Greek Yogurt Cheesecake.........What???

Yes, it's absolutely true, you can make a delicious cheesecake using greek yogurt! And it is so simple to make.  You have got to try it and see for yourself just how easy it is to make.  The best part is that using greek yogurt will save you on a few calories which is a bonus this time of year!!


Makes one 9" round springform pan

For the crust:

1 cup crushed graham wafers
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar

pulse everything together in a processor.  transfer to your pan.  press firmly with your fingers to coat the bottom of the pan and slightly up the sides.

Filling:

2 cups greek vanilla yogurt  (I used 2%, but Im sure any kind will do)
4 eggs
1TBSP corn starch

Whip everything in a mixer.  (see......I told you it was easy!!)

pour into pan.

Bake at 350' until slightly golden around sides, or sides start to come away from the pan.  about 35 minutes.

Topping:

You can certainly top this cheesecake with canned pie filling, but I made a blueberry topping very easily.

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
2TBSP cornstarch

Heat all together in a small saucepan on medium heat, once it comes to a boil and thickens remove from heat.  Pour onto warm cheesecake and let the cheesecake come to room temperature, then refrigerate.  Best if made a day ahead, but if you can't, refrigerate it for at least 4 hours in advance.


Enjoy!

Apple coffee cake

We had a surplus of apples on our tree this year, and I always love to try something new with them.  This cake is so moist, and the original recipe encourages you to make the cake a day in advance so the flavours in the cake deepen.  It is a fabulous cake, and is definitley a keeper recipe. Enjoy!

Adapded from epicurious



3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups oil
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups peeled, cored, and thickly sliced apples
1 cup chopped walnuts ( I did not add)
1 cup raisins (I did not add)
Vanilla ice cream for serving (optional)

preparation
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch tube pan. Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda.
2. Beat the oil and sugar together in a mixer with a paddle (or in a bowl with a hand mixer) for 5 minutes. Add the eggs and beat until the mixture is creamy. Stir in the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla, apples, (walnuts, and raisins  if adding them ) and stir until combined.
3. Turn the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before turning out.
4. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Banana Coconut muffins

I always seem to have brown bananas on my counter.  So, of course I make banana cake, loaf, muffins, smoothies etc.  I tried these muffins and since I'm a coconut lover, I thought the combo was stellar!

Enjoy!

Banana Coconut Muffins


2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 very ripe bananas
1 cup oil (I used 1/2 cup coconut oil, and 1/2 cup oil)
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, plus more for sprinkling on top of muffins

Whip bananas, oil, sugar and vanilla on high speed of mixer until smooth and creamy.  Add eggs.  Continue to beat until combined.  In another bowl add all dry ingreedients.  Add to wet ingreedients.  fold gently with a spatula until moistened and combined.  Scoop into muffin lined tins.  Sprinkle with a bit of flaked coconut.  Bake at 350' for 15-20 min.  Makes 24.

Best Ever Rhubarb Crumble

I love cook books.  I have a bit of an addiction really.  No matter where I am I gravitate to cookbooks, and could sit and flip though the pages over and over again.  I found this recipe in an old coil bound book from a thrift store, and it was called " best rhubarb crumble ever".  I am always looking for some good rhubarb recipes and was drawn to this one.  It truly is a wonderful recipe and the crumble top is amazing.  I have used it several times since discovering this special recipe and have substituted any fruit with the rhubarb.  Hope you enjoy it as much as our family does.

Rhubarb Crumble

Butter a 9 x 13 dish

In a large bowl combine:
8 cups rhubarb, or any kind of fruit
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Toss to coat all the fruit with flour mixture and then pour it into the prepaired baking dish.

In another bowl combine:
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup butter, melted

Combine all ingredients and sprinkle over fruit.  Bake  at 375' for about 35 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temp, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

Nicoise Salad

Don't you just love having salads in the summer time?  I love a good salad for lunch with all sorts of fresh goodness from the garden.  This salad, is a great way to use up leftover salmon.  It is a hearty salad, with the potato, salmon and eggs in it but it is a beautiful meal to have on a hot summer evening with an ice cold glass of vino......

Nicoise salad


2 handfuls of green beans, trimmed
10-15 baby new potatoes
1 1/2 cups roasted salmon or tuna, (or canned would be fine)
2 roma tomatoes, cut into wedges or chunks
4 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters
1/2 cup black olives, pitted
1 large handful of arugula (optional, but its sooo good!)

Dressing:
in a jar or salad container combine:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar, cider vinegar is fine
1 tsp honey
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Shake well and keep refrigerated

Boil potatoes until fork tender, drain and put them in a bowl with very cold water or an ice bath.  Do the same with the beans.  Cook the beans only a few minutes and quickly transfer them to an ice bath.  Boil your eggs, peel them and then chill. (These ingredients call all be done the day before you'd like to serve this dish to make less work for you on salad day!)

To serve this salad, assemble every item in rows on a shallow platter, it looks so beautiful when it's done.  Drizzle with all the dressing.

You're going to love this one......

Baked, Not Fried!

The kids go on these kicks.  They ate a cheese string every day in their lunch for months.  They won't touch them anymore.  It happened just after I purchased a costco sized pack of cheese strings, of course.  So I was wondering how to use up the pack, and thought about making mozza sticks.  I love mozza sticks as an appetizer when we go to a restaurant.  So I did some research and found that I just made my own little concoction and they were a hit!

Baked Mozza Sticks With Marinara Sauce

20 Cheese strings
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
2 TBSP corn starch
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup corn flake crumbs
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil


Get three large shallow bowls.  In one bowl place the eggs.  In another bowl place flour, corn starch and seasoning salt, and in the last bowl place bread crumbs, corn flakes and herbs.

Step 1: roll cheese string in egg, shake off any excess
Step 2: roll cheese string in flour mixture
Step 3: roll cheese string in egg mixture
Step 4: roll cheese string in bread mixture

line each cheese string on a parchment lined baking sheet.

All this rolling will ensure a very crispy cheese string.  At this point you need to freeze the prepaired cheese strings for 2 hours and up to two days.

When you are ready to bake them, preheat your oven to broil.  Place cheese strings on top rack for 4 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn each cheese string.  Place in oven again for 4 more minutes or longer if you want them more crispy. (just be careful not to over bake them or the cheese will begin to ooze out)

Serve warm with a bowl of warmed marinara sauce.

Marinara sauce:

1 TBSP olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic
1 cup of tomato puree (crushed tomatoes, or diced)
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of sugar

In a small pot heat your oil. add chopped garlic and turn in the pan for about 10 seconds.  add tomatoes.  Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper, and pinch of sugar.

These were a hit today, and guess who loved the most.......the same kids who refused to eat cheese strings!!

Have a great day,
Lucia

Caramelized Sweet Potato Fries

Who doesn't love fries?  These sweet potato fries are divine.  I try and make them as often as possible, everyone just loves them around here.  They are soft on the inside, crispy and caramelized on the outside, and no need for ketchup.......these fries are delicious on their own.  If you have any leftover, cut them up into bite sized pieces, and toss them into a salad for a nice twist.

Go get yourselves a sweet potato and try them this week, you'll love them!

Enjoy!

L.

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up into fries or bite sized pieces

2 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP brown sugar

1  TBSP chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400' 

In a large bowl mix everything together, making sure to coat he potatoes with all the gooey goodness. 

Transfer to a cookie sheet and roast  for 25-30 minutes or until you just can't take it anymore and need to try one. Go ahead. 

I made these ones into bite sized pieces but feel free to cut them into long strips. Anything goes!