Make This!

Most of the smoothie or protein shake recipes in the back of The Shred Diet book call for 2 Tbs of Greek yogurt. It's easy enough to spoon out two tablespoons of soft yogurt; unless you have a family of yogurt eaters. Then it's best to think ahead & freeze your Greek yogurt into discs. Thank you, Lacey in Love for the tip!☺

 

A mini muffin tin is the perfect tool to freeze your own yogurt discs.  The tin holds 2 Tbs exactly.☺

 

Spoon 2 Tbs Greek yogurt into muffin tin.
Place in freezer for one hour.

After an hour, let the muffin tin sit on the counter for a few minutes.
The yogurt discs will pop right out!

So much easier to take one out & pop it in the blender!

Buy This & then Make This!!

This is the most delicious Greek yogurt! It's also very affordable (the usual costs about $5 from Trader Joe's. I found this for $2.38 at Winco & $3.99 at Fred Meyer).

It's very good plain or with a few blueberries sprinkled on top.

I also made PW's yogurt cream with it. It is pure heaven. I have been eating the yogurt cream plain. Try it!

Make This!!

 

 

Gingerbread Muffins!

 

 

Fall has officially arrived here in SW Washington. It hit us with a bang: wind, rain, and just plain cold.  It seemed more like early November weather than the beginning of fall. I already miss the gorgeous summer weather we had. Today's weather definitely called for something sweet & comforting like gingerbread.☺

The recipe I used was found on the Foodie Bride blog. Everything I have ever made from her blog is excellent! These muffins were more cake like than heavy & bready. They were simply divine. I am already planning to bake another batch on Wednesday. Instead of boring cupcake liners, I tried making liners out of parchment paper and I think they upped the cuteness factor by a lot.☺

Gingerbread Muffins by Confessions of a Foodie Bride

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup molasses (I used Mother's brand)

3/4 cup fat-free Greek yogurt (I used full fat!)

Coarse sugar for garnish

 

Preheat oven to 375.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners or spray with non-stick spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Cream the butter with brown sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time until mixed well.  Add the molasses and mix until well blended. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing on low until just incorporated and add the yogurt. Mix until the yogurt is well distributed and add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix on low only until the flour just disappears. Scoop into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle coarse sugar over the tops of the muffin batter. Bake 5 minutes and then reduce the oven temperature to 350. Bake another ~15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container for 3-5 days. This batter makes about 15 muffins. Do not overfill the muffin liners, or the gingerbread will come out flat & sloppy looking.

Feeling Lucky

Last night, I was feeling extremely lucky. Earlier in the afternoon, Matty asked me to play "pasoor" with him so he could practice & try to beat his dad (Pasoor is a Persian card game). I groaned as I never (ever!) win that game. Actually, no one ever wins against Omid in this game. So I agreed to play just two games with Matty. Well, I was shocked and somewhat excited as I won those two games. I couldn't believe it. Yay for me!

When Omid came home, Matty and I had a rematch. I won again! We had another rematch. Again a win for me. What a streak of luck for me! I wanted to test the luck theory and asked Omid to play me. I knew that if I beat Omid...I should definitely go and buy a lottery ticket! Omid & I played and I won. Let me just say right here, I won fair & square...he didn't let me win.

I was so excited I got in my car and ran to Fred Meyer. I bought 2 Lotto tickets (which I haven't bought in years) & picked up some thick Greek yogurt & ice cream for dessert (which were on sale!). Once I got home, I made delicious borani (yogurt with fresh baby spinach & shallots) which was super delicious. Omid tested it and said it was awesome. Wow! What a great night. Hope I win Wednesday night's drawing!

Make This!!

Do you drink green smoothies?

I do! I started the Green Smoothie Challenge on January 6th. Since then, I've lost 9.6 lbs of my holiday food baby! Yay Me!!

I love the extra energy & pep the green smoothies give me every morning. I actually double the recipe so I can have one for lunch too.

Costco was selling a 3 pound bag of baby kale and other greens right after the new year. But unfortunately, like many things sold at Costco, it has disappeared from the produce section and I don't know if it's coming back. I've since switched to buying the 3 pound bag of spinach.

