Pina Colada Yogurt-Healthy Dessert or Breakfast

jennifer.ho.1987 — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 06:53:11 +0000

Pina Colada Yogurt for Dessert

Desserts! Er…I mean yogurt for breakfast! Let’s be honest, I have been craving cakes, desserts, and ice cream like mad lately because of my new healthy habits. Since they are not a regular part of my diet, I cannot justify having ice cream for breakfast. But luckily, I CAN have this pina colada yogurt for breakfast and it is every bit as satisfying, rich, and creamy as ice cream is.

Overcome the Lies-Stick with Plain Full Fat Yogurt

The trick to a delicious yogurt parfait is using full fat yogurt. Oh-my-goodness! I feel like I have been lied to all my life by yogurt companies and their low-fat or non-fat corn-syrup-laden grossness. I have now completely boycotted flavored yogurts and now I will never turn back. Flavored yogurts are often filled with way too much sugar and lots of unnatural ingredients that I cannot pronounce.

Another bone I want to pick with the dairy industry is: why do you keep making everything low-fat or fat-free? We know you just fill all that emptiness with sugar instead. I have discovered full fat plain yogurt and I am NEVER going back. My goodness, the rich delicious flavor and mouth-feel are incomparable to any fat-free yogurt I’ve ever had to eat. The great news is that this delicious base becomes the canvas on which you can paint using the full palette of natural seasonings and fruits available, from vanilla extract to brown sugar, honey, and fruit. The world is your oyster. I decided to go with a pina colada yogurt, but I definitely encourage you to be creative!

The Beauty of Home-Made Fruit Flavored Yogurt

It is through this re-awakening of my love of yogurt that has inspired this pina colada yogurt parfait. It can be your breakfast, but seriously it makes a mean dessert if you are trying to avoid ice cream. If you’re feeling more decadent, check out my recipe for fresh peach crisp. Hope you give it a try and enjoy this easy yet delicious recipe!

The amazing thing is-you can make your own fruit flavored yogurt for a fraction of the sugar and calories, and it will taste even MORE delicious than that pre-packaged stuff we are tricked into purchasing.

Here’s something that I learned through my cooking experiments with sweets- there is a point at which we reach a sweet spot of tasting sweetness in our food. After that point, even if you add more sugar, it does not necessarily increase your satisfaction or even pleasure with the sweetness. Instead, it becomes overly sweet.

How Much Sugar To Add?

Unfortunately, many of us have had our taste buds trained by the food industry to crave overly sweet foods. But don’t take my word for it. Give it a try yourself and sweeten your own foods to your liking and see if you can taste the difference.

What brand of yogurt should I use?

PLAIN FULL FAT

Do it. Your life will be changed!

Making pina colada yogurt ahead of time?

If you are making this yogurt parfait ahead of time, make sure to omit the pineapple until you serve. I’ve noticed that the pineapple emits bitterness throughout the yogurt when it is soaked in it for too long.

Can I use bottled lime juice?

Always choose fresh-squeezed lemon and lime juice when you can, especially if you do not plan to heat up/cook your dish. You can really tell the difference in terms of freshness of flavor.

Bottled juices are probably fine for marinades since there are many other flavors and you will be cooking the flavor out, but nothing can replace the zesty bite of freshly squeezed citrus!

Price Comparison

If you order a yogurt parfait at a restaurant it will cost you $7-8 in the Los Angeles area. What did I spend to make 2 servings of this yogurt parfait? Yogurt ($1), pineapple ($.50), dried coconut ($.25), honey ($.25).

Restaurant ($7-8) vs. Home-made ($1)

The mark-up on prepared yogurt parfaits is very steep. So, I would highly recommend preparing your own yogurt parfaits at home and spend more time eating in. The great part about it is that you can better control the amount of sugar as well. Given health issues and the increase in diabetes worldwide, it is important to have more control over our sugar consumption.