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Frozen Yogurt Reinvented

I'm so over thinking it's ok to serve my kids ice cream that has 30 fat grams a serving. It seems that we all just accepted the gourmet ice cream craze that has been going on for at least a decade. What ever happened to frozen yogurt? Have you ever looked in the grocery store for frozen yogurt? You have to look hard, Smarties, because you may only find a handful of options at most. In my family, we have an ongoing tradition to have a last day of school "ice cream" cone to kick off summer. So we decided to review the new TCBY in Colony Place (Colony & Rea Roads) and promote a healthy alternative to ice cream. TCBY did not disappoint. I couldn't believe they had fancier flavors than the white chocolate mousse I grew up on (this is still my all-time fave frozen yogurt flavor since high school and it is 98% fat free, thank you very much!). TCBY Colony Place has a full-on swaggy yogurt bar with 10 different flavors and 35 toppings to decorate your delectable treat. You will be greeted with your own cup to start your experience. You can choose from nonfat chocolate, nonfat old-fashioned vanilla, 98% fat free white chocolate mousse, 98% fat free cheesecake, nonfat strawberry, nonfat banana, nonfat pistachio, nonfat pina colada tart and nonfat classic tart. Not only is frozen yogurt low fat and calories, but it's also full of probiotics, Vitamin D, calcium, need I say more? You will leave feeling good about your healthy options at this dessert mecca. Smarty tip: on my virgin voyage to the "self-serve" bar, I failed to notice the extremely large bowls that my kids each received as they walked in. And with 10 flavors to fill your bowl, that can get pretty pricey. So I would recommend that you allow your kids to pull one serving of 2-3 flavors and that should equate to 3 oz, which is a normal serving and the yogurt is $.39/oz. My twins tore through a $5.82 bowl of yogurt and they were literally bouncing off the walls! I should have intervened, but I figured it would be worse if I did. So learn from my mistake and monitor the initial yogurt amount in your bowl and you will be golden! While chatting with the store manager, I learned that they are celebrating the last day of school today. Bring in your school id or report card TODAY from 3-6p and you will get a free cup of yogurt (limit one per student). They are also extending their store hours today until 11p to celebrate the first day of summer. Thanks, TCBY, and Happy Summer, Smarties! Don't forget to mention CSP when you check out so we can show them our Charlotte pink & green movement! TCBY Colony Place 7731 Colony Road Mon-Thu: 11a-10p Fri & Sat: 11a-11p Sun: 12n-9p CharlotteSmartyPants.com By Jen P.