Last night I mentioned that I had received a special delivery – check out this amazing haul of Total Greek Yoghurt!

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I’ve kindly been sent these tubs of Total 0% fat and regular Greek Yoghurt to sample to my hearts content. As a long standing fan of Total 0% fat Greek yoghurt I’m pretty excited. Obviously I’ll be eating my way through this over the next couple of weeks and I have some great recipe ideas. When I’m done I’ll be posting a full review of the products. As I have a few product reviews coming up I have developed a full disclosure and policies page (see the pages list on the left hand side of the blog) which explains my review policy. Basically, I will always be giving my honest opinion on any products I may review for the blog including all the positives and negatives.

Anyway, on to today’s eats. Breakfast was two slices of toasted fruited rye bread with almond butter and a bowl of banana and strawberries on the side.

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Mid morning I snacked on some fromage frais with walnuts and goji berries.

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Lunch was more of my Basil Tofu salad from last night followed by strawberries.

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Gym fuel was these lovely We are Bear Cherry Berry Fruit Nibbles:

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I did my usual HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout for 45 minutes followed by abs.

Dinner was a delicious stir fry with chicken breast, spinach, courgette, orange pepper, carrots, soya beans and red onion with ginger and soy sauce.

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Desert was a tasty chocolate orange protein cake (1 scoop of chocolate whey, 1 egg white, 2 heaped teaspoons of apple and blueberry puree, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of natural orange flavouring combined and microwaved on high for 2 minutes) and a chopped apple.

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I’ve also had another apple to fill me right up.

Quick update on my Big Budget Challenge – I’m still plugging away and to date I haven’t broken any of my rules! I managed to pay my credit card off at the beginning of the month and my aim is not to use any more credit. I have to learn to live within my means. I’ve loved using ebay to sell old clothes and make some money and I have plenty more items stored away under my bed ready to be sold. One of the aims of my Big Budget Challenge was to stop frittering my money away on little things and spend more strategically. Having planned ‘sprees’ such as the ones I had in Brighton, on my birthday and for my Home week have worked well so that I still feel like I’m enjoying life but I’m not wasting money or sticking stuff on the credit card whenever I fancy.

While I’m talking about budgeting I saw this fantastic post on Kath Eats Real Food – I thought these tips were excellent for saving money and being healthy:

  • Our grocery cart is 90% fruits and veggies, often with a sprinkle of dairy, some canned goods, dry grains and the occasional meat. Think about what you want your dinner plate to look like when you fill your cart.
  • I think about the cost per serving when I eat. For ex) sardines = super cheap per serving. Deli meat = very expensive. I generally put one “expensive” thing in my cart each week, like goat cheese, smoked salmon, olives. If you get all the expensive ones at once, you’ll eat them all before you know it!
  • When I do buy meat, I get only the portion that we need for one meal – like half a pound of grass-fed beef or two fish filets. I rarely buy meat frozen or in bulk, mostly because I don’t think it’s that appealing that way.
  • I rarely buy things in boxes (used to buy Kashi crackers and cereals all the time!). I try to use what I do have and what is much less expensive – oats, bulk grains, homemade bread instead of buying it pre-made in a box. Chips are the exception!
  • Most of our dinners really do revolve around vegetables with the exception of one or two each week. Save expensive meats for restaurants when you’ll already be spending more anyways and eat cheap beans while you’re at home.
  • I rarely buy desserts at the grocery store. I’ll wait to get a dessert (like a box of chocolates) as a gift or just save dessert for going out for yogurt or something.

I thought these were excellent tips. I’ve certainly started reducing the amount of meat I eat and I’ve started to eat more beans. I probably need to work on only getting one expensive item a week!

I’m really looking forward to experimenting with my Greek Yoghurt. Are you a Greek Yoghurt fan? If so what’s your favourite way to enjoy it?

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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }

Parisa August 26, 2010 at 7:12 pm

OMG, I LOVE greek yoghurt!! It is one of the nicest type of yoghurts…as you said, it’s a ‘volume food’. You can chuck honey, bananas, cherries, berries basically all types of fruit and veg and granola and build it up. Along with porridge it is one of the healthiest things to eat first thing in the morning. xx

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TOTKat August 26, 2010 at 7:23 pm

Ohgod, that’s a -lot- of yogurt. I’ve got a sampler coming on Saturday and now I’m really worried how much will come!

