Lately my new kick is the yogurt bowl trend. I admit, sometimes I put it on a plate… or eat it out of a yogurt cup… but the yogurt bowl idea is superb. It’s like cereal… with yogurt instead of milk… and topping choices instead of cereal. OK, so maybe it isn’t like cereal.
In the photo above, I have bee pollen, hemp, banana-nut granola, pumpkin seeds, stevia-sweetened chocolate chips, and Bulgarian plain yogurt. I’m making myself hungry just looking at it.
I went for a long while (over a year) without dairy after my colon surgery and cancer scare (mainly because a diet high in meat and dairy makes you acidic and that’s what cancer likes to grow in), but I can say that lately – 1.5 years out – I’ve put fermented and soft cheeses like feta, goat cheese, and even cotija crumble back in to my diet in moderation. Heck, I’ve even cheated with some Amy’s Gluten Free Rice Pasta Mac & Cheese boxes now and then. My little ones love those so much!
OK, so I also sometimes eat a few chips with queso when we eat out Mexican, too. But just a handful. There’s no telling how much of that queso dip is real cheese or the YUMMY FAKE KIND. Blame that taste partiality on the insanity of my pre-health nut upbringing: oreos and nachos galore. Don’t hold it against me that concession stand cheese is a weakness, please? I can’t help it… although I can keep myself from eating too much of it.
I still stay away from milk and limit my dairy, but I don’t make a religion out of it. I’m not going to skip the shredded hard cheese on my taco, even if I don’t eat the cheese enchiladas very often (unless I make them myself at home with some delicious raw cheese or almond substitute cheese).
One day when I had a bit of a sweet tooth at snack time a few monts back, and we had no home made nut butter brownies or gluten free cookies in the house, I decided to use up my handful of Lily’s Stevia-Sweetened Dark Chocolate Chips in the last cup of yogurt I had bought for the boys. They eat those Dreaming Cow yogurts up like Pacmen every time they are on sale.
My mouth thanked me for the combination of flavors. Honey-Pear Dreaming Cow, granola, and CHOCOLATE. Mmmmmm. A new snack tradition was born; one worth photographing!
So then, after that hit the spot, I went on a bit of a yogurt binge. I bought some grain-free granola and started sampling different paleo-friendly and other low-sugar varieties of granola (maple sugar and honey were the preferred sweetners if there were any). I’ve found quite a few brands I like. Kitchfix is one. Currently, I’m on a chocolate version and I threw the container away, so I have no idea what the name of it is… but I got it at Natural Grocers. Of course.
Here are a few “primal” granolas (mostly seeds and nuts) that look kind of like the one I’m munching on lately — it’s chocolate flavored! MMM
When I eat good Yogurt, I try to avoid doing much kombucha, sour kraut, or probiotic supplements. I only do one probiotic thing a day. This makes my pills last longer, and gives my gut a break from bombardment (even good bacteria can be a little much sometimes for your gut to handle). I learned a lot about probiotics at the conference in California last month. So much that I couldn’t even touch it here… but if you are really interested, I have PDFs I can share that I got from an expert in the field.
I used to make water kefir, and gave my grains to a friend, and eventually I will pick back up on that. Just haven’t had time lately with all my last minute house renovations, home sale, and now moving. I look forward to having my own kombucha and water kefir and even milk kefir in the future!
Can’t have milk? There are even coconut milk and nut milk versions of yogurt now. There’s something for everyone. I tried some cashew yogurt at ShiftCon that was fabulous.
If you do eat dairy-based yogurt, my favorites are:
Organic Valley Grassmilk Yogurt
Bulgarian Yogurt
Dreaming Cow Yogurt
Or you could make your own!
There are so many things you can do with kefir and yogurt – from bowls to dips to marinades. One of my favorite cookbooks is Food to Live By (Earthbound Farm Organic) by Myra Goodman. She has a fantastic Raita dish that goes perfect along side curry. It has yogurt, cumin, salt, cayenne and a grated cucumber in it.
Here are a list of things you could try with your yogurt:
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- fresh blueberries (my husband’s favorite) or frozen (my kids’ favorite)
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- passion fruit or dragon fruit
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- banana slices
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- kiwi & strawberry
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- frozen cherries
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- buckwheat groats
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- peanut butter (or diced peanuts) and grated lily’s stevia-sweetened chocolate bar
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- chia seeds
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- bee pollen (nice and crunchy-sweet)
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- acii berry powder (don’t go crazy – it adds great color and nutrients, but is TART)
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- goji berries (or you can blend the berries with a little water into gogi milk to get the flavor without the texture of raisin-like fruits)
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- chives, cucumber & garlic powder for dips
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- honey drizzle
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- lily’s stevia-sweetened chocolate baking chips
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- vanilla and crushed toasted hazelnuts
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- raspberries, blackberries, and oat granola with maple syrup
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- protein powders
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- citrus slices
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- almonds
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- hemp seeds, chopped apple and honey
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- frozen berries, lemon zest, monk fruit crystals for sweetener
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- pecans, maple syrup, and crumbled Simple Mills gluten free snack cookies
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- peaches (or frozen peaches) and mint leaves (you could even put some hot herbal tea on the peaches to warm them some and chop them up – it would add flavor and texture… I’d try Earl Grey!)
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- matcha tea powder, roasted and chopped pistachios, and honey drizzle
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- mashed sweet potato, maple granola, cinnamon and nutmeg
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- toasted coconut
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- chopped cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumbers, fresh herbs, salt & pepper
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- chocolate protein powder, chocolate chips, chocolate chunks & chocolate melted drizzle
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- lemon juice, lemon zest, drop of essential lemon oil from YL, and poppyseeds
You can really get creative. I love using yogurt to make all sorts of marinade sauces and curries, too. Meat tastes delicious when it has been skewered and grilled with a yogurt marinade! I’ve been in a real yogurt mood lately. I’d love to hear your recipe favorites.
What do you put in your yogurt?