Chia...In My Yogurt? Are you sure that's a good idea, Stonyfield?

I think I have finally recovered from last Saturday's marathon, but I'm still trying to be gentle with my body nutritionally (although I did purchase a dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake, which I have been enjoying! I just could not resist the 25 percent off coupon that showed up in my inbox for the St. Patrick's Day dozen). I've been trying to eat a LOT of protein, in the hopes that my muscles will forgive me for what I did to them, and for the most part, it seems to be working.

Ed figured out how to smoke a salmon using the Big Green Egg that he is babysitting for a friend. I've been mixing that with some eggs to start my day. I have also been eating peanut M&Ms instead of plain M&Ms, which I realize is not really that smart of a move. And, I've been eating cheese as a bedtime snack, which prompted Ed to remark "are you still eating?" last Saturday. Yes, in fact, I was still eating. Running 26.2 is no joke.

Today, when I walked by Whole Foods on my way to work, I was inspired to pick up some Stonyfield Greek and Chia, which I ate as my mid-morning snack (Stonyfield had given me a few coupons for the product - and I was getting my courage up to actually use them). I was VERY nervous about the texture of these seeds, which appear to be all the rage among my runner friends these days. My friends even put them in their water bottles and no, I will not go there. In yogurt, however, the mystery seeds seem to work. The texture of the product isn't messed up much (no more than having fruit chunks instead of blended fruit in yogurt), and if the seeds have a taste, I cannot tell you what it is because the yogurt masks it.

These wonder seeds are supposed to be packed with nutritional benefits, and they must be the cause of the extra 2 grams of protein over my favorite Petite Creme (12 grams per serving versus 10 grams per serving - 5.3 ounces per serving). Both are about double a slightly larger container of regular yogurt.

Here's to the bajillion grams of protein I am eating daily. I hardly have it in me to tell my muscles that we are most definitely going to try our hand at 26.2 again!

Elaine

I am part of the Stonyfield Yogetter Club. As a member, they sent me coupons to test the yogurt with chia. I requested this product, rather than others that I already know I love, because I knew I would never be bold enough to try this without a little push. Thank you, Stonyfield! I'm sold! Although my favorite is still Petite Creme.

Yo! I Like High Quality Organic Yogurt

Several months ago, I had the opportunity to hear Robyn O'Brien speak at a lunch at Restaurant Nora in DC. The talk was sponsored by Stonyfield. After hearing her talk, it's hard to purchase a non-organic dairy product. Robyn wrote the book "The Unhealthy Truth: How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It", and I heard about it at the time we were wondering about Helen's possible food allergies (which we have now decided is an allergy to mussels, and nothing else). The book discusses "food sensitivities" - which seem to be reactions like Helen's (lots and lots of puking) and food allergies (the super scary get your kid to the ER RIGHT NOW!) and ultimately says both are allergic reactions, they just differ in severity. And wow am I thankful that Helen is in the former category and not the latter. One reason to prefer organic is that the probability of having some adverse reaction to a product decreases when you know exactly what the product is, without having to worry about what it's been coated in, or what's been used in growing the product. Makes sense, right? And of course, some of the chemicals used in processing are known to be unsafe at some level, so why risk exposure at any level if you don't have to?

I am all about believing in the conspiracy, and it's not hard for me to believe that big agri-business is willing to sacrifice my and my family's health in the name of corporate profits. So I made my appeal to Ed (chief grocery shopper) and now he brings home organic milk. Here's the thing - I've been a vegetarian for a long time - as are Connor and Helen, so I figure our load of all the weird stuff that's pumped into meat is pretty light - but I might as well go the next step and eliminate all the junk that goes into dairy production as well. And, if it tastes good - well that's all the more reason to go organic.

Helen and Connor give Stonyfield YoBaby! and YoKids! two thumbs up. Mostly, they like them because the yogurt is smooth, not bumpy. Helen would probably eat yogurt with whole pieces of fruit, but that's a texture path that Connor is not quite ready for.

My favorite yogurt is honey flavored yogurt from Blue Ridge Dairy. They're a local farm and though they're not organic, they don't use growth hormones. I'm not a huge yogurt fan (most have too runny of a consistency for me), but I am a huge fan of the protein yogurt provides. I was a bit scared to try something new, having finally found one yogurt at the farmer's market I like. As part of Stonyfield's yo-getter program, I was given coupons to purchase several varieties of their yogurt, and I forced myself to try the Caramel and Honey greek yogurt. And, it was actually delicious! So now, I have two yogurts I love, which I almost always have at my office for my afternoon snack (13 grams of protein)! Yum!

It's been several months since we've been mostly organic in the dairy case, and I can't say I've felt a huge change, but I am hoping that I'm at leasts incrementally improving my children's health.

Now...to go with a CSA this year as in several past years, or focus on getting to the farmer's market on Saturday morning!

Elaine