Fruity Greek Yogurt

We are big yogurt eaters (I'm talking we should buy stock in the dairy industry), and I'm particularly pleased that my uber-picky son likes Greek yogurt - at least something healthy is going into his almost eight year-old body, even if it is only once a day!  Some people may not know the incredible protein content of Greek yogurt - a one cup serving size provides about 24 grams of protein, which is nearly half of the recommended protein intake for the day - the DAY!  I also love that the plain variety has no fat and only 130 calories.  That, to me, sounds like a great breakfast - or even a protein-packed super snack!

But, plain yogurt is...well...plain.  It has a bit of a sour taste if eaten 'naked', which is why some people use it as a healthy alternative to sour cream.  I don't know about you, but I'm not too keen on eating sour cream for breakfast.  So, to make a sweeter, healthy and quick breakfast, we first dress up our naked Greek yogurt.

The idea happened kind of serendipitously one day during a cruise through one of our favorite big bulk stores - you know, the ones with all the samples on a Sunday afternoon?  One friendly "sample-giver-outer" was offering their featured plain Greek yogurt, but with a layer of honey on top.  My kids, of course, wanted a sample and - even though I was skeptical they would actually eat it (let alone like it) - I let them each take a small cup off the cart.  To my amazement, the picky one begged me to buy the yogurt and requested yogurt with honey for the next day's breakfast.  What?!  SOLD!

Since that day, I am thinking we need a small refrigerator in the garage, just to store the amount of yogurt we consume in a week's time - seriously.  And, even though it's great with just honey swirled in, my son has taken to adding granola as well.  Again, making me a happy mommy.  And, while I like it with just honey and granola, I find there are a lot of other mix-ins that make it just as - or even more - yummy.  At this time of year, it's hard to find fresh fruit that tastes...um...fresh.  But, this past week I got lucky, and found some great looking fresh strawberries from Florida - AND, they were on sale!  So, using one fresh fruit and one frozen fruit, I made this delicious fruity Greek yogurt.

Ingredients:

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 or 2 squeezes of honey

1/2 cup granola

Fresh (or frozen and thawed) fruit of choice

Method:

There's really not one right or wrong way to add to your yogurt.  For mixing simplicity, I add the honey first, give that a few stirs until well blended, and then add the fixins'.

 

After the honey is stirred in, add fruit.  I halved - and in the case of larger pieces, quartered - the strawberries and added them on top of the yogurt.  I used four or five strawberries for this bowl of yogurt.  If you are using frozen fruit, you will most likely want to thaw it a bit before adding it to your yogurt.  I like crunch, but that's what the granola is for!  I used about a half-cup of frozen blueberries, thawing them in the microwave for about 1 minute and 30 seconds.  Once I added the blueberries, I topped the whole thing off with about half of the 1/2 cup of granola.  I like mine super crunchy, so I add a bit at first and then the rest once some has been eaten.

It's easy, quick, tastes great and is super customizable.  All my thanks to that big bulk food store for starting this family breakfast trend.