Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Popsicle Recipe

Summer is popsicle time, and this strawberry vanilla yogurt popsicle recipe is both healthy and delicious. Best of all, it whips up in about 5 minutes and uses just three ingredients. Time to make popsicles!

No, Rocky, you can’t have one!

Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Popsicle Recipe

I’m like a big kid. I’m addicted to ice pops. The kind that you buy in bulk from the store in plastic tubes. Pops in neon shades of bright blue, orange, yellow, red…100% sugar and artificial chemicals.

And I love them.

I know they aren’t good for me. As I round the corner and see middle age not just looming but just over the horizon, I know I can’t beat up my poor body anymore with all the junk food.

What is a popsicle lover supposed to do?

Make her own!

I bought two popsicle molds, one from Dollar General and the other from Wal-Mart. I freeze orange juice, cranberry juice, or other all-natural fruit juices in the smaller mold. When I crave a 3 p.m. popsicle (why do I always want something sweet and cold at 3 p.m.?!) I can just take one out of the freezer. It’s only 1/4 cup of fresh juice, and enough to make me feel content without ingesting all those chemicals.

Sometimes, however, a girl just wants more oomph in her popsicle. I found this recipe and of course tweaked it for my own needs. As you blend the mixture and pour it into popsicle molds, any leftover can be enjoyed as a smoothie. It’s delicious!

Ingredients for Strawberry Vanilla Yogurt Popsicles

Makes 8 typical popsicle treats.

2 cups of vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup of sugar
2 cups of strawberries, washed and with the stem and tops removed, cut into pieces

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend on smoothie setting until it’s thick and creamy. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for at least 6 hours. Don’t rush this; if you try to un-mold them too soon, the sticks pull out, leaving the popsicles in the tray. If that happens, you can spoon the popsicle mix out into a small dish and enjoy.

To remove popsicles from the plastic store molds, immerse the molds in a bowl of hot water for 1-2 minutes. Gently pull the popsicles out, wrap in plastic wrap individually, and refreeze.

You can substitute many fresh fruits for the strawberries. If you are using a very sweet fruit like pineapple, omit the sugar.

Enjoy!

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June 21, 2018 By Jeanne

Raspberry Jelly Muffin Recipe

This recipe results in sweet yet filling wrap-and-go breakfast muffins that have the spread baked right in. Make a batch on Sunday, wrap them individually in plastic, and pop them in the freezer. Then just grab and go. By the time you get to work or school they should be defrosted enough to enjoy or you can pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds or more until defrosted.

Muffin Recipes and Tea for Two – or Three

This Monday I had a rare treat – two hours in my schedule for friends. Conversation. Women with similar interests. Friends. Let me say that again – friends!

One of the hardest aspects of moving from New York to Virginia was leaving behind four women who had shared my ups and downs, triumphs and failures, life and death events since literally the moment I was born. My older sister. Close friends from grammar school, high school, college and the work force. These were women with whom I had a regular open invitation to their homes. We scheduled Friday evening ‘girl’s night out’ dinners at bistros in Huntington and Northport. Conversation, shopping trips, family parties, the doors were always open to one another.

Then I moved, and while there were many friendly people locally, making friends took time. It still does. People who I thought were friends turned out not to be friends – shades of sixth grade all over again. But others, introduced to me by early acquaintances and friends in my new home, have began to blossom into those long-lasting women friendships that thrive over tea, conversation, and the occasional shopping trip. And if our shopping trips are now to local Amish grocery stores, garden centers and craft fairs, well, so much the better!

This past week, Helen and her daughter Serena came over for tea. About two years ago they came for tea with Serena’s sister, Abby, and I didn’t understand that ‘tea’ could mean more than a mug of hot water and a tea bag. I began exploring ‘high tea’ fueled by my love of Victoria magazine and old-fashioned elegance. I decided that this year, I’d make my own version of ‘ high tea’ for my friends.

We had a delightful time (I’m in the red sweater on the far left) and Helen Brough pie. Pie! A woman after my own heart. More importantly, you know you’ve found a friend when someone brings you a bag of – gasp! treasure! – dried nettles. As in, herbal nettles for nettle tea! She has a supply from a friend in Pennsylvania. I bought garden seeds and plan to grow stinging nettles in pots on the deck for medicine tea. She must think I am crazy….but all herbalists and gardeners are to some extend, I think.

So while we sipped tea from my favorite brocante china, and my cats played tag and leaped on the table to steal pie crumbs, we nibbled on these muffins. They are perfect for tea, for snacks, and of course, for breakfast. Enjoy!

