Melting Snowman Cookies

I feel like now that we are at least past Halloween I can start posting some holiday treats.  It just doesn't feel right to do it before then.  



I made these last year and they were an absolute hit, and SO stinkin easy.

What you'll need:


Sugar cookie dough (you can make it, or buy it)
Marshmallows
Sugar cookie frosting (make or buy, I bought mine because this was a school night project)
Decorator icing in different colors, you need black and orange for sure.



So, bake your cookies according to the directions, but make them a little misshapen when you put them on the pan.


After they have cooled, put your frosting on, making it drizzle down the edge a bit like it is snow melting.


Pop your marshmallows on a plate and microwave them for like 2-3 seconds.  You just need to be able to mash them a tiny bit so they don't need long.


Affix them to the top of the cookie, using your icing as glue.


Then, decorate with faces, scarves and hands!

Apple Chips

I am always trying to think of good snack ideas for my kids, things to give them for lunch or easy and portable breakfast ideas.  Thanks to my husband by kids also love chips.  So, that brought me to apple chips and I figured they couldn't be too hard to make, right?

So, a quick google search and I landed on this recipe.  It stood out to me because of the sugar water soak.  Any other recipe I read about just seemed like the chips would kinda be leathery, like dried fruit and not all that  sweet.  I'm not usually a fan of added sugar but I also want to make something that they will EAT and something that the baby can (physically) eat and fruit leather isn't going to be easy for him.

In true me fashion I used what I had on hand, which happened to be granny smith apples.  I figured they have a nice bite to them, bake well and the sugar soak should counter their tartness, I was right.  

I simply sliced the apples however I could manage, as thin as I could manage, but a mandoline would work much, much better and they would be prettier.

First make a batch of sugar water for the soak dissolving 1 1/2 cups of sugar into 2 cups of water on the stove top. 

Then, slice 2-4 apples paper thin and squeeze lemon juice on them as you go to prevent browning and drop them into your sugar water.  

Soak your apple slices in the sugar water overnight.

The next day pat them all dry and then lay them out on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake in your oven at 200 degrees for an hour to an hour and a half.  The apples will be CRUNCHY like chips and oh so wonderful.  I also sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar on half of my batch and that was equally as yummy. 

Five minute ice-cream

What is the best dinner to feed a poor, sick child?  Ice-cream, of course.  I mean what would make a child happier than ice-cream for dinner?  And, as a parent, all you want to do is make that poor miserable child laying on the couch with rosy red cheeks do is... smile.  Just a teeny one.  And saying "Do you want some chocolate ice-cream for dinner?" will do it.



And this ice-cream is healthy, and easy on the tummy.

This is about the best idea ever.   I couldn't even wait to blog about it.  I read about it on Use Real Butter, thank you fellow Coloradoan!

What'll you'll need:

4 banana's, sliced and frozen
2 tablespoons of natural creamy peanut butter (optional)
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder (optional)


Put the frozen banana's in your food processor and blend until nice and creamy.   And, as a note I happened to have whole frozen banana's in my freezer, I do that when they go brown so I can use them later for banana bread.  I just peeled them, sliced them frozen and put them in the chopper - it worked fine.


Add the peanut butter and cocoa powder.


Done.


For added smiles, add sprinkles.


You could change this recipe up in so many ways too.  Nutella came to mind first.  Oh Nutella.  Or how about some strawberry preserves.  Apple pie filling.  Chocolate syrup drizzled over banana ice-cream.  Raspberries.  Chunks of chocolate.  


Dude, it's healthy ice-cream.  Healthy enough to feed to a sick kid.  For realz.

Pumpkin Banana Bread

This is moist and delicious AND low fat :)

Ingredients

• 3-4 very ripe bananas
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

Mash banana's in a bowl. Beat the egg and add to banana mixture, mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

If you just want regular pumpkin bread use 3 tablespoons of applesauce + 2 tablespoons melted butter in place of the pumpkin puree.

Restaurant French Toast

This french toast is just as good as it is at your favorite breakfast joint. MMMMMMMM

• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 slices Texas toast thick bread (I really like to use cinnamon bread)
  
• 3 tablespoons butter
• powdered sugar
• butter
• syrup

Mix first 7 ingredients in a shallow bowl or pan with a wire whisk until well blended.

Heat pan on medium heat and melt 1 tablespoon butter. If butter smokes your pan is too hot. Dip bread into egg mixture for about 30 seconds, coating both sides. Cook each side about 2 minutes.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve with butter and hot syrup.

