Raspberry Yogurt Cheese with Gingersnaps

Since raspberries are my favorite fruit, and I like gingersnaps because they help me feel better when I have a belly ache, and, of course, my blog is about yogurt, I just thought I'd share with you this recipe.

Yield
Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups raspberries, plus extra for garnishing
4 tablespoons honey
3 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
12 gingersnaps

Preparation
Place the raspberries and 2 tablespoons of the honey in a medium bowl and stir gently. Add the yogurt and carefully fold in the berries until thoroughly combined; some berries should remain whole. Place a large strainer or colander in a medium bowl and line it with 4 layers of cheesecloth or plain white paper towels, allowing the cloth to extend beyond the edge of the strainer. Spoon the yogurt mixture onto the cloth, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Turn the yogurt cheese onto a serving plate and remove the cloth. Discard the drained liquid. Drizzle the remaining honey over the yogurt cheese. Use the gingersnaps as crackers, topping them with the cheese and extra berries.

Tip: You can also serve the Raspberry Yogurt Cheese with bagels and breads.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 230.27 (26% from fat)
Fat: 6.66g (sat 3.5g)
Protein: 6.54mg
Carbohydrate: 38.14g
Fiber: 2.8g
Cholesterol: 19.11mg
Iron: 1.47mg
Sodium: 178.54mg
Calcium: 201.05mg

If I still haven't convinced you to try Greek yogurt, this should do it. LOL

Many think of yogurt as just a sweet snack. But the thick, creamy, rich kind that’s traditional in Greece has been integral to Grecians’ healthy diet for thousands of years. “We have a custom that before a couple goes on their honeymoon, they eat yogurt with honey and walnuts for prosperity and energy,” says Antonios Maridakis, president of Fage USA, importer of Greece’s biggest yogurt brand. “A lot of us believe that yogurt is an aphrodisiac.”

My New Obsession - Greek Yogurt

My mom went to BJ's and bought this new, strange yogurt called Chobani. It's a brand of Greek yogurt, which I had never tried before. So far now, I've had blueberry, strawberry, and peach. I can't say one was better than the other because I loved them all! They are fat free, with just 140 calories and an amazing amount of protein - 14 grams. And did you know, protein-dense yogurt is now considered a meat alternative by the United States Department of Agriculture in its school meal programs?

Chobani also contains 3 active probiotics -- good for digestive health. The yogurt has a distinct flavor. It is very creamy, and the Chobani kind comes with fruit on the bottom that you mix in. It is a delicious and different kink of yogurt that I recommend to everyone!

Get your fiber -- even in yogurt!

The American Heart Association recommends eating a variety of food fiber sources. Fiber is important for the health of the digestive system and for lowering cholesterol. Foods containing fiber often are good sources of other essential nutrients. Depending on how they're prepared, these foods can also be low in trans fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. Fruits, vegetables, whole-grain, high-fiber foods, beans and legumes are good sources of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. The AHA recommends that at least half of grain intake come from whole-grain foods.

(http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4574)

Here is an easy and delicious way to get an excellent serving of fiber using, of course, yogurt!! You're 5 ingredients and 10 minutes away from dipping into a deliciously layered dessert or snack of yogurt, fruit and high-fiber cereal.

Strawberry-Banana Parfaits
Prep Time:10 min
Start to Finish:10 min
Makes:4 servings

2 containers (6 oz each) Yoplait® Original 99% Fat Free strawberry yogurt
2 cups Fiber One® Honey Clusters® cereal
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 medium banana, thinly sliced
4 whole fresh strawberries

1. In each of 4 (10-oz) plastic cups or parfait glasses, layer 2 tablespoons yogurt, 1/4 cup cereal, 1/4 cup strawberry slices and 1/4 of banana slices.
2. Top each with 2 tablespoons yogurt, 1/4 cup cereal and remaining yogurt. Garnish top of each parfait with whole strawberry.

(This recipe uses Yoplait yogurt. You could even use Fiber One Yogurt for even more fiber.)

