Homemade Yogurt

My list of things I don't like about (store bought) yogurt:
Plain yogurt is too tart.
Flavored yogurt has too much sugar and other additives.
I don't like chunks of fruit in my yogurt. (Except for bananas.)

BUT THEN...

Last summer I made a new friend who told me she makes yogurt in her slow cooker. And the only ingredients needed: milk and a yogurt starter. It was too simple not to try.

It was so easy. And the yogurt was so good. It had just the right creamy consistency, just the right tartness (or non-tartness). I especially love to time it so it will sit overnight and then I eat the yogurt slightly warm right out of the slow cooker.

The yogurt takes about 14 hours to make, but requires hardly any hands on time. The only problem is tying up my slow cooker for that long!

Once the yogurt is done, you have 8 cups of plain yogurt, and the possibilities are endless.

To sweeten it, you can add a little pure maple syrup. My kids will drink it through a straw for a quick breakfast.

Add a little more maple syrup and you've got maple yogurt syrup.

For vanilla yogurt, add a little honey or powdered sugar and vanilla extract.

For fruity yogurt, slightly warm some jam (no sugar added) and stir it into the yogurt, and/or add fresh fruit.

Layer granola and yogurt in a cup, drizzle with a little chocolate and enjoy a decadent yogurt parfait.
Use it as a substitute for mayo in salad dressing.

Use it in dishes such as granola pancakes or chicken tikka masala

For a thick, Greek-style yogurt, line a fine mesh sieve with a paper towel and set the sieve over a small bowl. Add the desired amount of yogurt to the sieve and allow it to drain for 1-2 hours.

So even if you think you don't like yogurt...try it, you'll like it!

Homemade Yogurt

7 1/2 cups of milk (I use half whole milk and half skim milk, but any combination of whole, 1%, 2% or skim will work)
1/2 cup plain yogurt*

Pour milk into a slow cooker and put the lid on.

Set the slow cooker to low for 2 1/2 hours.

After 2 1/2 hours, turn the slow cooker off and allow to sit (lid on) for 3 hours.

After 3 hours, stir in 1/2 cup yogurt with a wooden spoon. Replace the lid and wrap the slow cooker in two heavy towels.

Allow to sit for 8-12 hours. The longer it sits, the thicker and more tart the yogurt becomes. Eight hours is the perfect amount of time for my taste.

Refrigerate and enjoy!

*I use Trader's Point Creamery whole plain yogurt as my starter. Once you've made a batch of homemade yogurt, you can use it as a starter, but I've found that the flavor isn't quite as good if I use homemade starter more than once.

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Linked at Fit and Fabulous Fridays

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Sundaes

I generally don't go to all the trouble of adding things to my ice cream. I'm happy enough with a high quality plain chocolate ice cream, melted just a tad so that it's soft and slightly runny.

Last month we hosted a dinner party, and I wanted an ice cream dessert that was a little more involved. Dulce de leche ice cream sundaes seemed to be the perfect dessert to go with the chicken enchiladas. I happened to be more on the ball that usual and between my husband and I, we made our own dulce de leche and our own dulce de leche ice cream the day before the party. The chocolate sauce was extremely simple and turned out nice and rich, just like I like it. The toasted coconut smelled like heaven. Once it all came together, the combination of flavors and textures were exactly what I was looking for.

Start with making your own dulce de leche by boiling cans of sweetened condensed milk. Food Mayhem has great instructions and will alleviate any fears you may have about boiling unopened cans. I boiled two cans and had enough dulce de leche for the ice cream with plenty left over for extra drizzling.

You can buy dulce de leche ice cream (Haagen Daaz is my favorite, readily available brand), or if you have an ice cream freezer, it's not tough to make your own ice cream with this recipe from The Ravenous Couple.

The rest is simple, put it all together and you've got an impressive dessert!

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream Sundaes
Adapted from Martha Stewart

dulce de leche ice cream
dulce de leche
unsalted peanuts
1 cup sweetened coconut

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips (or 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped)
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

For the toasted coconut:
Spread the coconut on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Stir the coconut every 3 minutes or so, until the coconut is golden brown.

For the chocolate sauce:
Place the chocolate, cinnamon and salt in a small, heatproof bowl.

Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.

Pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for about 3 minutes.

Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

The sauce will keep for a few days in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or over a double boiler.

Put it all together:
Scoop the dulce de leche ice cream into small dishes. Top with additional dulce de leche, chocolate cinnamon sauce, toasted coconut, and peanuts.

Click to print recipe

Slow Cooker Spicy Roast

There are Sundays when I love nothing more than to spend half the day in the kitchen, preparing a labor intensive Sunday dinner. My girls play with Daddy, and I enjoy uninterrupted cooking time.

But there are always slow cooker Sundays. Today the weather was unseasonably beautiful for early March in Indianapolis, so we spent a good part of the morning flying kites. I was glad I had planned on a throw-it-in-the-slow-cooker-and-walk-away roast.

The hardest part of this roast is mixing together several spices. I've cut down on even that step by making several batches of the dry rub at a time and storing each 'serving' in a small re-sealable snack bag.

The paprika, chili powder and cayenne make this a tad on the spicy side, but not overly so. My kids will eat it without complaint, and they're generally not spicy eaters.

Slow Cooker Spicy Roast

Mix the following spices:
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp each: fresh ground pepper, chili powder, seasoned salt, onion powder, kosher salt
1/4 tsp each: cayenne, garlic powder

Rub the dry rub over the surface of a 2 or 3 lb. roast.

Add to the slow coker:
1 1/2 cups water
3 beef bouillon cubes (or 3 tsp beef base)
1/4 cup grated onion
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
roast with dry rub

Cook on high for about 4 hours, or on low for 8 hours.

Serve with veggies (I usually go for mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus) and the juice from the slow cooker.

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Blueberry and Cream Cheese Muffins

Muffins are a favorite snack and breakfast food around here. Blueberry muffins are a high on the list, and I was looking forward to trying a muffin with a little extra something.

I started with a recipe for peach muffins with cream cheese. As delicious as that sounds, the blueberry/cream cheese combination was fantastic. The crumb was still light. The cream cheese filling and slightly crunchy topping offered a nice texture contrast.

I haven't been fond of the 100% whole wheat blueberry muffins that I've tried, but with the cream cheese filling and cinnamon sugar topping, I was able to get away with about 75% wheat flour.

Additional advice: make a double batch. These disappeared in no time.


Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 large egg
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Cinnamon sugar (for topping)

For the cream cheese filling:

6 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 TB sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a muffin tin or line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.

In a separate medium bowl mix butter, egg, milk, and vanilla together.

Add the wet ingredients into flour mixture. Stir gently just until combined and don't over mix.

Carefully fold in the blueberries.

In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese, lemon zest, sugar, and cinnamon until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup half way with batter. Add a small spoonful of the cream cheese filling (about 2 teaspoons) to each muffin cup, then add batter to cover the cream cheese filling.

Sprinkle each muffin with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 14-17 minutes. The muffins should just start to brown and toothpick will come out clean.

Cool on a rack and enjoy!

Yield: About 10 muffins

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100% Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers

I've ventured into the world of making my own crackers before with Alton Brown's seeded crackers. They are my kind of cracker, with a big crunch and big sesame flavor.

This time I wanted to try a cracker that would be more kid friendly. And there is nothing Kitty likes better than when we visit friends who will feed her Ritz crackers. I was pleased to find a Ritz cracker recipe from Cupcake Project that looked quick and relatively easy.

For my crackers, I swapped out all the all-purpose flour for white wheat flour. The crackers still had a great flavor and texture, even with the use of 100% whole wheat. But then I'm used to whole wheat and like the wheaty-flavor. If you're not used to that yet, you may want to start with 50% whole wheat and work up to it.

I also used aluminum-free baking powder. Alton Brown says you are likely to get a metallic taste to your crackers if you use regular baking powder (and who wants that?). Aluminum free baking powder is easy to find in any grocery store in the baking aisle (it's not much more expensive) or I've listed a substitution below the instructions.

Since I still had my tiny heart cookie cutter out from Valentines, I used that to cut out the crackers. So they were mini-Ritz, and darn cute. And I found this dough much easier to roll and cut than the seeded crackers.

I was worried that brushing them with the salty butter at the end would make them too greasy, but that was not the case. If anything I think it could have used a bit more salt.

