Kid-Friendly Tuna Pasta Salad

Isnt it funny how when moms of young children get together, all they do is talk about children? One of the most popular topics, Ive found, is food. My child wont eat vegetables or My child eats anything or My child wont eat anything but sausages or even My child wont eat anything at all!! You really do hear it all. Sometimes the question of what to put in their childs lunch box comes up, as the every-day Vegemite sandwich and apple can get pretty boring. I try to recall all Ive read in kids issues of Donna Hay magazines to give some advice pizza muffins, chicken wraps, frittatas, potato salad. Ive tried a lot of things with my own kids, but they always end up wanting Vegemite or ham and cheese sandwiches (yes, my kids are pretty boring when it comes to food!).

My daughter is the most adventurous. Shell give up her Vegemite sandwich for a tuna, corn and mayonnaise sandwich on occasion. My 5-year-old son though, he wouldnt give up his ham and cheese sandwich for anything.

One of the most successful of Donna Hays lunch box recipes for children, in our experience, was a tuna pasta salad. It is the easiest sort of recipe you can imagine. In fact, your child could basically prepare this recipe for themselves, except for perhaps cooking the pasta. Just to prove this point, I asked my 7-year-old to make it herself, while I cooked the pasta.

All she had to do was slice a few cherry tomatoes and a cucumber (we usually use Lebanese cucumbers). Then whisk together some mayonnaise, lemon juice and seasoning. Once the pasta was cooked, she stirred everything together with a can of tuna.

And she was done! She did a brilliant job and it tasted fantastic.

She loves this in her lunchbox alongside her sandwich. It adds a bit of freshness to her lunch, which she enjoys.

You can use any type of pasta you like; we usually prefer the spiral kind, but we use whatever we have in the pantry. In the case above, we used elbow macaroni.

This pasta salad is super easy and delicious, making a perfect addition to any lunchbox or meal, especially when you dont want to do a lot of cooking. It would be excellent for a picnic, as well.

Just a side note: if you wish to include this in your or your childs lunchbox, be sure to include an ice pack if refrigeration is unavailable. Eat the pasta salad as soon as possible, and dont eat any leftovers from your lunchbox. Although I doubt youd have any leftovers!

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Summertime Tuna Pasta Salad recipe Broccoli, carrots and celery add color and crunch to this creamy tuna and pasta salad flavored with dill weed. It's perfect for a light summer entree. Kid-Friendly Recipes - KitchenDaily - Recipes and Cooking ... Kid-Friendly Recipes with ratings, reviews and menus Tuna And Pasta Salad Recipe - Taste.com.au Tuna and pasta salad recipe - Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling water following packet directions or until al dente. Add the asparagus in the last 2 ... Tuna Pasta Salad recipe Green peas and red onion add vibrant color to this creamy tuna and macaroni salad flavored with dill weed. Storecupboard pasta salad recipe - Recipes - BBC Good Food Dress it up - Griddled tuna salad Mix 200g leftover pasta with juice lemon, bunch chopped parsley, 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, 2 chopped spring onions, 1 tbsp ... Tuna Pasta Salad Recipe - Allrecipes.com This delightful salad is a quick and easy toss of delicate sea shell pasta, chopped lettuce, sliced scallions, canned tuna, peas and Cheddar cheese. Pour in your ... Pasta and Tuna Salad (Ensalada de Pasta y Atn) My Colombian ... I love tuna and sometimes when I dont feel like cooking I just open a can of tuna, ad some fresh squeezed lime juice and chopped tomatoes and that is my Cold Macaroni Tuna Salad Recipe - Food.com - 26085 Wow this was good! The only changes I made were taking the peas straight out of the freezer and cooking them with the pasta and upping the amount of black pepper to 1 ... Picnic-Perfect Tuna-and-Macaroni Salad Recipe MyRecipes.com This colorful macaroni salad with tuna features grated carrot, chopped celery and red onion, all tossed in a creamy mayonnaise-yogurt dressing. Serve it chilled as a ... Cold Tuna Macaroni Salad Recipe - Allrecipes.com The ingredients are classic - tuna, macaroni, mayonnaise, celery and tomatoes. But we never seem to get tired of this good old comfort food. Great for a summer meal.

Homemade Ding Dongs

If I were to reminisce about good times with my dad, I would think about him letting me drive his big red tractor, or sitting outside on the swing watching a distant thunderstorm, or sitting on the porch asking him how big airplanes or alligators are. Id also think about how he was very picky (and Im sure he still is!) about how his spaghetti is cooked, which eventually encouraged me to cook perfect al dente pasta. One of the sillier things Id think about, though, is the love we had for Ding Dongs!

