Wallaby Yogurt - Strawberry Guava

Yesterday while picking up some groceries, I selected a few assorted yogurts. One of them was the Wallaby Organic Yogurt brand, in the Strawberry Guava flavor. Unlike those around me, I LOVE guava. I'll buy almost anything if it has guava in it, so I was very anxious to finally try this flavor.

I was unsure how strawberry and guava would go together, so I was pleasantly surprised by how they complemented each other. The yogurt was delicious, and the fruits were both noticeable, they just seemed a bit too...weak.

Although you could definitely taste them, I would have preferred a stronger flavor. However, since this is not a fruit in the bottom style yogurt, the flavor strength was about where one would expect it to be. I will definitely be buying this yogurt again, though next time I think I'll eat it with fruit slices.

Jeni's Pink Grapefruit Frozen Yogurt

I've recently gotten into the habit of always checking the Whole Foods freezers for Jeni's Ice Cream, before heading towards the checkout line. There's always at least one new flavor there, that I simply *MUST* try.

During my latest Whole Foods trip, this turned out to be  one of their newest flavors (at least new to me, it may be a seasonal item that returns yearly), Pink Frozen Yogurt.

One of my favorite sorbetto flavors is pink grapefruit, and whenever my favorite gelato shops offers it, I always have to have a scoop. But I've never really gave much thought to grapefruit anything beyond sorbetto, although I have momentarily pondered what a pink grapefruit gelato would be like. However, I'd surely never even pondered the idea of a grapefruit frozen yogurt.

I was instantly intrigued, and confused as to how it would work out. I was a bit worried that the tartness of a high quality frozen yogurt may be problematic with the sour of the grapefruit, but I was quite pleased with how the flavors melded together. The pink grapefruit flavor was authentically tart, which actually worked perfectly to offset the creaminess and slight richness of the frozen yogurt. It's definitely not the sort of flavor that citrus haters would enjoy, but it's definitely the sort of flavor that those like myself would go crazy for. I definitely will be buying this again, although next time I'd prefer to eat it during warmer months.

Bolthouse Farms - Thousand Island Yogurt Dressing

I first fell in love with Bolthouse Farms about 5 years ago, when I discovered their line of high quality juice blends. My love only continued to grow throughout the years, as I fell in love with their newer juice selections. And then finally, my love hit its peak, when I discovered their new yogurt dressings. I love creamy dressings, but can rarely find any that I like. Standard shelf stable ones tend to have a strong aftertaste to me, and I hate the ones laden with mayonnaise or corn syrup, nevermind the bizarre chemical enhancements so frequently used.

I first sampled Bolthouse Farms Thousand Island dressing about three years ago, and quickly became obsessed. Not only did I love the dressing as it was (low in fat and calories), I didn't just consider it a healthy substitute, I considered it my ideal substitute. There wasn't a single Thousand Island dressing that I preferred, which one might find strange considering the obvious differences in a high fat dressing and a yogurt based dressing.

Eventually my local grocery stores began to run out of the Bolthouse Farms dressing regularly, and I hadn't seen them in nearly a year. So I was thrilled to see them being offered at my local Whole Foods. So thrilled, that I grabbed a few bottles to have on hand (knowing full well that a refrigerated dressing would only last a few months compared to a few years). What can I say? The panic of not seeing it for another year convinced me that I could find extra uses for it.

Sadly, something tragic happened. The Thousand Island dressing was not the same. It seems that Thousand Island dressing with only 70 calories per serving (compared to 200+) was not enough for Bolthouse Farms, and they decided to continue to "healthify" their yogurt dressing line to bring the calories down more. The taste was nothing like I remembered. A light, tangy version of Thousand Island, is now replaced with a thick gloppy dressing with a flavor that is hard (if not impossible) to love. Instead of the classic Thousand Island flavor I remember so well, the new dressing tastes like....Well, tomato soup. Cold, gelatinous, tomato soup.

How Bolthouse Farms manages to believe that Tomato Soup yogurt dressing will ever be able to replace their former, glorious Thousand Island dressing, is beyond me. And quite frankly, the fact that anyone thinks this replacement is acceptable for the sake of a lousy 30 calories per serving (the new version is 35 calories per serving) is utter rubbish. AVOID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Liberte Meditterranee Yogurt - Coconut

At a recent trip to Whole Foods, I noticed the line of Liberte yogurt. I enjoy trying new yogurts (of high quality), and tend to try one new brand each time I go to Whole Foods. As a fan of coconut, I decided it was a safe choice to try, before sampling anything more exotic.

The Liberte line offered a full fat line, and a low fat line, so I decided to try the full fat version first. The yogurt is not quite as thick as Greek yogurt, but has a rich creaminess that is unlike American yogurts. The full fat line uses whole milk, but heavy cream is also added, which brings the fat up from 5% milkfat (for standard whole milk yogurts) to 8%. This brings the calories up to to 240 for a 6 ounce container of yogurt, and 22% fat.

The yogurt was beyond anything I could have imagined. It was almost as though whole milk yogurt, cream of coconut, and whipping cream, were all blended together until the mixture had the perfect consistency. The yogurt had a great coconut taste, and the richness of the cream made it seem like an extremely indulgent dessert, even though it still falls under the category of being "healthy."

Halfway through the yogurt, I decided to save the rest for later. This plan didn't quite work out though, since my dog eagerly snuck over and inhaled the rest of the yogurt, when I wasn't looking. I will DEFINITELY be trying the rest of the Liberte line in the future (and buying more coconut for both me and the dog) and will also be sure to see how the low fat version compares. 

Wallaby Yogurt - Mango Lime

As a child I absolutely loved yogurt, but as I got older things changed. Around the age of 20, my taste buds drastically changed, and suddenly those artificial flavors sickened me. Suddenly, standard grocery store yogurt didn't do it for me. And back then high, quality yogurts and Greek yogurts weren't yet readily available at the grocery store, so for a few years I went without yogurt.

And then I discovered imported yogurts, farm fresh yogurts, and Greek style yogurts, and everything changed. Not only did I love yogurt once more, but I had a whole new appreciation for it. I then began to try a large assortment of yogurts, and soon stumbled onto Wallaby Organic at Whole Foods, a yogurt line that refers to itself as "Creamy Australian Style."

I can't say I'm familiar with Australian style yogurt, but the consistency is actually eerily similar to most standard American grocery store brands. However, unlike those yogurts, there is never any separation to be seen. The Wallaby yogurt line offers fruit on the bottom flavors, as well as flavored yogurts. They offer a great selection of flavors, including several non-standard fruits (at least when it comes to yogurts). I recently tried the Mango Lime, which had an excellent flavor that reflected both fruits nicely, sweet with a lovely brightness from the lime. The individual yogurt cost $0.99 (the standard price is $1.19 but the yogurts are regularly on sale for $0.99). Although this may be rather high for an individual yogurt, I think it's worth the extra quarter or two, and will continue to buy the Wallaby yogurts.