The kid verdict was positive: both girls gobbled up the crackers as if they were store-bought. I was also pleased with the results. A tasty, 100% whole wheat cracker without the preservatives of store-bought, using basic ingredients, and quick and easy to make.

100% Whole Wheat Ritz Crackers
Adapted from Cupcake Project

2 cups white wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder, aluminum-free*
1 TB sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 TB cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
2 TB vegetable oil
2/3 cup water (or a little less)

Butter topping:
3 TB unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Pulse the flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1/2 tsp of salt in a food processor.

Add cold butter and pulse a few times.

Add vegetable oil and pulse.

With the food processor running, slowly pour in the water. Stop adding water as the dough comes together to form a ball.

Split the dough in half and roll out the first half thin, about an 1/8" thick (or use a pasta roller if you have one handy).

Cut out the dough with a cookie cutter and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Poke a few holes in each cracker so the cracker will bake properly. (I used a wooden skewer, a fork would work too).

Roll out remaining dough and continue to cut out crackers and poke with holes.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. The crackers should just be golden brown.

While the crackers are baking, mix the melted butter and salt for the topping.

Brush the crackers with the melted butter and salt as soon as they come out of the oven.

Cool the crackers on the pan and enjoy!

Yield: About 200 mini crackers.

*If you don't have aluminum free baking powder, use this substitution: 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp cream of tartar + 1/4 tsp cornstarch = 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder*

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Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

One Sunday morning we all woke up grumpy, and it was a dreary day besides. By 10 am I had sent everyone back to bed, including me. Then we started the day over with some lemon poppy seed muffins. I loved the bright lemon flavor, and the day definitely improved from there.

I included the instructions for the glaze, but they are fine without it too. And of course I used 1/2 wheat flour, 1/2 white, and decreased the sugar. Still delicious!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Adapted from Annie's Eats

For the muffins:
1 cup white wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 TB poppy seeds
1¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
2 TB fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain yogurt

Combine the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending well after each addition.

Mix in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.

With the mixer on low speed, mix in half the dry ingredients, then the yogurt, then the remainder of the dry ingredients, beating each addition just until incorporated.

Divide the batter into muffin tins.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes for mini muffins, 16-18 minutes for regular muffins. (test muffins for doneness with a toothpick). Let them cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack.

For the glaze:
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 TB fresh lemon juice

Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over each muffin while they are still warm.

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Garlic Chicken Salad

It's time. It's time for me to learn to like salads.

I started with a Carver's Salad from Apron Appeal. The honey cider dressing was delicious, and the fruit and nuts added to the salad made it even more appealing.

Then I struck out on my own. I cooked up some of my favorite garlic butter chicken and added it to romaine and tomatoes, and topped it off with the honey cider dressing. Not only did it make a beautiful salad, it was a salad I really loved.

So I have two delicious recipes I have to share with you today. Let's start with the garlic butter. This stuff is addictive AND multipurpose. I first made it to spread on artisan bread to go with some soup. The next day I drizzled it over cooked pasta. I used to to saute some zucchini, mushrooms and shrimp. And finally I had the presence of mind to slather it on some chicken breasts and cook it in a cast iron skillet. Chicken doesn't get any better! In this case, the garlic chicken adds just the right touch to the fresh veggies and cider dressing.

Garlic Butter
Adapted from AllRecipes

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 TB grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth.

To make the garlic butter chicken:
Slather one side of uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs with garlic butter.

Place buttered side down in hot cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and butter the other side of the chicken.

Cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes per side, until it's cooked through.

Let it rest for a few minutes, then chop into bite size pieces to add to a salad.

Click to print

Now for the dressing. It's the perfect in between dressing - it's not a vinaigrette, but it's also not a heavy all-mayo dressing.

Honey Cider Dressing
From Apron Appeal

3 TB cider vinegar
3 TB honey
6 TB mayonnaise (or lighten it up a bit and use 3 TB mayo and 3 TB plain yogurt)
1 TB Dijon mustard
1 1/2 TB finely minced onion
1 1/2 TB chopped fresh parsley
3/4 cup oil (I used light olive oil)

In a small saucepan, combine the cider vinegar and honey and heat until the honey has dissolved.

