13 Ways To Eat Plain Greek Yogurt

First things first, I’m of the opinion that Greek Yogurt needs a little bit of sweetener to be edible. So assume that each of these different ways to eat Greek Yogurt has one packet of sweetener mixed in as well.

1. Add fruit to the yogurt and mix it up really well. I have added all kinds of fruits, but the juicier the fruit, the better the yogurt absorbs the flavor. My favorites are: strawberries, frozen blueberries, oranges, raspberries, pineapple, and the list goes on and on.
2. Chop up an apple into pretty small pieces, add apple pie spice to yogurt and mix apples in. (If you don’t have apple pie spice, use a little bit of nutmeg, and cinnamon.
3. Mix in a drink flavoring packet. I love to use crystal lite fruit punch, but there are so many drink flavors that the options are limitless.
4. Mix in a little bit of jello powder. I have used lime and strawberry. I preferred the lime because I LOVE key lime pie and this was a pretty good imitation.
5. Mix 1 TBSP Peanut Butter (Or PB2) and 1 Tsp Vanilla into the yogurt. Top it with a small amount of drizzled honey and as much cinnamon as you want. This is great to dip apples in, but I also love to just eat it. You could probably also use Almond butter, but I’ve never tried.
6. Blend ½ cup of pineapple with the yogurt. Seriously, blend. Then top it with roasted coconut. I have the unsweetened version, but let’s be honest, the sweetened stuff would taste sooo much better.
7. Take 1 TBSP of unsweetened cocoa powder and mix it into the yogurt really well. You seriously need sweetener on this one because cocoa powder is pretty bitter.
8. Mix the yogurt with 1-2 TBSP of sugar free preserves. I love the blackberry and strawberry flavors.
9. Sweeten the yogurt, and then layer it with fruit and granola to make your own yogurt parfait.
10. Sweeten the yogurt and then put it on top of baked apples to add a nice creamy touch without using sugary whipped cream or ice cream.

I guess I now have to eat my words, because the next couple of uses for Greek Yogurt DO NOT need sweetener. These are the more savory uses that I have enjoyed.

1. Mix yogurt with French onion or ranch dip to make a MUCH lower calorie veggie dip.
2. Use Greek Yogurt instead of sour cream on things like baked potatoes, or taco salads, etc. 
3. Mix 1-2 TBSP Greek Yogurt with salad dressing to make it creamier. I mix it with Caesar to make it lower calorie. 

I obviously like sweet stuff more than savory....If anyone has more suggestions on how to use Greek Yogurt, please share!

Peanut Butter and Jelly....I Mean Grapes

This afternoon's snack was inspired by the Sour Patch Grapes that I've seen all over pinterest. I've never tried them, but I thought that the idea was cool. Instead of using Jello, I used PB2 (Powdered PB). I put 1 TBSP PB@ into a cup of grapes and shook it up. The result was quite delicious. They tasted kind of like a Peanut Butter and Jelly. I will definitely be doing this again!

Veggie Stir Fry

I was seriously debating what to put into my stir fry. I've never made one without a recipe before, so it was definitely an experiment. I'm glad to say that it turned out really well! I made enough for me and my Mom, but it was so good that I really didn't want to share. She loved it too, which is saying something because she's kind of a picky eater.

Veggie Stir Fry

Yields 2 Servings

1/4 of a red pepper, chopped finely

1 Medium onion, chopped

1 Large Zucchini, chopped

1-2 Cups Pineapple, chopped

1 Cup Carrots, Chopped

3 TBSP Lite Soy Sauce

1 Can Swanson's Chicken Broth

1. Heat a large skillet to high heat. 
2. Put enough chicken broth in the skillet to coat the bottom. You are going to use this to saute the onions instead of oil.
3. Add in the onions and saute them until they turn clear...I think this is called sweating it.
4. Add in the carrots and a little more broth if needed. 
5. After a few minutes, add the zucchini, soy sauce, and red pepper. Saute until the broth evaporates. 
6. Add the pineapple and a little bit of water, cover the skillet, and saute until you think its done. 
7. Enjoy!

Fruity Salad

I love salads, and it’s not just because they can be super-healthy and stuff. I really just love them. You can call me weird, but nine times out of ten, I would much rather have a giant salad than pizza or fries or other junk.

It’s actually really funny that I like salads at all. Before I turned 18, I wouldn’t go within five feet of lettuce (or any other veggie really). Salads literally made me gag. I’m not sure what changed, but once I got to college, they were a staple of my diet. Possibly because the rest of the school cafeteria was full of foods that made me decide that salad was the safest option. Seriously. The food was HORRIBLE. (Though I do recognize that I should be grateful for even having food everyday when so many do not)

I wasn’t exactly adventurous though, and for another two years, Caesar was the only salad I touched. I eventually branched out at Panera and tried their Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (LOVE IT). From there, I experimented at home, and now I eat all kinds of different salads.

The beauty of salads is that they can be whatever you want them to be. They can be sweet, or savory.  You can use spinach, romaine, kale, or a variety of lettuces. The toppings possibilities are endless, and there are a billion different dressings to try.

