Lemon Berry Sorbet - Frozen Yogurt

1 lemon - zest and juice

2-4T organic, local honey

1c plain Greek yogurt

3c frozen Cherry Berry Blend

~ cherries, blueberries, strawberries

Combine first 3 ingredients, and half the frozen fruit, in the blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add the remaining fruit and a tiny bit of water, if needed, to blend.  

Blend then stir, and repeat to help incorporate everything, making sure everything moves when the blender is on.  Pour into a glass container and freeze several hours, stirring in the frozen edges every 20-30 minutes, to keep it aerated and scoopable.  Makes eight 1/2c servings.  68 calories, 0gm of fat, 16gm of carbs, and just under 3gm of protein per serving.  The lemon gives this a nice 'zing' 🍋 😋 . . . Lin

Fruity Frozen Yogurt

1c frozen cranberries

1½c other frozen fruit

1c plain Greek yogurt

2oz. pure Maple syrup

This time I had a little bag of frozen strawberries, pineapple, papaya and mango to add to the cranberries.  This combination was probably sweet enough to omit the Maple syrup, but I didn't try it before adding half of what I had measured out.

This goes together so quick and easy.  Combine everything in the blender.  Freeze an hour or so then start stirring and breaking it up every 20-30 minutes.  Scoop it into bowls and serve before it freezes solid.  It would be far less labor intensive with an ice cream maker, but I'm not a fan of single-purpose gadgets, so the manual method works fine for me.  Be creative with your flavors and fruit choices for a great, cool summer dessert. . .Lin

Chicken and Vegetables with Tomato Cream Sauce

1#± chicken tenderloins
2 med. zucchini cut in cross-sections
6 sm. Yukon gold potatoes - quartered
1 med. onion - chopped
2/3c chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 4oz. jar diced pimentos

3oz sun-dried tomato pesto

1/2c sour cream

1c plain Greek yogurt

salt and pepper

Arrange the chicken, zucchini and potatoes in a 9x13" glass pan.  Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.  Meanwhile, in a non-stick pan, sauté' the onion until translucent, add the remaining ingredients and let stand while chicken and vegetables bake.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.  Makes about 6 servings. . .Lin

SuperFood Smoothie

1 med. banana

1 to 1-1/2 c frozen fruit

3/4-1c plain Greek yogurt

pure pomegranate juice

a little organic honey

Combine all in a blender, pour and drink.  I've found a frozen fruit mix I just love, sold at Walmart.  I'ts their Great Value brand, "Cherry Berry Blend" consisting of cherries, blueberries and strawberries.  A wonderful antioxidant, healthy fiber-filled combination.  I used to buy one that had blackberries instead of cherries, but all those blackberry seeds are obnoxious.  This is so nice.

You might not need it, but I recommend adding the honey.  It's good for a little natural sweetness and the more you read about this wonderful bee-product, the more you'll want to be including it in your diet anywhere you need a little burst of something sweet.  Honey is a very healthy sweetener.  All these ingredients are amazing.  If you have a little time, do a nutritional search on each of them and. . .prepare to be awed. . .Lin

SuperFruit Yogurt Smoothie

1 sm.-med. banana

3/4c pineapple juice

3/4c fresh or frozen cranberries

3/4c plain Greek yogurt

This is just packed with great nutrients.  Bananas for Vit. B-6, Vit. C, fiber and potassium.  Pineapple juice, in this amount, for 100% of your MDA requirement of Vit. C and bromelian which is a powerful, natural anti-inflammatory.  Cranberries contain Vit. C, fiber, and both these and pineapple juice are great antioxidants.

Good quality Greek yogurt has 15+g of protein for a serving this size, as well as 20% of your daily calcium needs.

Also, of course, the live and active probiotic cultures, that are easily digested in yogurt, and are SO important for maintaining good 'gut' health.

Get in the habit of buying these ingredients - whip one up each day, and your body will be happy! . . . Lin

Carrot-Cranberry-Banana Smoothie

1 med. carrot - scrubbed and sliced

3/4c fresh or frozen cranberries

1 sm.-med. banana

1c plain Greek yogurt

3/4c or more cherry juice

Combine all in the blender container.  Cover and pulse a few times to get the blending started.  If it doesn't blend easily, add a little more juice.  Blend on medium or high for a minute or so.  Pour and serve.  Makes 2 big glasses. . .Lin

Cherry-Berry Yogurt Sorbet

3c plain Greek yogurt

3c frozen cherry-berry mix

1/3c organic honey

Put all the yogurt, half the berries and all the honey in the blender.  Pulse and blend until smooth.  Pour half into a medium plastic bowl.  Add remaining fruit to the blender, blend again until all the fruit is incorporated.  Pour into the bowl.  Stir together until both batches are combined.

Freeze, stirring every half hour for the next 2 hours until it reaches serving consistency.  Any leftovers will freeze very hard.  Each half cup serving is under 100 calories with 0 fat.  A good ice cream alternative. . .Lin

Breakfast Smoothie

1 sliced carrot

1c± frozen strawberries and pineapple

1/2 lg. banana

1c plain high-protein (20%-25%) Greek yogurt

8-12oz. water - or cranberry-pomagranite juice

~ optional ~ a little honey or Maple syrup

Blend on high for 30 seconds.  This will make 2 medium size smoothies. . .Lin

Nancy's Egg Bake

5 eggs

1c plain Greek yogurt

10oz. pkg. frozen spinach

*2T Bisquick mix - optional

With a fork, beat the eggs and yogurt together.  Stir in thawed, drained spinach.  *(This turns out flat.  If you'd like it a little more risen, adding the Bisquick might help.)

