Homemade yogurt

I've been making my own yogurt for the last couple of months and decided it was time to share.  This is such an easy thing to make and it's a lot cheaper than buying those tiny containers of yogurt at the grocery store.  The nice part is that you know exactly what you're eating.  It is plain yogurt so you still have to add whatever kind of flavor you want but that's the fun part.

1. Pour a 1 liter container of milk (whole, low fat or fat free) into a pot and bring it to a boil.
2.  Allow it to cool until you can just touch it but not completely cool (about 125 degrees)
3. Pour into a container  (with a tight fitting lid) and add 4 teaspoons of plain, live culture yogurt
4. Put lid on container and leave in a dark cabinet for 5-6 hours (longer if it's a cold day)
5. Refrigerate and enjoy

I enjoy a bowl with some fresh fruit, a drizzle of honey and some granola.

Oh, and a little tip - I have forgotten about the yogurt a couple times and left it out overnight.  Now I set a reminder on my phone to ping me and remind me to take it out of the cabinet and stick in the fridge when it's done.

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread Pudding

This is such a good and easy dessert to make.  I recently made it for a potluck (which is perfect because you can eat it warm or room temp or even cold) and I enjoyed it so much, I made a batch for home just a few days later.  This is really good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

1 tablespoon butter
8 slices cinnamon raisin bread
2 cups milk
4 oz chocolate
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
confections sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Spray or butter a 9 inch square baking dish. Toast the
bread and tear each slice into four pieces. Place them in baking dish. Heat chocolate, milk and butter over med until chocolate is melted (stirring frequently). Whisk eggs, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Slowly add the milk/chocolate mixture and stir until combined.  Pour over bread and bake 25 minutes.  Cool for about 15 minutes and top with confectioners sugar (if using).  Otherwise, top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Avocado, Tomato, and Heart of Palm Salad

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  This is a delicious, easy to prepare salad. It's a little spicy so if that's not your thing, you can omit the chipotle powder. This is great on its own or over a nice piece of baked chicken (or meat of your choice).
  
  Juice of 1 med lemon
  1 tsp white vinegar (optional)
  1 tsp salt
  1 tsp sugar
  1 tsp chipotle powder
  ½ tsp ground black pepper
  ½ large red onion, diced
  ½ c finely chopped cilantro
  2 med roma tomatoes, diced
  2 large ripe avocados, diced
  5 stalks Hearts of palm (or one large jar), thinly sliced
  1 med lime

  Whisk first 6 ingredients together until spices dissolve. Add everything else except the lime. Lastly, squeeze the lime juice into the bowl and fold the mix together.
  
  That's all there is to it.

  
  

Pita bread, hummus, and tzatziki

Today's lunch consisted of  hummus, tzatziki and pita bread.  These recipes are all pretty easy to prepare and so much better than store bought stuff.  Enjoy! 

Pita Bread

Makes 8 pitas

3 1/2 cups flour (depending on your flour you may need a little less.  Start with 3c and add if it's too sticky)

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 packet yeast 

1 1/4 cup room temp water (you may need a little more depending on your flour.  Start with 1 1/4 and work up until it's all incorporated but not too sticky to work with)

2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil, butter, or shortening

Add yeast to water in a mixer (or a bowl if you're doing by hand) and stir to combine.  Add the flour, salt, sugar and oil and mix on low until combined. Knead on low for about 10 minutes. Check the dough and see if you need to add more flour.  If it's too sticky, add a little more at a time until feels like you can knead it by hand without having it stick to everything. Lightly coat a bowl with oil and put the dough in and cover with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel.  Let double in size (about 1 1/2-2 hours).  Once it's doubled, punch it down to release gas.  Divide dough into 8 equal portions.  Roll each portion into a ball and set on a greased cutting board.  Let rest 20 minutes.  While it's resting, place a cookie sheet upside down in the middle of your oven.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Once the dough has rested, on a floured workspace, roll out the balls into 1/4-1/8 inch thick pita.  Place on the the preheated cookie sheet (I did two at a time) and cook for about 3 minutes.  They will puff up beautifully!  Take them out of the oven and flatten the pita with a spatula. Continue until all 8 pitas are done.  You can store these in a plastic bag for several days. If they last that long.

