I was just reading an article on summer diet blunders and they mentioned frozen yogurt which I have just discovered. Let me talk you through this discovery.
Several weeks ago, the boyfriend and I went to Arundel Mills to see Medieval Times. We had a blast and after the show we wanted to chat with our friend, one of the knights, who still had some stuff to do. It was late but a lot of the mall was still open so we wandered around for a bit. After going and hanging about FYE for a while, I thought it would be nice to check out "Yogurt Mountain" that we had passed on our way to FYE.
I think these places are popping up all over the place - more on that in a second- but "YoMo" is a frozen yogurt place, as you would imagine. Along the wall are soft serve machines with the frozen yogurt inside in all kinds of tasty flavors- vanilla, cheesecake, rocky road, red velvet, cappuccino, snickerdoodle, mint, and even no sugar added varieties. The flavors change depending on the day. You can also mix two flavors that share a machine together- for example snickerdoodle and cheesecake. Sounds great, no?
They have these (huge) cups at a kiosk or bar and you serve yourself how much you want. Then there is a toppings bar. YoMo had the best selection I could readily see with cereals of all kinds (Fruity Pebbles?!), fruit, syrups, candies, candy bars... so good. When you finish making your cup, they weigh it and charge you per ounce.
The boyfriend and I were ALL about it. He filled his cup, I layered the bottom of mine (portion control, kids!) and we loved it!
Here are the benefits of frozen yogurt over ice cream, in case you were curious:
-Lower in calories- Try 100 calories per half cup serving and compare that to your Ben and Jerrys.
-High in probiotics- wait, this dessert is even good for you?
-Lighter without sacrificing flavor- Ice cream can feel heavy on your tongue/palette. I can finish a nice cup and not feel bad about it... even desperately wanting more!
Depending on where you go determines how good the yogurt is. For example, YoMo doesn't tell you much about the yogurt. Yesterday, the boyfriend, the youngest sister and I went to a new place that had opened up by us called YogoLaada. We walked in and realised it was the exact same kind of thing as YoMo with a cereal bar attached. They have all different kinds of cereal that you can top with whatever they have on the bar. One of the employees happened to know the boyfriend and she explained that a lot of FroYo places have powdered yogurt that they put in their machines. YogoLaada gets huge frozen blocks of the yogurt that are put directly in the machines. They also have proudly displayed on their walls all the information about why FroYo is so good for you with a lot more reasons than I listed above.
These places seem to be popping up all over the place and go by different names. Yogurt Mountain. YogoLaada. There's a new place opening up called USpoon that is billing itself as a yogurt and cereal bar. Sounds like FroYo to me and I can't wait for them to open and to try it out!
If you have apprehensions about FroYo, here's a little more info for you. If you're lactose intolerant, the bugs that make yogurt yogurt eat the lactose that causes tummy aches. It's a great way to get calcium and go out for a frozen treat without getting sick. If you don't like yogurt because of the tang (I love yogurt and the tang can get overbearing for me too), the freezing process seems to get rid of that tangy something. It seriously tastes like ice cream, just less heavy.
So please give it a shot. The fact that there are so many of these places popping up all over the place is a good thing. Healthy creamy yummy snacks! How AWESOME is that?!
PS: I'm still working on that green kitchen cookbook. I haven't been in much of a mood to read it lately.
Until next time!