Id imagine that a majority of you have just asked, What is a Ding Dong?! Ding Dongs were manufactured by Hostess, which is now no longer operating as of just a few weeks ago; they are a little round chocolate cake coated in chocolate with a marshmallowy center. They may also be known as Ring Dings or King Dons, depending on where in North America you live. Originally, Ding Dongs were wrapped in aluminum foil and sold in a box of 12. More recently however, they were individually wrapped in a white plastic package.

What is it thats so silly about these Ding Dongs, my dad and I? Well, we loved Ding Dongs (and Twinkies and Cupcakes, while were at it!) so we often had a box of them in the kitchen. Because we loved Ding Dongs so much, we also always had lots of foil wrappers (as I mentioned, they were originally individually wrapped in aluminum foil), and those wrappers always ended up being crumpled into little foil balls that my dad and I would throw at each other! Wed always pick up after ourselves, but one day we discovered a large number of those foil balls behind our big old Montgomery Ward television, ones which must have bounced off our heads or off the wall during a foil ball fight! We had a big laugh at the pile of foil balls that we had unknowingly collected over the years!

It was the recent closure of Hostess that made my homemade version of Hostess Cupcakes the most popular recipe on my blog for a few days straight, and it was also the inspiration for me to make a homemade version of Ding Dongs.

This is a relatively easy recipe to prepare. Im not even going to provide a recipe in this post, but Ill walk you through the how-to.

First, choose your favorite chocolate cake recipe (I wouldnt recommend a box mix, as those cakes usually arent sturdy enough to hold their shape when cut). You can prepare your cake in one of two ways; as cupcakes, or as a 913-inch cake. In my case, I prepared them as cupcakes, but used cupcake liners that are flat, rather than pleated (like these). If you chose the 913-inch cake method, use a 3-inch round cutter to cut circles from the cake once it is completely cooled. If your cupcakes (or cake) have a large dome, just slice it off with a knife to get a flat top, then flip it over so that the flat bottom is facing up (so youll have a nice flat top to your faux Ding Dongs).

Next, choose a filling. There are lots of faux Hostess filling recipes; you can choose from a 7-minute frosting, a frosting that uses Marshmallow Creme or Marshmallow Fluff, or take the easy route and simply fill it with plain Marshmallow Creme/Fluff!

Okay, I admit, I did it the easy way and used straight Marshmallow Fluff! I have a special pastry tip to fill cupcakes, which I used to fill these cakes. If you dont have one of these, you can use the cone method, but Id recommend cutting the cone shape out of the bottom of the cakes so that the top of them will stay nice and flat.

Lastly, if youve got 12 cakes like I did, melt around 300g of semi-sweet chocolate (say, maybe around 50% cocoa); if you made more or less cakes, adjust the amount of chocolate accordingly. Other homemade Ding Dong recipes may use some oil or butter in the melted chocolate to soften it a bit, but I remember the chocolate coating on Ding Dongs as being hard (well, not *that* hard, but it did crack when I bit into it) so I opted for just plain chocolate. This part is a little tricky, especially if you want to have a smooth coating of chocolate. If youve cut your cakes, dont dip them into the chocolate as the crumbs will go into the melted chocolate and you wont have a smooth coating. I used a spoon and poured the chocolate on top of the cakes, which I had sitting on a wire cooling rack. After the chocolate had set, I carefully flipped them upside down and used the spoon to spread a layer of melted chocolate on the bottoms of the cakes.

For presentation purposes, I wrapped the cakes up in aluminum foil for that nostalgic feel. It is, however, a good way to store them, as they might stick together if you just place them in a container without being individually wrapped up..

So, are you sad about Hostess having closed down? What was your favorite Hostess snack?

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Homemade Diva Ding Dongs - The Diva Dish So Ive got this thing called a butt. I mean, everyone has them, unless your like my husband, than you have to look real hard for his. But mine, my butt, is very ... Ding Dong Nutrition Facts, Ding Dong Calories, Nutritional Information Ding Dong nutrition facts and nutritional information. Find calories, carbs, and nutritional contents for Ding Dong and over 2,000,000 other foods at MyFitnessPal.com. homemade devil dog, ding dong or hostess cake smitten kitchen A home cooking weblog from a tiny kitchen in New York City. The place to find all of your new favorite things to cook. Chocolate-Glazed Cupcakes with Vanilla Creme Filling Our Best Bites I have to start this post by sharing my amusement of last weeks poll results. Did you notice? Two options were clear stand-outs among the choices and in the end ... Homemade Ding Dongs or Ring Dings or whatever you call them ... Our cooking club theme last month was Gourmet Kids Menu. We were all tasked to "gourmetify" a favorite kids food. We watched the movie Big while chowing down on some ... Homemade Ding Dongs - A Cozy Kitchen Hi! I have a weekend project for you: Ding Dongs. Yeah, its like that. Nothing complicated about themmaybe a little time consumingmaybe just a tad. Nothing ... Homemade Ding Dongs :: www.howtobaker.com Prep Time: 40-45 minutes. Bake Time: 12-14 minutes. Yield: 24-26 Ding Dongs. Recipe inspired by: A How-to Baker Original. Next to Twinkies, Ding Dongs were the ... How to make homemade Ding Dongs - Indianapolis Food Examiner.com According to Hostess, the name ding dong comes from the chiming bells, they once used in their early TV commercials. Ding Dongs are a mouthful of chocolate goo Ding Dong Cake Recipe - Food.com - 107265 My mom used to make this. It's really good in the summer and it won't heat up your kitchen. Let's Dish Recipes: HOMEMADE DING DONGS Welcome to my online recipe collection! I love to cook--and take pictures--and this is where I dish about my favorite foods and how to make them.

