Five Minute Frozen Yogurt

Oh my gosh, two weeks have passed and I had forgotten to post something. I was convinced to put up the backsplash in the new kitchen and combine that with work, I have been swamped with stuff to do!

The heat has been a huge factor over the past few weeks. It is definitely Summer now and each day has been so warm. To cool off Nicole and I have been making sweet cold treats for our families so today I’m going to share the first of those treats. It’s a very simple and easy recipe for frozen yogurt so take a look and enjoy!

Five Minute Frozen Yogurt (serves one)

2 cups of the frozen fruit of your choice (I like to mix up berries with something tropical like mangoes, peaches, or pineapple)

1 ½ tsp. of honey

¼ cup of Greek plain or vanilla yogurt

¼ cup of fruit yogurt or you can add more of the plain or vanilla Greek

You can also add in 1 banana (try to freeze it beforehand)

Add all of the ingredients into the food processor and process until smooth. A blender will work as well.

Serve immediately. The frozen fruit should make it nice and cold and the yogurt will give it that creamy consistency. You can also add a couple of ice cubes to the processor if it doesn’t seem “frozen” enough.

Granola

So today for our indoor activity we are making granola. It’s a very simple and quick recipe that is perfect for putting onto yogurt or for snacking on with some dried fruit and chocolate. Take a look...

Granola

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

While that is preheating, mix 3 cups of quick oats with 3 tbsp. of brown sugar, ¼ tsp. of salt, and ½ tsp. of cinnamon. Stir it all up.

Now add in ¼ cup of  vegetable oil, 1/3 cup of  honey, and 1 tsp. of vanilla.

Stir again and spread on a lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes and then mix it around. Now bake for 12 minutes more.

Store in an air tight container after cooling on the sheet.

Easy peasy!

Green Smoothie

Only a couple of days before St. Patrick’s Day and we’re kind of sticking to our holiday theme and we’re going to look at healthy green smoothie recipes for this week’s post. As you remember, we did a heart healthy food list for Valentine’s Day.

Green smoothies are an ever popular trend. Some are very simple and some have lots of ingredients in them but they all are super healthy. Take a look and see our green smoothie guide that can help you create a drink to feel healthy and to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

Simple Green Smoothie:

So a green smoothie has a basic outline. You want to add milk/liquid, greens, fruit, protein, and seeds. If you’re making a big batch of green smoothie, follow this rule, 2 cups of greens, 2 cups of liquids, 3 cups of fruit plus whatever add ons you want.

First of all, a green smoothie wouldn’t be green without the greens so some possible greens that you can use are...spinach, kale, lettuce, Swiss chard, bok choy, collards, dandelion, carrot top, celery, or beet greens. Feel free to use just one kind of green or mix it up and use a couple different types.

Next you’ll need to choose a liquid to add to the smoothie. You can use water, but for an extra bit of flavour try... dairy milk (1%, 2%, skim), soy milk, almond milk, coconut water, cashew milk, rice milk, oat milk, coconut milk, or cold brewed green tea.

Now add some fruit. Frozen bananas are always good to use but also try adding in some other fruit as well. Good fruit to add to your smoothie are mangos, pineapple, berries, peaches avocados, oranges, grapefruits, pears, apples, and grapes.

Finally add in some extras if you want. Some examples of extras are... your favourite protein powder, matcha green tea powder, flax, quinoa, chia seeds, honey, and other seeds.

Here is a recipe for a small batch of green smoothie...

1 ½ cups of milk (you choose what kind)

2 cups of frozen spinach

1 frozen banana

1 cup of fruit, your choice (good ideas are...mango, pineapple, berries, peaches, citrus fruit, green apple)

A scoop of your favourite protein powder

Blend all the ingredients together and drink. You can freeze this smoothie in individual containers so if you’re in a hurry you can pull it out and let it defrost in the morning.

Baby Shower Planning, Part 1

We have come to the end of February and soon it’ll be Spring and Spring often times (in Nature mostly) means babies. In some upcoming posts, we will be planning a baby shower! We are actually throwing a baby shower at the end of March so we thought that we would do a couple of posts along the way of how to plan it, decorations and any crafting needed, and food.

This week we’ll look at the early stages of planning a baby shower. Take it as a guide for throwing one if you have never done so before. If you are planning one with others, kind of divide the duties as best you can. We have three people planning this shower; one is doing food, one is doing games and décor, and the other is hosting it at their house so they’re doing a lot of the decorating and also working on the decorations.

First of all, timing is everything. You have to decide if you want to do shower before the baby arrives or one after (Sip and Sees are becoming ever so popular). Take the mom-to-be into consideration. Is she having a rough pregnancy? Does she know the gender? Do her and her family have any hesitations or superstitions about having a shower before the baby arrives? When the mom isn’t feeling so great it might be better to have the shower after. It may not matter to some, but if you are waiting on finding out the gender it may be nice to wait for a shower so that you can buy gifts and decorate accordingly (that may not matter to the mom at all). Also, some moms-to-be might just want to wait until the baby arrives so that she can introduce him or her to all of her friends and family. On the other hand, having a baby shower before the baby arrives is very common. It’s a nice way to wish the mom well before the baby arrives and to also play some fun baby prediction/belly games!