Here's your yogurt with Vitamin D!

Below are the major national-brand yogurts that have been fortified with vitamin D, because not all yogurt has Vitamin D in it. Vitamin D is fortified into milk and yogurt.

Now there may be more brands than these listed below, so leave any comments if you want to add any more to the list. I've included only brands that contain at least 10 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin D per single-serving container. (Smoothies and yogurt drinks are excluded).


(Size is a 6-ounce cup unless noted) . . .

Breyer's Creme Savers: 30 percent
Breyer's Light: 20 percent
Breyer's Disney Swirled Lowfat: 20 percent (4 ounces)
Dannon Light & Fit: 20 percent (except for strawberry and mixed berry, with 15 percent)
Stonyfield Farm Fat-Free: 20 percent
Stonyfield Farm YoCalcium: 20 percent
Stonyfield Farm Lowfat: 20 percent
Yoplait Original: 20 percent
Yoplait Light: 20 percent
Yoplait Thick and Creamy: 20 percent
Yoplait Light Thick and Creamy: 20 percent
Stonyfield Farm Fat-Free Probiotic: 15 percent (4 ounces)
Dannon Light & Fit 0%-Plus: 10 percent (4 ounces)
Yoplait Whips: 10 percent (4 ounces)
Yoplait Yo-Plus: 10 percent (4 ounces)
Yoplait Fiber One: 15 percent (4 ounces)
Trix by Yoplait: 10 (4 ounces)

Vitamin D and Yogurt

The major biologic function of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and maintain strong bones. Recently, research also suggests vitamin D may provide protection from osteoporosis, hypertension (high blood pressure), cancer, and several autoimmune diseases.

Vitamin D must be present for calcium to be absorbed and used. For this reason, yogurt that is rich in calcium and fortified with Vitamin D is a good choice. Some yogurt brands are not fortified with Vitamin D. Look for brands, such as Yoplait, that contain Vitamin D, or make sure you are getting your vitamin D from other sources.

Classic Vanilla Frozen Yogurt

Last night I visited the Taunton mall again with a few friends. We stopped at Bridgham's (again) for some ice cream/frozen yogurt. This time I got vanilla frozen yogurt with hot fudge and strawberry topping. It was really good! Fudge and strawberries go very well together, I must say, especially with frozen yogurt.

And since we've been working on a project about the ingrdients in food, most of the ingredients in the vanilla frozen yogurt seem pretty promising. Here's the list:

Skim Milk, Sugar, Cultured Skim Milk, Corn Syrup, Cream, Vanilla Extract, Locust Bean Gum, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Soy Lecithin. Contains active Yogurt Cultures: L. Bulgaricus & S. ThermophilusContains active Yogurt Cultures: L. Bulgaricus and S. Thermophilus

Happy 20th to mee.

Oh and today is my birthday.

:)

I love coffee ANYTHING!

Last week I was at the Taunton Mall and decided to stop and the Bridgham's Ice Cream place. For those who don't know, Brigham's is a New England ice cream brand. In Massachusetts, you can find their cartons of ice cream at Donelan's, Foodmaster, Market Basket, Omni Foods, Roche Brothers, Shaw's/Star Markets, Stop & Shop, Trucchis Supermarkets, and Victory Markets.

Their frozen yogurt is called élan. élan frozen yogurt is a healthy, all natural alternative. élan contains live and active cultures, which aids in digestion and can be beneficial for those who are lactose intolerant. You won't find anything artificial or unnecessarily added, but what you will find is an abundance of satisfying flavor. élan is one of the few indulgences you can feel uncompromisingly good about.

When I was at the Taunton Mall, I chose their Coffee frozen yogurt, and it was delicious! For those sensitive of caffeine from coffee, they also make a Decaffeinated Cappuccino flavor :)

Say No to Sprinkles

Dear BSC Commuter Caf,

I love those yogurt covered pretzels you have. And I appreciate that you are trying to get us excited for Spring and Easter by putting pretty colored sprinkles on the yogurt pretzels. Though they look cute, their tooth-breaking crunchyness completely takes away from the taste of the yogurt-- the best part!! Please bring back the plain yogurt-covered pretzels. Thanks!