"Klassy" Chicken Pot Pie

I don't usually make casseroles, much less casseroles with tater tots... but I've found myself trying to find things that freeze well so I can fill my freezer in preparation for baby #2. This is the perfect recipe for that or if you have left over chicken to use up. Or, maybe you are just craving craving chicken pot pie with tater tots. Takes about 15 minutes for prep (if your chicken is cooked already) and 40 in the oven. You can make this ahead easily and pop it in the oven when you get home, or even double or triple and freeze for later.

You can arrange the tater tots a little nicer too, and make it pretty. I'm impatient. This is 1/2 of the recipe, since there are only 2 1/2 of us. I froze the rest.

Ingredients

• 1 (2 lb) bag frozen tater tots

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 small garlic cloves, chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
• 2 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of whatever soup
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. In large skillet, cook onion and pressed garlic in butter or olive oil over medium high heat until onion is tender.

3. Add cooked chicken, frozen veggies, undiluted soup, milk, thyme and pepper.

4. Stir ingredients together and cook over medium heat until hot and bubbly. Stirring occasionally.

5. Cover and cook an additional 5 minutes; stirring frequently.

6. Spoon chicken mixture into ungreased 2-quart casserole dish.

7. Arrange frozen tater tots on top.

8. Bake 40 minutes or until bubbly and tater tots are slightly browned.

Ham and Shells Casserole

Thanks to Lauren at Lauren's Kitchen for blogging about this recipe - who originally got it from Hilary at This Girls Food. Might as well give a shout out to both of them :) It was really, really good! And boy am I glad it was, because it made a ton of food!

It's a bit more involved that my regular weeknight meal, but can easily be prepped the night before and thrown in the oven when you get home from work. And, as an added bonus it makes about 3, very generous, dinners worth for our family of three. So, I plan on freezing 2 of the portions prior to baking.

I made some modifications to the recipe which I'll explain below, and are included in the recipe I've posted. You can find the original recipe on either of the blogs above.

I used frozen spinach, and increased the amount, instead of fresh. If you are like me it's more cost friendly to buy frozen vegetables for a few reasons. A) they are usually cheaper and B) they don't go bad. Often times I'll have a meal written down for the week but we don't get to it for various reasons, so sometimes produce goes bad and I HATE that.

Subbed mozzarella for the goat cheese as I didn't have it in the house, thanks Lauren for the tip.

After I tasted the sauce it seemed a bit on the bland side, so I threw in about 3/4 a cup of blue cheese as well to give it a kick. I'm going to leave the recipe with goat cheese because I think it really would be best with that AND the blue cheese :). I was really happy with the blue cheese addition in the end, it gave the recipe a bit more twang. Is that a word?

I used macaroni noodles because that's what I had, shells would be better.

I increased the ham by 1 cup.

Oh, and I upped the rosemary, because I love it. Whew, I think that's it! LOL

I also didn't want to use 3 pans, as the original recipe would have you do. I reused one to make it a bit less clean-up. It allows you time to prep ingredients while the noodles are cooking, so I think it works out a little better than trying to do three things at once.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg (16 oz.) medium pasta shells
• 3 large onions
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped frozen spinach
  
• 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh rosemary or 2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3-1/2 cups skim milk
• 1 cup park-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) crumbled goat cheese (I used mozzarella)
• 3/4 cup cup blue cheese
  
• 3 cups cubed fully cooked ham
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°

Cook pasta according to package directions in a large sauce pan.

While the pasta is cooking, chop your onions and ham and measure out your other ingredients.

Drain pasta and set aside in a very large mixing bowl, mix with chopped ham.

Saute onions in oil until golden brown in the pan you used for the noodles. Add spinach and rosemary, cook for a few minutes until spinach is thawed (or wilted if you used fresh). Pour into the bowl with the noodles and mix.

Use the large saucepan to melt butter. Stir in flour and pepper until smooth and cook for a few minutes. Gradually add milk, stirring to prevent lumps from forming. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheeses until blended.

Add the sauce to the noodle mixture and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper (liberally) to taste. I put these in greased casserole dishes at this point and sprinkled with the Parmesan cheese. I froze two and left one in the fridge to bake later.

Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes until bubbly.

Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Pancakes

Does your toddler love pancakes? Would you rather they have a more well rounded breakfast of oatmeal, cottage cheese, eggs and fruit?

