I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Clever Girls on behalf of Dannon. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program but my opinions are my own. For more information and recipe ideas, visit www.oikosyogurt.com or www.Facebook.com/oikos. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

For someone like me – someone who’s constantly giving up on perfect and then starting to try, try, try all over again – the advent of the school year is an excellent opportunity to start fresh in a few areas of my life. Of course, in my case, that also means I am struggling with just how many things I can reasonably put on that “start fresh list” without losing my mind.

No matter how many things – deep cleaning the house, finally finishing my e-book, working out every day – get booted of the list, eating right will stay on the top of my priorities. Over the summer Annalyn and I resorted to baking and eating out WAY TOO OFTEN when we were at a loss for something to do, and both of our tummies are rounder to prove it.

I know from past experience that snacking is the only way I can manage smaller, healthier meals, so I’ve been stocking up on fresh fruit every time we go to the store. (Which is more often than I’d like, as in-between grocery store trips is yet another thing that’s gotten out of control over the past three months!) But, as much as I love fruit (a few of them, at least), it doesn’t always do the trick when it comes to a solid snack.

I know from my many (MANY.) rounds of Weight Watchers that every meal and snack needs to have protein in order for me to stay full longer. Peanut butter added to apples, for example, or string cheese alongside a handful of grapes make healthy snacks that last.

Unfortunately, I have a self-control problem. A just-eat-one-piece-of-cheese problem. I suppose that’s what got me in this predicament to begin with. (You suppose? As if you really don’t know?!) Enter yogurt.

I buy yogurt a lot . . . and then I never eat it. I just forget about it! (It’s possible it gets overshadowed by cheese, glorious cheese, but that’s certainly not doing anything for my waistline.) I want to! I want to love yogurt, I do. I just haven’t really found a kind I like well enough to choose it over cheese or peanut butter (or chips or popcorn or pepperoni slices that were supposed to be for Tuesday night’s pizza . . .).

So when Dannon offered to let me try their new Greek yogurt, Oikos, I jumped on the chance. See, there’s something about how Dannon Oikos yogurt is made (an authentic Greek straining process that gives the yogurt a rich and creamy texture, to be specific) that makes it an excellent source of protein – twice what most regular low-fat yogurts have! And even better? Dannon Oikos Plain and Fruit on the Bottom contains 0% fat, while the Dannon Oikos traditional blended varieties contains just about 3% fat. Both are an excellent source of protein, twice that of most regular lowfat yogurts.

Let’s sum it up so far: Dannon Oikos yogurt is low in fat and high in protein. That sounds like a recipe for snacking success!

I bought two different kinds of yogurt to try: a 5.3-oz. single serve cup of plain vanilla and a single serve cup of fruit on the bottom (the peach variety). My official taste-tester opinion is this: If you like yogurt, you will love Dannon Oikos yogurt! After all, Dannon Oikos did beat Chobani yogurt two to one in a taste test!

The problem for me is that I don’t really love yogurt. I can’t argue that the texture of Dannon Oikos is WAY BETTER than regular yogurt’s. And the fruit on the bottom (which I, of course, mixed up with the whole cup of yogurt) was great. But, in the end, it still tastes like yogurt. Even tangier than regular yogurt, I think – which is why I’m certain yogurt lovers will enjoy Dannon Oikos.

All is not lost, however. I’m going to use the vanilla yogurt to replace cream cheese in my banana bread recipe. That will save me 9 grams of fat! And while I can’t imagine dropping a dollop of Dannon yogurt on my tacos instead of sour cream, I am sure it will make a good replacement for recipes that call for sour cream to be mixed in. The texture is much closer to sour cream than regular yogurt’s, and the tangy taste is similar enough that I bet I won’t notice the difference at all.

So, while I don’t know that I’ll be adding this yogurt to my healthy snack rotation, I’m definitely going to use it for a healthy sour cream and cream cheese replacement in recipes!

And, really, it’s not like I’m going to argue with Uncle Jesse who has aged so well John Stamos (check out the commercial below):

I’ve wanted to try Greek yogurt for a while now, and I’m glad I got the chance to try Dannon Oikos. I love the texture and the no-fat option for cooking. Do you like yogurt? How do you use it – for a snack or for cooking? What’s your favorite kind?

Disclosure: I have partnered with Dannon to help promote the Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt Series.  I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program, which includes writing about the promotion and product. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.