-Brittany

Raspberry Yogurt Cake

This look so good. You could probably make it with other berries too, like blueberries.

2 eggs

1 cup of plain unsweetened yogurt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 or 2 tsp vanilla extract, to taste.

300 grams of raspberries, frozen (no need to thaw them) or fresh

Preheat the oven to 175° C (350° F).

Combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.

In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder.

Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together.

Pour half of the batter into a ten-inch cake pan (bottom lined with parchment paper, sides greased), then pour half of the raspberries on the surface.

Cover the berries with the remaining batter, top with remaining half of the berries.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce.

The cake is better the next day.

Like Maple Syrup?

Or anything maple-y? Try Brown Cow Maple (Low Fat) or Brown Cow Maple (Cream Top) flavored yogurts -- One of the many decadant flavors made by Brown Cow. Brown Cow yogurts do contain live and active cultures (S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus, as all yogurts must have, plus L. acidophilus and Bifidus), and contain no artificial growth hormones!

I don't think I ever really see this brand in the local supermarkets, but if anyone ever sees it, you should give it a try!

Choosing Frozen Yogurt Wisely

Many of us, including myself, love to enjoy frozen yogurt as a treat. But don't be fooled by the word "yogurt." Frozen yogurt is not nutritionally similar to regular yogurt. Regarding calcium, most frozen yogurts provide about half what you'd get in a regular yogurt. In terms of protein, regular yogurt is also the better choice. It provides about 8 to 12 grams protein per eight ounces, as compared to only 2 to 8 ounces for frozen yogurts. In terms of calories, it is also not a good diet food (to replace ice cream, for example). A large cone of frozen yogurt--nine to 13 ounces--contains 225-325 calories per serving. These calories are mostly from carbohydrates, so they are more likely to fuel your muscles than get stored as body fat, and are preferable to ice cream calories. However, these calories quickly add up. Hence, eating "diet portions" is the key to consuming frozen yogurt. For a low-cal treat, try Edy's or Dreyer's frozen yogurt, which is fortified with extra calcium to deliver as much of this mineral as a glass of milk.

Yogurt has been touted for boosting your immune system, but there's another reason it may keep you smiling.

A study in the Journal of Periodontology found that people who consumed 2 ounces or more of lactic acid-rich foods, such as yogurt and kefir, had a 60 percent lower risk for severe periodontal disease than those who didn't eat any. Left untreated, the dental condition can cause bleeding, receding gums, and tooth loss. Scientists once believed it was the calcium in dairy products that fostered oral health, but now they say the effect may be attributed to probiotics, beneficial bacteria found in foods with lactic acid. Since dairy products made without probiotics, like milk and some cheeses, don't provide the same protective effect, get at least half of your dairy servings each day from yogurt.

I found this very interesting because my gum line is receding in some areas (mostly because I brush too hard) and it's causing my teeth to be very sensitive. I usually only eat one serving of yogurt a day, if that, and I really need to boost my intake because of all the previous benefits I've mentioned before, and because, come to find out, it may help my teeth too!

Organic Yogurt

Somehow my mom got a free 12-month subscription of "Glamour" sent to our house after ordering something off tv. So I frequently flip through the magazine at breakfast, and I found an article called "5 Foods Every Woman Should Eat Organic," and one of them is dairy. The article says:

Organic dairy can have a big impact on your health and the environment, but the truth is young women don't drink a lot of milk. They do, however, still reach for yogurt. Like all organic dairy, organic yogurts are made without the use of hormones and antibiotics--two of the things women tell me they worry about most--and can have higher levels of omega-3s, the heart-healthy fats we Americans don't get enough of, as well as beta-carotene, which may play a role in cancer prevention. I like varieties such as Horizon Organic and Stonyfield Farm, but any dairy product with the USDA Organic seal is probably a good choice. A food can't carry the seal unless it's made without toxic chemicals, antibiotics or synthetic hormones, and contains at least 95 percent organic ingredients. ("Hormone-free" dairy products are better than their conventional counterparts, but they may not have as many omega-3s as organics.)
Organic dairy can also be much less damaging to the environment. We've already started to see how, as millions of people have switched, farming practices have improved in a way that will help reduce greenhouse gases. That's a good prescription for your health and the planet.