The easiest way to prep for green smoothies is to prepackage the smoothie ingredients into quart size Ziplock bags. I know this from experience. It's a hassle to get all the separate ingredients out each & every time I blend. Prepackaging only takes about 10-15 minutes from beginning to end and saves countless minutes on busy mornings! 

Here's what I do: I wash the entire bag of spinach and let it dry. I get about 11-12 quart sized Ziplock bags and put 3 handfuls of spinach in each baggie (approximately 3 cups). Then I put one cup of whatever fruit I have on hand in each baggie (strawberries, blueberries, pineapple etc.), 2 Tbs. Greek yogurt (read how I prep the yogurt here), one banana, 1/3 cup of frozen cranberries (I bought several bags at Thanksgiving & want to use them up). Then, I squeeze all the air out of the bags and place them in the freezer.

In the mornings, I just whip out a bag, empty it into my blender, add 1.5 cups of almond milk (50% more calcium than cow's milk!), a scoop of protein powder and blend. That's it!  Don't worry about freezing the kale or spinach: they freeze very well and I think blend better frozen.

Green smoothie pack all ready to go!

Smoky Potato Salad

I went shopping at Trader Joe's today and found Baby Dutch Potatoes. They are so good and tasty I bought 2 bags. I have a recipe I have been saving since August of 2002 for smoky potato salad, but haven't had a chance to make yet. Today was that day!

Baby potatoes boiling away.

Finished product ready for the fridge.

The grocery store I visited after Trader Joe's was out of cilantro. I went to my trusty neighbor (Jodie) and asked if I could have some of her herbs. Jodie has cultivated a beautiful garden. The salad is missing cilantro but has thyme, basil, & parsley instead. I also tasted the sauce and I put in 2 chipotles - that may be a bit hot for some so definitely taste it after the first pepper. I also think next time I will use sour cream instead of mayo. Sour cream just has that special "ooomph" about it.

Smoky Potato Salad

2 pounds small red potatoes (or Baby Dutch)

2 T. Sea Salt (divided)

1/2 c chopped red onion

1 T. adobo sauce from can of chipotle chiles

1-2 chipotle chiles - finely minced from the can

1 c mayo or Greek yogurt
1 tsp cumin

1 bunch fresh cilantro

Boil potatoes with 1 T. sea salt until tender. Drain & cool until easy to handle. While potatoes cool, combine onion, adobo sauce, chipotles, mayo, cilantro & remaining sea salt. Stir until well mixed. Cut potatoes in half and gently toss with the dressing.

**If you substitute regular salt for sea salt use a much smaller amount.

Make This!!

Do you like chocolate? Do you like banana bread? Then you will LOVE this recipe for Greek yogurt chocolate chip banana bread from the Lovely Little Kitchen.

I saw this recipe on Friday via Facebook and definitely wanted to make it this weekend. I recently threw out my mini loaf pans from when Nas & Matty were young. The pans had seen better days and were definitely done with baking.

I picked up these name brand mini loaf pans at Winco for $1.98 each.

I got up early this morning and baked the loaves plus a side of bacon for breakfast.
The results: YUM!

NOTE: I used dark chocolate chips as those are my favorite!

 

Weekend Get-A-Way!

We spent last weekend in the Prosser/Sunnyside/Yakima Valley of Washington with great friends. We planned this trip months ago & were counting down the days until we could all get away & have a 'friends' reunion.   Katie & Tom live in Spokane, so we thought we would meet each other halfway in Yakima. The plan: stay at a B&B, eat lots of good food, visit wineries & catch up with one another!

 

Fun fact: We have known Katie & Tom for 16 years!☺ Katie & I met through Clark County Indoor Play Park & Omid and Tom knew each other from work. Katie & Tom moved their family to Spokane 7 years ago.

 

This was the view in sunny Goldendale, Washington. We left the rain behind in Camas.

 

I texted Katie every now & then with an update to where we were in WA. She did the same.

We arrived at the B&B within ten minutes of each other!

