greek yogurt with pear & maple syrup

for the most part of the last five or so years, every monday through friday morning included a combination of fruit and yogurt for breakfast. for the first fourish years, it was light vanilla yogurt with frozen fruit and occasionally a handful of granola thrown in for kicks. until about a year ago, when tracy, the woman whose office is right next door to mine and usually eats the same breakfast, switched her light vanilla yogurt to vanilla greek yogurt. the rest of us soon followed suit.

it wasn't long after that one sunday, while picking up my tub of yogurt for the week, i noticed that plain greek yogurt has half the sugar (a few less calories and a couple grams more protein) than flavored yogurt. since i almost always eat my yogurt with naturally sweet fruit anyway, i made the switch to plain and never looked back.

this isn't so much a recipe, but an idea. plain yogurt needs a touch of sweetness or extra flavor on it's own, even when paired with fresh fruit. try topping your next bowl with a teaspoon of pure maple syrup. or mix a splash of vanilla extract, almond extract, or cinnamon into your yogurt. you won't miss the sugar.