Cherry Vanilla Smoothie

Pantry Recipe: Canned cherries and vanilla pudding.

I love a good smoothie and this is one of my new favorite combos. I got a new immersion blender for my birthday and I love that I can make single smoothies right in the cup. It is so fun and easy. You can, of course, use a blender if you don't have an immersion blender or want to make a larger amount. This recipe is good for one large or two small smoothies. 

It is also pantry friendly, using up some of my canned cherries from food storage. I love having cherries smack dab in the middle of winter. I feel like I am cheating the chilly dreary weather. In addition, I found some frozen chopped apples that had been coated in cinnamon sugar that were left over from apple tart recipe.

The Recipe:
 1/4 Cup canned cherries (click here for my no sugar added canned cherries)
1/4 to 1/2 cup cherry juice from jar (depending on your desired consistency)
4 oz Vanilla yogurt (I use greek yogurt)
1 TB sugar free vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup crushed ice.
1/4 cup small frozen apple chunks (they had been pretreated with cinnamon sugar and lemon juice). You could use finely chopped apple here instead with a dash of cinnamon. 

Add to large cup or blender and blend until smooth.  
So delicious!

Iskander Lamb Kebabs W/ Tatziki

Recipe Trial #2
Here is how my dinner prep time goes. "Mom, when can we go buy my new shoes?" Mom I don't understand this math problem." "Mom can you sign my homework." Mom have you seen . . . 

You get the picture -- everybody in my family needs me the moment I start cooking in earnest. It is kind of ridiculous. By the time I sit down to the table I am just thinking. "hurry pass me some food before I pass out." Which is why I forgot to take a picture and all that was left for a photo op was this half of a lamb kebab. At least we know everyone liked their dinner.  


I love Lamb and yogurt together. They are a match made in heaven. Which is why I love these kebabs. I have made lamb before but never grilled with a yogurt marinade. 


There are two yogurt recipes here: The marinade and the tatziki spread which we used to spread on our pitas for kebab gyros. Yummers! 


The Iskander KEBABS from my 501  low carb Recipes cookbook.
Soak 8 bamboo skewers in water for at least an hour to prevent scorching or flaming skewers


2 Lbs of boneless lam cut into cubes (I used the leg of lamb)
1/4 Cup greek yogurt
1/2 Tb of fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove crushed.
1/2 tsp of fresh thyme. (I literally went and picked some from my yard. It is still growing!)
Salt


Thread lamb onto presoaked skewers.
Combine yogurt, lemon juice, garlic clove and thyme in a bowl. 

Brush lamb skewers with yogurt. Grill on heated oiled grill until browned or cooked as desired. I like mine with a touch of pink.

Serve dipped in tatziki sauce or in a gyro with feta, red onions and tomatoes.


Tatziki Dip
This requires some planning. It needs to sit and rest for about an hour  and if you use plain yogurt it needs a couple hours. of preplanning. I love tatziki. I am mopping up the leftovers with a piece of sourdough bread as I write this.

2 Cups of Greek Yogurt (you may use plain yogurt but you will need to wrap it in cheesecloth or a tea cloth and let it drain for about an hour.
1 large cucumber, peeled and seeded, chopped
3 garlic cloves, diced
3/4 tsp salt
2 TB lemon juice
1 TB dill, chopped or 1 tsp dried.
1 TB mint chopped or 1 tsp dried


Place yogurt in cheese cloth or paper towel and allow to drain suspended over bowl for 20 minutes to an hour. Greek yogurt does not need to drain as long. 

Place cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle with some salt. Allow to drain in sink for about 20 minutes. We are trying to remove water from the cucumbers.


Add cucumbers, 3/4 tsp salt, lemon juice and garlic to a food processor. Pulse 3 or 4 times. Remove mixture, place in paper towel and squeeze excess water from mixture.


Add to Greek yogurt and add dill and mint. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.


Use as a spread or dip with pita wedges, veggies or meat.

Lime Yogurt Cake

I love St. Paddy's day and every year I usher in spring with a St. Paddy's day lunch for some girl friends and family. I almost skipped it this year. I have been so busy. At the last minute I decided I needed to be with my girls. I am so grateful I kept this yearly date. It was a blast. We giggled, ate and dreamed of green. (We are a little sick of the white stuff here in Southern Utah.)

I served up my typical fare, Chicken Pesto Alfredo, salad and yummy bread but I changed up the dessert to include this Lime Yogurt Cake with lime sherbet and hot fudge sauce. It was refreshingly decadent and surprising. I actually got the recipe for Lemon Yogurt Cake from the "All You" magazine but I decided to give it a little kick by changing a few of the ingredients.

This cake was so easy to make. And while it plays to the green theme, it also has ambitions to be used as a spring dessert in homes everywhere. Give it a try and don't forget to top it with some lime sherbet and hot fudge sauce (preferably dark chocolate).

1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
3 TB cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp poppy seeds
3/4 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup lime juice
3/4 Cup lowfat lime yogurt
1/3 Cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan.  Mix together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix in poppy seeds. In a separate bowl whisk, sugar, lime juice, yogurt, egg, and vanilla. Stir flour mixture into yogurt mixture. until just combined.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on wire rack for ten minutes. Then remove from pan and let cool completely. Top with a scoop of lime sherbet and hot fudge sauce.

Yogi Crunch

As a member of the foodbuzz tastemaker program I get to review and experiment with food products occasionally. However, I try to only accept products that I will either use or that I want to try out for pantry use. I was already a huge fan of Special K cereal and I always stock up on their cereal when it goes on sale. So, I was pretty pumped to try out some of Kellogs' Special K line.

I am a huge granola fan. And usually that is a huge problem. Huge in that whenever I make my own granola there is a danger of huge amounts going to my hips. I can't keep my hand out of the granola "jar." So, I was excited to try Special K low fat granola. LOW FAT Granola! I was interested to see if this was something I would stock in my pantry. I have to say that I was very reluctant to share this tasty treat and that is always a good sign that it is good. I won't say that it is as indulgent as the homemade stuff but it has a light sweet crunch that goes perfect with my yogurt and fruit breakfast. I am however a major cheapskate. I will buy this again when it goes on sale and I have a coupon, because it is slightly pricey. Special K also sent me a box of blueberry fruit crisps which are an amazing 2 grams of fat and 100 calories per pouch -- 2 crisps. These were tasty and disappeared quickly. I sprinkled half of one on top of my layered yogi crunch for a little extra blueberry something, something.

Yogi Crunch

So lowfat and sweet and healthy

Ingredients per cup

6 pineapple chunks (I used canned pineapple in its own juice)

1 handful of Special K or other granola

1/4 Cup of light strawberry yogurt

1/2 fruit crisp (Special K) crumbled on top.