258 Yogurt power

Yogurt Power!

I think I have been eating the same breakfast for 12 to 15 years. I usually get bored with eating the same thing (or at least cooking the same thing) so my yogurt breakfast is remarkable. 

It is easy to fix--just put in a bowl and stir. The flavor I now favor is plain yogurt, blueberries, and walnuts. I started out with flavored artificially sweetened yogurt, fruit, and Grapenuts, which is what my hubby still prefers. The plain 0% Fage yogurt I eat has the highest amount of protein and no fat. Poor hubby opened one of mine by mistake and was SHOCKED that anyone could eat anything that bad. It is an acquired taste! I view it as the judges on the food contests would: the yogurt has a creamy mouthfeel with a slightly sour taste (when mixed up). The blueberries provide both sweet and sour, and the walnuts give the needed texture!

Plus, those three ingredients are rated by nutritionists as very healthy choices. So I think I am eating a healthy dessert every morning.

I can remember thinking that yogurt was eaten only by health-food quacks and people near the Black Sea who lived a very long time.

It turns out yogurt has been around since the end of the Stone Age when nomadic people, probably in Central Asia, milked their animals and carried the milk in pouches made of sheep stomachs. The stomachs contained an enzyme that curdled and preserved the milk. 

By early A.D., Greek authors discussed yogurt, which eventually made it to Europe. 

It was made and distributed on a small scale until in 1919, Isaac Carasso, opened a small yogurt company in Spain, naming it after his son, Danon. He brought the Danone brand to France, then immigrated to the United States in the 1940s and the brand became Dannon.

You've seen it in the grocery store today. There are many flavors and brands to choose from. When a new Greek yogurt shows up, I will read the label and see how it measures with Fage. So far, Fage has the best taste, texture, and nutrition of the plain yogurts I have sampled.

But Fage is low on the list of what is purchased in the U.S. It is a little more expensive. A 2015 article stated that 6% of US people eat yogurt on a daily basis. I have to believe that number has gone up, but the yogurt shelves were never empty in the stores that I have shopped since the pandemic began. 

France has the highest consumption of yogurt. Countries other than the United States tend to eat less of the sweetened yogurts. The consumption numbers also include frozen yogurt and yogurt drinks. A market survey I saw predicted that growth is going to be in yogurt drinks.

Unsweetened yogurt is also a great substitute for sour cream.

So I plan to keep on eating my healthy breakfast--just don't make me eat broccoli!

Trish