The Greek yogurt trend has really caught on lately and I'm thrilled about it. It's packed with protein and no sugar, making it a completely guilt-free option for breakfast with berries and a little granola, and also a perfect substitution for a lot of fatty ingredients in your kitchen.

Here's the Skinnygirl way to use yogurt as a recipe substitution:

Sour Cream = cup for cup plain yogurt, and add a splash of lemon juice

Butter = replace half the butter with half as much yogurt. (i.e. instead of 1 cup butter, use 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup yogurt)

Mayonnaise = use half the mayo or substitute completely, add small amount of Dijon mustard to give a little zip

Shortening or Oil = when a recipe calls for a large amount of fat, you can usually just reduce the portion by 1/2, or replace fat with mashed bananas or applesauce

Heavy Cream = use half the cream or substitute completely

Milk = can be replaced with soy milk, rice milk or almond milk

Your favorite guilty pleasure just lost all the guilt. Just remember when using yogurt that it's sensitive to heat, so you might need to use lower temperatures. Some great recipes that can use yogurt as a substitution are chicken/egg/tuna salads, coleslaw, certain Mexican dishes that call for sour cream additions:

• 1 tsp. vinegar • 1 tsp. garlic salt • ½ tsp. salt • 1 tsp. fresh pepper • 1 tsp. lemon juice • 1 cup Greek yogurt • ½ tsp. mayonnaise • 1 tsp. fresh parsley • 2 tbsp. grated Parmesan • 1 tsp. water • ½ tsp. lemon zest • ½ tsp. Dijon mustard

Have fun experimenting and report back about what worked and what didn't!