I will have to try eating more organic yogurt! There are so many reasons why we all should. Stonyfield Farms is a brand found in most grocery stores that's organic. Perhaps I'll go for a few of those with my all-time favorite, Yoplait.

Ginger Cake with Caramel-Apple Topping

Whole wheat flour makes a better-for-you addition to this updated ginger cake. The creamy yogurt topping is like the icing on the cake, it's the best part!

Prep Time: 15 min
Start to Finish: 1 hr
Makes: 15 servings

2 cups Yoplait® 99% Fat Free creamy harvest peach or creamy vanilla yogurt (from 2-lb container)
1/2 cup caramel fat-free topping
1 1/4 cups Gold Medal® whole wheat flour
1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 medium tart apple, chopped
Lemon juice

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 9-inch square pan. In medium bowl, mix 3/4 cup of the yogurt and the caramel topping; cover and refrigerate until serving time.
2. In large bowl, beat remaining 1 1/4 cups yogurt and all remaining ingredients except apple and lemon juice with electric mixer on low speed 45 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl occasionally, until well blended. Stir in half of the chopped apple. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle lemon juice over remaining apple; cover and refrigerate until serving time.
3. Bake 38 to 43 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool slightly. Serve with topping mixture and remaining chopped apple.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Grease and flour 13x9-inch pan. Use 2 eggs. Bake 42 to 47 minutes.

Substitution
You can use 3 (6-oz) containers of Yoplait® Original 99% Fat Free harvest peach or French vanilla yogurt instead of the yogurt in the recipe if you like.

Did You Know?
The apple needs a split personality: peel the half that will be stirred into the batter; leave the peel on the remaining half for a more colorful topping.

Lemon Yogurt Loaf Cake

I stole this from a baking community on Livejournal . . . But it sounds so good.

French Lemon Yogurt Loaf Cake

(adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours, p.224)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 cup sugar

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup plain yogurt

3 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 180C (why is it in Celcius? Sorry ... You'll have to translate)
Put the sugar and zest in a medium bowl and rub the ingredients together until the sugar is fragrant.
Whisk in the yogurt, eggs and vanilla.
When the mixture is well blended, gently whisk in the dry ingredients.
Fold in the oil. The batter will be thick and shiny. Scrape it into the pan.
Bake for about 50-55 mins, or until the cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan, and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5mins, then unmold and cool to room temperature on the rack.

Yoplait Yogurt Goes rBGH-Free

An article I found:

February 10, 2009
Yoplait yogurt will soon be free of artificial bovine growth hormone (rBGH), a synthetic hormone that has been linked to a number of health concerns, including breast cancer.

General Mills announced Monday that it will stop using milk produced from cows injected with rBGH (also known as rBST) in all Yoplait yogurts by August 2009.

“While the safety of milk from cows treated with rBST is not at issue, our consumers were expressing a preference for milk from cows not treated with rBST, and we responded,” Becky O’Grady, General Mills’ vice president of marketing for the Yoplait brand, said in a statement.

The hormone is already banned in Canada, Australia, Japan and the European Union. In the United States, corporations like Wal-Mart and Starbucks do not use milk from rBGH-treated cows in their products.

full article: http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2009/02/yoplait-yogurt-goes-rbgh-free

Well I'm glad Yoplait is going to stop using this bad hormone in making their yogurts, but I was unaware that it was in my yogurt in the first place! Good for Yoplait for responding to it's customers' needs though. Hopefully we can trust Yoplait and the farmers that produce the cows the "rGBH-Free" way that this hormone really isn't getting into our yogurt . . .