Trick them!!!! Oh, and these are faster to prepare than regular pancakes, for an added bonus.

These do taste pretty good, but don't go in expecting buttermilk pancakes. They are more eggy than regular pancakes, but just as fluffy and moist and easily fooled my toddler. My husband knew there was something different and would have preferred regular pancakes, but he still ate them :) I served with syrup and some fruit on the side for a well rounded breakfast.

1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg whites OR 2 eggs

Mix everything in a blender (or use a hand blender)

Cook like regular pancakes.

Grilled Pineapple

This is divine. The original recipe I read said to serve these over vanilla ice-cream but we ate it along side our steak, salad and corn on the cob. Deon looked at it and made a face and I asked him to at least try it, for our sons sake. He did and then asked to have part of my share.

1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1 inch slices (Okay, I cheated and used canned, worked fine)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix everything but the pineapple and then coat the pineapple with the mixture. Put on a hot grill and cook about a minute per side.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwich

Tired of serving your tot waffles for breakfast? Try something new that they just might like :) And, you might like it too.

• 1 tablespoon(s) reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) honey
• 1/8 teaspoon(s) freshly grated orange zest
• 2 slice(s) very thin whole-wheat bread
  
• 2 medium strawberries

Combine cream cheese, honey and orange zest in a bowl. Spread bread with the cheese mixture. Place sliced strawberries on 1 piece of bread, top with the other. You could serve it with a side of yogurt too.

Healthy & Amazingly Simple Cupcake/Muffins

I might be the last person on earth to learn this awesome trick for making muffins and cupcakes but just in case I'm not, I'm going to share it with all of you.

Buy 1 box of spice cake mix or devils food cake mix if you want chocolate.

Mix the box of cake mix, and nothing else, with 1 can of plain pureed pumpkin. NOT pumpkin pie filling.

Drop into greased cupcake tin and bake for abour 20-25 minutes at 350.

That's it!!!

Low fat & SUPER moist. You can frost them, but they don't need it. You can't taste the pumpkin when it's mixed with the devils food cake, just yummy chocolate.

And, bonus, it's a good way to sneak some veggies into your kids :) Add some shredded carrots or raisins to the spice cake mix for more flavor and nutrition.

Black Bean Nacho Pizza

This was DELISH! And, ironically enough I found it on delish.com.

I didn't follow the grilling part though, I put it on my own pizza crust and just use the general ingredients:

• 1 cup(s) canned black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 cup(s) chopped jarred roasted red peppers
• 1 garlic, quartered
• 1 tablespoon(s) chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• Yellow cornmeal, for dusting
• 1 cup(s) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 2 medium plum tomatoes, diced
• 4 medium scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup(s) chopped pitted ripe black olives
• 2 tablespoon(s) chopped pickled jalapeños

First, prepare your pizza dough for proofing, this is a thinner crust recipe.

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil
• cornmeal

Put a little sugar in your warm water and add the yeast. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead until no longer sticky, adding flour if needed. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a warm cloth and set aside to proof for 1/2 hour. I usually stick mine in the oven with the light on.

Then, put your black beans and roasted red pepper in the food processor and pulse for a few minutes. Mix your bean mixture with the garlic, chili powder and salt.

When the dough is ready roll it onto a pizza pan sprayed with olive oil or Pam. It will either make 2 small pizza's or one large one. You can pre-cook the pizza crust now if you want, but you don't have to. Bake it at 425 for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with cornmeal. Spread bean mixture down. Layer the rest of the ingredients and bake an additional 20 minutes, or until the crust starts to brown. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Oh, I also added some fresh cilantro :)

Black Bean Quesadilla's

Yet another black bean recipe... :)

7 ounces of mashed black beans (1/2 a can)
2/3 cup salsa
Flour tortillas cut in half
Chicken (optional)
Sour Cream

Place tortillas on un-greased cookie sheet.

Mix beans and salsa. Spread bean mixture on tortilla halves. Top with chicken if desired and Monteray jack cheese. Top with remaining tortilla halves.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Eyeball Toast

Yes, I know it sounds disgusting. But, it's really just a fried egg sandwich. My Dad used to make them for us when we were little. SOOOO good and fun for kids :) This would be a good Halloween breakfast too.

What you need:

1 slice of bread
1 egg
butter
mustard (optional)

Butter both sides of your bread.

