Thank you, Stonyfield, for giving me the chance to sample your new products! As a member of the Clean Plate Club, I received Stonyfield yogurt for review purposes. All opinions remain my own.
I am sooooo excited about the latest additions to the Stonyfield line of yogurts because, as far as I’m concerned, it was long overdue! Finally!! Whole Milk Greek Yogurt AND 100% Grassfed Yogurt! Back when I was a stay-at-home-mom and we adhered more to a traditional foods diet, whole milk dairy–and especially grassfed dairy–were so important nutrient-wise, but so hard to find. Not anymore!
9 years later, mainstream is starting to catch on. The last 2 years have been full of recommendations to ditch the low-fat and skim milk dairy in favor of whole milk. We’re seeing proof that dairy fat does not equal body fat, and may actually assist you in maintaining a healthier body weight. And it just plain tastes better. Fat serves several functions, including aiding in the absorption of phyto-nutrients (think how you use salad dressing with your greens to help you absorb Vitamin K better), improving flavor (duh!), and satiating. You’ll feel satisfied faster and graze less after. It just makes sense.
What I really love about the new Stonyfield Whole Milk Greek Yogurt cups are the little sidecars with the mix-ins. You have control over how much (or how little) you use to flavor your yogurt. You can pick just how mixed in it is. I prefer swirls, personally, so there are little surprises in every bite. Forget that homogenized, equally-mixed stuff! Let me have a little fun with it! The honey is a flavor I would not have thought of before in yogurt, but my daughter adored it. I’m a big fan of black cherry, and we all fought over blueberry. With 12g of protein per serving, that’s a great way to fuel the start of my day!
Grassfed yogurt is something you don’t see every day. Beef? Absolutely, and we do buy it. We even have a few farms around here that raise grassfed beef. But dairy? Up until a couple years ago, there wasn’t even an organization in existence to certify the claim. Tim Joseph of Maple Hill Creamery–the source of the milk used in Stonyfield’s 100% Grassfed yogurt–worked with Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO) to protect the standard. Just like you can see the non-GMO Project Verified logo on products that have passed their testing, you can be sure that 100% Grassfed dairy and beef that carry the PCO logo on them are what they claim to be.
Why does this matter? There are a lot of things that work in tandem with being 100% grassfed. Cows are ruminants–herbivores that are designed to eat grass and digest it through a fermenting process in their stomachs. When they eat what they’re designed to, things run pretty smoothly. Their gut PH remains neutral, all that good gut flora thrives, they’re happier, they live longer, and they’re just plain healthier. But when you start throwing in a diet of corn and grain, while you can increase a cow’s milk yield, it’s done at a cost: vitamins, beneficial fats, and proteins are sacrificed, and the cow’s health is compromised. Conventionally-fed cows tend to have shorter lifespans. This makes sense, right? If you were eating cheese curls and soda all day, you probably wouldn’t live as long as if you focused heavily on seafood, fermented dairy, olive oil, whole grains, legumes, and nuts, for example. Food is fuel, not just for us, but all creatures. (You can learn more about this on Maple Hill Creamery’s website.)
But how does it taste? Definitely loved the blueberry–again, there was a fight over it. But the texture is looser like regular yogurt, not thick like a strained Greek yogurt. So while it tastes great in a yogurt parfait, the layers kind of mesh together instead of remaining nicely separated. (Who cares about that anyway, right? It’s all going to the same place!) Right now you can only find 100% Grassfed Yogurt at Whole Foods, so it’s not convenient for me. But when it’s more readily available, I will definitely buy it, because it matters to me.
Have you tried either of the new Stonyfield yogurts yet? What did you think of them?
Disclosure: I have an ongoing partnership with Stonyfield, as a member of their Clean Plate Club. As always, all opinions remain my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help make this blog possible!
Yummm! I haven’t seen either of these but love the sidecar honey concept. Hope they make their way to Stop & Shop soon!
Yes! The only place in town right now where I can get the whole milk Greek yogurt happens to be Stop & Shop, so that’s a great place to start!
I just purchased the Stonyfield Grassfed at my local Meijer store! Purchased the vanilla flavor. I really like the concept of this yogurt being naturally sourced. I’ve been so use to the the thicker greek yogurts, like Choboni, that I was surprised by the thinner texture. I was able to pour it from the container and it was kept in a cold fridge. I mixed it with some oats and walnuts. Great taste. I will buy this again but wish the texture was thicker.
The texture definitely is a surprise after getting used to thick Greek yogurts. I remember that. But I like the taste and the source, so it’s all good. Glad you enjoyed it!