Exposed: The True Story of Yogurt

Let's talk about yogurt.

Yes, yogurt. (Do I have the most random blog ever or what?)

Yogurt is good for you. There are all kinds of probiotic, enzyme-y thingamabobs. It tastes delicious, too.

BUT! Two big problems, guys. 1) What the heck is IN most yogurt? and 2) The plastic. OH! The plastic.

First, let's check out what's in a typical cup of, say Strawberry Light N' Fit Yogurt:

Nonfat Yogurt, (Cultured Grade A Non Fat Milk, Modified Corn Starch, Kosher Gelatin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin D3), Strawberries and Water, less than 1% of Modified Corn Starch, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Sucralose, Sodium Citrate, Malic Acid, Potassium Sorbate (to maintain freshness) and Red 4.

I used to eat a cup or two of delicious, sugary (or, Splenda-y, I guess) yogurt a day in college. I never once noticed it had all these ingredients. I stopped eating yogurt for a long time because I felt so guilty about all the plastic (non recyclable plastic!) single-use cups left over.

Then I read French Women Don't Get Fat this year (yeah, like, waaay behind the craze. It was actually a good book, surprisingly. I don't do the diet thing.) The author raved about plain yogurt with a sprinkle of wheat germ and a dribble of honey as a an alternative to our chemical-and-sugar-laced stuff. It took a few days to get used to - but OH MY LORD! It was amazing. I would add some frozen peaches and take it to lunch. The other yogurt paled in comparison.

Plain yogurt has two ingredients: Milk and active cultures {I still don't really get what those are, but apparently they're good stuff}. Seems a little less sketchy than fake colors, malic acid, and gelatin.

So, any of you who are yogurt lovers like myself but haven't spun the container around to see the 5 inch list of ingredients - you've been warned! There's so strange stuff in there.

Now, onto the domestic-y part of the problems of yogurt: the plastic. Buying a bigger, resealable container is a short term solution, but we still quickly accumulated TONS of plastic containers. And there's only so many of those you can reuse, ya know?

Enter: YOGURT MAKING.

Yes, that's right: People make their OWN YOGURT. How cool is that?! I desperately want to try, but I haven't found the time. (I did try once, but didn't read the directions and ended up with buttermilk. Which meant we had pancakes and muffins. Equally nutritious as yogurt, right?) All you need is milk, a thermometer, a pot, and some glass jars. It seems pretty simple...You save money and avoid those darn plastic cups from accumulating. And homemade is always (always!) more delicious.

(Sometimes I really wish I was a housewife and just got to sit around making food and cleaning the apartment. Then I remember I'd probably just end up on the computer or watching Friends reruns in my PJs...)