Raspberry Jelly Filled Muffins

You can substitute any flavor of jelly for the raspberry jelly – grape, strawberry, orange, apricot.

Do not use paper muffin cups to bake these muffins. Some of the jelly might leak out onto the bottom of the muffin cup. If you use paper, it sticks, and will tear the muffin apart leaving you with nothing but crumbs. Use old-fashioned shortening to grease the muffin tin thoroughly. I use a paper towel, swiped inside the shortening can and then rubbed inside each muffin cup on the metal tin to grease the pans.

Grease the muffin tin by hand using shortening.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and grease one 12-cup muffin tin.

Mix by hand:

1 and 2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl, mix:

3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, well beaten

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and mix by hand the wet ingredients into the dry. Then place about 1 tablespoon of muffin batter into each of the cups, filling it 1/3.

Place one teaspoon of your favorite jelly on top of each 1/3 filled muffin cup.

Then place the remaining batter over the top of the jelly. Each muffin tin should be about 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 minutes then let cool for five minutes before removing them from the muffin tins. Serve warm.

Enjoy and may you find friendship, tea, laughter, and nettles (if you want them) as medicinal as I do!

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February 16, 2018 By Jeanne

In Dessert Recipes

Peach Cobbler Recipe

I don’t have pictures of this peach cobbler recipe because alas, we ate it so fast I forgot to take pictures. Yes, it was that good. I made peach cobbler using my own recipe adapted from an older recipe in the Fanny Farmer Cookbook. If you have fresh peaches from your garden or from the supermarket, you can make this wonderful peach cobbler recipe.

Recipe from the Garden: Peach Cobbler Recipe

To make this peach cobbler recipe, you will need:

An oven proof 2-quart bowl

10-15 ripe, fresh peaches, peeled, pit removed, sliced
1 cup of flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1 stick of butter
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease the bowl with a bit of butter, then set aside the stick for later.

Peel the peaches, then slice and remove and discard the pits. Layer the fresh peaches in the greased bowl until all peaches are layered.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse pebbles. Spread the mixture over the top of the fresh peaches.

Bake the cobbler for 30 to 45 minutes or until the top is crunchy and slightly carmelized. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

July 21, 2017 By Jeanne

In Dessert Recipes

Amazing Vanilla Peppermint Fudge Recipe

This amazing vanilla peppermint fudge recipe makes a great gift or treasure for your Christmas dessert table. Just be warned: it’s very sweet, so if you don’t have a strong sweet tooth, it may be “too much”. And it’s addictive. Highly addictive. Here’s to vanilla peppermint fudge!

Vanilla Fudge or Vanilla Peppermint Fudge Recipe

My family loves to tease me about my fudge-making disasters.

I remember trying to make fudge in July. I was around ten years old. My mom had an ancient Betty Crocker cookbook. I think it was a 1930s edition.

It had vanilla and chocolate fudge recipes, and I was determined to make them. My fudge came out runny. It was about a thousand degrees in the kitchen.

Now fast-forward to being a grown up. I’m still fascinated by fudge. Only this time, I know the secret: sweetened, condensed milk. I found the original 5-ingredient fudge recipe which, if you have never tasted it, is a winner. Trust me on this. I mail crates of this stuff out to business colleagues, friends and family, and they tell me it’s gone in seconds. It’s delicious and so easy to make.

This vanilla peppermint fudge recipe is even easier! I’m not kidding. It really is. All you need are five ingredients, a pan, and it’s go time – or fudge time, as the case may be.

Vanilla Peppermint Fudge Recipe

You will need…

One big bag of Nestle white chocolate chips. (48 ounce)
One can of sweetened condensed milk. (14 ounces)
One teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.
A pinch of salt.
Two candy canes, crushed.

I lined my pan with wax paper, but non-stick aluminum foil works better. Line your pan. You will need a refrigerator-safe 8 x 8 glass Pyrex or Corning Ware dish. Line it with the aluminum foil or wax paper to prevent sticking.

Take the candy canes out of the wrapper and crush them into tiny chips. To crush the canes, either use a mortar and pestle, or place in a heavy bag and hit it with a spoon until the candy canes are crushed.

Place the chips, condensed milk, and vanilla into a pan and melt on low heat, stirring constantly to avoid sticking. When it’s entirely melted, add the salt (just a tiny bit or omit entirely). Pour the mix into the pan. Sprinkle the candy canes on top.

Refrigerate for several hours. To serve, remove from the fridge, peel off the paper or foil, and cut into squares. Refrigerate leftovers and enjoy.

Happy holidays!