Some more benefits of yogurt

1. Yogurt is not fattening. Plain yogurt contains one third of the fat than one piece of apple pie does.

2. It can help your intestine. Doctors prescribe it to patients who suffer from "Intestinal Flora," which can destroy your intestines due to it's having a large amount of antibiotics or sulfa drugs.

3. This one may be of interest to teenagers, it can help your acne. Eat a lot of natural - preferably unsweetened - yogurt. As well as eating yogurt you can wash your face daily with water combined with lemon juice (one lemon to every liter of water). Apply a mask of honey to your face once a week, for approximately one hour, and you'll have a pimple free face!

4. Suffer from bad breath? Well, eat a lot of yogurt and yes, you guessed it, people might actually sit next to you without holding their nose.

5. Does milk give you an intestinal discomfort? Then switch to yogurt. People lose the enzyme lactase through childhood. As a result, many adults can not properly digest milk. However yogurt already has lactase in it, allowing the food to digest in the body three times quicker than milk.

6. Does osteoporosis run in your family? Or maybe you just have brittle bones and/or teeth? Well eating lots of yogurt can help to strengthen bones and teeth because yogurt is high in calcium.

7. So, are you ready to add a little yogurt to your diet? Want to make it at home? It's simple. Take some milk (ordinary or skim milk, it does not matter) and bring it to the boil, and then pour it into a container. If you want the yogurt to have a thicker consistency, then add some powdered skim milk. Let it cool down, then add some yogurt culture, or some store brought yogurt, about half a cup to a quart of milk. Stir well until no lumps remain. Then cover the container in a blanket, or keep it in a warm place, around 55 to 60 degrees celsius overnight. Sometimes there is difficultly keeping the mixture warm, so it is recommended that you buy a "yogurt maker" which keeps the mixture at it's needed temperature. Once it has thickened, you can put it in the refrigerator until you want to eat it.

I will be making homemade yogurt myself very soon! Pictures soon to come!! :)

(information in this post found at hungrymonster.com)

Ways to make yogurt fun

For anyone who goes for the Go-gurts or the Trix yogurt cups because they have the flavors and colors that attract your attention, please note that these yogurts are loaded with sugar artificial colorings. These yogurts are also tiny and expensive. A more economical solution would be to buy the large plastic tubs of yogurt, which typically come in the vanilla flavor, but large grocery stores may offer other basic flavors as well. Just eating a dish of yogurt can be a satisfying meal or snack, but it often lacks something . . .

Yogurt topped with granola is a classic idea to make it more enjoyable. Adding fruit to this mixture is another plus. You get the dairy, the carbs (fiber in the granola too), and the fruit all in one. Chopped strawberries, banana, apple, pear, crushed pineapple, chopped peach and more are all delicious when added to a dish of vanilla yogurt. This is a wonderful breakfast on a hot day. Many commercial granolas are full of sugar in the form of high fructose corn syrup and fat, so try to look for a high quality brand or make your own. There are some wonderful crock-pot granola recipes on the Internet that will leave your kitchen cool and put delicious granola on the table with little work.

Dannon Light & Fit Smoothie

I just drank one of these in the Strawberry Banana flavor. I haven't had one in a while, and I forgot how good they are! It's really a yogurt-on-the-go. Though yogurts are an on-the-go snack already, with this one you don't even need a spoon. I like that one bottle only has 70 calories, Vitamins B6, B12, and Antioxidants E and B2. It also has 20% of your daily value of calcium, 20% DV of Vitamin D, 4 grams of protein, and is fat free! Yum. Finally something light that's not light on nutrients.

How bacteria can balance your digestive health and immune system

Probiotics—also known as beneficial bacteria—naturally live in your digestive tract, but they need regular replenishing. This dynamic community of micro-organisms is disrupted by antibiotics, poor nutrition, surgery, stress, alcohol, smoking, pollution, and aging. But you can replenish and maintain these beneficial bacteria by eating a cup of yogurt containing these probiotics (look on labels!!!) each day. Each serving provides you with more than five billion natural probiotic cultures!

