Weekend Food Prep–Creamy Strawberry Cottage Cheese “Pudding”

My go-to snack these last few months has been cottage cheese with fruit. I like that it is a satisfying combination of protein and produce, my preferred combination for my mini-meal between lunch and dinner. It’s satisfying enough to keep me going, even when I have evening meetings or lifting after work, but is low calorie density, so I don’t feel like I’m “ruining” my dinner.

However, I’ve been getting bored with plain cottage cheese, and I began experimenting with “cottage cheese puddings.” There’s lots of recipes online for such things, including various mixtures with boxed pudding mixes or jello and whipped topping, neither of which are staples in my kitchen. Then there’s those that look to me like crustless cheesecakes, baked custards with whipped egg whites and such, which would be lovely and delicious, but probably not ideal for a daily afternoon snack. Finally, I landed on the simplest, and thankfully still delicious solution: blending the cottage cheese with a bit of sweetener and flavorings, no baking or boxes required.

Creamy Strawberry Cottage Cheese Pudding

Berries and cheese are a classic combination. Depending on how much sweetener you add and how you serve it, this would be lovely with some pineapple or other fruit salad for a snack, as a topping for pancakes or waffles, or with some fresh berries and perhaps a dollop of whipped cream as a light dessert.

one. Combine in a blender:
2 cups cottage cheese (I use 2%, but I would think fat free would be fine)
1-2 Tbs. strawberry jam
1/2 tsp vanilla
sweetener of choice, to taste

two. If your blender is working too hard, add, 1 Tbs. at a time, until smooth but still thick:
soy milk or other milk of your choice

three. Blend until fully smooth. Taste and adjust sweetener and flavorings, if needed.