Fix Me A Snack

This post is a part of a series of 101 ways to flavor plain yogurt. For more information about yogurt in general, go to my Yogurt page.

7. Mint Yogurt

You could throw a little lime juice into this one and call it Mojito Yogurt.

4-5 medium fresh mint leaves
1 -2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Place mint and sugar in a small bowl. Grind together with a muddler or something similar until the leaves are crushed into small pieces. Add yogurt to bowl and mix well making sure to scrape all of the mint mixture off of the bottom. Serve.

8. Mint Yogurt with Pineapple

You guessed it, Mint Yogurt with some chopped fresh pineapple thrown on top. I got the idea for this one from 80 Breakfasts. Serve immediately because the pineapple contains enzymes or something that will break down the yogurt if left sitting together too long. 

9. Mint Chocolate Chip Yogurt

1/2 cup plain yogurt
4-5 fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
1-2 teaspoons mini chocolate chips or chocolate shavings

In a small bowl, muddle together the mint and the sugar (see #7 Mint Yogurt). Add the yogurt and half of the chocolate chips. Stir well and top with remaining chips. Serve. 

10. Chocolate Yogurt

I’m not terribly fond of this flavor. Chocolate should not be tangy. But my preschooler guaranteed it’s inclusion on the list when she said, “I just want to eat chocolate yogurt all day Every chocolate yogurt in the whole world Then I’d get a tummy ache Just kidding!”

1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 teaspoons chocolate syrup
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
Small pinch salt

Mix the yogurt, syrup, vanilla, and salt in a small bowl until the color is uniform. Serve. Might be yummy topped with chopped banana or slivered almonds.

11. Lime Pie Yogurt

Ideally, this would be made with key lime juice. Alas, the world is not a perfect place and we do not live in Flordia.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1-2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Whipped cream for garnish

In a small bowl stir the yogurt, sugar, and lime juice until smooth. Garnish with whipped cream. Serve.

Why Peanut Butter and Crackers are a Beautiful Thing from Serious Eats

The Theme Is…Homemade Ingredients from Tasty Kitchen via Food News Journal. This post contains recipes for everything from homemade won tons to baking powder!

Sugar Shockers: For the first time the American Heart Association has set a sugar benchmark for daily intake from The Hartford Courant. Lists common foods with “hidden” sugars such as deli meat and yogurt.

If you’re anything like me, you’re a little stumped by what to do with the giant bunch of leftover parsley sitting at the bottom of your crisper drawer. Occasionally, a dinner recipe calls for 1/4 cup of fresh parsley and I know it’ll make a difference in the end product, so I go ahead and spring for it at the grocery store. But then the rest of it  just rots in a bag in the refrigerator. So sad.

Well, those days are over! I have made a modified Green Goddess Dip that makes a special effort to use lots and lots of parsley and pantry staples that you are likely to already have on hand. And you’re getting some bonus greens into your family’s diet!

2 cups chopped fresh parsley, washed
1 cup plain greek-style yogurt or sour cream
1 small or medium clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch salt

Place the parsley, yogurt, garlic, vinegar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Cover and pulse for 20 seconds or so. Serve with fresh veggies or crackers. Store in a airtight container in the refrigerator.

Note: I’ve gone a little easy on the garlic in an attempt to go easy on kids’ palette. But, when I made it I used 2 cloves and my first grader loved it.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Prep-time: 10 minutes

Here are some tools we are digging these days:

Egg Beater!
It just occured to me that our lives were not complete until we had one of these. When I showed it to my husband he said, “Oh yeah, that was always my job as a kid”. No matter how hard I try, it seems to be too early to teach my kids how to whisk properly; something about that tricky movement of the wrist. Problem solved.

Rainbow Whisk!
I bought this on a whim a while ago and it has proven itself to be a star player in all our baking. We use it exclusively to mix up dry ingredients, but my preschooler just looooves it. It starts all our baking off on a very happy note.

Rolling Pin Bands.
This one is for me more than the kids. These bands allow me to freak out a little bit less about the uneven pressure my kids exert with the rolling pin. The sizes include 1/16″, 1/8″, 1/4″, and 1/2″.

I made a mother load of pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes this morning and didn’t have much mojo left when it came to making a school snack for my first grader. So the pancake sandwich was born. Maybe it should be called a panwich. Whatever it is it could be filled with jam, apple butter, or a lot of other things I haven’t even thought of.

I love that it looks like a whoopie pie.

2 small pancakes, completely cooled
1 tablespoon cream cheese
1 teaspoon pure maple syrup

In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese and maple syrup until smooth. Spread the cream cheese mixture onto one of the pancakes and top with the second pancake. Serve.

Yield: 1 pancake sandwich
Prep-time: 5 minutes

This post is a part of a series of 101 ways to flavor plain yogurt. For more information about yogurt in general, go to my Yogurt page.

I forgot to mention last week was that all of the recipes in this series offer ballpark measurements for the ingredients. Feel free to adjust to your own taste and eyeball it. No rocket science going on here.

Also, in case anyone is feeling a little anxious about the regularity of the series, I’ve decided that Thursday will be Yogurt 101 day barring any unforeseen craziness.

4. Butterscotch Yogurt

As you can well imagine, this one has been a hit chez nous. I am of the opinion that all things butterscotch flavored are due for a huge comeback.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1  tablespoon butterscotch sauce

In a small bowl, stir together yogurt and butterscotch until smooth. Top with whipped cream and/or butterscotch chips, if desired. Serve.

5. Cucumber Dill Yogurt

The idea for this flavor sensation came from none other than Dina Rose of It’s Not About Nutrition.