Cinnamon French Toast With Citrus Butter

Have you ever given someone a gift that made them so happy that they cried? My dad and I have. Its a wonderful feeling to make someone so happy.

My dad and I gave my mom a present at Christmas, years ago, that made her so happy that she cried. Now that I think about it, the gift wasnt anything so special, it was just a doll, but it was a beautiful porcelain bride doll that she loved. Something you must understand my grandma (moms mom), my mom and I all love dolls!

We were Christmas shopping one day, mom, dad and I, when we came across a Geppeddo kiosk. Geppeddo used to make collectible porcelain dolls. There was a doll in particular that my mom saw and fell in love with, big time! It was rather expensive, at $100, so we knew it wouldnt be something she could have. So on we went down the mall in search of presents for the rest of the family.

Somewhere along the way, dad and I were alone, and I think I initiated the conversation, asking dad if he happened to have $100 to surprise mom and buy that doll. Or maybe it was his idea. I dont quite remember. But somehow, we got that doll without mom knowing, which was quite miraculous.

Christmas morning came, and we opened all of our presents. Except, I saved moms doll for last. She didnt even realize it was there, as it was sitting with the wrapped presents for the rest of the family that we would see later that day. After all of our presents were unwrapped, I said that that was it, there were no more. But wait, whats this one? I dont remember seeing this one here before! Oh, its for mom! From Santa! The look on her face was full of confusion. I could hardly maintain my excitement, while trying to look puzzled myself. She started unwrapping it and saw the Geppeddo logo, and the look of confusion was replaced with tears of joy at seeing this beautiful doll that she wanted but was sure shed never have. She was completely over the moon!

Its one of my biggest Christmas memories and I still feel that same excitement and happiness that I felt on that day when I think about it. Ive tried to find a photo of that doll on the interwebs, but I cant find it anywhere! The only picture I have of it is in my wedding photo album; its in the background of a photo that the photographer took just after I was all ready to walk down the aisle.

The bride doll is just to the left of my head, behind me. Although we havent talked about the doll in years (there are tons of other stuff to talk about these days!), Im sure she still loves the doll just as much as she did when she first saw it at that kiosk in the mall years ago.

Speaking of things my mom loves, Im sure shed also love this cinnamon French toast with citrus butter that I made the other day!

Im the kind of person that loves French toast with a good drizzle of maple syrup, but when I saw this recipe in a Lurpak butter recipe pamphlet, I had to give it a go. Basically, its your average French toast, but instead of maple syrup, you mix a bit of orange and lime zests into butter and place a dollop on the warm toast. Its other-wordly delicious, and I only say that because I thought that there was no other way to enjoy French toast than with maple syrup. This recipe has totally made me rethink the world of French toast.

Yes, Im pretty sure my mom would love this too. Shes in the US, while Im in Australia, so I cant share it with her, but I can only give her the recipe and hope shell try it one day. Shes not much of a cook, but I think she could handle this; its very easy!

Next time youre planning on making French toast, replace the maple syrup with citrus butter. Trust me, youll love it! I wouldnt even be surprised if you cried a little at how delicious it is!

Cinnamon French Toast With Citrus Butter
Adapted from Lurpak
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 thick slices of bread, cut in half diagonally
4 teaspoons sugar, divided
60g spreadable unsalted butter (such as Lurpak)
Zest of 1/2 an orange
Zest of 1/2 a lime
Fresh berries, such as raspberries and blueberries

Method
In a shallow dish whisk together the eggs and milk. Then, whisk in the cinnamon and 3 teaspoons of the sugar until thoroughly combined. Add the bread and turn over in the egg mixture until its all soaked up.

In a bowl beat together 50g of the butter, the zest and the remaining sugar. Set aside.

Heat remaining 10g of butter in a large non-stick frying pan until bubbly. Fry the eggy bread for a couple of minutes on each side until golden.

