FAGE! Taste the vanilla-lemony goodness....

Soooooo you may not know this about me, but I freakin' love yogurt! From Stonyfield farms banilla, to the various amazing flavors offered by Yoplait- even those stinkin zero point weight watchers ones packed with so much fiber you can almost feel the farts stirring before you finished that last spoonful. Yeah I said it... 

Yogurt is amazing- greek yogurt in particular. Its easy to grab and easier to eat. Its packed with protien which helps you feel fuller longer, and calcium which helps you put off filling that boniva prescription. And there is a vast range of types available with high to low offerings of fat, sugar.... and taste.


Now i'm not going to go all NPR on you about chemicals and hormones and whatnot- but I have decided for myself for various reasons that the more simple I keep my food the better. I like to know what I'm eating without having to consult wikipedia or google. I feel better, my body works better and so for the most part thats what I try to do.  I'm not saying I don't seriously enjoy the occasional movie nachos with that weird cup of yellow stuff that they try to pass off as cheese..... but I try.


This 'recipe' is simple easy and oh yeah, it tastes pretty darn good too!

 FYI - Greek yogurt does tend to be a bit more pricey than other kinds of yogurt due to its production process - if you have time and are on a budget you can make your own greek yogurt!
Click here and Frances will tell you how. If you are one of those kinds who loves background info click here for more info on greek yogurt.




     You'll need:

•  One 17.6 oz fage(or whatever brand you prefer)fat free   greek yogurt
•  One Lemon or shoot- use a lime, those are good too!
•  One tablespoon Agave nectar
•  One vanilla bean or you could use vanilla extract                   if you prefer

 This 'recipe' is just a loose guideline - you should do things to your taste. So taste often!




   Lets do it :

Step one-
Open up the yogurt - duh! Remove that cheesecloth looking thinger and give it a good stir.  Give your lemon a couple good rolls on the counter while pressing down on it. This helps loosen those juices so you can squeeze it without giving yourself a permanent Lady Ga Ga claw. 


Squeeze the juice of your lemon directly into the yogurt container. You can use your non-sqeezing hand as a strainer to prevent having to fish out any stray seeds if you like. You could also use an actual strainer, or maybe you have one of those seedless lemons you clever minx. When your done juicing give it a good another good stir until the juice and the yogurt come 
together.


* If you enjoy zest- zest a bit of skin of whatever fruit you chose and throw that in there too. Soooooo good, but not for everybody. 

Step two-
Measure out a tablespoon of agave syrup.Why agave? Simple: 
It has a smooth, sweet, light almost nutty honey flavor and doesn't cause the severe spikes in blood sugar that plain ole sugar does. Throw that in there and give it a good stir. Agave nectar has 16grams of sugar per tbs so you'll be getting 4 grams of sugar per 1/2cup serving of yogurt.
  
Go ahead and taste your yogurt. If you prefer it a bit more sweet and smooth you can toss in another tablespoon of agave.  
This will bring your sugar count to around 8 grams per 1/2 cup. Still way better that most lowfat yogurts on the shelf which range on average between 13-20 grams of sugars per serving. 


Another option is to add couple packets of calorie free sweetener along with your 1 tbs of agave. I prefer Truvia for better or worse. You can read about it from the company here or from an independent scource here.  This option will keep your sugar count at 4 grams whilst giving your sweet tooth reasons to do a happy dance. 


When your done stirring:


Step three-

Hold the vanilla bean in your non dominant hand. Slide the tip of a knife through just the top layer making sure not to pierce through the back of the bean. Make a slit down the length of the bean, then open it up exposing the yummy vanilla goodness inside! Using the dull edge of your knife - or a spoon if you want to play it extra safe - scrape about 1/4 inch off the inside of the vanilla bean and deposit directly into the yogurt, stir.


 If you don't have a bean on hand start with 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract. If thats not vanilla enough for ya, add more to taste.
I used to be of the school that thought vanilla beans were over priced and over rated (a school you might yourself belong to) but a recipe for vanilla sugar turned my vanilla world** all upside down.


Done stirring? 


TA DAH!!!


So there - that wasn't so hard. Now you have 4 half cup servings about 115 calories each of the fat free vanilla - lemony greek yogurt goodness that helped turn my friend Jennie into a greek yogurt believer! You can eat it plain or serve it with some sliced fruit, with a little low fat granola- heck make yourself a parfait and enjoy!!!






Renata Renee
Da Skin-ty Gourmet




**-I will now espouse my psuedo Martha-like info about vanilla beans and why they seriously kick ass:


I know it sounds dumb and they can stupidly expensive ($12 for 2 beans @ whole foods aka whole paycheck) but the good news is that one bean can go pretty far. The taste is much more smooth than vanilla extract that can often have an almost alcohol tinge to it.  The beans give you an unforgettable punch of vanilla to the tongue unencumbered by whatever else they have to put in the liquid to preserve it. For me there was just no going back.  If you are frugal like me you can order them wholesale here or here. The ugandan beans I currently use have a subtle sweet aroma and flavor, but i've smelled others that were more nutty and pungent - it all depends on the person and the palate. I implore you on and all skeptics- get thee a bean, crack that sucker open and give it a whirl... you won't be sorry!