Lemon Frozen Yogurt #sgsnackswap

The following post is sponsored by Skinnygirl. As always, the opinions within are my own. 

Time to celebrate—it's National Ice Cream Day! Go out and get yourself a cone of goodness. Or, maybe you're up for making your own? For the bulk of winter, my ice cream maker gathers dust in the basement. But in the summer, particularly at this point in time, it tends to get a lot of use because temps are soaring. And there's no better way to fight the heat than with a cup or cone of cold ice cream. But let's be honest, ice cream isn't always the healthiest of choices. Sugar, fat...chemicals you can't pronounce. #yuck

At the same time, ice cream is delicious and worth it on occasion. It's also incredibly easy to make at home (with or without an ice cream maker). And when you make it at home, it can be a really great opportunity to swap a bad snack with a good snack.

Last year, I had the opportunity to explore the Skinnygirl snack swap campaign. They're at it again this year, helping people everywhere make better snack choices. You pick your favorite snack, and the website offers up nutritionist-approved recipes and/or Skinnygirl snack bars that are ultimately better snack choices.

Out of all the new Skinnygirl snack bar flavors, I'm loving Lemon Swirl the most.

Lemons are just so...

...light and fresh, right? And perfect for the summer months, when everything seems so hot and heavy. Ugh.

One of the recipes on the Snack Swap website: Lemon Frozen Yogurt. Yum.

You might assume that ice cream is super complicated to make. But really, it couldn't be any easier. Especially if you have an ice cream maker. All you really have to do is gather, mix and dump the ingredients into the ice cream maker.

It churns up into nice, creamy soft-serve type of ice cream. If you don't have an ice cream maker, you just have to gather, mix an dump the ingredients into a bowl, then put the bowl in the freezer. Of course, you'll need to go back and give it a stir every so often, which only takes a few seconds. The end result is totally worth it.

Any time you can make a healthy snack swap at home is totally, completely worth it. Right?
Let's take a look at the Skinnygirl recipe for Lemon Frozen Yogurt.

LEMON FROZEN YOGURT
Source: Skinnygirl

Ingredients
• 2 cups plain 2% Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp lemon zest, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
1) Combine agave nectar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until consistency is that of a syrup. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract. Allow to cool and refrigerate.

2) Once lemon syrup has chilled, stir in lemon zest. Add yogurt and stir until completely combined.

3) If you do not have an ice cream maker, pour mixture into baking dish or shallow container. Cover and freeze. Stir and scrape the mixture every 30 minutes for 2-3 hours. If you have an ice cream maker, you can pour the mixture in and freeze/churn according to the manufacturers' instructions.

Nutrition analysis per 1/2 cup serving: 190 calories, 12 grams of protein.

Note: I only used three lemons, which provided less than the required amount of lemon juice. It was perfect, maybe even slightly TOO tangy! I swapped out the agave for honey and eyeballed the vanilla. Delish!

If you make this or any other Skinnygirl Snack Swap, be sure to use #sgsnackswap and share it with the rest of us!

Question: If you crave sweets or something "unhealthy," what's your go-to snack swap that satisfies your craving?