In a separate bowl, whisk the mayo (and yogurt if using) and mustard until smooth.

Add the onion and parsley to the mayo mix, then stir in the honey mixture.

Pour the mix into a small mason jar or condiment bottle. Add the oil, put the lid on tightly and shake until oil is emulsified.

Store in the refrigerator. It's best if it sits for a few hours before serving.

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The big day is almost here...

As Colts fans, we've had a disappointing football season. Every weekend, Boo would ask, "Is Payton Manning's neck better yet?" Followed by a resigned, "Well, I guess we won't win until his neck is better."

But Indianapolis is hosting the football game of all football games this year, so we had that to look forward to. I grew up in California and was so excited at the prospect of the 49er's coming to town. Their loss in the final playoff game was a big disappointment, but at least they lost to the Giants. If the Niners can't come, I'll take Eli Manning.
My husband and I took the girls downtown to see the Superbowl Village a few days ago. It was a mostly local crowd, and a lot of fun.

Now it's time to think about the food. Because that's just as important as the game!

Here are a few of my favorite game foods:

Queso Blanco from Annie's Eats

Deluxe BBQ Chicken Pizza from Two Peas and Their Pod

Ham and Cheese Sliders from Apron Appeal

Baked Onion Rings from Baking Bad

Baked Brie from Annie's Eats

Enjoy the game!

Applesauce Muffins

The girls love to bake with me. Cookies are obviously the first choice, but muffins come in a close second. We were out of ingredients for our first choices: blueberry and peaches and cream. So the applesauce muffins were a reluctant third choice.

But they were a smash hit. Kitty exclaimed throughout the day, "I WUF applesauce muffins!"

I was planning on swapping out all the white flour for wheat flour, but then thought why not throw some oats in too? I generally prefer the oat flour to keeping the oats in whole, and it's so easy to make. I just throw the oats in my blender and turn it on high and in 30 seconds or less I've got oat flour. I think the half wheat/half oat flour combination was perfect.

Even using unsweetened applesauce, these were plenty sweet, so don't hesitate to decrease the sugar if you are so inclined.

Applesauce Muffins
Adapted from Taste of Home

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups unsweetened applesauce
2 cups white wheat flour
2 cups regular oats, blended to flour*
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves

*Place oats in a blender and blend on high until oats become flour.

Cream butter and sugar in a medium bowl.

Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Stir in applesauce.

In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients.

Stir flour mixture into butter/sugar mixture just until blended.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake muffins in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool and enjoy!

Yield: About 2 1/2 dozen

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Whole Wheat Naan

Really good Indian food needs some really good naan to go along with it.

This is another fabulous recipe from Eat, Live, Run. I changed it just a bit to make it 100% whole wheat. As always, adjust the wheat/white flour combination to suit your taste. You can omit the vital wheat gluten if you don't use all wheat flour.

I also used my own garlic butter since I already had some in the fridge, but her roasted garlic butter sounds fantastic.

Whole Wheat Naan
Adapted from Eat, Live, Run

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp yeast
3 to 3 1/2 cups white wheat flour
1 TB vital wheat gluten
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Combine the yeast, water and sugar and stir gently. Set aside for about five minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (using a dough hook), combine the water/yeast mixture plus 1 1/2 cups of the flour.

Mix on low speed for about three minutes.

Add the vital wheat gluten, another 1 1/2 cups flour and the salt and increase the speed to high. If the dough is pulling away from the side of the bowl, you're good. If not, add a TB of flour at a time until the dough forms a cohesive ball.

Mix on high for about six minutes. When you're done, the dough should be elasticy.

Remove the dough place in a lightly oiled bowl.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about two hours. It should double in size.

After rising, turn the dough onto a floured counter-top and divide into four equal sections.

Flatten each section down into a rectangular shape. If it resists shaping, let it rest for a couple minutes, then try again.

Sprinkle each rectangle with water and prick your fingers in each for naan “dimples”.

Place on a lined baking sheet and bake at 475 for ten minutes.

Let cool, hen brush each naan with garlic butter. Broil for four minutes.

Click to print Whole Wheat Naan recipe

Garlic Butter

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 TB grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp smoked paprika

Combine all ingredients and stir until smooth.

Click to print Garlic Butter recipe