mmmm....dessert!

We all know I'm pretty much a day late and a dollar short to jump on all bandwagons.  Sometimes this is a good thing, I suppose, as I can watch others fail if the experiment doesn't succeed.  Sometimes this is a bad thing, though, because I'm a mcwimpy and I become afraid to try "new to me" things.

Recently...um..like on Friday, we know I *finally* tried the ol' Green Monster out just to find out it's not monstrous at all.  In fact, I even had another one on Saturday after my run getting even more adventurous by adding some protein powder, extra spinach, and some flaxseed.  Who is this girl I've become???

A month or so ago, I *finally* experimented with Greek yogurt learning it's a fantastic substitution for sour cream when cooking and now WATCH OUT WORLD...I'm using it to make dessert.

My dessert has Greek yogurt as the base - a pudding of sort  and it came highly recommended by older sister Cathy.  I first tried it on Friday using chocolate pudding, but I quickly saw why Cathy told me that lemon, cheesecake, or the white chocolate sugar free instant pudding mix is best.  Cathy's recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of sugar free / fat free instant pudding mix and 1 individual serving size packet of Splenda to be added to 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt.  She eats this by itself as a snack or dessert.

I decided to kick it up a notch and make it into a parfait.  First, I sort of quadrupled the recipe since I was making the entire 16 oz tub of Oikos Greek yogurt, so initially I put in 1 tablespoon of lemon Jello brand sugar free / fat free instant pudding mix and then I put in 1 tablespoon of sugar substitute that I had in the house since I didn't have any individual packets of Splenda.  I thought it could have used a bit more flavor and sweetness - I'm kind of snobby that way, so I added 2 more teaspoons of both to the tub and I stirred VERY thoroughly.  I test-tasted it again and was very pleased with the results.

I then got out one of my amber goblets and put 1/2 cup of the lemony pudding yogurt in the bottom, followed by half a container of raspberries, followed by a dallup of fat free Cool Whip.  It was a delightful refreshing dessert, to say the least.

I'm thinking I could even add some Uncle Sam cereal to the mix to turn this into a breakfast one morning.  For those not in the know, Uncle Sam cereal is composed of toasted whole-wheat flakes with flaxseed and it has 10 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein, and less than 1 gram of sugar per serving.  Each serving size it 3/4 of a cup.  I was initially introduced to this product by Lindsay from Pancakes n Pajamas.  You can buy it at Walmart, I know for sure.

Best part yet - it's all South Beach friendly - 3 of my favorite words!!!  =)

In case you are thinking that it would just be easier and/or cheaper to just use instant pudding in it's rightful form or regular flavored yogurt...well I'm sure you would be correct, but Greek yogurt offers some amazing nutritional benefits that neither milk nor regular yogurt can supply.  I'm just on a mission here to attempt to maximize my nutrition whenever possible...so it may not always be the easiest or cheapest ride, but well...nobody ever said getting healthy and staying there was going to be a cheap and easy fix!