Once cooked, put 2 pieces of toast on each plate, along with a handful of fresh berries, and top with a spoonful of zesty citrus butter to serve.

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Spiced White Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies

Believe it or not, its Christmas time again! That means its time to start planning your Christmas baking. There are so many Christmassy recipes out there that you may be having trouble trying to decide what to bake. Well, let me help with your decision by recommending that you add these spiced white chocolate chip pecan cookies to your baking list!

These unsuspecting-looking shortbread-like cookies have the warm flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg with chunks of pecans and white chocolate. They smell delicious baking in the oven, and taste even more delicious with a hot cup of coffee or tea.

Is there something special that you, or your family, bake each year at Christmas? If not, let these spiced cookies be the start of a new Christmas tradition!

To me, Christmas baking means grandmas delicious pies. She would make the same pies at Thanksgiving and Christmas sugar pie (thats what she called it, but I think it was pecan pie), oatmeal pie and pumpkin pie. Shed also throw in a fruit cake as well, of course. Grandma doesnt make these pies anymore though, as theyre just too much work for her these days, but theyre the first thing I think of when Christmastime comes around.

My family and I (my husband, kids and I, I mean) dont have any Christmas traditions at all, but I aim on starting some this year. I think Ill make a nice lunch for when nana comes over, and well bake and decorate gingerbread men with the kids. Although, Im not sure yet how Ill distract the kids from their new toys long enough to make gingerbread men!?

Anyway, the recipe for these lovely little cookies comes from a Philadelphia Cream Cheese + Cadbury Chocolate recipe book. Here in Australia, they were offering this cookbook for free if you bought 3 Philly products, but I cant find anywhere to actually buy it without buying the Philly products. And yes, there is cream cheese in these cookies! If you dont like cream cheese, dont fret, as you cant taste any cream cheese. In fact, Im not even sure what purpose the cream cheese serves in this recipe, as I cant taste it, and I cant work out if its affected the texture of the cookies, which is a sort of melt-in-your-mouth shortbread texture. Whatever purpose it is, these cookies are really delicious and I highly recommend baking a batch!

Spiced White Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies
Adapted from Simply Heaven: Chocolate
Makes 40-50

Ingredients
200g unsalted butter, softened
125g cream cheese (from a block), softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or pure vanilla extract)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch salt
1/3 pecans, finely chopped
100g white chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups pecans, extra, finely chopped

Method
Beat butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. Sift in flour, spices and salt and stir until combined. Add the 1/3 cup pecans and chocolate and mix well.

Lightly knead the mixture until smooth, then divide in half. Shape each piece of dough into a 25-cm log. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and freeze for 15-20 minutes to firm before rolling each log in the extra pecans to coat. Cut the log into 1-cm thick slices and place onto baking paper-lined baking tray.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 18-20 minutes or until cooked and lightly golden. Stand for 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool.

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Yoghurt Week: Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie

Here we are, at the end of yoghurt week already. That really flew by, but I hope youve discovered a new recipe or two along the way.

Ive saved my favorite yoghurt recipe for last. It is originally from Chobani Kitchen (as a lot of my previous yoghurt recipes have been), but as Chobani vanilla Greek yoghurt isnt available in Australia (why!?!) as of yet, I decided to just use regular vanilla yoghurt. In so doing, I also reduced the amount of added sweetener in the recipe. So lets see what our final recipe is

Its a delicious chocolate, peanut butter and banana smoothie! It was absolutely scrumptious, and Ive made it a few times in the past week. Its another simple recipe, as the previous yoghurt recipes have been, and is quite healthy, so you dont have to feel bad about indulging in this yummy smoothie.

To prepare it, you first need to peel and slice a banana into about 1-inch (or thereabouts) thick slices. Place the slices on a plate or tray that is lined with baking paper, and freeze for 1-2 hours. When ready, place the banana, chocolate soy milk (regular chocolate milk would work too), peanut butter, vanilla yoghurt (or Chobanis vanilla Greek yoghurt!) and a touch of honey in a blender and process until smooth. Personally, however, I found that my stick blender (immersion blender, whatever you want to call it) did a brilliant job at completely pureeing that banana; I dont have a blender so on my first go with the recipe I actually used a food processor. With this method, I still had a few chunks of banana that just wouldnt smooth out, which reminded me about my stick blender. Ill be using that from now on.

Just a side note that I used *rounded* tablespoons of peanut butter (you can never have enough peanut butter, am I right?), a rather ripe banana and less than a tablespoon of honey. I thought it was one of the best smoothies Ive ever tasted!

The recipe will serve up two generous helpings, so make sure youve got someone to share it with!