This salad is definitely one of my sweeter ones. I was having a massive sweet-tooth attack, and this is what happened.

Ingredients:

Spinach (A lot of it, I go through a bag by myself in about 2 days)

1 TBSP Pecans

1 TBSP Gorgonzola Cheese (Feta might work just as well)

.5 Ounces of Freeze Dried Pomegranate Seeds (I got these at Mom’s Organic Market. I thought they would add a nice crunch. I think I will try a different fruit next time. These were actually a little too crunchy for me)

½ cup Blueberries (I like to use frozen because it adds a nice chill)

1 No Sugar Added Diced Peaches Cup

2 TBSP Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette Light

Total Calorie Count: 265

Feel free to add some meat to the salad to up the protein. In the past, I have put turkey and chicken on it. I am trying to limit myself to one serving of meat a day so none for my salad.

I’ve been debating putting some spaghetti squash into my salad. I can’t decide if this would be good or not! It could add a nice crunch, or it could turn into a mushy mess. When I get brave enough to try, I will post it (good or not). What do you guys think?

Omelette De Leftovers

Saturday we went out to dinner for my sister’s birthday. It’s become some kind of tradition to go to this local Japanese Steakhouse for dinner on family birthdays. It’s really fun watching them prepare the food right in front of you, and my nephew gets a kick out of the guy throwing food at us to catch with our mouths. It’s an all around good time. The bad news is that everything is covered in oil and butter and sauces. So naturally it’s delicious, but not exactly healthy.

I ordered the Hibachi Shrimp, which comes with Fried Rice, Salad with that delicious Asian Ginger Dressing, Soup, and Veggies. I ate all of my soup, salad, and veggies. There was no hope of any of those making it out of the restaurant. As soon as our entrée was on out plates, I asked for a to-go box. This is the only way I can stop myself from wanting to clear the whole plate. I put well over half of my meal in the box (they give you SO much food!).

I don’t like leftover rice, so that wasn’t a temptation, but I really love shrimp, so I needed to find some way to cook it. I decided to add it to my scrambled egg whites this morning along with some of the leftover onion and mushrooms. (You can’t really see the shrooms in the picture)

Egg Whites really go well with just about anything (personal opinion). They’re a lot like tofu: seriously tasteless until you add stuff to them. So any leftovers you guys have could be really good added to your egg whites. I’ve added steak, chicken, veggies, seafood, and all kinds of other stuff before. Just be careful of your calorie total J

Leftovers Omelette:

-Leftovers (I had 4 shrimp and some onions)

-Egg Whites (I used 3 egg whites)

-1 TBSP Shredded Cheese

Toss is in a pan and scramble it! Then spread the cheese on top.

Total Calorie Count: 156

**In case anyone was wondering, I use MyFitnessPal to generate my calorie totals for meals.**

Greek Trix

I love Undressed Skeleton's blog. Seriously. She has fantastic recipes. This is one that I tried out on Friday for my afternoon snack. It's only about 120 calories, and it is super tasty!

Greek Trix

I hated Trix yogurt as a child. It grossed me out. I'm not sure what possessed me to try a recipe that's based off of a yogurt I hated, but I'm glad I did. The jello didn't mix into the yogurt as nicely as I wanted it too, but I think that's my fault. I added too much jello. It would probably be a good idea to mix the jello into a little bit of water, then mix it into the yogurt. Oh well...lesson learned. It still tasted yummy. AWESOME moment: Lime jello mixed into plain Greek yogurt tasted a lot like key lime pie :)

Ingredients

Plain Greek Yogurt

Your choice of jello flavors (I used lime and strawberry)

Sweetener of choice

Mix the sweetener into the yogurt thoroughly, then mix in a SMALL amount of jello. Stir it a lot....like a lot a lot. 

***It would be pretty awesome to stick this in the freezer and have it as a frozen treat later :)***

Slow Cooker Veggie Soup

I've been bad about posting what I eat. In my defense, this is the first extended amount of time that I've been anywhere near my computer all weekend. I also haven't had a lot of time to cook anything...crazy weekend. I had two family birthdays, a bake sale to bake for, a conference, and a meeting. 

I don't usually like spending this much time away from home. I'm a homebody. I also hate eating out. It's a pain in the butt figuring out what to eat. A salad seems like a safe option, but some salads can pack a calorie count that exceeds my total daily limit. Insanity. What really drives me crazy is when a restaurant has no nutritional information available....ughh..

All ranting aside, I did make a slow-cooker soup that turned out really tasty. It's packed with veggies, so I can eat a lot without feeling guilty. 

Slow Cooker Soup

Yields....lots of servings

Ingredients:

1 Can Cut Green Beans

2 Cans of Swanson Low Sodium Chicken Broth

1 Can of Goya Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) 

1 Can of Corn

1 Can of Sliced or Diced Potatoes

1 Bag of Frozen Mixed Veggies

Drain the liquids out of the cans of veggies then toss all of the ingredients into the crock pot. I cooked it on low for 7 hours. I'm sure it doesn't take that long, but I had it going while I was at work on Friday. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am!