Thursday, July 17, 2008

Sweet treats - simple, green, frugal

Last week, Melissa at Better Living posted about mixing jam with yogurt as an occasional substitute for fresh fruit. I was intrigued by the idea but had completely forgotten about it until Tuesday night. I had just toasted a slice of homemade bread and slathered some of my fresh, homemade butter on top. But I was also looking for a little something sweet to finish off my evening "meal." 

That's when it occurred to me. Having just made a large batch of yogurt and with oodles of jam in the cabinet, I should try to mix up a little jam-n-yogurt myself! She's not kidding! The consistency of my homemade strawberry jam made an easy mix-in to the yogurt, and the taste is just like those store brand fruit flavored yogurts - except of course, mine is completely homemade (frugal) which also means there's nothing icky in it; it was made from homemade ingredients that I already had on hand (simple); and there is none of that #5 annoyingly unrecyclable plastic container waste (green)!  It's official. Melissa is a genius! Now THAT'S better living!

13 comments:

ruchi said...

Sweet! I'll have to try it. Did you use vanilla yogurt or regular plain? Did you need to add a little sugar or honey, or was the jam enough?

hmd said...

Arduous - nope. It's just my plain homemade yogurt. Nothing added. No sugar, no honey - just what was already in the jam. And it's super yummy!

Sam said...

I thought that was a great idea too!

I like mixing maple syrup with yogurt to finish of my meal.

J said...

That sounds like an excellent idea Heather! How creative!

I'll have to remember this come winter, might be a good way to get my "fruit fix" for things like strawberries in the dead of winter.

Now I'm hungry!

Green Bean said...

I need to try this. I usually flavor my yogurt with honey which is awesome but a little homemade jam . . . hmmmm.

hmd said...

Beany - I've tried other things like baked apples and cinnamon (wasn't crazy about it). I even tried maple once (sorry - wasn't crazy about it either). I used to love mashing up banana in my yogurt. That was my all-time favorite and the only acceptable sub was berries, but this jam stuff is great. It's just like the store bought stuff. I couldn't believe it.

Jennifer - definitely a small fruit fix. I keep reminding myself how much fruit vs sugar is actually in the jam - YIKES! But at the least, it gives you a nice fruity flavor :)

Green Bean - yeah, I was really surprised. I used to down those #5 plastic yogurts all the time until I went organic and plastic free. I just loved the flavors. Using jam is the closest I've ever gotten to those creamy flavors. Except of course that my yogurt is better than theirs, if I do say so myself. No HFCS!

ib mommy said...

The smooth creaminess of yogurt meets the gooey sweetness of strawberry jam. When these two powerful forces combine you get this reaction.

http://ibdylansmom.blogspot.com/2008/05/so-exciting.html

Kim Campbell said...

Have you made your own Mayo yet?

hmd said...

IB Mommy - ooh! You've done it too. I can hardly wait to try it with the peach jam. Mmmmmm....

Kim - I have a recipe, but I haven't tried it yet. We don't eat it very often and I still have some left in pantry that we haven't opened. Have you? It looks pretty simple.

Kim Campbell said...

I want to say yes a looong time ago. But I don't totally remember. There isn't a whole lot in it, that's for sure. But I agree with use what you have first.

I did make homemade Ketsup. Yuuuum. So different from store bought.

hmd said...

Kim - ooh. Homemade ketchup? I love ketchup! What's your recipe?

Melissa said...

Now I'm blushing :) Glad you liked it!!

hmd said...

Melissa - it was a great idea!