**Previous recipes from Yoghurt Week: Banana Bread Macaroni & Cheese Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Greek Yoghurt Cold Chobani-Sesame Noodles Mango Popsicles Mashed Potatoes

Chocolate, Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie
Adapted from Chobani Kitchen
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 cup vanilla yoghurt (Chobani vanilla Greek yoghurt preferred)
1 cup chocolate soy milk, chilled
1 ripe banana, frozen
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons honey (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into two tall glasses and serve immediately.

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Yoghurt Week: Mashed Potatoes

Todays recipe featuring yoghurt is mashed potatoes. I have a long-term relationship with mashed potatoes; I have always loved this simple and classic side dish.

Believe it or not, I actually grew up with instant mashed potatoes. Yes, I can see some of you wrinkling your noses at that! Its all I knew at the time, and I loved them. Every once in a while, though, wed go out to eat and Id order *real* mashed potatoes. One restaurant in particular served creamy mashed potatoes with chunks of potato and shreds of potato skins; I loved these the best.

Whenever I made mashed potatoes, after I moved out of my parents house, I made the instant kind. For some reason, I was under the impression that real mashed potatoes were a lot of work and took a long time to cook.

Then I moved to Australia and discovered that there was no such thing as instant mashed potatoes! I had to learn to make the real version. And you know what? It was really easy!

So Ive been making real mashed potatoes for years now. And yes, I still prefer them chunky and sometimes (just sometimes) Ill throw in a bit of potato skin too (not for todays recipe, though!).

Side note about the above photo why is there a teepee in the background? Well, my daughter made it to talk about Thanksgiving in her class last week (we dont have Thanksgiving in Australia, so she wanted to share a bit about it). It happened to be sitting on the table when I was ready to photograph the potatoes. It made me think about Thanksgiving at my grandmas house and how I always loved her mashed potatoes. I arranged the teepee in the background to give it a sort of Thanksgiving-feel. Not sure if it worked, but there it is anyway!

Mashed potatoes do bring back lots of memories for me, come to think of it. My parents used to make the instant version in a white pan that had a red checkered pattern on the outside. The paint was all flaking off the pan, too. I wonder how much paint we actually ate with our potatoes!? Yikes! And of course, of grandmas mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving. I wonder if her potatoes were instant or real? Funny that Ive never asked about them. And how I always ordered mashed potatoes as a side dish at restaurants. My first go at real mashed potatoes. And, mashed potatoes were a huge focal point of my cravings in the early months of my first three pregnancies.

The mashed potatoes I made for todays post are made with 100% real potatoes. Theres a bit of butter, of course, and also tangy Chobani 0% non-fat plain Greek yoghurt. The recipe comes from Chobani Kitchen and will make an excellent side dish for your steak, chicken, pork or lamb.

Just a quick note about the recipe I might have had a bit more potato than was recommended in the recipe as the mash wasnt creamy whatsoever after adding the yoghurt. I had to add a bit of warm whole milk to get a creamier consistency. With the salt and pepper; I didnt even bother to measure. I already know how much seasoning I like in my mashed potatoes.

My advice? Put the instant mash aside, and devote just a few minutes of extra time to making real mashed potatoes. Its easy to make and healthier for you!

Mashed Potatoes
Adapted from Chobani Kitchen
Serves 6

Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup low-sodium vegetable broth, warmed
1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yoghurt (Chobani preferred), room temp
2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

Drain and transfer potatoes to a large bowl. Pour in warm broth and mash the potatoes. Stir in Chobani, butter, chives, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

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Yoghurt Week: Mango Popsicles

Todays yoghurt recipe is another one you can feel good about eating on a hot summer day mango popsicles! With the freshest and best-quality ingredients, these will go down a treat with everyone.

The recipe comes from the big tub of Chobani 2% Greek Yoghurt, but can also be found at the Chobani Kitchen website. I prepared these popsicles in the molds that Chobani Australia sent me along with all that delicious yoghurt (see Yoghurt Week: Banana Bread).

Chobani likes to call these popsicles Mango Frocho Pops, which I think is pretty cute! Theyve replaced froyo, short for frozen yoghurt, with frocho, short for frozen Chobani!

Youll need just four ingredients to bring these popsicles together: Chobani 2% Greek Yoghurt (or good-quality low-fat Greek yoghurt), fresh mangos (frozen will also work), a lemon, and honey. To prepare, simply throw everything in a food processor (a blender will also do the trick), process until smooth and pour into your popsicle molds. Im sure you could also make these in a Zoku Quick Pop Maker as well, which I do actually own, but I wanted to use the special Chobani molds for this post!

We loved the flavor of the Mango Frocho Pops! Im a little picky at times, so Id say the only thing I didnt like was the popsicle was a little bit too icy, rather than creamy. I would owe this to the fact that the yoghurt is low-fat. Perhaps a full-fat yoghurt would yield a creamier-textured popsicle. Feel free to experiment, and let me know how it goes!

