Yoghurts are great but when you have health problems, it is important to cut down on all those things that could potentially damage your health. Everyday yoghurts that can be bought in pots from supermarkets sometimes contain higher fat, increase cholesterol levels, and are not always suitable for the lactose intolerant but EasiYo is a freshyoghurt containing 'good bacteria'.
Having tried similar drinks such as Yakult and Benecol and yoghurts, I was rather sceptical about EasiYo as those drinks took a lot of getting used to. EasiYo provides two separate products - actual yoghurt and yoghurt drinks. In the past I had to tip yoghurt from a pot into a cup and add milk which wasn't so nice with all the
fruit pieces floating around. This is a very efficient way of producing yoghurt and one packet goes a long way.
EasiYo is an invention from New Zealand
and it is said that half the homes there have an EasiYo Yoghurt Maker. Len Light is the creator and he knew that fresh yoghurt was much better so he produced this easy and efficient way to make the best yoghurt which is high quality and tastes great each time.Those who should have EasiYo (from leaflet):
Those who care about their family's digestive health
Those who are lactose intolerant, especially the very young and the elderly
Those on antibiotics or other strong drugs
Those needing to reduce their intake of fat or production of cholesterol
Pregnant and lactating mothers with their need of extra nutrients
Those living with stress, or people who have a busy lifestyle
Those who wish to increase their intake of calcium or protein
The elderly who have slower digestion and decreased ability to assimilate some foods
Those with a poor diet or bad digestion
Those who over-exert themselves physically
Ingredients include: L. bulgaricus, L. thermopiles and L. acidophilus cultures (great for the intestine). 'Human compatible' Probiotic cultures (B. bifidus, L. casei and L. acidophilus) are those which are not destroyed by stomach acids etc. so are beneficial to the intestines. These yoghurts contain "low lactose" and no sugar in the plain/low fat
flavoured yoghurts so are suitable for diabetics. The milk used comes from New Zealand free range cows and
freeze dried lactic cultures and do not contain artificial flavours, colouring or preservatives. They are also suitable for vegetarians because they are gluten free as well as GM free.
(For all the health information see the EasiYo website www.easiyo.com/health/)
What you will get:
Yoghurt jars (x4)
Yoghurt Makers (x2)
Little jars for snacks (lunch takers) (x2)
6 packets of yoghurt (3x Mango / 3x
Wild berry)
I'll give an explanation of both the yoghurts and yoghurt drinks:
YOGHURT
To make the yoghurt it only takes 3 easy steps. Take one of the Yoghurt Jars and half fill it with cold water (boiled cold or clean drinking water), empty the entire contents of one pack of yoghurt powder into the jar and mix thoroughly. Fill the rest of the jar up with water and screw the lid back on and shake furiously (make sure the lid is on properly - they are quite hard to get on correctly!
).
There is a baffle in the Yoghurt Maker (a red pot with a hole) which needs to be pressed down. Boiling water is then poured into the
maker to the line and the jar is placed inside the maker. It is best to do this at night because you have to leave it for 7 or 8 hours until the yoghurt has set. Once set, it can be put into the
fridge ready for
consumption.
Before set, the liquid is very watery and will look a little like a milkshake - depending on flavour, the colour will vary - Wild Berry is a pink colour and Mango is peach. Once set, the yoghurt becomes thick and looks a little more like fromage frais. One good thing about this is that there are no 'bits' in it - I used to hate them when I was little. If you do want to add fresh fruit then it is possible. Sugar can also be added but I didn't see any reason to add any.
Opening the Jar is where the delight begins - because it has been left for a while, a liquid does form on the top but this is not going to harm you. I normally either give the yoghurt a shake before opening or once opened, just get a spoon and give it a stir.
The taste test is of course the most important and although I cannot put into words how delicious this actually is, I really couldn't believe that this was actually a healthy alternative to shop bought yoghurts - they are too good! I first tried the Wild Berry which was sweet although not at all sickly. It is quite grapey but a little more blackberry taste. The Mango on the other hand was one of my favourites - it tasted exactly like the Shape Creamy yoghurts without the extra pieces of peach/mango. It does have a creamy taste and very smooth texture and it not runny like a lot of yoghurts tend to be (unless it is fromage frais!).
The yoghurts are also available in
other flavours - we also have peach, bio-life (Probiotic ABC & Fibre), Greek which is ideal for using in curries and other recipes, Greek and Honey, bio-nectarine, sweet banana, bio-boysenberry, sweet strawberry… think that's it!
