Yogurt Cream

Here is the recipe from Emilee's link for the Granola from below.

Yogurt Creme

1 1/4 cups of cream

1 1/2 cups yogurt. PLAIN, UNFLAVORED yogurt

1/2 to 3/4 cup brown sugar. It’s necessary.

Begin by pouring the yogurt into a bowl. Add in the cream. Don’t be afraid, my child. God made cows. Now, with a whisk, careful stir the mixture together, mixing well. Now begin sprinkling the brown sugar over the top. You don’t want any of it to land in a big clump. Now: DO NOT STIR THE MIXTURE. Cover the bowl with foil or plastic wrap. place the bowl in the fridge for several hours. We’re going to let the brown sugar slowly dissolve into the creamy mixture underneath. And in the process, there will be a little separation between the cream and yogurt. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that.

And when you take it out, it’ll look something like this:

Don’t freak out! I know it looks a little funky. But just wait—open your mind for a moment.

When you’re ready to serve, wash whatever berries (or other fruit) you’d like to use. (Strawberries, blackberries, even grapes are delicious with this.)

Just throw some fruit into the container you’d like to use. Now, if you like things lumpy, funky, and strange, just grab a couple of spoonfuls of the cream mixture WITHOUT STIRRING IT FIRST.

And plop it right on top.

Granola

Here's the recipe I made. It's super easy, and always delicious.

7-8 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 cup honey
1/4 cup water
2 T. vanilla
2 tsp. salt
2 T. cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened coconut (optional)
Also optional: Almonds, pecans, sunflower seeds, or whatever kind of nut you like.

Mix all of the ingredients together (with your hands--do NOT use a Kitchen-Aid) and spread out on two greased cookie sheets. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Stir and bake another 15 minutes. Scrape the bottom of cookie sheet as soon as it is done to prevent sticking. Cool and then store in an airtight container.

My family loves this served with fresh berries, yogurt cream (which we make with half-and-half in an attempt to be not quite so naughty), and the granola on top. YUM! Best summer breakfast ever.

Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza

This is a Rachel Ray recipe I tried tonight that went over well with Mike and our buddy Brian.

Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza

3/4 P. Chicken Breast Cutlets

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tsp. Grill Seasoning, McCormick Montreal Seasoning is recommended

1 Pizza Dough (I used an instant Betty Crocker packet that was $0.79 and it worked great)

Corn Meal or Flour for handling dough

2 Tbsp. Butter

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce or eyeball it

2 to 3 Tbsp. Hot Sauce, med. to spicy (I used Cholula hot sauce)

1/3 C. Tomato Sauce (if you're not a tomato sauce lover I would take it down to 1/4 c.)

1 C. Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

1/2 C. Crumbled Blue Cheese (I bought a wedge and tried to crumble it. I would not recommend doing that)

3 Scallions thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Preheat Grill to high.

Drizzle chicken with EVO and sprinkle with grill seasoning. Add chicken to grill, cook about 3 minutes on each side.

Stretch dough to form pizza using corn meal or flour to handle. (if you let it rest and warm up it will be easier to handle) Place on pan.

In med. skillet over med. heat melt butter and stir in Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and tomato sauce. Remove chicken from from grill and thinly slice. Add chicken to sauce and coat. Cover pizza dough with saucy chicken mix, cheeses and scallions. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until crispy.

Blueberry Cobbler

Mike says one of the great things about this is it's not so sweet that you can't eat a lot of it in one sitting:)

Blueberry Cobbler

1/2 stick Unsalted Butter

1 C. All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 C. Granulated Sugar

3/4 C. Milk

2 C. Fresh Blueberries

1/4 C. Water

1/2 C. Granulated Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in 8x8 baking dish in microwave. In bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and milk. Pour evenly over butter. In bowl combine blueberries, sugar and water. Spoon evenly over batter, do not stir. Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Batter rises to become buttery top crust.

It's yummy with ice cream.

Best Brownies EVER. No JOKE

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook.
To Make Frosting: Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons cocoa, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Frost brownies while they are still warm.

Holy crap.

A Yummy Drink

My buddy Stephanie made this drink for my baby shower. It was super simple and went over really well. Bonus: you can make it Diabetic friendly or regular:) It's perfect for any get together.

Yummy Drink

2 Liters Sprite or 7up (Steph used Sprite Zero cause she loves me)

1 Packet Raspberry Crystal Light (not the single serving kind)

2 or 3 sliced strawberries

Mix the packet into the Pop and add strawberry floaties for garnish:)

Easy.

Aunt Steph's Pasta*

*Moved it for you, Mom. :)

Chicken Garlic Pasta
6-8 cloves of fresh garlic
1 T. plus 1 t. oil
chicken bullion
1 purple, red, or yellow onion ( we ended up using a yellow onion)
1 yellow or orange pepper sliced very thin (again we had to go with a green pepper)
2 green onions sliced
1/4 t. dried red pepper lakes (add more for more spice)
1 lb. penne pasta
2 bunches of broccoli (cleaned and cut into flowerets)
12 cherry tomatoes, halved (didn't use because Annie thinks they are poisonous)
pinch of ground nutmeg
Fresh, shredded basil ( fresh is best, but we used dried)
2 c. cooked chicken, cubed ( She usually grills it with jsut salt and pepper--we stir fried it in a little olive oil-still very good)
Freshly ground parmesan cheese ( we used 6 oz.)
Fresh ground pepper

Heat olive oil to medium heat and add garlic and chicken. Add the opinion, peppers, pepper flakes, green onion. cook , tossing until onion is crisp and tender.

Boil pasta until partially cooked. Add the broccoli to the pasta pot and let it cook for 5 more minutes until still slightly crisp. Scoop our the broccoli and set aside and save 2 cups of the boiling water and add 2 bullion cubes to it until dissolved. Thoroughly drain pasta.

Return the pasta and broccoli over low heat to the onion and the pepper mixture. AD the 2 cups of bullion, cherry tomatoes, nutmeg, basil and ground pepper. Stir just until tomatoes are hot and serve with fresh parmesan cheese.

We loved this for dinner tonight. Annie was the cook, but we all gobbled it down.