Yogurt Favorites

I used to immediately throw Black Cherry or Blueberry yogurt into my shopping cart, but as you check out the yogurt section at your local grocery store, you'll notice many new flavor options. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Muller Corner and Greek Corner: Corner lowfat yogurt with strawberry and Greek Corner lowfat yogurt with caramelized almonds

2.Chobani Flip: Key Lime Crumb low-fat yogurt with graham cracker and white chocolate and Vanilla Golden Crunch low-fat yogurt with cornflakes, honey oats and praline pecans. I also like Honey Bee Nana and Almond Coco Loco, and can't wait to try Peachy Pistachio and Blueberry Power.

3. Yoplait Whips!: fluffy mousse-styled version - love the Lemon Burst and can't wait to try Key Lime Pie

4. Stonyfield Organic: Caramel Greek Yogurt -  contains twice the protein than regular yogurt and is as much of a dessert as it is a nutritious snack.

- Kim Weling

New Yogurt / Frozen Yogurt Favorites

Even though Cherry is my favorite yogurt flavor, I love to try different flavors and brands. Olympus Greek yogurt has a thick and velvety texture, with flavors including Blueberry, Vanilla, Cherry, Peach, Strawberry and Lemon. There's also the Authentic Greek 0% strained yogurt with honey, which I like to add a little granola to.

Yoplait Trix yogurt has been reformulated to contain no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners of high fructose corn syrup, and continues to be a good source of calcium and vitamin D. Yoplait Trix yogurt comes in five flavors that kids will love: Strawberry Punch, Strawberry Banana Bash, Raspberry Rainbow, Triple Cherry and Cotton Candy. Cotton Candy was too sweet for me, but I do want to give the Triple Cherry a try.

Healthy Choice low-fat Greek Frozen Yogurt just launched nationwide in August. It's deliciously thick and creamy, made with dairy protein, real fruit, real nonfat milk and yogurt cultures. It's the perfect frozen treat with 100 calories and 4g of protein per serving. It comes in Vanilla Bean, Strawberry, Blueberry and Raspberry. Look for Healthy Choice Frozen Greek Yogurt in the freezer aisle by Healthy Choice meals. It is sold in a three-pack carton ($3.49) with 4 fl oz. in each cup. So far I have only tried the Vanilla flavor but I am hooked!

Ben & Jerry's Greek Frozen Yogurt also newly launched so you should start seeing this at your local supermarket. Traditional Greek yogurt is mixed with Ben & Jerry's "traditional" chunks & swirls - how can you not love that? The four Greek frozen yogurt flavors include Strawberry Shortcake, Raspberry Fudge Chunk, Banana Peanut Butter and Blueberry Vanilla Graham. So far I've only tried the Blueberry Vanilla Graham which was okay, but I'm dying to try Raspberry Fudge Chunk and Banana Peanut Butter, which are also available in mini-cups. The mini-cups are great for sampling new flavors!

- Kim Weling

Yogurt and Ice Cream Favorites

I've had the habit of skipping the most important meal of the day - breakfast. If you are like me and don't have time to make breakfast in the morning, why not opt for yogurt, which is easy enough to throw in your purse or keep a few in your refrigerator at work? In trying to maintain a healthy diet, making sure I eat something for breakfast is definitely on that list. I have included some of my favorite yogurts as well as ice cream. As soon as warmer weather hits, those ice cream cravings just kick in.

1) Chobani is at the top of my list, made with natural ingredients and real fruit, with twice the protein of regular yogurts and is gluten-free. Blueberry (love adding in fresh blueberries), Mango and Honey-Nana have been my favorite Chobani flavors, but I can't wait to try the newest additions - Apple Cinnamon, Blood Orange and Passion Fruit.

2) Yoplait ® has 2x the calcium of the leading yogurt, with 25 delicious flavors for Yoplait® Original. I would really like to try Yoplait® Light with Granola, available in Blueberry, Cherry, Peach and Strawberry and two new flavors for Yoplait ® Greek - Coconut and Cherry Pomegranate.

3) New to me is Ehrmann Bavarian Lowfat Yogurt, available in Cherry, my favorite, along with Strawberry, Peach, Blueberry and Blackberry Pomegranate. Currently Ehrmann All Natural Lowfat Yogurt is distributed in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island and upstate New York. I'm waiting for them to come to NYC/NJ!

4) Lifeway's Frozen Kefir is a creamy, nutritious and delicious dessert that packs 10 live and active probiotic cultures. It is all natural, high in protein and calcium, gluten-free, 99% lactose free and has 90 calories per serving. Mango is my favorite, but also available in pomegranate, original and strawberry.

5) Clemmy's all natural, sugar-free ice cream is also lactose-free and gluten-free. In lieu of sugar Clemmy's uses xylitol, a natural sweetener. Clemmy's All Natural Sorbet, Ice Cream Bars and All natural Low Fat Ice Cream Bars are a sweet way to add more fiber into your diet. Clemmy's ice cream is available in 13 varieties. I have only tried the Cherry Vanilla Bars once and am already addicted to them. I also look forward to trying the Toasted Almond and Coffee flavors.

6) Coconut Bliss all-organic ice cream is soy-free, dairy-free, cholesterol-free, gluten-free and cane sugar-free, using ingredients such as coconut milk and agave syrup. The ice cream comes in 14 flavors including Ginger Cookie Caramel, Chocolate Walnut Brownie, Mocha Maca Crunch and Lunaberry Swirl, which launched in 2011.

- Kim Weling