountry.com/. 

 

Ingredients
1 small container of plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp nut butter (I used all natural peanut butter)
1 tbsp sweetener (like maple syrup or honey)
1/4 tsp vanilla
pinch of sea salt
1 tbsp mini chocolate chips (I didn't use this much, I just sprinkled a few on top)

Combine the Greek Yogurt with the nut butter, sweetener, vanilla and sea salt. Mix until smooth.
Top with Mini Chocolate chips. Enjoy!

*I made this the first time with honey and the second time with pure maple syrup and I prefer it with syrup.