Corn Yogurt "Pudding"...and my newest favorite kitchen utensil

Well, here it is! My absolute favorite dessert these days, corn and yogurt! I love it so much I swear I look forward to it everyday and I've made it at least 1/2 dozen different ways from tangy to super sweet.

It all started with a can of creamed corn..... I never buy canned veggies, but a couple of years ago (yep 2 years ago) I bought a can of creamed corn to try a "corn ice cream" recipe, and there it sat, way back on the top shelf of my pantry. This was back in the day when I was making alot of my own frozen yogurt...I may have posted about that. First of all, I love canned creamed corn! Anyway, I was jones'n for something sweet a few weeks ago and I thought, "hey", I think I'll put that can of creamed corn in some yogurt! Viola'....OMG....loved it!

You would think I would have gone out and bought more canned creamed corn.....and I thought about it....(seriously I freakin' loved it). But I know the reason why I loved it so much, it was because there's so much sugar in it and it's thick and "creamy". I also know that there is no cream in canned creamed corn...it's thickened with cornstarch. I'm not discriminating against cornstarch, but I knew I could get something just as yummy without the cornstarch (I'll save the artificial thickeners for when I really need them, lol) Below I share some of my favorite ways to make corn and yogurt "pudding".

This story brings me to share my newsest kitchen utensil....my 1/2 c. "food disher". Looks like an ice cream scoop, but it's called a "food disher". It's a professional utensil used in the food service to portion out exact serving sizes. Why would I need to measure out an exact 1/2 c. serving? Because as I mentioned I love my yogurt and corn so much I could easily get carried away! I use it to measure out 1 c. yogurt, and I even use it to measure oats, cooked rice, cooked beans & lentils, all kinds of stuff.

It's too easy to "fudge" on serving sizes. I can pretty much "eyeball" a half cup serving, but then I'll take an extra spoonful thinking that "it's just a little more"! Well, "a little more" and "a little more" add up to "a lot more"! If I chose to take more than my scoop (s), well then I can't be in denial about it. "Food dishers" are available in all kinds of sizes and are really inexpensive, I think this cost me about $12 at Smart n Final. (you can find them less expensive on the internet but you'll pay S & H).

Corn and Yogurt Puddings

Here's the first version, which is a bit "white trashy" since it uses canned creamed corn.....oh, a whole can of creamed corn is only about 250 calories, and 1 c. plain yogurt is around 130-150. So for under 400 calories you get a huge serving.....OK, I admit, I fall victim to huge servings sometimes! If you don't have a tummy as big as your eyes only make 1/2 of this recipe...or
maybe share it with someone so you don't go back and eat the other half! I'm not going to lie, it probably is the equivilent of eating a candybar!

1st version

1 can creamed corn

1 c plain yogurt

(if you like it super duper sweet, but trust me this is sweet enough, use 6 oz vanilla yogurt)

2nd version

1 ear white corn, roasted, with a good pinch of kosher salt (white corn is sweeter)

1 c. plain yogurt

1- 1 1/2 tbl brown sugar

3rd version add the juice of one lime

4th version

1 ear corn (roasted, and with a good pinch of kosher salt)

6 oz vanilla yogurt

5th version

1 ear corn (roasted and w/good pinch salt)
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/2 c cottage cheese
1-1/2 tbl brown sugar

6th version

1 ear corn (raosted and w/good pinch salt)
1/2 vanilla yogurt
1/2 c cottage cheese
juice of 1 lime

7th version

1 ear corn (roasted and w/good pinch of salt)
1 c cottage cheese
1-2 tbl brown sugar
juice of 1 lime

8th version

1 ear corn (roasted and w/good pinch of salt)
juice of 1 lime
1 c plain yogurt (really good quality yogurt is a must)

In this last version I don't add any sweetness so it's super tangy! Without the sugar I can eat more! I'm lucky that I found this "killer" sheep's milk yogurt at the PA Farmers' Market and it's so creamy and tangy that I hate to "ruin" it with the addition of sugar! I have to assume it's full fat, but still it's only 130 calories per c. for plain. The woman that makes the yogurt is the same one that I get the feta for my savory oats. Unfortunately she will only be making yogurt for another couple of weeks....but if you have access to homemade yogurt then I think you will find there's no need to add sugar.

This has motivated me to start making my own yogurt....it won't be made with sheeps milk, but I think it will still be better than store bought.