**Previous recipes from Yoghurt Week: Banana Bread Macaroni & Cheese Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Greek Yoghurt Cold Chobani-Sesame Noodles

Mango Popsicles
Adapted from Chobani Kitchen
Makes 4-6, depending on the size of popsicle molds

Ingredients
1 cup low-fat plain Greek yoghurt (Chobani preferred)
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen mangos
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3-5 tablespoons honey

Method
Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Transfer mixture to freezer-pop molds. Freeze until completely firm, about 6 hours. To unmold, dip mold briefly in hot water.

You can also use a Zoku Quick Pop Maker, if you prefer.

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Mango Popsicles- Durofrios De Mango Recipe - Food.com - 313310 If using fresh mangoes, place a mango on its side on a cutting board. With a sharp knife, cut straight down on either side of the large, flat-sided pit in the middle ... Four Fruit Smoothie Popsicles: Mango, Raspberry Cheesecake ... Recipes for four simple and refreshing fruit smoothie popsicles to keep summer heat at bay: mango/apricot, raspberry/cheesecake, blueberry/coconut, and avocado/kiwi. Mango Lassi Yogurt Pops Recipe - Food.com - 382437 Peel mango and cut fruit away from pit. Discard pit. Puree mango flesh in food processor or blender with orange juice concentrate. In a bowl, stir yogurt until smooth ... 5 Fun Recipes for Healthy, Homemade Frozen Pops Rodale News Chill out, without overindulging, with your own homemade Popsicles. Mango Coconut Popsicles Recipe - Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople 2 c. fresh mango chopped1 c. coconut milk1 c. water4 tbl. organic sugarblend all together in a popsicle mold until frozen.Makes six popsicles. Mango Frozen Yogurt Tasty Kitchen Blog Cilantro Cream Sauce. by Meredith In Sock Monkey Slippers Cinantro Cream Sauce is a delicious tangy, spicy, and refreshing sauce perfect for meats, fish, and ... Strawberry Mango Yogurt Pops - Savory Simple Ive been making homemade pops quite a bit recently. I go through phases where I get major sugar cravings in the evening (these phases seem directly related to carb ... Snack Recipe: Strawberry-Yogurt Popsicles Recipes from The Kitchn ... Summertime! Is there anything better than a cool, creamy popsicle on a scorching hot afternoon? Or for that matter, a scorching hot morning. These fruity yogurt pops ... 3 Homemade Popsicles Fresh Fruit Yogurt and Blueberry Smoothie 3 Homemade and Healthy Popsicles - Fresh Fruit, Yogurt, and Blueberry Smoothie. Easy to make and a perfect summer treat. Honey Fruit Yogurt Popsicles Recipe - Food.com - 431655 A simple, delicious frozen treat, courtesy of the National Honey Board.

Yoghurt Week: Cold Chobani-Sesame Noodles

Yoghurt week is coming along nicely, dont you think? This is day number four and Ive got a good dish for summer to share. I was reluctant to cook the recipe, however, because of my experience with whole wheat spaghetti in the past; it seems to stay more firm than I prefer my pasta to be! Nevertheless, this recipe looked extremely quick, extremely easy and with the addition of Chobani Greek yoghurt, I knew it had to be good.

However, not only was I reluctant about the pasta, I realized that the sauce in the recipe is similar to a satay sauce as it uses peanut butter. Okay, I love peanut butter so much, but I do not like the flavor of satay anything. I had to give it a go though; I had high hopes.

Doesnt it look pretty!

In regards to recipe preparation, I was certainly correct it is so quick and so easy that Im almost positive you could do it with your hands tied behind your back. Well, thats probably stretching the truth a bit, but I assure you, this is like a 15 minute meal here.

I bet you may wonder if I actually liked these noodles, since I dont like peanut butter in my savory dishes. Honestly, I did like it! I could definitely tell there was peanut butter in it, although I couldnt taste much of the Greek yoghurt. Perhaps I was just too focused on the peanut butter flavor, though! If you decide to dedicate 15 minutes of your time to making this recipe, my advice is to eat it as soon as you finish making it. I had some leftover noodles the following day and they didnt taste anywhere near as good as they had when freshly prepared.

Thanks again for stopping by for Yoghurt Week!

**Previous recipes from Yoghurt Week: Banana Bread Macaroni & Cheese Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Greek Yoghurt

Cold Chobani-Sesame Noodles
Adapted from Chobani Kitchen
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 tablespoons good quality non-fat plain Greek yoghurt (Chobani preferred)
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon chili sauce
8 oz whole wheat spaghetti
2 scallions, trimmed, thinly sliced
1/2 small red bell pepper, seeded, thinly sliced
Toasted sesame seeds for serving

Method
Blend yoghurt, soy sauce, peanut butter, sesame oil, vinegar, ginger and chili sauce in blender until smooth.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Pour sauce over noodles and toss.

