Food and Fitness for Living Better

Sounds strange, doesn’t it? 

I thought my boyfriend’s roommate was crazy when I first heard that was her go-to evening snack. 

Then I tried it, and fell in love. My favorite combination by far is a vanilla greek yogurt mixed with a creamy peanut butter stirred until whipped together to give a wonderfully light and fluffy mixture. Then I typically top it with pumpkin seeds, pecans, and chocolate chips. Blueberries are a nice bonus if we have them in the fridge! I heard someone else refer to this as “edible cookie dough” even – yum!

PB yogurt is so great as a sweet but still fairly nutritious snack. It may have a lot of calories, but it also has high quality fat and protein to make up those calories and keep the stomach feeling satisfied after I’m done eating. Blueberries help add volume to make it feel like I’m eating for longer, which let’s be honest, is great when I’m eating just because I’m bored (yes it happens to me too). 

I talk so much about things being a journey, because even loving this snack so much has been a journey. I used to HATE yogurt. I couldn’t stand the taste, like it was sour. To be fair, it kinda is. But that’s also what gives you the health benefits of yogurt as it makes its way through the gut. 

I forced the issue sometime between high school and college. I was determined to learn to like yogurt. So I started with the super sweet stuff, you know the kind where you add in Oreos or M&Ms and it’s definitely more like ice cream than yogurt. The trick worked for me though, and by making it taste enough like ice cream that I could learn to enjoy is was the gateway to yogurt I needed. Eventually I could do the same for greek yogurt that certainly has a stronger flavor than regular yogurt, and have now turned it into my favorite PB yogurt. I don’t think I’ve successfully talked anyone else but Corey into eating it too quite yet. 

Lactose intolerance could change this journey yet again, but I’m hoping we don’t get to that point. Is there even lactose in greek yogurt? Isn’t it mostly protein? Maybe lactose intolerance won’t factor into this, and it’d be some other dairy intolerance if those even exist. Any nutritionists or dieticians out there that can weigh in? 

Anyway, this peanut butter yogurt is one of my go-to evening snacks as a tasty treat. If you’re hungry, it can be boosted to be even more satisfying. My favorite mix-ins are pecans (halves broken down a bit into smaller pieces), dark chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds (if I have them) and blueberries (if I have them). Sometimes I have an extra little something on hand like chocolate covered pretzels or old cookies that I’ll crumble into the mix. 

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   wow!!