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Linz M August 26, 2010 at 7:24 pm

I love Greek Yoghurt, I think I need to buy it more often. That’s one heck of a haul!

Enjoy x

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Cosmic August 26, 2010 at 7:41 pm

Wow! Lucky you LOVE greek yoghurt as it’s so deliciously-creamy and filling(who needs clogging cream:)Love it solo, with fruit, honey and in a cake(added in the cake mixture prior to baking:0)!

xoxox

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Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga) August 26, 2010 at 7:50 pm

Basil Tofu salad and that stir fry love awesome!

those tips…as a high raw vegan i can totally relate to 90% of my cart being produce w/ a few other things thrown in. seasonal produce is CHEAP. i dont stress over organic or not, i buy what is fresh and up front at the store

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thehabitofhealthy August 26, 2010 at 9:05 pm

Holy Greek yoghurt Batman! Enjoy reviewing those!! I adore Greek yoghurt, especially Total. Not sure I could get through all that though. :)

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Laura August 26, 2010 at 9:13 pm

I’m so jealous of your Greek yoghurt haul!! I’ve only tried the 0% so I’ll be interested to see how they compare!

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Laura August 26, 2010 at 9:15 pm

p.s. I’m really impressed with your disclosures and policies page!

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Tina August 26, 2010 at 9:55 pm

I love Greek yogurt but don’t ever do anything creative with it. I usually eat it with fruit or mixed in with oats. Or just by itself with a bit of nut butter. I think the craziest I get is tossing it in a smoothie. LOL

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Madeline - Greens and Jeans August 27, 2010 at 4:31 am

I LOVE greek yogurt. It’s great in pancakes!

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Laura August 27, 2010 at 9:35 am

Parisa – Its so versatile isn’t it? I’m really looking forward to having some with fresh fruit

TOTkat – That was actually a big tub short of what they’d ordered for me as it was out of stock! Hope you enjoy using yours

Linz – I certainly will enjoy eating this right up!

Cosmic – I have a few cake recipes in mind to try out with it, yum!

Averie – good to hear that you don’t stress to much on the organic thing, theres no way I could afford it. My trolley is always mainly veggie and fruit filled too!

Stacey – I know, I think I’ll be sharing some of this with family and friends. I plan on making some cake – I’m going to be everyones favourite girl giving them free cake and greek yoghurt each week!

Laura – I’ve only ever had full fat greek yoghurt in the med and greece itself and it was the most amazing thing, I hope that this lives up to it! Glad your impressed with the policy page – best to be clear about things

Tina – that has been me too up to now but I’ve found some amazing sounding recipes to try!

Madeline – I will certainly be trying it out in pancakes sometime soon!

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thirtyandhealthy August 27, 2010 at 11:00 am

That is a LOT of yoghurt! I can’t wait to see what you do with it. The tips are really good, I tend to write a list and stick to it. I do buy frozen meat (particularly salmon) as it can be a lot cheaper here. I also buy frozen veggies so I can whip them out whe I get stuck for fresh produce.

I haven’t loved greek yoghurt, I have been trying to aquire a taste for it, I find it too tart. You know me- I’d bake with it! I have a great recipe for banana choc-chip muffins which uses yoghurt.

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Stella Does Healthy Eating August 27, 2010 at 1:37 pm

Wow! I got the Total email too and have some on it’s way to me – I’m a bit scared and very excited now! I love it!

*Must* try tofu!!

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Neen August 27, 2010 at 1:43 pm

wowsers that yoghrt looks fab! looking forward to seeing what you do with it! glad your budget challenge is going well! the tips from KERF are really good! x

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Laura August 27, 2010 at 2:45 pm

Thanks for the recipe Jo, I’ll definitely be making that!

Stella – I think you would love tofu, especially the basil and sesame almond stuff its gorgeous! Hope you enjoy the greek yoghurt too!

Neen – I love those tips from KERF, they make a lot of sense. Hopefully I’ll be creating some great recipes with the greek yoghurt so watch this space x

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