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.

Apricot Day

We are doing a mini theme for the rest of the month...National Days. Today happens to be National Apricot day so we are going to give you a little info about the apricot and a couple sweet and savoury recipes to try out.

The apricot is a stone fruit and comes from a small tree with a dense canopy and oval leaves. It bears flowers that are whitish and pink. The actual fruit looks like a small peach with a firm and not very juicy flesh and is often yellow to orange with a red tinge sometimes if it gets too much sun exposure. Apricots are often eaten dried with the world’s largest producer being Turkey. When dried, the nutrients are actually increased with Vitamins A and E, potassium, and iron having 25% of the daily value.

Check out this sweet recipe we found...

Honey Grilled Apricots

You will need...

3 Tbsp.butter

2 Tbsp. sugar

6 to 8 apricots (halved and pitted)

2 Tbsp. honey

1 lemon

How to make...

Melt butter and sugar together in a large pan.

Add apricots and coat with butter mixture.

Place on grill for 6 to 7 minutes, turning often.

Once cooked, place apricots on dessert plates cut side up, drizzle with honey and lemon juice, and serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or with slices of Brie cheese.

Garnish with cinnamon and mint leaves.

Apricot Preserve

You will need...

2 cups dried apricots

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 3/4 cups water

How to make...

Finely chop the apricots in a food processor. Make sure the pieces are all uniform.

Place the apricots in a slow cooker. Stir in the sugar, lemon juice, and water. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Uncover and cook on high, stirring occasionally, 1 to 2 hours longer or until the mixture has thickened.

Ladle into clean glass jars. Let the glass jars cool before sealing. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Savoury recipes...

Apricot BBQ Sauce

You will need...

1/2 cup apricot preserves

1/4 cup onion (pureed)

1/4 cup ketchup

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp. mild chili sauce

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 pinch salt

How to make...

In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil.

Add pureed onion and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Then add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Finally add remaining ingredients and allow to bubble up slightly.

Reduce heat and simmer through for 5 minutes, stirring often.

Once ingredients have formed a glaze-like consistency, remove the pan from heat and allow to cool before using.

Moroccan Chicken and Apricot Tagine

You will need...

1 whole chicken, cut into eight pieces

2 medium onions, grated

3 to 4 cloves of garlic

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. saffron threads, crumbled

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 or 2 small 3-inch pieces of cinnamon stick

3 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. olive oil

A small handful of cilantro sprigs tied into a bouquet

1/2 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup water

3 Tbsp.sugar or honey

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 cup dried apricots

1 to 2 tsp. sesame seeds

How to make it...

Remove the skin from the chicken.

Combine the spices in a large bowl, add the chicken, and toss to evenly coat the chicken pieces with the spices.

Over medium-low heat, melt the butter in the base of a large tagine. Add the olive oil, onions, garlic, and cinnamon. Add the seasoned chicken, meat-side down, in a single layer on top of the onions. Place the cilantro bouquet on top.

Add the broth to the tagine. Swirl the water in the bowl to cleanse it of the spices, and then add the water to the tagine as well. Cover and leave the liquids to reach a simmer over medium-low heat.

Once simmering, cook the chicken, for one hour. Remove and reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquids.

Carefully turn the chicken pieces over so that they are meat-side-up. Cover and continue simmering for another 30 minutes to one hour, until the chicken is done and the liquids are thick and reduced. 

Mix together the honey and cinnamon to form a flavuored syrup.

Top your finished dish with the honey-cinnamon syrup, dried apricots and sesame seeds.

Happy Apricot Day!

Flourless Oatmeal Muffins

It’s time for more muffins! Our focus today is on muffins that don’t contain flour. Nicole has tried some of these out and likes them quite a bit.

Oats are the basis of both recipes that we are going to share with you along with some really yummy other ingredients so that you don’t even notice that they don’t contain any flour!

Pumpkin, Chocolate Chip, and Oatmeal Muffins

1 ¼ cups of milk

1 egg

½ cup of honey

¾ cup of pureed pumpkin

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. of vanilla

2 ½ cups of quick oats

½ cup of chocolate chips

First of all preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the egg, milk, honey, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a bowl.

Once all combined, stir in the oats and chocolate chips.

Transfer into silicone muffin pans (you can use regular greased muffin pans if you don’t have silicone).

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden on top.

Cool and enjoy!

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

2 bananas

2 eggs

1/3 cup of maple syrup

¼ tsp. of salt

2 tsp. of baking powder

2 tsp. of vanilla

1 tbsp. of cinnamon

1 cup of Greek plain yogurt

3 cups of oats

1 cup of whole milk

Toppings of your choice (cranberries and blueberries are good)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl mash the bananas and then mix in the eggs, syrup, salt, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and Greek yogurt.

Now add in the oats and milk and mix well.

Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes so the oats soak up the liquids. You want the consistency to be like oatmeal.

Line a muffin pan with liners and then pour the mixture into them. Make them about ¾’s full.

Add on your toppings. Push them down into the batter a bit.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Cool slightly before eating.