Moms Writing!

A Healthy “Power Food”

There are endless publications and nearly unanimous agreement about the health benefits of yogurt and why it is considered a top health food.

Good quality yogurt is full of live, active and probiotic cultures that can help establish and maintain a proper microbial balance in child’s digestive system supporting overall health. Yogurt is easier to digest than milk and its culturing increases the absorption of calcium and B-vitamins. It can also boost immunity, decrease yeast infections and provides a rich source of calcium and an excellent source of protein.

These are just few reasons why our kids and yogurt should become good friends for life. How do we choose the best quality yogurt? The best yogurt contains only live and active cultures and milk, but - be mindful of all the sweeteners which in many cases have more calories than the actual yogurt.

Lots of pediatricians recommend Stonyfield organic yogurt because it contains the highest level of live and active cultures and contains inulin. So, I decided to carefully look through the dairy aisles of the grocery stores I usually go to and pick which yogurt would be the best for my baby.

What You Can Buy …

I checked the highly recommended Stonyfield organic yogurt and I found out that it still contains 13 grams of sugar per 4 oz container, which is considerably less than for example Horizon’s organic version (30 grams!). There are drinkable yogurts like Danimals (more than 13 grams of sugar per 3 oz bottle) and Go Gurt ( 11 gram per 2.25 oz container) that most kids love. WOW!! That seems like a lot of sugar to me for such a small serving!

I’m thinking there must be a better way to get all the health benefits of yogurt without all the sugar. So, I read some articles, spoke to some smart moms and decided I can come up with a low sugar, healthy yogurt by using mostly plain organic yogurt and mashed up fruit or juice concentrate to make it sweeter.

What You Can Make!

A great way to substitute high sugar ice cream is to make frozen yogurt using the same ingredients or squeezable yogurts in tubes using plastic containers with push-up handles designed for ice cream.

My favorite idea though is to make your own yogurt by using organic milk (whole, low fat or skim) in a yogurt maker. It is extremely easy and fun. There are some excellent machines available.

I got the Euro Cuisine Yogurt Maker:

Euro Cuisine Yogurt MakerHomemade yogurt might sound like a tedious process, but not with this electric yogurt maker. Enjoy your favorite flavor, made fresh at home with little fuss and preparation. The entire process takes less than 12 hours and works while you move on to other activities. The yogurt maker includes seven 6-ounce glass jars with lids so you can make a different flavor in each! An indicator keeps time of the progress. The yogurt maker, with its 3-year warranty, is manufactured by an Italian-based company known for its high performance, ergonomic kitchen products.

Here’s what another mom said about this one

Of course it comes with lots of recipes and good clear instructions…it does take up a bit of space on the counter though but for my family (yes…the husband eats it too! ) it’s well worth the counter space.

I mostly just experiment though by mixing in different fruits and juices…even the ones that don’t come out perfectly taste-wise are fun for Maya to make a mess with!

Have fun preparing your home made yogurt and let me know how it testes!