Culture Addict: Gianna Is a Yogurt Fiend

She has been sucking down cultured dairy without hesitation since she was about 10 months old. As an infant, her untainted palate saw the likes of mostly “plain” Greek versions, where I’d mix in here and there some spoonfuls of vegetable baby food like sweet potato or squash or even some jam or preserves.

As she got older and craved more texture, yogurt—still the plain variety—not only kept her carrots and apples happy but also occupied her in her highchair as it was her preferred dipping sauce. During the terrible twos, Gianna became more jaded and fell victim to the powers that advertisers and marketers have over children and, for that matter, their parents. I remember not being able to walk down a supermarket aisle without her realizing that Dora now “made” yogurt. And if Dora’s face was on it, she had to have it. While the flavors and sugar levels took her palate on a wild ride, I, if you recall, would secretly save and wash out the empty Dora yogurt containers and fill them with my own concoctions of plain yogurt and fresh fruit and honey. Although it might have worked for a while, Gianna caught on quickly and her tainted palate left her jonesin’ for a more-sugary fix.

At age 3, Gianna became a yogurt “squeezie” addict. The portable tube that she was able to suck and slurp yogurt out of came with us everywhere and served as a precursor to breakfast, lunch and dinner. She even had her own rolling technique to make sure she got out every last drop. These tubes were freezable and came in handy in the snack bag on a hot summer day. To the credit of some manufactures like Stonyfield, there are organic varieties of these squeezies or “squeezers” with more “desirable” amounts of sugar.

Today, with yogurt sales booming beyond belief (some 58 percent of U.S. adults eat yogurt an average of 7.5 times a month, according to market research company Mintel), cows around the country are working overtime to see who can produce the creamiest, most probiotic cultured dairy around. Variety abounds and I felt it was time to introduce Gianna to my own personal culture club—craft yogurts from small-batch local dairies around the country. These yogurts, mainly full-fat versions with cream on the top, are offering simpler, cleaner products in interesting flavors. Many hail from dairies whose cows are grass-fed only so their milk boasts higher levels of omega fatty acids and vitamin E. They are sweetened with either honey or organic evaporated cane sugar and/or contain natural fruit purees. —Nicole Potenza Denis

> View Foodie Mom's favorite small-batch yogurts 

Nicole Denis is a regular foodspring.com contributor and
is the author of foodspring’s foodie-mom blog.

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