Studies indicate that natural probiotic cultures can help strengthen your immune system, compete with harmful bacteria, and enhance your natural digestive health by improving food digestion and absorption of nutrients.

L. rhamnosus Boosts the Immune System
Clinically proven to help support your body’s natural resistance;
Scientifically shown to enhance natural killer cell activity, a critical component of the natural immune system known to decrease as we grow older;
Helps compete with pathogens (harmful bacteria).

L. rhamnosus Promotes Digestive Health
Helps promote gut health;
Clinically shown to help increase beneficial probiotic levels in the gut with regular consumption.

My Flavors of Choice

Here are the flavors of yogurt I currently have in my dorm fridge. As you can see, I am running short of supply. But if you can't already tell, I like plain or fruity flavors of yogurt. I LOVE anything banana flavored (by the way, has anyone tried the new Banana Nut Cheerios? THEY ARE SO GOOD!) Back to yogurt, I am not really a huge fan of the "dessert" flavored yogurts (Boston Cream Pie, Key Lime Pie, etc). I like to stick to the fruit flavors. I think they are the best.

Frozen yogurt is a different story! I do enjoy the dessert-y flavors of frozen yogurt (chocolate, vanilla, coffee). There is this place in the Providence Place Mall called TCBY, noted as "The Country's Best Yogurt," (http://www.tcby.com/pages/page/soft_serve_yogurt_sorbet) that has 97% fat-free frozen yogurt with a ton of different flavors. It is so rich and creamy, you'd think it was regular ice cream. My favorite flavor to get there is the coffee. It is sooo good. I recommend it to anyone who goes to the Providence Place Mall to get some of this frozen yogurt before you leave!!

Random/good facts about yogurt

As I've mentioned before, yogurt is so healthy for us. It's a great source of calcium, protein, vitamin D, and live cultures that help with digestion. It's also good for your mouth, has been shown to lower BMI, and can help with bad breath. Not only that, but yogurt contains tyrosine, an amino acid that converts into the feel-good chemicals dopamine and adrenalin, which clear your mind when you're stressed, and can give you an energy boost.

Homemade Yogurt

My boyfriend's mom loves to keep a food storage of a variety of food she buys, as well as food she makes herself (grape jelly, applesauce, apple butter, canned fruit). She recently told me she wanted to maybe try making her own yogurt. She said it may not thicken as much as store-bought yogurt, but it ends up costing about 1/5th of the store-bought price. If any of you are bargain shoppers like me, this could be perfect. It does take time, but convenience should not be a factor in getting the quality and quantity of your food!

Here's the link with the directions she sent me:
http://www.allfreecrafts.com/giftinajar/homemade-yogurt.shtml

I love Yoplait Yogurt =)

Yoplait Yogurt is probably my favorite brand of yogurt. I usually go for the "light" ones, and I like how it comes in SO many flavors. I'm someone who like to go beyond strawberry.

Flavors:
Apple Turnover

Apricot Mango

Banana Cream Pie
Berries 'N Cream

Blackberry

Blueberry Patch

Boston Cream Pie

Harvest Peach

Key Lime Pie

Lemon Cream Pie

Orange Crème

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Raspberry Cheesecake

Red Raspberry

Strawberries 'N Bananas

Strawberry

Strawberry Orange Sunrise

Strawberry Shortcake

Very Cherry

Very Vanilla

White Chocolate Strawberry

But if others prefer to have the Original instead of Light, there's a whole separate list of different flavors for that as well! Just google Yoplait and you'll find the website.

So anyways, my journal is called "The Wild Life of Yogurt." Some might ask, "WHAT? What's living in my yogurt?" Don't worry, it's good for you! The live and active cultures Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus are the two cultures added to milk to create yogurt. Some brands also add Lactobacillus acidophilus to their yogurts and Bifidobacterium is added to Yoplait's 'Yo-Plus' yogurt. These live and active cultures may naturally support healthy digestion.

