Kaplods, aren't you the one who mixes sugar free pudding mix into plain Greek yogurt to make a cheesecakey-like dessert? That probably tones down the yogurt flavor a bit, right?
Yep, and it really does. My favorites are Sugar Free Pistachio (store brands ok) and sugar free chocolate fudge (which I've only found in Jello brand, and I think it's much better than the regular chocolate flavored puddings).
It works great with regular yogurt too (I just tried that for the first time with my own homemade yogurt). It has more of a pudding than a cheesecake texture if regular yogurt is used, though. I used the Jello brand sugar free cheesecake flavor (which wasn't my favorite) but added some Torani sugar free raspberry syrup to the pudding, and OMG really amazing raspberry cheesecake flavor. I'm going to try the raspberry syrup with greek yogurt and the chocolate fudge to get a really cheesecakey flavor and texture.
The greek yogurt/pudding mix does give the most cheesecake-like texture (and sometimes I'll stir in a bit of whey protein isolate to make the texture even MORE like cheesecake... though usually when I do that I have to add extra sweetener, so usually I don't bother).
Some flavors I think are perfect (like the pistachio) but some I think need a bit more sweetener to counterbalance the yogurt's tartness.
I don't mind small amounts of yogurt, but I don't like having it very often. I find greek yogurt has a stronger taste than other yogurts so you probably won't like it. I'm not sure if you can get it, but have you heard of Yakult? I think it has similar benefits to yogurt, but it tastes a lot better. It's a drink.
If you can't stomach the flavor of yogurt, you might consider other fermented probiotic foods (like live cultured sauerkraut - though that's harder and harder to find. Not all bagged sauerkraut is life-culture sauerkraut, but you won't find live-culture sauerkraut in cans or jars).
Alright, belated update time! I got four different kinds: raspberry oikos, apple cinnamon chobani, light orange creme yoplait w/ granola, and yocrunch greek raspberry acai & almonds. Sadly, those of you who said the greek has MORE of the 'yogurt' flavor were insanely right. The chobani was like apple cinnamon sour cream haha. The flavor of the yocrunch was actually really good if you can ignore the distinct yogurt flavor but that might have just been because I love almonds. I tried adding splenda to all of them, but no dice. I think I'm just gonna have to accept that yogurt is not for me, but I'm glad I made an effort to try. Thanks for all your help and suggestions anyway guys!
Fage is my favorite, though I'm not a big fan of it undoctored either. I love to mix it with one serving of sugar free syrup and some almonds or a nice nut and fruit trail mix. Delicious! I really don't detect the sour creamy taste of it. It's worth a shot if you're still looking to find something. I'd really like to try it with coffee syrups as I have read that is really tasty too.
I decided to try plain Greek yogurt with chocolate pudding. SO GOOD! I want to try the pistachio, but the store didn't have sugar free. It is now officially my breakfast of choice. And I just did regular store brand chocolate. Gonna try the jello chocolate fudge and pistachio soon. Thanks for helping me mix things up a bit. I am getting tired of egg whites and chicken breast over and over. :-)
I decided to try plain Greek yogurt with chocolate pudding. SO GOOD! I want to try the pistachio, but the store didn't have sugar free. It is now officially my breakfast of choice. And I just did regular store brand chocolate. Gonna try the jello chocolate fudge and pistachio soon. Thanks for helping me mix things up a bit. I am getting tired of egg whites and chicken breast over and over. :-)
Oh there's so much more healthy foods (including proteins) available than egg whites and chicken breasts. I'd go stark raving bonkers if I could only eat the same foods over and over, even if I had 20 or 30 foods to choose from.
Although hubby says I'm a bit freakish in my need for variety. He eats the same meal for lunch almost every day (some variety of asian style noode soup).
I'd also recommend chicken thighs. They do have a tiny bit more fat and calories than chicken breasts, but the difference is actually very small. Not only are thighs cheaper (even boneless) they're much more flavorful and are more forgiving of overcooking.
