5 minute mixed berry and dark chocolate Greek frozen yogurt

Hello there,

I am back and happy to be in my kitchen again!!

Remember I told you a few days ago on facebook that I had a few easy desserts to share with you upon my return? Well this is the first of them. I have a couple more coming up as well, so stay tuned for those because they are really, really good :-).

We were away for about three weeks total and for sure I needed to have some sort of dessert in my day to day menu. Like I said before, I have a very sweet tooth, and because I wasn't going to have my tools and equipment handy, plus it was a gazillion degrees out there, I needed to think of something that didn't required baking or any fancy equipment.

For this one there is no ice cream maker needed, just a food processor. You may be able to get away with it and also use a blender :-)

I was able to keep my sweet tooth satisfied with a few simple desserts, and this one was one of my favorites. You can omit the dark chocolate chips and add graham crackers instead if you like.

You can also use frozen raspberries, blueberries, bananas, mangoes, any frozen fruit of your choice really.

If you like frozen yogurt, this is a recipe you must add to your collection. This is easy, simple and super versatile and even better than the new Ben and Jerry's Greek yogurt versions out there.

Enjoy!!

This is that fast and simple :-) The right picture was right after pulsing it. We had some left over and placed it in the freezer until that same day, which we finished!!

This sample was after freezing the mixture about a couple of hours or so. Either one was great.  Also, if you want a more thicker consistency, drain the yogurt over night in the fridge with a cheese cloth and discard the liquid.

Ingredients Miryam's original recipe

Yields 4-6 servings

16 oz (1 lb) Greek yogurt, I used 2% organic from Trader Joe's
12 oz frozen mix organic berries, I bought mine from Trader Joe's
2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips
4-6 tablespoons honey, more or less if you like
1 tablespoon Vodka, optional, use if you are planning on freezing

Place dark chocolate chips in the food processor and pulse for 20 seconds or so until they are chopped somewhat. Add the remaining ingredients and blend for about 20-30 seconds extra.

Graham crackers or any other mix-ins of your choice may be used as well or in place of the dark chocolate chips. If you use graham crackers, just chopped them by hand and add them after you have blended the yogurt mixture in the food processor.

Keep left over in the freezer. If you think you may have some left over add 1 tablespoon of Vodka to the mix to make sure the yogurt doesn't freeze rock hard!!

Note: To get a creamier and thicker frozen yogurt you can strain the yogurt in the fridge over night using a cheese cloth.

Also, the more fat content the creamer the result, so if you like you can use full fat Greek yogurt. It may be more to your liking :-)

Nutrition facts calculated base on the recipe giving 6 servings. I used 4 tablespoons of honey for the calculations.

Blog closed for vacation until the end of July

Santander-Spain
 Hi there,

if you have stopped by and saw this message I just wanted to let you know that I will be back at the end of July.

I am taking a mini vacation with the family :-)

I hope you can come back and check out the goodies that will be posted in the blog then.

Hope you come back!!

Enjoy the summer and stay cool!!

Whole grain banana and walnut bread

I have never made banana bread before and for sure this one will not be the last.

While I baked mine in 3 individual disposable loaf pans you can still choose to bake yours in a regular baking loaf pan. I just thought it would be cuter :-) Plus I wanted to freeze a couple of them for when we return from our mini vacation.

I call it mini vacation because we normally go to Europe for the summer for two months, although this time around we are just staying in the US and will go on vacation for just 4 weeks :-( I know, this is pretty good for US standards right? Not European though, especially for Spanish people. In the summer pretty much everyone is on vacation :-)

This year we will be going to the DC area and then NC and TN. Where the heat is pretty much!!

Anyhow, I will close the blog for about 3-4 weeks while we are away and hopefully on my return I will have plenty of goodies to share with you.

Until then, stay cool and enjoy this banana bread!!

Enjoy!!

See you in about 3 weeks!!


 

I mashed the bananas with a fork although in a food processor it will be lots better. Here you can also see the disposable loaf pans I used which were really cool!

Here you can see the banana bread before and after baking :-)

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup honey
3 over riped bananas mashed
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cups almond flour (not almond meal, if you don't have almond flour you can use 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour)
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a baking loaf pan. I used three 6" x 2" 1/2 x 2" inch loaf pans that I got on amazon.