We decided on a shower after the baby arrived so that everyone can meet the baby and mom can get some gifts that are more suited to her brand-new little one. We chose a date almost a couple months after baby was due. That gives mom time to adjust to things and to recover. That’s always something very important to remember as well if you’re picking a date afterwards. If you’re planning to do a shower before, check in with the mom to see how she is feeling and if she’s up for having a baby shower in general.

Once we picked the date, then we started planning the food, decorations, and the games. We’ll focus on all of these things in more depth in later posts because we are still in the process of creating and preparing for this shower, but here’s an overview…

Decorations/Crafting – We opted for a digital invitation. Handmade things are our specialty, but we thought that it would be more efficient and save money on all that postage if we just sent out an email. Ask the mom for a list of important people that she would like to have at the shower and ask her about people if you think she may have forgotten about some. You can find many online templates to create a fun and original digital invitation. We sent out these invites before mom gave birth so a fun thing that we did was get everyone to send back their RSVP with a prediction of gender, weight, and date. The person closest will get a prize on the day of the shower. Make sure you give people enough time to send in their predictions but also a fair deadline because they will lose out if mom delivers before they send in their prediction!

Other crafty and decorative items that we have on our list to make are garlands, favour bags, table décor, flower arrangements, and a name banner.

Games – Games are always a fun part of any type of shower! We went through a long list of ideas and narrowed it down to three. Baby food guessing, match the mom with the baby, and baby Bingo. We’re doing an afternoon shower from 2-5pm so you want time to mingle, hold baby, and have food so as much as we wanted to have lots of games, we just had to pick three.

Food – This is my specialty and responsibility! On our invitation we mentioned that if people want to bring food, then they can but they not obligated to do so. We are going to provide the basics like drinks (punch, tea, coffee, juice), a fruit platter with dip, a veggie platter with dip, and a meat and cheese platter. We are also going to do some deep-fried won tons and some special baked treats. Make sure you check if anyone coming to the shower has any food sensitivities or intolerances. Since I have bad food allergies, I always want to make sure and try and not exclude anyone from enjoying in on the food. You can also do some alcoholic beverages and more finger type foods like, sandwiches, chips and dips, skewers, and chicken wings. Or you can do a sweets only afternoon too. It’s up to you and what you think is most practical.

So now you have a plan in place to throw a fun baby shower. Stay tuned for more posts and to see how it all turned out!

Fruitcake from Around the World

Today we are looking at a classic with different versions from all over the world. Yes, we are looking at Christmas fruitcake. You either hate it or love it but you’ll see so much of it during the holiday season. We’ll take a look at the different variations from around the world first of all and then we’ll share with you a classic North American fruitcake recipe!

The earliest instance of fruitcake was said to be in ancient Rome and it was a barley mash mixed with pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins. Another early instance was in the Middle Ages which was similar but honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added.

There are about 20 different countries that are known for their own version of Christmas fruitcake. They are Australia, Bahamas, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Anglophone Caribbean, UK, and the USA. Take a look at the chart below to see how the different countries put their own twists on the Christmas fruitcake.

Country:	Notable Ingredients or Facts:
Australia	Eaten all year round with no icing.
Bahamas	Drenched with rum. All the candied fruits, walnuts, and raisins are covered in a container for 2-3 months with rum. Once cake is baked it is covered in rum while still warm.
Bulgaria	Consumed through the year. Contains flour, butter, oil, milk, yeast, yogurt, eggs, cocoa, walnuts, and raisins. Baked in a bundt pan.
Canada	Eaten at Christmastime and rarely seen other times of the year. Similar to the UK version. Usually in the shape of a loaf with no icing or alcohol.
Chile	Called Pan de Pascua. Sweet sponge cake flavoured with honey and ginger and has candied fruit, raisins, walnuts, and almonds
France	Called gâteau aux fruits.
Germany	More of a sweet bread. Made with yeast, butter, water, flour, citrus zest, candied citrus peel, raisins, and almonds. Usually has powdered sugar on the outside.
India	Dense cake with fruits, nuts, and spices.
Ireland	Eaten at Halloween. Often contains small tokens as a treat for those who find them.
Italy	Called Panforte. It’s a chewy dense cake with strong spice flavours and filled with dried candied fruits. Also has a version called Panettone usually in a cylinder “cupola” shape which is more of a sweet bread with dried fruit and spices.
New Zealand	Sold throughout the year. A lighter coloured cake. Most are tiered and iced. Includes multiple dried fruits and brandy or sherry.
Philippines	Called Crema de Fruta. Made with layers of sponge cake, custard or whipped cream, gelatin, and fresh fruits like pineapple, cherries, strawberries, and mangoes.
Poland	Loaf shaped sponge cake with nuts, figs, raisins, and candied fruits.
Portugal	Called Bolo Rei. The cake is round with a hole in the center and is made with raisins, nuts, and crystallized fruit. Included is a fava bean and whoever gets it has to pay for the Bolo Rei next year.
Romania	Called Cozonac is a loaf shaped cake with raisins, lemon or orange zest, vanilla, walnuts, hazelnuts, and rum. Topped with poppy seeds.
Spain	Similar to the Panforte and includes fig, almonds, walnuts, and flavourings.
Switzerland	Dense sweet cake with candied fruits and nuts.
Anglophone Caribbean	Black cake almost like a figgy pudding with lots of dried fruit and rum/wine.
UK	Round cake with marzipan on the top and then covered with Royal Icing. Can be light to rich and moist. Will contain candied fruit, nuts, spices, and sometime alcohol.
USA	Rich in fruit and nuts. Some are saturated with alcohol but many left plain. Usually quite dense and in loaf form.