I like to simmer my chicken (and other proteins) in low-calorie simmering sauces. One favorite is petite diced tomatoes with green chiles, or any flavored canned tomatoes (checking the label to avoid those with added fat or sugar). There are chili flavored tomatoes, italian flavored tomatoes, garlic flavored tomatoes. Spicy V-8 also makes a great simmering sauce. Low-calorie soups like french onion also work nicely, as do low-calorie salad dressings (or a mixture of low-cal salad dressings and tomatoes).
While I love (and miss) Greek yogurt, the sugar just doesn't work with my current plan. I'm usually too lazy to mix something in plain yogurt, but I'm going to start attempting it sometimes. I have found a non-sugar sweetened Greek yogurt - Sophie is the brand. It's xylitol and stevia sweetened. So far I've tried vanilla, chocolate, and banana - yum! I'm saving it for my serious workout days when I need a little more protein.
I see Dannon now makes a sugar free Greek yogurt. My mom bought some and I tried a taste - it tasted like....Dannon. While the texture was right, the flavor was just NOT there for me.
Since the Sophie is inconvenient (20 minute drive) and expensive ($2 a cup), I'll probably just start buying plain Chobani and sugar free jam.
The first greek yogurt I tried (a very expensive fruit-flavored one), tasted absolutely horrible to me. The second one (don't remember the brand) was absolutely amazing. I started tasting several brands and loved some, and hated others.
That's been my experience with all yogurts (some I love, some I hate, and most are mediocre), I DO find that fat and sugar tends to improve the flavor of yogurt (but hey, no surprise there, right?)
I've been wanting to make yogurt ever since I found a yogurt maker in a Goodwill store (but didn't buy it). Finally a few months ago, I decided to make yogurt. I've experimented with different recipes I've found online and finally settled on using my crockpot to make my own yogurt.
OMG, the difference is absolutely night and day. Every batch has been amazing, compared to store bought yogurt (my homemade yogurt is the only yogurt I can eat plain without gagging, though I still do sweeten it a bit, just less than I did store bought).
At first I thought it was because I was using whole milk, but that's not it, because I've used reduced fat milk and it tastes just as good (though I've never used less than 1%).
I've used Oikos and Fage as starters, and while they're both good, they do make a different tasting yogurt.
Then I discovered that all the different yogurt bacteria species taste different (there are charts online describing the different tastes and textures of the different bacteria strains).
I always use a multiple strain starter (greek yogurt) because I figure that the more types of bacteria the better chances that at least one type will flourish (though some yogurt makers online say that single strain bacteria actually works better for beginners... what I didn't know didn't hurt me).
In hindsight I think the sites that argued against using multiple strains were actually arguing that a beginner might be put off or intimidated if their yogurts had a different flavor and texture every time they made it, so using a single strain yogurt insures that the flavor/texture is going to be more similar from batch to batch.
Using a crockpot, making yogurt is crazy easy... easier than making jerky (which I also love to do) and even easier than making fridge or freezer jams and pickles (also love).
If anyone does want to try making their own yogurt, shorter incubation time and using a smaller amount of starter, and the highest quality milk, make the sweetest, least sour yogurt (almost a creme freche flavor - like a not-sour sourcream).
You only need a couple teaspoons of starter to start a 2-3 quart batch. If you use more than a quarter cup of yogurt as a starter, it can make a stronger, more bitter flavored yogurt. Less is more when it comes to starter.
I prefer a thicker yogurt, but rather than straining, I use a better quality milk and heat it slowly to denature the milk proteins to make a thicker yogurt (by heating the milk to 190 degrees in the crockpot, then cooking to 110, adding the starter, wrapping in a thick towel on a heating pad set on low for 4 to 5 hours).
I never thought I'd make yogurt, let alone be so enthralled by it that I don't think I'll ever buy yogurt again (except as starter).
So Kaplods, I haven't made homemade yogurt yet, but I finally tried pudding mix in Greek yogurt. Oh. My. Yum. I did the Jello Chocolate Fudge in Chobani. So good! I definitely need to by another flavor of pudding. Thanks again for sharing!