Add 1-2 tablespoons cold water to thin, if necessary. To serve, sprinkle with scallions, peppers and sesame seeds.

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Yoghurt Week: Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Greek Yoghurt

Welcome back, yoghurt fans! I hope youve been enjoying Yoghurt Week so far. Todays recipe is one I found while searching for ideas on how else to use Greek yoghurt. It comes from the cookbook of one of the best food blogs around, Sprouted Kitchen. This recipe uses fresh mint, chocolate chips, whole-milk Greek yoghurt and brown rice syrup as the sweetener, and combines it all together to make frozen yoghurt. This is a rather healthy recipe that you dont need to feel bad about indulging in.

Its really creamy and super minty; a perfect ice cream for someone who loves mint! Youll definitely be able to taste that Greek yoghurt tang, as well, but the flavors all work quite well together.

I dont think this is a recipe that is going to please your children, as my mint-loving daughter didnt like it at all! This girl will, literally, immediately consume anything that is flavored with mint. But this frozen yoghurt? She didnt even get past the first bite! So save this recipe for the adults, Im sure that theyll enjoy it as much as I did!

I had a search on Sprouted Kitchens website for more ice cream recipes and found another one using Greek yoghurt and fresh chocolate chip cookie pieces. It looks so sinfully delicious and Im sure Ill be trying this one out next!

**Previous recipes from yoghurt week: Banana Bread Macaroni & Cheese

Fresh Mint & Chocolate Chip Frozen Greek Yoghurt
Adapted from Sprouted Kitchen cookbook & 101 Cookbooks
Makes about 1 litre

Ingredients
1 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (130 ml) brown rice syrup
Scant 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 cups (480 ml) whole-milk Greek yogurt
2 ounces good quality dark chocolate, finely chopped

Method
Coarsely chop the mint leaves and put them in a saucepan with the cream. Bring just to a simmer over medium heat, occasionally stirring and pressing the mint leaves so that they release the oils. As soon as it comes to a simmer, add the brown rice syrup and stir to combine, then turn off the heat. Leave the mixture on the stove top to steep for 30 minutes.

Pour the cream mixture into a bowl through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the mint leaves. Add the peppermint extract and yogurt to the bowl and whisk to combine. Cover the mixture and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.

Churn the yogurt mixture in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturers instructions. When the yogurt if finished churning, stir in the chocolate. Serve immediately for a soft-serve like consistency, or transfer to an air-tight container and store in the freezer.

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Yoghurt Week: Macaroni & Cheese

When I placed all those tubs of Chobani yoghurt (see previous post) in my refrigerator, I didnt expect anyone else to be eating them but myself. But I was surprised to find a tub missing the next day. I knew it wouldnt have been my children; my daughter hates yoghurt, and my two boys only eat regular vanilla yoghurt. I didnt really expect my husband to like it, either. I searched the refrigerator for the missing tub, but it wasnt there; I did, however, discover that it was the pineapple one that was missing. I searched the trash, to try to find an empty tub, but my husband had just put a new trash bag in the bin and it was empty. I wasnt going to search through a full bag of trash to find an empty yoghurt tub. For a few minutes there, I was almost beside myself with this mystery. Where was my missing tub of Chobani yoghurt? I asked my children; they hadnt eaten any of the yoghurt. I found my husband and asked him; he had indeed eaten it. I was surprised! However, I was also disappointed, as at first I wasnt sure if he actually liked the yoghurt. I would have hated for him to waste one of my Chobani yoghurts if he hadnt have liked it. But he actually said it was really nice! I then decided to set aside a few tubs of the yoghurt that he was allowed to eat; the rest were mine. I gave him the strawberry and passionfruit flavors. I kept the mango, peach and blueberry. Although I really wish I could have tried the pineapple.

The recipe Ill be featuring today also uses Chobani 2% Greek yoghurt. Its a recipe straight from the official Chobani Kitchen, and one I wouldnt ever have expected to find yoghurt in. Macaroni and cheese!

This is an extremely simple and straightforward recipe that uses two different types of cheese cheddar and gruyere and, of course, Greek yoghurt. The results were excellent; certainly the best mac n cheese Ive ever made. It was so excitingly cheesey and creamy, and the tanginess of the Greek yoghurt again, as with the banana bread in yesterdays post, just brings this normally average dish to life.