Tzatziki
2 small contains plain yogurt
1 cucumber, deseeded and finely chopped
4 cloves minced garlic
1T vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of lemon zest or dried lemon peel (optional)
pinch of chipotle powder (optional)

Mix together.  Let chill in fridge for about 30 mins.  Enjoy.



Hummus recipe is linked here.

Life is good!

Grilled Sausages, Creamy Polenta, and Sautéed Onions and Peppers

Tonights dinner was fantastic!  We (and by we, I mean my husband) grilled these amazing sausages that we bought on trip to Campos do Jordao.  Yeah, that's the kind of souvenirs I buy when I go on vacation.  We bought them from this fantastic little German restaurant  called Harry Pisek's where the chef (of the same name) studied sausage making in Germany. We also bought some of the dark mustard made by Chef Pisek.  YUM!

I made a creamy polenta with parmesan and sautéed some onions and green peppers.  Oh, and the bonus aspect of this dinner....my husbands homemade beer was ready for drinking.  Can you say AWESOME?!

Double IPA homemade by my husband

The polenta was really easy.  I've made firm polenta but had never done the creamy version so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Basically, you bring chicken stock (or veggie stock or water) to a boil, whisk in the polenta, salt and pepper and stir until it's nice and thick.  Then, you take it off the heat and add tons of cheese and butter. How can this not taste delicious, right?

Recipe
4 cups chicken stock
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup polenta (I used med ground polenta/corn meal)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup freshly grated parmesan
2 tablespoons butter

Bring chicken stock and garlic to boil.  Slowly whisk in the polenta.  Turn down heat to medium low. Add salt and pepper and stir.  And stir and stir.  Bacially, you have to stand over this and stir it until it's done.  Depending on the grind of the polenta you use, it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Mine took about 20 minutes. Once it's nice and thick, remove from heat and add cheese and butter. Taste and adjust seasonings. Easy peasy!

Oh, and my daughter wanted to help out, so she made artwork for the party.

The sausages and sautéed pepper and onions went perfectly with the polenta and homemade double IPA's.

Really nice Sunday dinner. Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Iguacu Falls

The Falls

Majestic, roaring, awe-inspiring.  I could go on and on but I won't because I know you really just want to see the pictures.  The falls are on the border of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.  They are one of 'The New Seven Wonders of Nature". 

We spent several hours visiting the falls.  We did one of the longer trails and slowly made our way towards the beautiful falls.  We started out with a good, far off view that just kept getting better and better.  

We also stopped by the Bird Park where you could get up close and personal with a lot of cool birds and butterflies. The birds would let you get pretty close for pictures and some even posed for us.  Truly. If you visit the falls, I highly recommend the bird park.  The trails are really pretty and the birds and butterflies are amazing.

My beautiful mother in law.  

My daughter's favorite part of the whole trip

Red Velvet Cake Truffles

Ok, this is my Mom's recipe.  She is the queen of desserts.  When we visit, she makes at least one new dessert a day until I finally beg her to stop.  These truffles are super easy and super addicting, so proceed with caution!

First, you make a red velvet cake (straight from the box).  Just follow the directions to bake.  Let cool. Cut it into chunks and place it in a very large bowl.  Add one can of cream cheese frosting.  You are going to get messy so get use to the idea.  You have to mix it with your hands.  Mix thoroughly.  Using your hands, roll out into small balls (about an inch). Place on a foil or wax paper lined baking sheet and chill in refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

Next, melt the chocolate (white, milk, dark, or all three).  I do it on the stove with a double broiler but you can also do it in the microwave.  Whichever method you use, just make sure the chocolate doesn't burn.  Take the balls and coat in the chocolate and place back on the lined baking sheet.  Once they've all been dipped, place back in the fridge to chill.

Isn't that easy?!

Ingredients
Red Velvet Cake mix and ingredients to make the cake
1 can cream cheese frosting
white/dark/milk chocolate for melting

Enjoy!