Yogurt in Recipes

[Kansas5]

Karen and all,

I have been reading lately in some other threads that yogurt isn't as high in carbs as the label would make you think....People say that yogurt is actually only about 4 grams of carbs per cup vs. the 16 or so carbs per cup of sour cream and heavy cream. So, with those numbers in mind and the fact that I would like to reduce my use of sour cream and heavy cream in my cooking, I need advice on using yogurt instead. I really would hate to ruin a few dishes figuring it out. I use the sour cream as a binder/ sauce to hold things together or to bake pork chops/ chicken breasts in or most of the time to make beef stroganoff. (Another question on that.... I know that the alcohol mostly burns off from the sherry but not the carbs. So, how many carbs per TBSP of Taylor cooking sherry??? ( I know Taylor cooking sherry isn't the best I could use from a gourmand's point of view, but hey I live in small town Kansas, it's cheap and besides thats what Mom always used.))

How else could I use yogurt in cooking????? Could I use it the same way I used cream to thicken gravys/ sauces??? (Would Kefir work for this??? Or is Kefir to "tangy" for this use. I've never actually tasted it.)

Someone else brought up the thought that If yogurt isn't all that bad, then could we pop it in the ice cream freezer and have it as frozen yogurt???? Maybe add splenda,some flavor, a very few berries (or not as I am sticking to induction rules still except that for now I'm toying with the idea of yogurt to wean me off high carb sour cream/ heavy cream) Any thoughts on the frozen yogurt???

I know that Dairy can cause stalls for a number of reasons, ie higher in carbs than one might think, (its not a "free food", nothing is) hard to control the size of servings and the fact that dairy is very calorie dense. I would guess that yogurt would fit into the same catagory as the rest of dairy, just maybe alittle less carbs. Would anyone be willing to venture a guess on the daily limits on yogurt intake should be??? Has Dr Atkins ever talked about yogurt????

Well, I'm sure that I'll have more questions in the future, but for now thanks to everyone !!!!!


Kansas5

[Karen]

Hello Kansas5! I think yogurt is great to incorporate into your diet. Make sure that it has at least two, live active cultures.

First to set you straight on a couple of facts...

People say that yogurt is actually only about 4 grams of carbs per cup vs. the 16 or so carbs per cup of sour cream and heavy cream.

Actually, heavy cream is 6.6 grams per cup and sour cream around 8 grams. This is for sour cream with no additives.

Yogurt cannot be heated or it will separate. It can be stirred into a hot dish at the last minute but will provide no thickening power. An alternative to dairy is soy milk that will run you anywhere from, say, 4.5 grams and up, depending on the brand. It's quite tasty, but like yogurt, has no thickening power but it can be heated.

Keep yogurt and kefir for dressings, dips or mixing with flax. Yogurt can also be drained through a seive lined with a paper towel or coffee filter until it thickens to a cream cheese like consistency. Tzatziki, a Greek dip is made from lightly drained yogurt, grated cucumber and garlic.

You can make your own sour cream and it would be roughly the same as heavy cream as far as the carb count goes. And, you can make yogurt out of whipping cream which is very cool because you can whip it!

Any thoughts on the frozen yogurt???

Unless you're a die-hard, the yogurt would have to be stirred into a custard or gelitanized base before being frozen. Otherwise, the frozen yogurt would be full of ice crystals. Using either an electric or hand cranked ice cream machine would give it a better texture than just being frozen straight, even with the custard.

I'll take a stab at the sherry. If the one you're using is sweet, sweet wines come in at around 1.75 grams per Tbsp.

Karen