"Try It" Challenge - Week One Review

 

Last week's challenge, Greek Yogurt, was very easy for us to implement into our days. I was able to use it 6 out of 7 days!

 Day One:

• 16 oz plain Chobani Greek yogurt
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup crushed strawberries

Mix all ingredients and enjoy around 4 servings.

This was yummy! The thickness does take some getting used to, especially if you're not used to eating yogurt at all, but it is filling and delicious.

 Day Two:

Popsicles

• 12 oz Chobani strawberry banana Greek Yogurt

Spoon prepared yogurt into popsicle molds and freeze. Makes 4

I'll admit that I wasn't crazy about this one, but then again I'm not too big on popsicles. The kids, however, devoured them. Their actions told me that they liked them!

 Day Three:

Chobani Champions very berry Greek yogurt.

This is the first greek yogurt made especially for kids. It's yummy... aren't all kid's foods???

 Day Four:

• 5-6 oz Stonyfield Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt
• 2 oz (about 1/3 cup) granola

Stir and enjoy one breakfast sized serving.

A couple people suggested eating yogurt this way. It was a great breakfast!

 Day Five:

Apple Dip
For this I used Tammy's Recipe for cream cheese apple dip, substituting plain greek yogurt for the cream cheese.

I thought it was WAY too sweet. I liked the flavors, but I really need to tinker around with this recipe to get it where I'd be happy with it.

The kids liked it after I added more yogurt. They ate theirs with a spoon and not as a dip.

Day Six: 

(Not sure why I can't write next to this pic!)

I used Alton Brown's recipe for blueberry muffins. They turned out great although I think I used too much flour. It calls for 12 1/2 oz, so I used 3 cups. I think 2 1/2 cups would've been better.

My batch yielded 15 muffins and they were gone within 24 hours, so they were a success.

Ian (our 2 year-old) was calling the berries "blue strawberries"... too cute!

Spiritual challenge: It was a good exercise to pray for our elders. Hopefully I'll remember to do that more often!

This week's food challenge is Quinoa. I'm a little nervous about this one, but I'm ready to eat!

The spiritual challenge is to listen to podcasts that edify.

Both quinoa and podcasts are things I've never tried, so this will truly be a new challenge for me. :)

Orange Muffins

How fun does "March Muffin Madness" sound to you??? The Kid Can Cook is hosting the madness this week and I thought it would be fun to join in.

I really like these muffins. My kids like them, too (I'll even share a story with you!) My husband likes them! That is incredible, considering there is fruit in these muffins. My husband DOES NOT eat fruit, but he eats these muffins. :)

Ian couldn't wait to sink his teeth in:

Patricia, our 4 year old, has made up her mind that she wants to have nothing to do with raisins or anything that slightly resembles them. As a matter of fact, on St. Patty's day, she didn't even try the Irish soda bread I baked even when the other kids were oohing and aahing over theirs.

This morning, when she saw me add craisins to the muffin batter, she started crying and telling me that she would only eat cereal. She was still crying 30 minutes later when I was serving the muffins. Her "no" was very clear. "I don't like craisins!" My husband was able to convince her to try 1/4 of one. If she didn't like it she could have her cereal. Before I knew it she polished the whole thing off and was asking for more!

Without further ado, I share the recipe...

Orange Muffins

• 1 whole orange (including peel)
• 3/4 cup craisins
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbs melted butter
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt

Grease your muffin pan and preheat oven to 400°.  Wash your orange really well. Peel off a thin layer of the rind and chop finely (you don't have to be very thorough with this step). Slice the orange in eighths or quarters. Discard as much of the remaining rind as possible and any seeds. Place the orange sections, chopped peel and craisins in a food processor and pulse until coarse.

In a large bowl, mix sugar and melted butter until crumb-like. Add milk, flour, baking soda, salt and vanilla all at once. Mix just until combined (You don't want to over mix). Add orange mixture and mix until moist. Feel free to add a tablespoon or two of milk if the orange didn't produce much juice.

Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes until center is done. (Even at this high heat it could use the full 20 minutes.) Makes 12 full sized muffins.

If you have any questions about any techniques used, I'd be happy to try to help. :)

Saturday Smiles

This past weekend the kids and I went strawberry picking. As much as I've wanted to, I have never actually gone picking before, so this was a special treat for me. I chose an 8 quart basket. Tabitha and Seth each got a little green bucket to fill. Tabitha did great, she filled hers in no time at all. She kept telling everyone that we were going to make a strawberry pie and she walked all over looking for the "most perfect strawberry in the whole wide world", of which she found many.

When we went up to pay for the berries I placed my basket on the counter. Tabitha knew the drill and she followed suit. Seth saw what we did and he, in all innocency, placed his empty basket on the counter. You could see how proud he was of himself, because he was sure he was doing what was necessary. That moment made me smile. Seeing him give his empty basket, meanwhile the crime was written all over his face. Red strawberry juice had painted his mouth and fingers. It was indeed precious.

Here are the goodies we got out of our labor:

Strawberry pie This was most delicious. My only advice would be to pile on lots of strawberries.

Strawberry jam My first time making jam! I put mine in five freezer containers (1 1/2 cups each). This is definitely easy to make, just like the recipe says.

Strawberry bread I must say that this isn't the greatest sweet bread that I've had, but it is good. I have four small loaves in my freezer.

I must admit that I am thrilled with the outcome of our little adventure.