I love them all although not a big fan of the sweet banana (only because I don't like bananas).
Yoghurt bases come in 240g sachets and have a Best Before date of about a year. A whole sachet has to be used at ones or all the live cultures (good bacteria) will die like they already have in shop bought yoghurts as they only have a lifetime of around 5 days.
DRINKS *NEW!!* Only available at Ideal World (at the moment):
So far I have only seen 2 flavours for the drinks and I have tried both… delicious! These again are Mango and Wild berry. Unlike the yoghurts, these are a lot runnier and very smooth in texture so they can easy be poured into a cup and drank. The lid for the Yoghurt Jar can be changed so it has a spout other than a huge opening for it to flow everywhere.
The drinks are made in exactly the same way to the yoghurt so I won't explain that again. I found the Mango came out thicker than the Wild berry and it was important to shake it before consuming so the mixture was not runny on top and thick at the bottom.
It comes out a little lumpy but it isn't noticed when being consumed.
Great ideas for the drinks are to use it as a replacement to milk when baking. I haven't tried this since I don't do a lot of baking but it could make a very interesting. There is a whole other range of 'Mighty Milk' sachets in random flavours - lime, soy,
iced-coffee, chocolate… etc. so really, there is something for everyone and you are not limited to what you can create.
I find the best time to have the drink is in the morning. It gives life a boost and doesn't really change my routine as I would normally have yoghurt for breakfast anyway - this is just an easier way because it can be drunk. They are no sickly and very natural in flavour.
The sachets for drinks and yoghurts are very similar and the only way to distinguish them is the drinks have a silver metallic sachet while the yoghurts use colours of the ingredients.
ICE CREAM:
This is another addition where you can create your own
ice cream. I haven't tried this one so have no idea how it would turn out but from my experience on yoghurts and drinks, it will be good!
STORAGE:
This can be a little hard. I'll take a picture so it is possible
to see what I mean. The Yoghurt Maker itself is HUGE! I can just put my hand on the circumference of the lid to be able to open it so this is impossible for children to open (unless they wrap their arm around it!). The Yoghurt Jars hold 1 litre each of the yoghurt / drink so are also quite large but have a flat lid so can easily be stacked. As for the sachets - we have a 2.2Kg tin which held a large amount of biscuits and now holds the sachets - at the moment it has 22 sachets but is overflowing!
MORE:
The range of items in the EasiYo name is big and it would take forever to name them but I also have to mention the cookbook (I have that too!). It has a different cover to that of the EasiYo website but gives loads of recipes for meals, sauces, dips, desserts and others! I have tried the
Vegetable Curry using
natural yoghurt and it is delicious and even better that it is healthier than it would have been using other yoghurts! The deserts are also delicious - Strawberry Daiquiri gets a huge thumbs up!
PRICE:
Although it says this is a Lakeland product, I got mine from Ideal World (a shopping channel on Sky). For a basic kit -
Yoghurt maker it will cost £7.74
+ Shipping, a family pack with sachets/fruit squirt/lunchtakers is £18.94 + Shipping (from Easiyo.com). You can buy more sachets easily from Lakeland though for around £ 8.95 for 6 sachets.
PROBLEM:
My fridge decided it didn't want to be that cold and our normal milk went off as did the
EasiYo yoghurt and drink. The way to tell if this happens is to smell it - it will probably smell like eggs (rotten!), the texture of them will also change - they will turn back into liquid form - e.g. the yoghurt will turn more into a drink and separation between the water and mix will occur.
RECOMMENDATION:
I couldn't recommend this product enough. Although I don't have any major
health issues which meant cutting down on fats etc.
I have fallen in love with EasiYo. The yoghurts and drinks are absolutely delicious and do taste as though it should be something that is bad because they are so creamy and fruity. I do do a lot of exercise and I can get quite tired from being so busy but these drinks and yoghurts have given me a little extra life and the ability to perform better. There is so much within the EasiYo name that I still haven't tried everything but everything is very well priced that they are affordable for everyone.
MORE INFORMATION:
The EasiYo website is www.easiyo.com and you can change prices to British Pounds / Euros etc.
Pictures at the bottom-
1 - Sachets of Yoghurts/drinks
2 - Jars and Maker
3 - Size compared to 2 litre bottle of Coke
4 - Ready made yoghurt
Something This Good Is Healthy?! 
