I grew up in North Carolina with parents and grandparents who were from South Carolina, so I consider myself a Southern girl. Even when my Philly side kicks in (that’s the side with the no nonsense attitude, in case you didn’t no!), I’ll always be a belle at heart. The best part of being a Southern girl has to be the food. I mean, come on! Greens and cornbread and poundcake…so delicious, and yet, sometimes, so not healthy. In the last few years, though, folks have tried their hand at helping this taste good food, actually be good for you food, and I’m throwing my hat in the ring.

It can be  hard to change your eating habits once you get used to having that big ole piece of pork in your collards, or full of fat buttermilk in your cornbread. You don’t have to change everything all at once, though. Just substituting one or two ingredients can make a huge difference. If you substitute the right ingredients, you can actually add nutrients and other health benefits to your food. As an Ambassador for Stonyfield Yogurt, I was challenged to come up with a recipe that uses Stonyfield Yogurt in place of another ingredient. It’s actually not as hard as you might think! Mayonnaise, oil, heavy cream…they can all be replaced with yogurt. In fact, in my Honey Corn Cakes recipe, I used low-fat plain Stonyfield yogurt in place of whole milk.

At first, I missed a little bit of the flavor that the fat in the milk adds, but then I added a bit of butter, a little more honey, and BAM…hoecakes that would make you feel like you’re back at home. You know, if your home happened to be below the Mason-Dixon line! Corn Cakes (also known as Hoe Cakes) are super easy to make. The one thing I’ll warn you to be careful of is putting too much oil in your pan. You don’t want your cakes to get soggy and oily.