(Accidental) Additive-Free Drinkable Strawberry Yogurt

Does anyone else remember drinkable yogurt? It was healthy snacking for the truly lazy (no spoon to wash!). I thought of drinkable yogurt the other day for the first time in years, as I was trying to come up with more exciting healthy snack options than just eating fruit all day long. Don't get me wrong, I love fruit. But it's necessary to spice things up sometimes. In an effort to curb migraines and just generally be healthy, I've been trying to minimize the amount of processed food that I eat (we migraine people also need to eat regularly, hence all the snacks - or at least that's what I tell myself and others). In keeping with that, I use plain yogurt in my smoothies, since it generally has little to no extra stuff thrown in. I figured I'd just mix in whatever I wanted to make a non-smoothie snack out of it.


I had initially intended to make strawberry yogurt of the regular, eat-with-a-spoon variety to satisfy these snack cravings. However, when I went to defrost the strawberries I had in my freezer (that's why my strawberries look a bit mushy; they tasted just fine), I couldn't bear to let all the beautiful strawberry drippings that would seep out go to waste, so I set them in a strainer over a bowl. Demonstrating the brilliance I am known for (they don't let just anybody into PhD programs these days!), I dumped this juice right into the blender with the strawberries and plain yogurt, patting myself on the back for the flavor boost this would lend the yogurt. What I didn't stop to consider was the effect this would have on the texture, and so I ended up with the drinkable yogurt about which I had been reminiscing just days earlier.

How cool does this look?!






















I'm planning to go to the farmer's market this weekend (last free weekend before classes...sigh), so if they still have strawberries, perhaps you'll get your strawberry yogurt post. In the meantime, I have no regrets about this unintentional blast-from-the-past snack.


Additive-Free Drinkable Strawberry Yogurt
Yield: Approx. 16 oz. (1-2 servings)

Ingredients
12 oz frozen strawberries
6 oz plain yogurt1

  1. Set strawberries in a mesh strainer or colander over a bowl and let thaw for a few hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
  2. Place the strawberries, with their juices, in a blender or food processor. Add the yogurt and blend until smooth.
Notes:
  1. I used whole milk yogurt. You may want to use a little less if you are using yogurt with a lower fat content, since those tend to be runnier. On the other hand, you can probably substitute one-for-one and be just fine, since the yogurt is intended to be drinkable anyway.
  2. This would work for any other berry (and probably most other types of fruit, so long as they have a relatively high water content). You may need to add a bit of sweetener if using something more tart like raspberries (same goes if your strawberries happen to be less sweet than mine).
  3. You could also freeze this in ice pop molds or ice cube trays for ice pops or quick additions to smoothies!

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