In a bowl mix first 4 ingredients. Fold in flours and baking soda. Incorporate walnuts and combine. 

Pour mixture on prepared baking loafs filling 3/4 of the way. If using the same size loaf pans I used bake for 35-40 minutes. If using a regular size loaf pan bake for 55-65 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool loafs in a wire rack and serve. You can easily freeze these for future consumption. This is what I did!

Adapted from 8 weeks to better your recipes

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 9 servings.

Home made coconut shampoo

A few weeks ago I posted this Natural home made mosquito spray that I found to be awesome. 

Because that post became quite popular and people where also intrigued for the other home made items I am making so far...here it is. Another one of my home made concoctions!!

I have been making this shampoo for quite sometime and we love it.

I don't know if it is cheaper or not but I really couldn't care less :-) You see, there are only 4 ingredients in this, so guess what? I will take my home made shampoo for any other brands!!

I have also been making home made clothing detergent, that we love as well. Maybe, in a few weeks I will post that as well :-)

Well, let me know if you try this and if you like it. We love it so I hope that you do too.

Enjoy!!

I used an empty castile shampoo bottle to store the new made shampoo. You can use any other type of shampoo bottle. Also using a funnel helps with pouring the liquids in the empty shampoo bottle.

I actually double the amount so that it lasts a bit longer :-) Just shake before each use. It is really awesome. I hope you like it as much as we do!!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut milk
2/3 cup castile soap (I used Dr. Brooner's brand)
40 drops essential oil (I used jasmine)
2 teaspoons olive oil

Combine all the ingredients in an empty shampoo bottle or jar and shake. I used a funnel to pour ingredients in the empty bottle.

You can keep it in the shower for one to two months. Shake well before each use.


Recipe from one good thing by Jillie

Gluten free vanilla cupcakes

These are.......quite possibly.........the best gluten free cupcakes you will ever have.....for real.....these are just out of this world.

These cupcake are:

1. Easy to prepare
2. Not that sweet at all, especially if you omit the frosting.
3. Have no weird ingredients.

Things that could be considered especial and not in a regular bakers pantry can be the coconut and almond flour, but really, these are not that weird, now are they?

In case you were wondering, I have not gone gluten free, I just want to start incorporating more desserts that use wheat free ingredients so some of my readers can have a few more recipes to browse around plus I like the fact that baking with almond flour has a really high nutritious advantage over the other flours,..... so why not bake with it?

You can really decorate the cupcakes how ever you like. If you just want to leave the cupcakes as is, and not frost them, I suggest you increase the sweetener just a little tad, since they won't have the sweetness of the frosting going for them! Maybe use 1/2 cup instead of the 1/4 of a cup.

On a different note, thanks so much for all of you that commented on the giveaway. I have really taken your feedback into consideration and I will try my best to incorporate some of your suggestions in the book, so thanks again for taking the time and letting me know.

  
Amy Beth Marantino, was the winner of the giveaway :-)  
Contact me so that I can forward the prize!!

Anyhow, I think this is another winner recipe so I hope you get to try it because for sure this one does not taste like it is healthy at all.

For all of the gluten free people out there, this is for you.....

Enjoy!!

The mixture will be rather thick. It is perfectly normal. When you place the batter in the cupcake liners make sure you don't have any peaks otherwise they will burn while baking.

The cupcakes are really moist eventhough they appear like they don't. Next time I will use honey instead of sugar. I just didn't have any on had. I used it all for my granola :-)

When you frost the cupcakes you won't need all of the mixture. You will have a little bit remaining.

Ingredients Miryam's original recipe
Yields 9 cupcakes

1/4 cup unrefined sugar, next time I will use honey
1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup olive oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
1/2 cup almond flour, not almond meal
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Frosting You will not use all of it, I had some left over

4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cups confectioner sugar

Preheat oven to 350F and line cupcake baking pan with paper liners.

In a bowl mix the first 4 ingredients. I do this with a wire whisk. Add the remainder ingredients and combine well.

Using a cookie scoop, or any other tools of your choice, place a couple of tablespoons into each liner. Fill almost to the top because they don't rise too much.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a tester inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. I baked mine for 20 minutes.

Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack until completely cooled.

For the frosting. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients. Decorate the cupcakes as desired. I used a piping bag with a decorative tip and used a few fresh organic berries.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 9 cupcakes.