Then, find a small juice cup (a kids cup works well) and cut a small circle out of the center of your slices of bread.

Heat your pan and spray with non stick spray and put one slice of bread down. Then crack your egg into the hole. Cook on one side until your bread toasts and then flip it over and cook on the other side. Serve with mustard if you want.

Eat with a fork and enjoy!

"Buttered" Noodles

Now, this isn't something I'd personally want to eat on a regular basis but when you have a picky toddler it may very well be something you find yourself making on a daily basis. My 20 month old son, like many toddlers, is on a carb and dairy diet. He will eat waffles, pancakes, bread, noodles, milk, yogurt and cheese. And blueberries. Oh, and sometimes a banana. He used to be a banana freak but lately hasn't been eating them too often. He used to be GREAT about eating his veggies. Green beans, carrots, peas, broccoli and even spinach but one day he just stopped. I HAVE to get some veggies into him. "Buttered" noodles are one way.

Pretty much, I cook 8 ounces or so of some kind of toddler friendly pasta (bow tie, penne) and then mix in a tablespoon or two of margarine or butter along with 6 - 8 ounces of squash puree. Make sure it is VERY smooth so your kids can't tell it's there. You can buy jarred squash puree if you want to save time. Mix in some parmesan cheese as well.

I always serve veggies like broccoli or peas and carrots along side or mixed into the noddles (or mac and cheese below), but just in case he picks them out I know he got *some* veggies hidden in the noodles.

You can also mix squash puree into Kraft Mac and Cheese. Just skip the milk because this will add enough liquid.

Any bit helps!

Calzones

These will be making an appearance again in our house, that's for sure. My husband actually ASKED for the leftovers. Unheard of. Adapted from this recipe. You can make this a quick meal by using refridgerated pizza dough, just roll it out and cut it into rectangles and fill from there.

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
  
• 1 cup diced turkey pepperoni
• 1 cup chopped spinach
  
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 1 egg, beaten

1. To Make Dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water for 10 minutes. Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled.
2. To Make Filling: While dough is rising, combine the ricotta cheese, mozarella cheese, pepperoni, spinach and basil leaves in a large bowl. Mix well, cover bowl and refrigerate to chill.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4. When dough is ready, punch it down and separate it into 8 equal parts (they will still be quite a bit larger than a hot pocket at this size). Roll parts out into thin circles on a lightly floured surface. Fill each circle with 1/8 of the cheese/meat filling and fold over, securing edges by folding in and pressing with a fork. Brush the top of each calzone with egg and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

I served this with homemade marinara sauce, that I just made up on the fly. I wish I would have written down what I did, because it was really good! I can give you an idea though and you can make it to suit your tastes.

1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of tomato paste (a larger can, not the tiny ones)
1 can of tomato sauce
a tablespoon or so of dried basil
a bit of sage - not sure why, just sounded good
a tablespoon or so of olive oil
a few cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 of an onion, chopped
a dash or so of sugar
a dash or two of salt

Yo Baby Yogurt Copycat recipe.

I included this recipe at the very bottom of my yogurt post but oh.sweet.baby. this is so good. It's yogurt. No, it's dessert, no.... it's heaven. Heaven on a spoon. The cream rises to the top, the fruit is on the bottom and it's pure bliss in the middle. And, it's good for you. And SO much less expensive than buying it.

My son eats Stonyfield Farms YoBaby yogurt, and lots of it. It's organic, it's lower in sugar that other kids yogurts, it's creamy, it's good and it's expensive. So, I decided to come up with a copy cat recipe and let me tell you, I'd eat this over YoBaby any day, and it seems so would Dillon! Yaaay!

3 1/2 cups organic whole milk
1/2 cup organic heavy cream
1/4 cup natural sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix the above in a pot and heat, slowly, to 180 degrees on your stove (no hotter and don't allow to boil!).

Allow to cool to 110 degrees and stir in:

1/2 cup organic, unflavored room temperature yogurt (I use stonyfield farms, regular not yobaby since they don't sell yobaby individually.)

Pour into a preheated yogurt maker and allow to incubate at 110 degrees for about 6 hours.

Set out 8 five ounce (or whatever) containers with lids. Spoon in about a teaspoon of your favorite fruit puree.

Then, spoon in the yogurt put the lids on and put them in the refrigerator. You can do larger or smaller portion sizes. I made them about the same portion size as Yobaby is because I was making them for my son.