When I served these to my kids my first-grader said, “Hey Mom, these are like the Willy Wonka cups!” She proceeded to gobble two down.

1/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Small pinch salt
Half of a cucumber, peeled

In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt, dill, lemon juice, garlic powder, and salt until smooth and well combined. Set aside.

Cut the cucumber half into thirds. Using a melon baller, scoop out the seeds of each cucumber section leaving the bottom in order to create a cup. Fill each cup with the yogurt mixture and serve.

6. Strawberry Yogurt

I like to use Trader Joe’s low-sugar strawberry jam for this recipe. If you have regular jam, start with 1 tablespoon and add more to taste.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
2T low-sugar strawberry jam (or to taste)

Stir yogurt and jam until combined. Top with fruit. Serve.

These beet chips are yet another example of a supremely healthy snack that I probably never would have prepared if it hadn’t been for this blog. And my preschooler, who loves beets to begin with, said, “These are better than chocolate chips mama!” I kid you not.

She calls these “Swirl Chips”.

2 or 3 medium beets
Salt (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wash the beets throughly. Cut off both ends and peel. Keep a towel on hand or do your peeling under running water in order to keep the juices under control.

Slice the beets very thinly (about 1 millimeter) with a mandolin. (This is a rare instance where the mandolin is actually necessary. Uniform thickness in the chips is required in order for them to bake evenly.)

Lay the sliced beets out onto parchment-lined baking sheets. They can be placed close together as they will shrink during baking. Sprinkle with salt, if desired.

Bake for 15-20 minutes keeping a close eye on them after 15 minutes as they burn easily. The beets will still be pliable when done and will crisp up as they cool. Serve. Store in an airtight container. Depending on how dried out the chips are, they are probably good for a few days.

I’m thinking these might be tasty served with Herbed Yogurt Dip.

Note: Beets that were at least three inches wide had less of a tendency to shrivel up during baking.

Yield: several handfuls of chips
Prep-time: 5 minutes
Bake-time: 15 minutes (per batch – one beet fills approximately two baking sheets)

Apparently there are as many different ways to make Ambrosia as there are cooks who make it. If you’d like, add some banana, subtract the pineapple, subtract the marshmallows, and so on. The only consistent elements I found in my survey of Ambrosia recipes were citrus, sugar, and coconut. But even those are probably up for debate.

2 small blood oranges, peeled, skinned and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/4 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons shredded sweetened coconut

Place the oranges, pineapple, marshmallows, sugar, and coconut in a small bowl and stir to combine. Serve or store in airtight container in the refrigerator and consume within 24 hours.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Prep-time: 15 minutes

I recently authored a page all about yogurt for this blog which reminded me that I still haven’t tasted Icelandic-style yogurt. When I ventured into Stop & Shop last week, what did I see? You guessed it. Siggi’s now has prime shelf space in the refrigerator case. The price is steep at $2.39 for 6 ounces of yogurt. But I sprulged in the name of culinary research.

Icelandic-style yogurt is impressively thick. It stays on the spoon and has the heft of ricotta. It puts the creaminess of Greek-style yogurt to shame.

The ingredient list and nutritional information are quiet impressive. The first thing I thought is that this would make an excellent snack for pregnant ladies jonesing for a protien fix. Although I was always a big fan of whole yogurt when I was pregnant, and this yogurt (good or bad) has no fat. I also gained 50 pounds when I was preggers, so you probably shouldn’t be taking dieting advice from me.

Now, on to the important part: the taste. Compared to the flavored yogurt I’m used to (that is loaded with sugar and additives), the sweetness is quite dim. This stuff actually tastes like tart and tangy yogurt and not an ice cream sundae. It took me a few bites to get used to it. But then I kind of liked it.

Here’s my lastest super fantastic idea…make a list of 101 different ways to flavor  plain yogurt, the unsung hero of healthy snacking. I’ll be making my way to 101 gradually. Today I’m posting the first three.

To help kick off this series of posts, I’ve created a page all about yogurt in general.

1. Applesauce Yogurt

This is what I actually make my  preschooler for a snack these days when time is limited and I’m not feeling inspired. It also is responsible for weaning us off of flavored yogurt. So while the photo is somewhat sad, Apple Yogurt has to be numero uno.

1/2 – 3/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 – 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 – 2 teaspoons honey
Dash ground cinnamon

Put the yogurt, applesauce, honey, and cinnamon into a serving bowl. Serve.

2. Cornbread with Yogurt and Honey

I was recently drooling over the Lee Brothers Southeren Cookbook  and stumbled upon a mention of someone’s favorite after-school snack having been cornbread topped with sugar and buttermilk.

I made some cornbread – et voila!

1 cup crumbled cornbread
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons buttermilk
Honey (to taste)

Place cornbread in a serving bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, stir together the yogurt and buttermilk until smooth. Spoon the yogurt mixture over the cornbread. Drizzle honey on top depending on your preference and the sweetness of the cornbread. Serve.

Note: If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you could just try some regular milk or make a substitute.

3. Peanut Butter and Jelly Yogurt

This idea came directly from the one and only Dina of It’s Not About Nutrition and it is a winner. My preschooler loves it.

1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)
2 teaspoons strawberry or grape jam

In a small bowl, heat peanut butter in the microwave for 20-30 seconds. (Note: I was heating peanut butter that had been refrigerated. If yours is room temperature, start with only 10 seconds and check to see if has softened.) Mix peanut butter into yogurt. Sprinkle on sugar. Dollop jam on top. Serve.

Thanks Dina!