Today my daughter wanted to eat apple for her afternoon snack, and asked if I had any dip to jazz things up. Unfortunately, since we are getting ready to move back to Los Angeles, my fridge & cupboards are a little bare these days. The usual suspects, almond butter and peanut butter, had been gobbled up last week, and the only dippable thing left that wouldn’t taste terrible with an apple was some greek yogurt.

‘But wait!’ you may cry, ‘Yogurt is dairy. And your kids are intolerant to dairy!’ Interestingly, the only dairy that my kiddos can digest without skin or tummy troubles include plain, probiotic-rich yogurt (not to be confused with faux ‘strawberry’, sugar-laden Yoplait containers), and organic (or grass fed) butter and ghee. Though I am normally extremely dairy-averse, plain, cultured yogurt is super gut-friendly, teeming with beneficial bacteria that keep us healthy and our immune systems in tip top shape. And a high quality (i.e. organic and/or grass fed) butter and ghee are excellent gut healers, providing the fats we need to utilize the vitamins and minerals in our diet and heal the intestinal lining.

Adding sugar to the yogurt wasn’t an option, since sugar seems to exacerbate the midges’ eczema (and miss A’s mood, in particular) – even honey. My favorite trick for making our morning oatmeal seem sweet without sugar is adding vanilla extract and a good dose of cinnamon, and this factoid served as inspiration for my yogurt dip.

This is so darn easy, I’m hesitant to even call it a ‘recipe,’ but I just had to share it because it turned out crazy delicious. Though you do not have to use the Fage brand, I haven’t been able to find another Greek yogurt as creamy and thick, and the rich, full texture tricks your brain into being even more satisfied with this tasty treat. Miss A and Dino-licious agreed…. they both demanded seconds and I had to whip up another batch. We tried this dip with freshly sliced Gala apples, but I imagine it would be equally delicious with pears, peaches and even cantaloupe or honeydew melon. Enjoy!

Healthy Yogurt Fruit Dip by Gut & Glamour

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Fage Greek yogurt, or other super thick Greek, cultured plain yogurt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tsp vanilla extract (I prefer the organic Madagascar vanilla extract with no alcohol, which I find at Whole Foods)

Directions:

1. Not even sure why I need them for this one since it’s so simple but…. Put ingredients in a bowl together and mix with a spoon until fully blended. Then gobble it up with some fruit, and repeat if your kids are crazy hungry food monsters like mine. Yum!

XOXO Yel