First minute together! A perfect photo opportunity.☺

After getting settled in our rooms, we met in Katie & Tom's room for  cocktails. After that, we moved outside so Omid could make us dinner. He made Persian jujeh kebab, mast-o-khiar & rice with tahdig. The B&B had a large patio area, so we took advantage of that.

♥

Tom & Omid discussing the finer points of grilling 'old school.' Then....Tom showing off his 'tiny fork!'

Fun fact: We are ALL WSU Coug Alum!☺ Go Cougs!!!

 



We invited other guests at the B&B to join us, but each of them declined. A group of three older women were so scared of us, they scurried through the patio area & dashed in the back door. They wouldn't even make eye contact. We were sad!

Happy birthday Lin!
Buttercream...just like you requested!

This was the bed in Lin & Ward's room. Check out that dip!

Shake that thang!
Wait....Katie? You stole my thunder!

We continued to have a lot of fun on the patio until 10:00 p.m., when we had to move it inside for 'quiet hours.'

Awwww! Katie & Tom:
You two are so cute!

Lin & Ward - you two are cute too!

Why is there no photo of Omid & I? Poor Omid had to go lie down.
So I took photos of my sweet friends.☺

Fun fact: This was the first time Omid & I had ever stayed at a B&B. I loved it! Nice digs & yummy farm breakfasts! 

 

The next morning, we met at 9 a.m. for breakfast. I made sure to smile & make 'eye contact' with the three older ladies from the night before.☺ Breakfast was coffee, banana bread, butter & fresh half & half from a local dairy, potato hash, kale & mushroom quiche, asparagus quiche, bacon & Greek yogurt with crystallized honey. Good stuff!

The plan was for Saturday was to visit several wineries. We picked a few on the map & actually visited five. The first winery, Omid & I dumped every single pour. The wine was so new, it tasted like vinegar to us. The second winery was run by former Cougs (GO COUGS!). Their wine was better than the first, but Omid & I still didn't want to purchase any. Next we visited another that had a good Riesling, but I have had better (stay with me here...it gets better!).

Girlfriends!♥

Love these photo bombing pictures of Katie!

Gorgeous Prosser, WA scenery!

Finally, we visited a winery that Omid & Ward had visited before & made friends with the owners. Ground squirrels in the area eat the roots of the grape vines, ruining the crops. Omid & Ward helped take care of the 'varmint' problem. This was my favorite winery of the weekend! It's called Pontin del Roza.

I took this photo for 'planter' ideas!
I also loved the quote on the rock.☺

Pontin del Roza winery is the first winery that offered a dolcetto wine. I'd never had that before. It was good. But the wines that Omid & I really liked were their sangiovese, merlot & Riesling. Their Riesling tasted like sweet honey. I've never tasted a Riesling like that before. Absolutely delicious!

Finally, a 'couple shot!'

The tasting room at Pontin del Roza is absolutely beautiful! It looked like something out of Sunset magazine. I loved every single touch that Scott & Dustin added to the room. I could live there. Seriously!

Wine & a picnic lunch at Pontin del Roza winery.
Thanks for the lunch, Katie!☺

Katie, Lin, Scott & me behind the bar at Pontin del Roza.
We felt special!☺

Friends: Old & new at Pontin del Roza winery.

Just to let you know how much we loved Pontin del Roza winery: we spent almost two hours here! We felt completely at home. I loved talking about the finer points of 'Shahs of Sunset' with Scott & Dustin. They weren't aware that Omid is Persian, but soon found out. So much fun! ☺

Omid & Ward playing bocce ball at Pontin del Roza.
When we first drove up, I thought this was a Zen garden.☺

We finally said our 'goodbyes' & headed to one more tasting room. This last place was awful! We were sure the employees were drinking. Tom paid for our tasting fees (Thanks, Tom!!), then they thought our group hadn't paid & other strange things were said. There were arguments among guests & insults traded as well. I couldn't wait to leave that place!

We finally left that tasting room & headed home so Ward could grill us tenderloin & scallops for dinner. After cleaning up, we all met in the dining room of the B&B and played several serious game of poker (all while listening (& singing to John Denver's greatest hits!). But first...Lin passed out dental picks for our teeth. Thanks to Katie for capturing the photos!

