I grew up watching my dad snack ON one wacky combination: cottage cheese and apple butter. He would mix the two together until it looked absolutely revolting and then eat every last bit. Eventually I became brave enough to take the bite he was always offering me. Shocker: it was good. Really good.

I know some people hate cottage cheese. The people that dislike this high-protein dairy delight typically really hate it with a passion. I'll admit I'm a huge fan. I have found that those who couldn't be more repulsed by the curds often have an aversion to the texture. I recently began blending the cheese with a myriad of fruits, nuts and yogurt and have found that this dramatic change in texture gives the lumpy cheese a whole new dimension.

One of my favorite blends actually tastes a lot like pumpkin pie filling. I blend equal parts cottage cheese and canned pumpkin along with a copious amount of pumpkin pie spice and a pinch or two of Splenda (use your sweetener of choice). I top the mix with slivered almonds or pumpkin pie seeds. It's like Thanksgiving in a bowl.

Here's a brief list of things you may enjoy blending with cottage cheese:

Yogurt (any flavor will work)

Frozen or FRESH berries (blueberries, raspberries and strawberries)

Frozen mango or pineapple

Nut butters

Canned Pumpkin

Sugar-free Jello

Sugar-free Jello powder or sugar-free Jello pudding powder

Protein powder

You may also enjoy adding a spoonful to smoothies for added thickness and a nice protein punch!