Yogurt is initially made with live and active cultures, but some yogurts are treated with heat after they are made. The heat processing destroys the cultures. Heat-treated yogurt doesn't taste any different, nor does it contain less calcium, protein or other nutrients, but it may not offer some of the health benefits that yogurt containing active cultures does.

What to look for:
Look for the National Yogurt Association Live and Active culture seal or the words "contains live and active cultures." All Yoplait products provide the benefit of live and active cultures! =)

Yogurt Snack

I live on campus at BSC, but my favorite place to eat on campus is the Commuter Caf. Go figure. But I recently tried these pretzels there. Why am I talking about pretzels in a yogurt blog? Because they were yogurt-covered pretzels!! They are so good! I recommend them to everyone! The ComCaf also has chocolate-covered pretzels (do not eat these; they are gross -- at least in my opinion). For some reason the yogurt ones are just so good, and the chocolate ones taste like wax-covered pretzels. If you guys don't want to buy the yogurt pretzels from our overpriced Caf, here's a recipe where you can make them at home:

Ingredients:

1 bag of your favorite miniature pretzels
2 cups strawberry or vanilla yogurt
5 cups confectioners sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250°F. In a large mixing bowl, mix the confectioners sugar into the yogurt one cup at a time with a hand blender. Using tongs or chopsticks, dip the pretzels, one at a time into the frosting and place them on the wire cooling rack. (Place a cookie sheet under the wire rack to catch the excess frosting that will drip from the pretzels.) Once all pretzels are coated, turn your oven off and place the wire rack and cookie sheet in, leaving the oven door slightly open. The excess heat will help the frosting dry without leaving the pretzels soggy. Allow frosting to harden for 3-4 hours, remove from oven, and store pretzels in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Yields: 3-4 dozen pretzels

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:

(7 pretzels) Calories 230; Calories from Fat 10; Total Fat 1g; Cholesterol 0mg; Total Carbohydrates 52g; Protein 3

Enjoy!! :)

Yogurt -- A Healthy Snack

Here's an article I found about the health benefits of yogurt -- one of the many reasons I love it!

Yogurt
Not only is yogurt a wonderful quick, easy and nutritious snack that is available year-round, but researchers are finding evidence that milk and yogurt may actually add years to your life as is found in some countries where yogurt and other fermented dairy products (like kefir) are a dietary staple.

Yogurt is a fermented dairy product made by adding bacterial cultures to milk, which causes the transformation of the milk's sugar, lactose, into lactic acid. This process gives yogurt its refreshingly tart flavor and unique pudding-like texture, a quality that is reflected in its original Turkish name, Yoghurmak, which means "to thicken."

Health Benefits
Our food ranking system qualified yogurt as a very good source of calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin-vitamin B2 and iodine. Yogurt also emerged from our analysis as a good source of vitamin B12, pantothenic acid-vitamin B5, zinc, potassium, protein and molybdenum. These 10 nutrients alone would make yogurt a health-supportive food. But some of the most interesting health information about yogurt comes from a different context-its potential inclusion of live bacteria.

Yogurt for A Longer Life
The highest quality yogurt in your grocery store contains live bacteria that provides a host of health benefits. Yogurt that contains live bacterial cultures may help you to live longer, and may fortify your immune system. Research studies have shown that increased yogurt consumption, particularly in immunocompromised populations such as the elderly, may enhance the immune response, which would in turn increase resistance to immune-related diseases.

One research study tracked a population of 162 very elderly people for five years. The incidence of death for those subjects who ate yogurt and milk more than three times per week was 38% lower than the incidence of death those subjects who ate yogurt and other dairy foods less than once a week. (Consuming citrus fruit twice a week and a lowered consumption of meat were also associated with decreased incidence of death).

Eating yogurt may help to prevent vaginal yeast infections. In one study, women who had frequent yeast infections ate 8 ounces of yogurt daily for 6 months. Researchers reported that a threefold decrease in infections was seen in these women.

Article continued here: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=124
According to this website, yogurt is considered one of the world's healthiest foods. You can use the search engine on the site to explore other healthy foods and why they're good for you.