The big 64

The other day I bought 64 ounces of plain yogurt.  I've been eyeing up this jumbo tub of Nancy's for a while, but searching for something new to inspire me I went right ahead and bought it last week.  So, other than eating it covered in honey and frozen black raspberries (they were much more delicious-and a whole lot less money- back when I got them from grandma's back yard!) what in the world do you do with that much yogurt?

Well to start, you're going to want to whip yourself up a batch of this amazing low-fat pasta salad.  Its a bit summery, but that's what one needs in late January.  I found when I was making it that I had only about two tablespoons of mayonnaise left, so I just used more yogurt to replace it.  I also only had tomatoes, onions, and celery, but those seemed to work really well in this. I added feta cheese, and believe me, you'll want to.  It adds such a great texture to the yogurt dressing.  If you don't like feta, I'd still try adding just a bit of Parmesan cheese.  Don't forget lots of salt and pepper, but other than that it doesn't need much!  Its very similar to a pasta salad they sell where I volunteer and I'm constantly addicted to it.

This was great but I'll probably never eat red onions again...talk about two days of the worst stomachache possible!

Remember that cheap ice cream maker I bought last year? That's right, I'm way ahead of myself in terms of the seasons!  The husband and I happen to frequent those by-the-ounce frozen yogurt shops that cost a fortune.  Let me tell you, for less than one trip to a yogurt shop you can make yourself a pint and a half of creamy goodness and it is incredibly easy.  I found this recipe, and quickly whipped some up.  In less than an hour I had amazing frozen yogurt.

They claim you can't use low-fat yogurt, but guess what? You can. And its good.  Maybe not as creamy as ice cream, but it certainly beats those soft-serve places.  The yogurt plus the toppings ran us under 10 dollars, and we still have some left after a delicious and healthy dessert.

The recipe calls for greek yogurt but I used regular american-style plain yogurt.  Its very tangy and delicious and I can only imagine what using Fage would do for this yummy stuff.

The toppings are mini-mochi...we got them at our local asian market.  They're soft and chewy and make a great topping for ice cream and fro-yo.

So now maybe I feel a little snazzier than I did last week...but I still have some yogurt to eat!