Oh, and don’t forget all the Indian recipes that use yoghurt! especially as a marinade for meat. There are generally so many spices and other flavors going on that you’d never guess there’s yoghurt in there at all. Plus the acid in the yoghurt tenderizes the meat. Very yummy. Let me know if you want recipes; I don’t generally cook Indian much, but there must be a few on my bookshelf.
I’m going with the suggestions of just taking acidophilous capsules. I’ve had to do this a number of times myself, because I only like the sweet, fruity yougurts, and since I gave up sugar I can’t eat them. I tried sweetening plain yogurt at home, and adding fresh fruit, but no luck. So I bought the capsules (and for the same reason as you, Lynn, ultra-high dose antibiotics), and they work just fine.
Another vote for yogurt-as-sour-cream. I never buy sour cream anymore for potatoes, burritos, nachos, quesadillas, etc – I like plain yogurt so much more. And I generally hate yogurt!
You say you don’t want a sweet recipe, but if you change your mind, I’ve got a lovely, easy yogurt drink recipe from an Indian friend that I can post.
I loathe yogurt, but I will purchase and consume, of my own volition, Dannon La Crème. It’s just that tasty. Give it a shot.
I feel your pain Lynn. I was put on a “soft” foods diet after my operation in July. Lots of oatmeal, yogurt, soup and the like. I hate all of that stuff now. Sending warm thoughts your way.
Make a dip out of it! Plain yogurt is good used as a “low fat sour cream”.
You can mix an onion dip in it, or make your own with some herbs and a little strong mustard in it, great veggie dip.
I second the cereal example from above. I love plain yogurt and I don’t like milk, so I eat cereal in yogurt once in a while.
Good luck!
Does it have to be low-fat? There are a couple of brands out there that are made from whole milk and are extremely good.
Yogurt is good in smoothies, too. Use vanilla yogurt along with some fruit juice, frozen fruit, and ice. You can find plenty of recipes on the net, I’m sure.
Can you drink the sweet acidophilus milk with the lactobacillus cultures added? Milk and cookies are always good.
StG
Try “Kefir” it is made by “Lifeway”, it is chunky milk, it was gonna be yogurt but someone stopped it early (I don’t know if it has the stuff you need though).
unclviny
Lynn: I think your problem is that you’ve been eating the wrong yogurt. Although I don’t eat it daily, when I do, I only eat Stonyfield plain. Try it; I think you’ll be addicted.
If you want something more…er…cultural you might want to try Kefir (as unclviny already mentioned) or Ryazhenka.
My mother makes a salad out of white albacore tuna, sliced black olives, roasted red peppers, sliced red onions and bitter greens ripped into bite-sized pieces, tossed with a dressing of plain yogurt which has been mixed with minced garlic, freshly ground black pepper and the juice of half of a lemon.
It also seems that if you drain yogurt in cheesecloth long enough, it’ll surpass “sour cream” consistency and move right to cream cheese consistency. Mixed with good stuff like roasted red peppers or minced, sauteed onions or whatever flavorful kind of thing that floats your boat, you could spread it on sandwiches or bagels.
Tablets or the powder. You’ll get a lot more good bacteria than you will with yoghurt. Try and get some medi-fos - fructo-oligisaccharides (or something like that) which feed the good bacteria.
Lynn, as JavaMaven has suggested, please try raita and tzatziki, they are two of the most wonderful comestibles. Go to an Indian restaurant and cool your palate with spoonfuls of soothing raita as you scarf some good curry. Hit a Greek restaurant and have a good dose of tzatziki on your gyros platter. These are two of the finest yoghurt dishes there are.
If you are permitted sour cream, please consider looking for some lebni style cream yoghurt at a Middle East specialty foods store. It is almost indistinguishable from sour cream except for an ethereal tang that is simply delicious. Try putting a dollop in some borsch beet soup (there was a fabulous recipe in IMHO in Eva Luna’s beet thread). It also works fine in a tomato based vegetable beef soup. You can use lebni wherever sour cream is called for.
Can the yogurt be cooked or will killing the bacteria negate the positive effect?
If it can be cooked, yogurt goes quite well with both meat and fish - makes a creamy sauce that holds up to bold flavors.
The Teeming Millions (well, thirty thousands) must be slipping! I can’t believe nobody made the obvious reply to Lynn saying, “I hate yogurt!” Even with strawberries?
All joking aside, I agree with those who said to use it as you would sour cream. Yogurt + Lipton soup powder makes a good dip.
I like vanilla yogurt with an oatmeal cookie crumbled into it… SO yummy.
A quickie blender soup recipe using lots of yogurt:
1 seeded and diced cucumber
1 cup yogurt
2 green onions (you can substitute garlic or regular onion in moderation if you prefer, or even chives)
Fresh herbs (dill works well, or if you want to be a little more adventurous, try mint, or even cilantro)
Salt and pepper to taste
Blend until smooth. If you want, save a few chunks of cucumber for garnish/texture at the end. This recipe also works well using beets (I usually roast them in the oven first) instead of cucumber. If you use beets, you might want to substitute fresh ginger and garlic instead of the herbs and green onions. Proportions are not terribly important here; have fun and experiment!
Mix plain yogurt with spices and make a dip for chips and salad.
Mixing it with geletin is a good idea.
How about making your own yogurt selection? Throw in chocolate chips or gummi bears, granola or cookies. That would help the taste.
Good luck. Glad you are feeling better.
Please don’t post about your yeast infections. <yuk>
Since you’re solely looking to repopulate your intestinal flora, go to your local Asian store and see if you can get ahold of any Yakult.