Once you refrigerate for a while the cream will rise to the top, just like Stonyfield farms does.

Even with the 1/4 cup of sugar this recipe has about 2 grams less sugar than Yobaby per 4 ounce serving. All other nutrients are just about identical. It makes about 8 four ounce servings and will keep for about a week.

Enjoy!

Pita Bread

I adapted this recipe from this one on Allrecipes. Well, adapted may not be the right word. I changed the first step because I don't have a bread maker, lol. It is really easy, and really good! My pita bread didn't fluff up quite enough so I could open them, but that's because I handled it too much. I didn't read the part about setting the rolled out pita's on a lightly floured surface and they stuck to my counter, whoops! They still turned out pretty good though! And, they tasted really yummy :)

Sorry, not the best photo :)

• 1 1/8 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

DIRECTIONS

1. Dissolve yeast in a small amount of the warm water and allow to grow for about 10 minutes. Then, place all ingredients in a bowl and combine. Knead for about 5 minutes or so and then leave it to rise until doubled in size (about an hour)
   
2. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gently roll and stretch dough into a 12 inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each into a smooth ball. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a 6 to 7 inch circle. Set on a lightly floured surface, cover with a towel. Let pitas rise about 30 minutes until slightly puffy.
3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Place 2 or 3 pitas on a wire cake rack. Place cake rack directly on oven rack. Bake pitas 4 to 5 minutes until puffed and tops begin to brown. Remove from oven and immediately place pitas in a sealed brown paper bag or cover them with a damp kitchen towel until soft. Once pitas a softened, either cut in half or split top edge for half or whole pitas. They can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for 1 or 2 months.

Yogurt

As you've probably noticed from our weekly grocery list we eat a lot of yogurt in our house. My son eats the full fat version, usually yo baby and I have a love affair with Fage or Greek yogurt. My husband isn't a fan of eating it straight, but he does eat it. I substitute yogurt for sour cream and mayonnaise in many recipes. It's also great to add to chili or curry dishes if you find they are too hot.

Yogurt is incredibly healthy too, and new research shows it just may add years to your life. It's loaded with calcium, phosphorous, b12, potassium, protein... Yogurt boosts your immune responses, lowers ldl and raises hdl cholesterol, it increases fat loss, helps prevent osteoporosis, helps prevent and heal arthritis, protects against ulcers and reduces the risk of high blood pressure among a list of many other things.

While store bought yogurt is good, nothing can compare to homemade yogurt. And, since we're all about pinching those pennies, it's cheaper! You don't need any special equipment but I do own a yogurt maker just because I don't like to sit around checking the temperature of my yogurt all day. I bought a Salton on Amazon for about $20, well worth it. It doesn't have any bells or whistles and you don't need them. All you need it to do is incubate your yogurt at a constant temperature.

I use yogurt for smoothies, in recipes, mixed with flax seed meal, topped with granola, mixed with berries, you can even use it to make frozen yogurt. I started giving my son yogurt when he was seven months old and mixed just about any baby food puree possible into it. He LOVES it.

See :)

Isn't he a cutie :) And, I'm in total LOVE with his eyes. I have hazel eyes, my husband has green. Somehow this child ended up with one green eye and one blue eye! But, I digress. Back to the yogurt...

The process for making homemade yogurt is easy, this will make about one quart of yogurt.

4 cups of fresh, organic milk (your choice of full fat, 2%, skim or fat free)
1/3 cup of powdered milk (I always use non-fat) or 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (this is your thickener)
1/2 cup organic room temperature yogurt, unflavored (this will be your starter)
2-4 tablespoons of honey or sugar (optional)

A pot and a stove :)
A candy thermometer
Something to incubate the yogurt in.

The first step is to slowly heat your milk, powdered milk (or gelatin) in the pot until it reaches 175-180 degrees, stirring often. If you want a sweeter yogurt add your sugar or honey during this step as well. You do NOT want the milk to boil, this will ruin the flavor of your yogurt. Once you reach 175-180 degrees remove the milk from the heat and continue to stir for a minute or so to prevent the milk from scalding. You want it to foam, but not boil. You do need to be sure you reach this temperature though, otherwise your yogurt won't set.

Next, allow the milk to cool to 110 degrees. If you pour the starter in now you'll kill the bacteria. Once the milk has cooled add the starter.