December 11, 2016 By Jeanne

1 In Dessert Recipes

New Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

It’s sweet potato season here at Seven Oaks Farm, my small farm here in Virginia. And that means enjoying sweet potatoes in all their glory – including as pie.

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables to grow in Virginia. The first year I had a garden, I planted them. They seem to flourish in our warm climate and although I always harvest them late in the season, they are quite forgiving. They don’t seem to mind a late harvest and provide me with plenty of sweet potatoes for the pantry.

This spring, I started sweet potato slips, or small, slender roots saved from last year, in water, and then transplanted the newly rooted slips into the garden. Eight slips were started; six survived. Five of the six survived the transplanting process. The results: approximately 25 pounds of sweet potatoes. I’d say that’s a success.

Right now, my harvest awaits in the garage, but next weekend, I hope to can my sweet potatoes. Canned sweet potatoes can be used to make mashed sweet potatoes or for the filling of a sweet potato pie.

Sweet potato pie tastes much like pumpkin pie. Perhaps it’s the spices, but the color and consistency are similar, too. It lacks the certain ‘zing’ of pumpkin but contains a little less sugar. I like to think I’m getting my vitamin A from my sweet potato pie. Yes, that’s what I tell myself…

This recipes for sweet potato pie comes out slightly firmer and with a taste closer to pumpkin pie. I made it this weekend to use up last year’s canned sweet potatoes; if you have some in your pantry, it’s perfect for pie filling. If you only have fresh sweet potatoes, they must be peeled, cooked, and mashed before using as your pie filling.

Enjoy!

The pie is done when the center is set or firm.

Sweet Potato Pie Recipe

For one 9″, deep dish piecrust, you will need:

Great Value (Walmart brand) premade, frozen pie crust.
1 quart of canned sweet potatoes (about 2 cups), drained
1/2 cup of sugar
2/3 stick of butter or margarine
1 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place one frozen pie shell on a baking sheet. Prick the bottom of the pastry shell with a fork several times. Bake for 10 minutes, then allow to cool while you prepare the pie filling.

In an electric mixer, beat together the sugar and butter or margarine; add evaporated milk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix in the canned sweet potatoes. Keep on medium speed, mixing in cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Mix for one to two minutes. Pour into prepared pastry shell. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 350. Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350 or until the center of the pie is firm. We “jiggle” the pie gently; if the middle swooshes or wiggles too much, it isn’t set yet. Let cool, enjoy, and place leftovers in the fridge.

October 18, 2016 By Jeanne

In Dessert Recipes/ Easy Healthy Recipes

Got a Juicer? Easy Carrot Muffin Recipe Using Pulp from the Juicer!

Do you have a juicer? You can make these carrot muffins from the pulp leftover from your juicing adventures. But be warned – these muffins are both filling and addictive.

Carrot Muffin Recipe from Juicer Pulp

I came up with this carrot muffin recipe from juicer pulp after seeing an elaborate, so-called ‘health food’ recipe in the booklet that came with our juicer. It called for egg whites, whole wheat flour – basically foods we don’t eat. I created this carrot muffin recipe based on others I found online, adapting them to the juicer pulp left in our Jack Lalanne juicer after making a glass of carrot juice. It’s a great recipe for those times when you make carrot juice and you have a lot of pulp leftover.

Jack Lalanne PJP Power Juicer Pro Stainless-Steel Electric Juicer

If you grow your own carrots, you’ll have plenty to make this recipe and more. My own garden carrots work well, but I also picked up some organic carrots from the grocery store marked down on sale. Anytime you can find fresh carrots, juicing them or shredding and making muffins is a great way to use up the excess. Be sure to scrub the exterior of your carrots thoroughly, cut off the tips, and use only organic carrots if you plan to use the pulp in your carrot muffin recipe.

Carrot Muffin Recipe

This recipe takes about 30 minutes to make. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease 24 muffin tins.

You will need:

3 1/2 cups of carrot pulp from the juicer. If you don’t have a juicer, substitute 3 cups of finely shredded carrots.
2 cups of white flour
3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
4 eggs
1 cup of vegetable oil (reduce to 3/4 if using optional carrot juice, below)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup raisins (optional)
1/4 cup of carrot juice (optional)

Preheat the oven. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In another bowl, mix the eggs, oil and sugar. Fold in the flour mixture. Fold in the shredded carrots and raisins. Pour 2/3 full into greased muffin tins and baked for 20 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes, then remove from muffin tins and cool on a plate. The extras freeze well. Makes 24.

Keep growing!

#foodieFriday

August 12, 2016 By Jeanne

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