We know how important it is to read labels on snack foods, boxed dinners and cereals but do we actually need to read the labels on yogurt? YES. If I’m learning anything during this journey it’s that you have to read the labels on everything. Yogurt should contain only milk, live yogurt cultures and any natural fruit they might add. Should. But many of the fruit flavored yogurts on the market contain a lot more than that. I’ve seen some that contain carrageenan, others that contain high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors, and some fruit yogurts that contain no fruit whatsoever. So how do you find yogurt that contains simply fruit, milk and yogurt cultures? Two ways: read the labels or mix up your own.
Making yogurt from scratch can definitely be done, but I didn’t want to scare you into the nearest container of Yoplait. Therefore, I decided to make our Out of the Box Berry Yogurt using an organic, natural store-bought product. For this recipe I used an Organic Plain Nonfat yogurt I found at Trader Joe’s containing four different live yogurt cultures, but you can use any brand that contains simply milk and live (active) yogurt cultures to achieve the same result.
This weeks comparison is between Dannon Light & Fit Blueberry and Out of the Box Berry Yogurt made with organic frozen berries that can be found year-round in many supermarkets. You can also store your finished yogurt in recycled glass yogurt containers or small glass containers with lids for fresh lunchbox alternatives.
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THE COMPARISON: Dannon Light & Fit Blueberrry vs. Out of the Box Berry Yogurt
(All ingredients followed by an * can be referenced at www.wikipedia.org by clicking on the ingredient. Please feel free to reference the ingredients on other reputable sites for further information.)
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Dannon Light & Fit Blueberry
Ingredients:
- nonfat yogurt
- cultured grade A non fat milk
- modified food starch
- fructose*
- kosher gelatin
- vitamin A palmitate
- vitamin D3
- water
- blueberry puree
- fructose*
Contains less than 1% of
- modified corn starch*
- natural flavor*
- blue 1*
- red 40*
- aspartame*
- potassium sorbate* (to maintain freshness)
- acesulfame potassium*
- sucralose*
- malic acid*
- sodium citrate*
Contains Active yogurt cultures including L. Acidophilus (For more valuable information about live active yogurt cultures see AboutYogurt.com)
**All listed product ingredients are taken from product’s package label. Though Out of the Box Food makes every effort to provide complete ingredient information, please check the package for the most current information.
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Out of the Box FoodSM Berry Yogurt
This recipe makes a semi-sweet yogurt. Feel free to adjust agave as desired.
Special Equipment: small saucepan, small mixing bowl
Time: 7 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 C plain organic yogurt
- 2 C frozen blueberries or strawberries
- 2 tbsp plus 2 tsp agave nectar (divided)
Directions:
- Heat frozen berries of choice over medium low heat until soft.
- Mash lightly with potato masher or fork until desired consistency.
- Stir in 2 tsp. agave nectar.
- Cool.
Meanwhile:
- In a mixing bowl, combine yogurt with 2 tbsp. agave nectar.
- Stir in cooled fruit (with liquid).
- Serve or store.
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I love to hear how your families respond to the Out of the Box recipes. Listen, we all know kids like different things and if you have a suggestion, question or praise (we love that too), then shoot me an email, post a comment, or pop onto our Facebook page to share your experiences with us! Until next week…
Great Recipe! I’m starting to remove the processed foods from our house – one box at a time. This weekend we said goodbye to Gogurt. The kids helped me make some delicious strawberry yogurt utilizing this recipe. It turned out wonderful! Thanks for your help – Awesome Blog in general!!
Oooh fun site! Right down my alley 🙂 Come check us out- kid friendly food that’s gluten-free and refined sugar-free. LOVE all of your ideas!
LOVE this post. I just recently pinteristed upon your site. It was love at first site. 😉
Anyhoo.. I’ve been looking for a way to add berry to my yogurt, as we’ve been making our own for quite a while and my kids are sick of plain vanilla or honey.. this will be fantastic!
This is exactly what I was looking for, can’t wait to try it. I do have a question–is it necessary to heat the fruit before adding to the yogurt? Could you just puree in a blender and add cold?
Thanks, Susan
Thanks for the comment, Susan. Puréed (uncooked) fruit would work well too. Cooking the fruit makes it a bit more of a jam-like consistancy, yielding a different result in the yogurt but it is all about taste. Either would work!
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I LOVE this post! I just found your site and LOVE IT! This is what I strive for… feeding my son healthy, wholesome food! The more I learn, the more disgusted I am with all the junk that is in our food! I love making my own yogurt. Would love for you to check out my recipe 🙂 http://www.motherhoodsupport.com/2010/07/money-saving-monday-diy-yogurt-2/
Thanks for all that you are doing for our kids!!
And the yogurts that are aimed at the kids, like those squeeze ones, they are terrible. Might as well hand them a bowl of candy and a can of pop. We read everything now, and always walk away shocked of what manufacturers are trying to put into our bodies by covering it up with fancy labels saying how healthy they are.
Great post keep up the good work.
That’s a lot of junk in those yogurts. I should thank my parents for only buying nothing but plain yogurt for us and we would just add fresh fruit to it and drizzle with honey but I like the agave nectar better. Now I’m passing it down to my kids. 🙂
Your mom did a good thing…and so are you! Thanks for sharing Angela.