Lin was the big winner of the evening! I cashed out with $1. So much for my 'winning streak' at Christmas.

 

After playing poker, we hit the hay & met again for breakfast the next morning. On Sunday, we had croissant French toast, fresh whipped cream with pineapples & strawberries, steel cut oatmeal (which Omid & I each ate a 'bite to be polite", but we're still not oatmeal fans!), fruit plate and hearty sausages. Lin loved the steel cut oats. She took a heaping scoop & drowned it about 8 oz. of half & half. Wow!

 

After breakfast, we packed up & said our 'goodbyes.' I really didn't want the weekend to end. I had the best time catching up. It had been a year since we'd seen Katie & seven years since we'd all seen Tom. We decided to make this a yearly event. I am already looking forward to May 2014!

 

Fun fact: On our way home, Omid took us to the Legends Casino in Yakima so Lin could continue her winning streak. She didn't want to play poker, but played the slots instead. Did she win? Yes! Upwards of $30! Good job, Lin!☺

 

Surprise to us: this casino was 'dry.' No alcohol allowed on the premises. But...smoking was allowed. I actually felt sick from all the cigarette smoke. Yuck! We walked in a 'blue haze' wherever we went.

 

 

I loved our weekend away! Special thanks to my Dad for coming down to take care of Matty & Remy. ♥

Make This!!

Coconut Oil Granola!

I have been looking for homemade granola recipes these last few weeks. All the so-called healthy granola in the stores are full of processed ingredients & extra sugar. I found this recipe via the Hungry Girl Por Vida blog. I changed the nuts & dried fruit around to suit my own tastes. This granola is very good!

Coconut Oil Granola - adapted slightly from Hungry Girl Por Vida

3 cups old fashioned oats
pinch salt
2 cups toasted pecans *see note!
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg white
1/2 cup dried apricots, sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried cherries, halved

Mix oats, toasted pecans & spices together in a large bowl. Combine honey & coconut oil over low heat until coconut oil is melted. Add vanilla. Pour honey/coconut/vanilla mix over oatmeal. Mix well. Add egg white & mix again. Place granola on lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350* for 15 minutes. Stir & check the granola after another 15 minutes. If it's still hasn't browned enough, continue to bake & check the mix at ten minute intervals. Mine took about 45 minutes.*Note: if you toast your pecans before you make this granola, they will be extra crunchy & taste oh so delicious!☺

When the granola is finished, remove from the oven. Now is the time to add your dried fruit. If you add it in the beginning & bake it along with the granola, it will turn rock hard. How do I know this? That's what happened the first time I made it.☺ Add the dried fruit on top of the warm granola & let it sit until the granola is cool.

Place granola in airtight container. It should keep for about two weeks (IF it lasts that long!). My favorite ways to enjoy this are over Fage Greek yogurt with a tablespoon of honey drizzled on top AND also in a bowl with almond milk. This is good stuff!!

Make This!!

Persian-style Pirashki

My Persian Kitchen posted a pirashki tutorial a few weeks ago. Omid and I thought it would be the perfect day to make these delicious treats. Omid tweaked the filling recipe just a bit (similar to what his grandma, Mamani, used to make).

*I bought Greek style yogurt from Trader Joe's which is like concrete, but my dough was on the watery side too (just like My Persian Kitchen). I needed to use 9 cups of flour (I made a double recipe) to get the dough to the correct consistency.

I think you could buy the premade pizza dough from Trader Joe's or even Pillsbury biscuit or croissant dough from the supermarket to save time. It is time consuming (making it & rolling it out). Would I make these again? Absolutely!! Naseem even gave her two thumbs up!

Omid took over the project after I made 11 pirashkis the size of softballs (way too big!).

Omid's pirashkis (a much better size!).

YUM

Matty sprinkled powdered sugar on his. Reminiscent of Moroccan b'stilla. Savory on the inside and sweet on the outside.

Right out of the fryer, these tasted like hot donut.

Here are my softball size monsters.

Finished products. I am so glad we made a double recipe.