Best. Yogurt. Ever. (And no nasty HFCS).

For years, I've had a love-hate-mehhhh relationship with yogurt. I've relunctantly but religiously spooned Yoplait into my mouth, not really enjoying it but feeling like I should for some reason. I've gobbled it up at every meal for weeks, bought giant cases of little plastic containers filled with the four standard creamy fruit flavors, then suddenly decided it disgusts me and trashed the whole flat-box (I mean...recycled the two empty containers and given the rest away to homeless shelters in my neighborhood).

For almost a year now, though, I've been stuck in yogurt love. I've been helplessly, hopelessly, goobily devoted to yogurt. And it is all (sigh) Rachel's doing.

I found Rachel's yogurt on one ravenously hungry run into Whole Foods last fall, when I needed quick sustenance and was fresh off of a yoga bender that made a sandwich or waffle cone feel like a bit too much. I grabbed fruit, baby carrots, pita chips -- all things I could eat while driving (I mean...while sitting in my car in the parking lot, not in drive and not talking on the cell phone or texting my friends about how freaking hungry I was after all that downward dogging). I ran to the refrig section to grab some iced tea but my attention was diverted by a row of yogurt containers. They were black with pretty flower designs and names like Glow and Vitality. I put the tea down and went toward the yogurt, which already had me locked in serious crush.

I bought some, devoured it and have been committed ever since. Let me tell you why:

Rachel's yogurt tastes amazing, much more like juice than the sorta-blueberry-ish stuff other brands pass off. The flavors are cool and delicious combinations like Plum Honey Lavender, Kiwi Passionfruit Lime and Vanilla Chai.

Just as important being surprisingly, stand-out tasty is that Rachel's doesn't have dreaded doses of high fructose corn syrup. It's also made with rbST-free milk, which means the cows that provide the dairy aren't given any artificial growth hormones (nope, not a one). I also love that Rachel's products are 100% natural with no artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors or preservatives.

All of that means I feel good about eating it myself and even better about giving it to my little boy (who is truly madly deeply with the Pomegranate Acai). In fact, he had a few bites of one of those HFCS-aspartame-ridden yogurts at a playdate last week, stuck out his tongue and said, "This stuff is terrible! Too blecky sweet! I need my delicious yogurt!"

I'm very happy my big box supermarket has started carrying a few Rachel's flavors in the last few months as the organic selection has increased. I'm also happy to spread the word about this yogurt, not for pay or privileges, but just because it is that good. And finally, I am deliriously pleased to open my fridge and choose among the many containers and calling-to-me flavors every morning with my coffee and soy-buttered toast (and sometimes lunch and snacks, too).

What more can I say? This love letter to yogurt is 6 ounces of sappiness but completely syrup- and saccharine-free.

Do you love, hate or feel indifferent about the yogurt in your refrigerator? What's your relationship with yogurt?


Read more...Along with the Yoplait, I also kicked Diet Coke out of my refrigerator.