Traditional Canadian Fruitcake Recipe

Ingredients:

4 cups of candied mixed peel

3 cups of seeded raisins, light ones

1 cup of dark raisins

1 cup of currents

1 cup of halved candied cherries

1 cup of brandy

1 cup of rum

½ cup of candied pineapple

1 ¼ cup of brown sugar

1 cup of butter, softened

3 eggs

2 tsp. of vanilla

2 cups of flour

1 ½ tsp. of baking powder

1 tsp. of cinnamon

1 tsp. of nutmeg

½ tsp. of salt

½ tsp. of cloves

1 cup of chopped pecans

1 cup of blanched almonds

How to:

In large bowl, stir candied peel, dark raisins, currants, cherries, brandy and pineapple; cover with plastic wrap. Let stand for 12 hours or microwave on High for 3 minutes or until steaming; stir.

In mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time; beat in vanilla.

In separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cloves. Stir into batter, one-third at a time.

Scrape fruit mix over batter and then sprinkle with pecans and almonds. Stir to coat fruit and nuts.

Spoon batter into two 9- x 5-inch and one 5-3/4- x 3-1/4-inch parchment lined loaf pans, packing with back of spoon. Tap lightly on counter.

Bake at 300 degrees for 1-1/4 hours for small loaf and 2 hours for large loaves.

Allow to cool in pans on a rack for 30 minutes. Turn out, right side up, onto rack; let cool completely.

Remove the paper and wrap in plastic wrap and foil. Store in cool place for up to 2 months.

Dive In - Dip Recipes

Another week has flown by and now it’s time for another week of our Summer theme posts. This week the shade that we chose is a dark navy metallic shade called “Dive In.” We automatically thought about dips when we heard this name, food dips, not dips in the pool, so we went on the hunt for recipes that sounded super yummy and that we needed to try and we found some. One is savoury (a spinach dip) and one is sweet (a cannoli dip). So take a look below and see what we created...

If you’re craving something sweet...try this cannoli dip recipe.

Sometimes you just need a little spoonful of sweetness to get you through the day/hour so a dip like this would be perfect. Canollis are something that I have always wanted to try and make but there’s a lot of work to go into making them. This dip is the perfect alternative.

You just need 1 cup of ricotta (dry and drain it if you can as we didn’t and it made the dip a bit watery), 1 room temperature brick of cream cheese (8 oz.), 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 tsp. of vanilla, and 2/3 cup of chocolate chips (mini or regular both work).

Whip the cheeses and the sugar until smooth. Then add the vanilla in and whip for about 30 seconds.

Lastly add the chocolate chips and give a good stir.

Allow your dip to get a bit cooler in the fridge.

While it’s cooling, chop up some fresh fruit. We used pineapple and strawberries but you experiment with other fruits and berries too. We also broke up some waffle and sugar cones to dip as well.

If you’re in the need of a savoury treat...you can give this spinach dip a go. This one would be a perfect addition to a potluck or family dinner as a starter or in our case it was a perfect addition to games night.

For the dip you will need...

8oz. brick of cream cheese

1/4 cup of mayonnaise

2 cups of uncooked spinach

1 tsp. of onion powder

1/2 tsp. of garlic powder

A sprinkle of ground pepper

1/3 cup of parmesan cheese

1/2 cup of Monterey Jack cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Boil your 2 cups of spinach and set aside.

Heat the cream cheese in the microwave for about a minute to soften. Keep an eye on it.

We combined and mixed our dip with a mixer but you can do it by hand instead. Combine the cream cheese, spinach, mayonnaise, onion and garlic powder, grated cheeses, and pepper. Mix well.

Bake in a small casserole dish for 10 minutes.

When it comes out of the over, give it a good stir and serve immediately.

When it came to dipping we used a fresh French loaf and tortilla chips but you can also dip veggies or pita chips. You can also use the dip on burger, sandwiches, crackers, in wraps, and on meat.