Healthy Cooking by design

I’m always looking for healthy products to enjoy and recommend.  Yogurt, like many foods, can be very healthy or just another sugar laden dessert in disguise.  It is surprising to realize that some yogurts have as much sugar as a serving of Frosted Flakes cereal, a Pepsi, or a Snickers bar with very little live cultures to benefit your digestion. For a closer look at yogurt and a comparison of some name brands, read ‘Getting a little culture - yogurt - Brand Name Comparison’.

Stonyfield Farms, on the other hand, has always had high quality organic products with lots of live cultures and plenty of flavors to pick from. Recently, I did some sampling of and a post about delicious Chobani Greek yogurt which is much thicker than regular yogurt because most of the whey is drained off.

The folks at Stonyfield Farms, who I also mentioned in that post, thought their product, Oikos - organic Greek yogurt, was also very good and sent me coupons for their 4 flavors to see if I agreed.  I redeemed the coupons and held a “yogurt tasting” with a friend and Greek yogurt connoisseur.

Initially, my favorite thing about the plain variety was the ingredient list.  First, it lists cultured pasteurized organic nonfat milk and second, it names five live cultures.  That’s it.  Imagine that, yogurt made only from milk and cultures.  Simple and delicious. The plain variety would make a great substitute for sour cream as a topping, or to make a ranch type salad dressing.  I thought it would make a great dip like cucumber and dill, artichoke and parmesan, or smoked salmon.  It was delicious mixed with a little feta and herbs, spread on a pita, and topped with sliced olives.

I also tried their flavors - vanilla, blueberry, and honey.  They all had a fantastic flavor and would be great as a snack or as a topping for fruit or cereal.  The vanilla was not overly sweet which I appreciated.  It would be perfect as a layer in a parfait of strawberries, blueberries, and bananas.  The blueberry made a great topping for a whole wheat bagel. And the honey on a bagel with a few sliced almonds was truly dessert-like.  I also used the honey to make a dip for fruit by stirring in a little natural peanut butter and topping it with a dash of cinnamon.

If you would like to replace cream cheese on a bagel - start with a Thomas brand whole wheat bagel (or mini-bagel) and mix 1/3 less fat cream cheese with equal amounts of either honey or blueberry Oikos.  Each time you make it, use less cream cheese and more Oikos until you eating it straight.  I personally could see myself taking hunks of a bagel and dipping it into (ok, honestly more like dredging it through) the straight Oikos for breakfast.

So, if you want to try a yogurt that is between 90 and 120 calories per serving, no fat, less sugar, fewer carbs, and twice the protein of most yogurts, then Oikos from Stonyfield is for you. You can even go to their website and get a coupon!

Fruit Dip Snack (serves 4):

Mix 2 Tablespoons of natural peanut butter into 1 (5.3 oz.) container of honey Oikos and sprinkle the top with a little cinnamon.  On a tray, put 1 apple, cored and sliced; 1 banana, cut into chunks; and 8-10 strawberries.  Dip and enjoy.  134 calories per serving.

Pita Appetizer (serves 4):

Mix 2 Tablespoons of President Crumbled Feta with Mediterranean Herbs into 1 cup of plain Oikos.  Cut 2 whole wheat pita pockets into 16 triangles.  (Cut each pita into fourths and split at back seam to make 8 triangles from each pita.)  Can be toasted to crisp them if desired.  Spread each triangle with the feta yogurt mixture and top with a few sliced black or green olives.  You could easily use Triscuit Thin Crisps instead of the pita triangles.  102 calories per serving.

I decided that when I am in the grocery store, I should regularly buy a healthy product I haven’t used before and try it.  It is easy for me to keep using the same products I have already tested, and potentially miss out on newer healthy treats and foods.  One I recently tried was Chobani Greek Yogurt.  I chose Blueberry Nonfat, but they also had strawberry, peach, honey, vanilla, and plain.

I choose it because I had heard several people raving about Greek style yogurt being extra thick, so I was thinking it might make a good snack or dessert.  One container had 140 calories (a little higher than I usually go for a snack, but not too bad) and its ingredients are nonfat milk, blueberries, sugar, natural flavor and 5 live cultures.  I like that - short, sweet, and to the point.

The texture and flavor did not disappoint - very thick and creamy.  In fact, it reminded me very much of a thick vanilla ice cream or maybe a fat slice of cheesecake.  And there were whole blueberries in the bottom with a little sugary syrup that I stirred in.  Very creamy and very delicious.  So I will add them to my very short list of favorite yogurts - Dannon All Natural, Lowfat Vanilla , Stoneyfield Farms Vanilla or Coffee flavor, and now Chobani Greek Yogurt.

Basically, what I am looking for in a healthy yogurt is a low fat milk to start, natural sugar, and live cultures (the more the better).  If it doesn’t come with fruit, I have no problem adding my own fresh or frozen fruit.  In fact, I prefer a good vanilla yogurt and my own fruit.  I regularly make a bowl of fruit and use just a spoonful or two of yogurt.  And if fiber and regularity are what you are looking for, just add a spoonful or two of ground flaxseeds or whole oats.  In my opinion, that is just as effective and healthier than some of the new products with those claims.

So the next time you’re in the grocery, read a label or two and pick a healthy product to try and let me know about it!