We'll take ours plain, please

One day at our local grocery store when Ethan was first being introduced to pureed foods, I stopped at the yogurt section.  I picked up a 4 pack of baby yogurt, as I started to place it into the cart, I happened to look at the ingredient list.  Thank goodness I did, the second ingredient was sugar!!  I couldn't believe that a well-known yogurt marketed for babies had such a high sugar content.  I put it back on the shelf, and looked for a plain version.  I found locally-made whole milk yogurt version, Nancy's, which is fantastic for babies.  I buy the largest container possible because we go through it so quickly.  Plus, it minimizes the amount of plastic needed to be recycled and it's much less expensive.  Ethan until a year ago loved plain yogurt.  That was until other influences fed him flavored yogurts.  I, however, refused to buy flavored yogurt.  So he stopped eating yogurt.  Claire's favorite morning snack is yogurt with fruit.  And oh boy, does she love it, I don't think I've ever seen a 2 year old eat yogurt the way she does.  It gets everywhere, including her hair.  Last summer I froze a lot of peaches, I cut them up, froze them on my silpat, and then moved them to ziploc bags for storage.  Throughout the fall and now winter, I've made peach-sauce.  To the peach-sauce, I add vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Claire likes her peaches separated from her yogurt.  I like to mix them together for the sweetness and add in a bit of granola for crunch.  A few weeks ago, I asked Ethan if he'd like vanilla yogurt with a fresh batch of granola and raspberries.  I was shocked when he said, sure.  I put a large scoop of yogurt in the bowl, added a drop of vanilla, and a dash of agave, stirred them together, and finally the frozen raspberries and granola.  He like his sister has been eating yogurt at morning snack time again.  If you start your baby off on plain yogurt then he/she won't know that sugary yogurts exist.  Try it yourself, add more agave or honey in the beginning and slowly reduce the amount as you become used to the tang.

One of the biggest benefits to creating your own flavored yogurt is that you know exactly what you are putting into it.  Whether it's mashing up a banana, defrosting frozen berries, or making vanilla yogurt, it is much cheaper than buying a 4-6 oz container of yogurt.  Even more, you already have the fruit ingredients on hand.  Yes, it may take an extra minute to add your own ingredients than opening the flavored yogurt.  Give it a try and let me know what you think. 

Some other ideas for plain yogurt:
-in place of sour cream
-add 1/4 cup to beaten eggs before scrambling them or making an omelette
-add to muffin batter for moistness

Vanilla Agave Yogurt

Ingredients:
1 cup yogurt
1 drop vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon agave or honey

Mix all ingredients together.  Add your favorite toppings, stir if you like.