Stonyfield Farms yogurt seems to be the best starter I've tried, it incubates the fastest. I've also used Fage which creates a great flavor of yogurt but takes longer to incubate. You can use yogurt from your first batch of homemade yogurt but don't use yogurt from a second batch as it likely won't have enough bacteria in it to work. Stir the starter in gently until it incorporates completely.

Place the milk in a pre-heated yogurt maker for 6 to 12 hours. It can take as little as 3 hours though, it just depends on how firm you want your yogurt and what flavor you are wanting. It is VERY important that this container is clean and sanitized otherwise you run the risk of introducing unwanted bacteria to your yogurt. If you don't have a yogurt maker you can leave the milk in a pot and put it in the stove set at a low temperature (or with just the bulb on) or anywhere else in your house that will keep it at a constant temperature of around 110 degrees. Some ideas are to wrap the pot in a down comforter and set it on a heating pad. I've just found that purchasing a cheap yogurt maker was much easier. This way, I can make yogurt overnight, while I'm sleeping. I like sleep.

When your yogurt is done you should see a clear liquid at the top, called whey, and the yogurt will have set.

I pour off the whey as I prefer thicker yogurt but you can mix it back in if you'd like. You can use the whey to replace liquid in quick breads, it makes for wonderful southern biscuits. The longer you allow the yogurt to incubate the stronger the flavor will become. You can play with different time frames, different amounts of powdered milk, different fat varieties of milk and different starters (including powdered starters) to get the flavor you want. You can also flavor your yogurt with vanilla, honey, agave nectar, fruit purees, the possibilities are endless.

If you like Greek yogurt you have one more step to go. Once you've poured off the whey you need to strain the yogurt with a cheese cloth for one to two hours. Then, scrape the yogurt off the cheese cloth into a glass jar and voila, Greek yogurt! You can also add seasonings to this and use like a cream cheese spread.

Refrigerate and serve! YUM!

So, for sweeter thinner yogurt add sugar to the milk before heating and incubate for a shorter amount of time.

For thicker yogurt incubate longer, use a bit more powdered milk and/or you can use a bit of unflavored gelatin.

For tangier yogurt, incubate longer.

This is the recipe I follow for my son, it's similar to the full fat version of stony field farms:

3 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup natural sugar

Mix the top three and heat to 180 degrees. Allow to cool to 110 degrees and stir in:

1/2 cup organic room temperature starter (I use stonyfield farms for his yogurt)
1 tsp vanilla

Add to preheated yogurt maker and allow to incubate 6 to 8 hours. Once you refridgerate for a while the cream should rise to the top, just like stonyfield farms does. Add your favorite fruit puree (or your childs) and there you go!

Even with the 1/4 cup of sugar this recipe has about 2 grams less sugar than yobaby per 4 ounce serving. All other nutrients are just about identical.

Coming up next... homemade pita bread!

Soft Baked Pretzels

Soft Baked Pretzels :)

I made these while Dillon napped today, and then he tested them out for me :) YUM

I found the recipe on the blog "Fresh From Cate's Kitchen", you can find many other great recipes on her site as well, I know I have!

1 cup milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm

1 envelope active dry yeast

1 tbsp honey

1 cup bread flour

1 1/4 to 2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 cups water

2 T baking soda

1 egg yolk

2 tsp milk

kosher salt

Place the scalded milk in a large bowel, and stir the yeast in until dissolved.

Add the honey and one bread flour, and stir until smooth.

Sprinkle on the salt, add the butter, and stir well to incorporate.

Add 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, and knead dough for about 5 minutes, until dough is smooth. Add a little more flour if the dough is too sticky.

Transfer to a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1/2 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and separate into 8 equal balls.

Roll each piece out into a long skinny rope, 24-30" long. Form into a typical pretzel shape.

Let the pretzels rise for about 10 minutes under a clean kitchen towel while you boil 1 cup of water with the baking soda in a small saucepan (make sure one pretzel at a time will fit in the pan!)

Mix together the egg yolk and milk.

Carefully lift a pretzel with a spatula and place in the boiling water.

After 20 seconds, remove and shake off the water. Place on a Silpat or parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pretzels.

Brush the egg yolk-milk mixture over the pretzels, then sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until deeply golden brown, then cool on a wire rack.

Serve to toddler.

What? A pretzel for a snack?!

Let's try this out....

What the heck! That is SALTY!

Hmm, I guess maybe I kinda like it!

There you go, a 15 month olds seal of approval :)