The festive season is coming up and glad tidings usually bring not only merry greetings but a few extra pounds as well. In the name of enjoying our parties, many of us tend to let our self-control dip, but we end up regretting the over-eating soon after.

The good news is that you don't have to deprive yourself during the holiday season. The trick to eating more healthily is to substitute ingredients in your usual recipes with health-boosting alternative ingredients so that you can still enjoy and feast without the guilt.

Let's take the Christmas log cake, for example. To bake one that serves eight, 300ml of double cream is needed, which contains 15 grams of saturated fat. An alternative could be to swap the double cream for non-fat yogurt. It's got the same creamy consistency and taste, without the saturated fat.

Benefits of using yogurt in recipes

Non-fat yogurt is good for your health in other ways too.

For sufferers of protein allergy and lactose intolerance, yogurt can be a great substitute. The live active cultures present in yogurt create lactase, an enzyme that a lactose-intolerant person lacks. This makes yogurt more easily digestible than milk.

The live probiotic cultures are also said to send signals to the immune-boosting cells in our bodies to help fight against viruses, significantly decreasing the chances of catching a cold.

Yogurt is also packed with metabolism-revving protein and probiotics that are known to be an effective weight-loss catalyst. When you eat yogurt, the calcium content reduces the production of cortisol, a stress-related hormone that signals to your body to retain belly fat. Plus, the abundance of amino acids in yogurt is a great fat burner.

If you're looking to get your hands on yogurt right now, consider MARIGOLD Non Fat Yoghurt.

According to Nielsen ScanTrack data from the period between October 2015 to September 2016, MARIGOLD ranked No. 1 in the Total Soft Yogurt Category in Singapore.

Apart from Natural No Sugar, MARIGOLD Non Fat Yoghurt also comes in Strawberry, Peach Mango, Mixed Berries, Aloe Vera, and Blueberry flavours. The flavours can be incorporated into your festive recipes in versatile ways.

Festive MARIGOLD Yoghurt recipes

Here are three recipes where you can use yogurt as an alternative ingredient and still achieve the same consistency and great taste.

BAKED YOGURT SPICED CHICKEN

Yogurt may not be associated with savoury dishes, but it is a great ingredient for making marinades and sauces due to its creamy consistency. This dish is relatively easy and also great for sharing.

The estimated preparation time is 1½ hours.

MARINADE

600 g chicken wings, rinse and separate wingettes from drumettes

140 g MARIGOLD Non Fat Natural (No Sugar Added) Yoghurt

2 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tsp curry powder

TURMERIC SAUCE

140 g MARIGOLD Non Fat Peach Mango Yoghurt

1 tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp salt

METHOD
1. Combine chicken wings, MARIGOLD Non Fat Natural (No Sugar Added) Yoghurt, light soy sauce and curry powder. Mix well and marinate in fridge for 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 175 deg C. Bake chicken for about 15 minutes until crispy and golden brown.

3. Prepare turmeric sauce. Mix all ingredients and cook in saucepan over low heat. Once it is boiling, turn off heat.

4. Serve chicken with turmeric sauce.

Serves four to six.

COOKIE CRUMBLE

Christmas is a time where we indulge our sweet tooth, and cookie crumble can be a great dessert to contribute to a potluck party. Yogurt complements the crunchy and fruity base and enhances the overall texture and flavour.

Apart from the Mixed Berries flavour that is recommended in this recipe, you may also try with other fruity flavours like Strawberry or Peach Mango.

The estimated preparation time is 40 minutes.

INGREDIENTS

2 red apples, chopped

2 green apples, chopped

1 orange, extract juice

1 tbsp strawberry jam

80ml raw honey

200g plain or butter cookies

80g sliced almond

6 tbsp MARIGOLD Non Fat Mixed Berries Yoghurt

Blueberries or raspberries

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C.

2. Place chopped apples in ramekins.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine orange juice, strawberry jam and honey. Mix well and pour over chopped apples.

4. Crush cookies into fine crumbs. Sprinkle crumbs over jam mixture, followed by almond slices.

5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

6. Top with 1 tbsp MARIGOLD Non Fat Mixed Berries Yoghurt and serve with blueberries or raspberries.

Serves six.

FROZEN YOGURT LAYER CAKE

This frozen yogurt layer cake will be a great hit with children. In fact, it's so easy (no-bake!) that you can even make it with them. You can use any fruit you like that will add natural sweetness and colouring to the cake.

The estimated preparation time is 1½ hours.

INGREDIENTS

250g strawberries

16 tbsp MARIGOLD Non Fat Natural (No Sugar Added) Yoghurt

250g bananas

250g raspberries

250g blackberries

Berries

METHOD

1. Line a cake tin with cling film.

2. In a blender, blend strawberries with 4 tbsp of yogurt. Pour the fruit mixture into the tin and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, rinse out the blender and blend the bananas with another 4 tbsp of yogurt. After the first 15 minutes, take out the tin from the freezer and add the second banana layer to the tin and return it to the freezer.

4. Repeat with blackberries or another other fruit, blending each layer with 4 tbsp of yogurt each.

5. The cake is ready when the top layer is frozen. You may keep it in the freezer for as long as you like.

6. Serve with berries.

Serves 12 to 16.

Need more ideas? Visit http://www.marigold.com.sg/recipes_yoghurt.html to view more delicious yogurt recipes.