Pour into a buttered glass pie pan for a quiche, or a square pan for the results shown.  Bake at 350° until done.  Remove from oven and top with cheese.  Let cool a while before cutting.

Celery-Bean Salad

1½c chopped celery

2 lg. garlic cloves – grated

¾-1c plain Greek yogurt

salt and pepper

1 can black beans

1 can red beans

Combine celery, garlic, yogurt and seasonings in a medium bowl. Drain and rinse beans then add to the bowl. Toss, mixing everything well. Chill a couple hours before serving. . .Lin

Yogurt-Fruit Smoothie

This is an option for breakfast or an after-work-out pick-me-up or a high energy meal-on-the-go sort of thing.  I'm not a fan of protein powders in smoothies.  If you read labels, you'll find some great plain Greek Yogurts with protein in the 20+ grams-per-cup range.  No need to add protein powder to that!

6oz     plain Greek Yogurt

1/2      banana

1c        frozen cranberries & blueberries

            (strawberries, dark cherries, etc.)

ice, a little cold water or club soda

*a drizzle of honey or real Maple syrup

Put all in a blender container and blend until smooth, adjusting consistency with the ice or cold water.  This is a great source of calcium, protein and antioxidants.  *optional - sweeten to taste, gradually eliminating this and just going with the natural flavors and sweetness of the fruits.

The actual breakdown on this recipe may be a bit surprising.  Using cranberries and blueberries, it comes out as follows:  Yield: 3 cups, containing: 228 calories with no sweetener added, 15g protein, 396mg potassium, 40g CARBS, 17g fiber.  The bad news is, the natural carb and sugar content is high - which could be a problem, however, the potassium and fiber is also high which is a good thing. . .Lin

Black Cherry-Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

3 c       plain Greek yogurt - Fage or Oikos brands best

3 c       frozen fruit - half black cherries and half blueberries

1/4-1/3 c   dark Maple syrup

Blend the above.  Pour into a covered bowl, freeze several hours - stirring hourly or so.  Serve as soon as it gets to the right consistency.  This keeps well - but it freezes like a brick!  Allow a little thawing time on the counter before serving leftovers.

I've been trying to perfect this idea for a while and I'm finally happy with this recipe.  It makes a frosty, fruity Sorbet-Frozen Yogurt dessert that's a healthier alternative to ice cream . . .Lin

Berry-Cherry Frozen Yogurt

2c  frozen fruit:
      strawberries, blueberries, black cherries

16 oz  plain Greek yogurt

2T dark maple syrup

Combine everything in a food processor.  When blended, put in a covered container and freeze, stirring every half hour until consistency is right.  This freezes very solid so it's best to eat it as soon as it's ready.  Makes 4 cups.

Compare this to the frozen yogurt or ice cream you have in your freezer.  I did nutrition calculations for a half cup serving:   (does ANYONE only eat a half cup?) — Calories - 65, Fat - 0gm, Carbs - 10gm, Fiber - 1gm, Protein - 6gm, Sodium - 21mg.

I see now that I posted a similar recipe in May.  Next I think I'll try Blueberry-Banana. . .Lin

Cherry-Berry Frozen Yogurt

I'm NOT a frozen yogurt person, I'm a high-sugar-high-fat-REAL-ice-cream kinda gal. However, with my total lack of discipline and moderation, it's gone in no time and the sugar isn't a good thing for me. So, I keep trying hard not to buy it.

The other day I stumbled on a recipe for lemon frozen yogurt. It sounded great other than all the sugar and egg yolks in the lemon curd. I decided to work on concocting someting of my own.  This recipe makes about 4 cups of a sorbet-type frozen yogurt which is best fresh - leftovers freeze rock-hard.

7 big strawberries

18 black cherries
4   T  pure maple syrup
16 oz plain Greek yogurt

Blend the fruit in a mini-prep or food processor. Add maple syrup (or honey) then whisk the fruit mixture into the yogurt. Put in a covered bowl or plastic container in the freezer, stirring a couple times the first hour or two to keep layers from forming. I'm not a fan of single-purpose gadgets, but if you have an ice cream maker, you could use that.

Get creative with your combinations! Peaches, blueberries, kiwi, bananas, mango, cranberries. Orange marmalade, apricot or plum jam would be awesome for flavor, with other fruit - if sugar isn't a problem. If using jam, you might be able to skip the maple syrup.

I used frozen fruit, thawed about an hour, but fresh would be great - with one exception. I'd recommend using canned pineapple. Fresh pineapple has an enzyme or chemical that keeps Jello from setting and I suspect it may not combine well with the cultures in the yogurt. . .Lin

Yogurt Fruit Smoothie

In a blender jar combine fresh or frozen fruit:
5 strawberries
10 dark cherries or 20 blueberries
15 cranberries
1/2 banana
1/2 c plain Greek yogurt - Athenos is best
1/2 - 1 c water or fruit juice
a drizzle of real Maple syrup

Combine and blend. You can add protein powder, but with the right yogurt, this recipe contains 6gm of protein. Makes about 3 cups. . .Lin