Homemade yogurt smoothies
In this day of processed food, getting kids to eat healthily is quite difficult. I admit that we've made life harder for ourselves by relying too much on snacks that have relatively low nutritional value, too. But it's frankly more convenient and less expensive to stock the house with chocolate-dipped granola bars and "fruit" snacks than it is to stock the fridge with fresh produce and make sure it's all used before it goes bad.
Then every so often a plan comes together.
A couple of weeks ago I read a report on the recent rise of yogurt's popularity in the United States. Mention was made of drinkable yogurt, which apparently has been popular in Europe for years but is only now gaining traction in the US.
A comment in the report reminded me of something that I'd forgotten: The transformation of milk to yogurt is done with the introduction of a bacterium that converts lactose, the milk-sugar that Bob and Bonnie both have a marked intolerance to, to lactic acid. As a result, people who are lactose intolerant don't have a problem with yogurt like they do with milk and some cheeses. Bob and Bonnie both use soy milk in cereal, but Bob won't drink it alone. So I'm always looking for ways to help Bob get more calcium into his diet, especially since he'll turn his nose up at most of the calcum-rich vegetables I try to make.
On a lark I picked up a few of those yogurt smoothie drinks that are gaining popularity, and it turns out the boy loves them. In fact, his brother and sister clamored for them too.
But at well over a dollar for the premium 10 ounce drinks, yogurt smoothies are pretty damn expensive, though you can often find coupons for them in the Sunday paper. That's pricey enough that I've been playing with the idea of making my own yogurt smoothies using plain yogurt and fresh fruit. Turns out the idea's a winner with everyone in the house.
To make smoothies for everyone, I'll typically take about 16 ounces of yogurt and mix it with enough fresh fruit to fill the blender to its fill line -- so far, I've tried peaches and bananas together, as well as strawberries and blueberries. I've got some raspberries and blackberries waiting in the freezer too. I usually throw a couple of tablespoons of wheat germ in it and sometimes a bit of molasses if it's too tart, then blend it. Often times, depending on the liquid content of the fruit, that's enough -- but if it's too thick, I'll put in some fruit juice or some ice cubes and water to loosen it up.
Everyone's remarked on the difference in taste between my homemade smoothies and the store-bought ones. Although James isn't totally sold on them yet -- he's got a powerful sweet tooth -- Bob and Emme both recognize that Dannon, Yoplait and the other companies offering these things really amp the taste of their yogurt smoothies with sweeteners.
Comments
There are plenty of other stuff that's consumed in other countries that doesn't make it into the US. One of them, which has been barred by the FDA mostly by pressure of the US sweetner manufacturers, is Stevia, a natural sweeterner cultivated and used in Brazil and Japan, mainly as a healthier alternative to Aspartame and Splenda.
I've read so many reports that Aspartame causes cancer, and that Splenda, which is actually sugar modified at a molecular level, can also be dangerous. What I hate most is that the Dannon yogurts that come with Splenda say they are light, intead of diet. I bought one and I found it tastes too artificial. I felt a little weird after drinking it and then decided to read the ingredients and make a little research online.
Basically, I won't by anything that comes with that Splenda logo anymore. The FDA should revaluate their position on the use of Stevia, even if it's not produced in the US, and do more research on those artificial sweeteners to make sure their are not making consumers ill.
Posted by: FC | August 26, 2004 10:52 PM
Beware too much sugar -
One of our girlfriends made a habit of having one daily yogurt smoothie - yogurt, frozen fruit, wheat germ - when she was pregnant. Even at just one cup of fruit smoothie every day, she became diabetic over the course of her pregnancy.
Pregnancy seems to increase the chances of diabetes (apparently, i haven't looked it up), however I would recommend against doing a fruit smoothie every single day, if only for health reasons.
Posted by: Jean-Luc Dinsdale | August 27, 2004 05:05 PM
Pregnancy seems to increase the chances of diabetes (apparently, i haven't looked it up), however I would recommend against doing a fruit smoothie every single day, if only for health reasons.
In all likelihood, your girlfriend would have gotten gestational diabetes without the smoothies as well -- the problem was that her body wasn't able to properly absorb the insulin it was producing to lower blood sugar. It happens to about 4 percent or so of all pregnant women, and it isn't related specifically to fruit or yogurt smoothies -- in fact, they don't know what triggers gestational diabetes specifically.
Posted by: flargh | August 27, 2004 05:18 PM
Fernando:
I've been drinking Diet Coke daily for years and THE ARMY OF SPIDERS THEY'RE CRAWLING UP MY ARM SWEET JESUS GET THEM OFF OF ME have suffered absolutely no ill effects whatsoever.
Posted by: flargh | August 27, 2004 05:20 PM
My mother stopped drinking Diet Coke well over a decade ago, because she noticed memory problems with the NutriSweet. She stopped drinking, and suddenly she could remember things again.
Posted by: Alphax | August 28, 2004 12:59 PM
Well, I've used Splenda for awhile now and notice no ill effects.
I love it because it dissolves so easily - like kosher salt.
You may want to try adding pure maple syrup, or better yet honey. All natural sweeteners.
Posted by: Stefano | August 28, 2004 02:12 PM
I guess our own body chemistry plays a good part in all that. Some people are more sensitive than others to certain substances. Maybe that's what happended.
Posted by: FC | August 28, 2004 03:49 PM
Alpha:
It may have been all the rum she was putting in the Diet Coke too...
I keed! I keed!
Posted by: flargh | August 28, 2004 04:08 PM