My advice? Stop buying that brand of macaroni and cheese in the blue box that comes with some odd-orange colored cheese mix powder, and make this your go-to mac n cheese. Itll be much healthier, as its loaded with calcium from all that cheese and yoghurt, plus Chobani also contains a hearty helping of protein. You couldnt ask for much more from macaroni and cheese because this particular recipe just keeps on giving!

This ones bound to be a family mealtime favorite!

Remember to come back tomorrow for yet another recipe featuring yoghurt!

**Previous recipes from Yoghurt Week: Banana Bread

Macaroni & Cheese
Adapted from Chobani Kitchen
Serves 6-9

Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1 3/4 cup whole milk, warmed
1/4 cup plain flour
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup grated gruyere cheese
8 ounces (225g) elbow macaroni
1 cup good quality low-fat Greek yoghurt, Chobani preferred

Method
Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter and set aside. Melt 3 tablespoons butter and stir in breadcrumbs. Set aside

Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour and stir constantly for 1-2 minutes, then slowly pour in warmed milk, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Continue to cook until mixture is thick, 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in nutmeg and pepper, then added cheeses and stir to melt. Set aside.

Cook macaroni as per instructions on the box. Drain and stir pasta into cheese sauce along with Greek yoghurt. Transfer to prepared dish, top with the breadcrumbs (you night not need to use all the breadcrumbs; I had heaps leftover) and bake until browned, 30 minutes. Cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

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Yoghurt Week: Banana Bread

Hello, and welcome to yoghurt week at the Sweetest Kitchen! What does this mean? It means that Im going to be posting a recipe featuring yoghurt each day this week. If you love yoghurt and incorporating it into your baking and cooking, then this is the place you want to be.

Ill first clue you in as to why theres even a yoghurt week in the first place. Its all thanks to Chobani Australia (and Kristy, from Southern In-Law, who passed my details on to Chobani!)! Chobani Australia contacted me a few weeks ago and offered to send me some of their Greek yoghurt to sample. Of course I accepted the offer, but I didnt expect to receive a gigantic box full of 12 pots of fruit-flavored Greek yoghurt, a huge tub of plain Greek yoghurt, a set of popsicle molds, and an organic cotton oven mitt and apron! I was speechless and feeling extremely lucky to have received this generous gift. I was especially excited about the oven mitt too how did they know that I was in dire need of a new oven mitt? I actually almost bought one a few days earlier, but decided against it. This Chobani-branded oven mitt is a real winner, so Im glad I didnt buy the one I was looking at before.

Anyway. Im going to kick yoghurt week off with the very first recipe I baked using Chobani Greek yoghurt banana bread! Or is that, CHOnana bread?

The recipe is based on one from Martha Stewart, I just replaced the sour cream in her recipe with Chobani 2% Greek yoghurt, and added an extra banana (the smallest one from the bunch). And let me tell you, Ive made so many loaves of banana bread in my life that I thought were delicious, but they were nothing compared to this CHOnana bread. Ill never be baking any other banana bread recipe again, as this one is just out of this world.

Even the batter was irresistible.

The bread was so moist and bursting with the flavor of bananas. Pecans were a wonderful addition. You wont be able to tell this has yoghurt in it, but I guarantee youll be able to taste a slight tang. It brings the bread to life and makes it stand out from all the other recipes Ive tried.

If youre after the perfect banana bread recipe, give this one a go it wont disappoint! Use Chobani brand yoghurt if youre able to; otherwise, aim for a good quality, thick and creamy Greek yoghurt.

Thank you for having a look at the first recipe of yoghurt week! I hope to see you back tomorrow for the next one!

Banana (CHOnana) Bread
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (generously rounded!) mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup good-quality Greek yoghurt (Chobani 2% preferred)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, yoghurt, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in pecans, and pour into prepared pan.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.

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Banana Cake With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Ive had a real thing for banana breads and cakes lately. In fact, I just now took a loaf of banana bread out of the oven before I sat down to write this post about banana cake. Bananas have been abundant in our kitchen, leading to some quite ripe bananas here and there. Im not sure what you all do with over-ripe bananas, but I immediately start searching for a banana bread or banana cake recipe; one that I havent used before or one that calls for ingredients that I have on hand already. I came across a highly-rated banana cake recipe on my go-to recipe site, taste.com.au, a while ago and had bookmarked it.

Last week, when I was faced with a handful of soft, black-spotted bananas, I turned to this recipe. Its super quick and easy, and in no time, youll be enjoying a delicious banana cake.

Some of the reviews of this recipe said the cake was too sweet and the reviewers had reduced the amount of sugar. I took their advice and only added 225g of sugar, instead of 315g. Just make sure your bananas are really over-ripe, and they will provide extra sweetness so that you could probably cut down on the sugar a little bit more if you like. The only other change I made was to use 3 medium bananas instead of 2 large.

Okay, Ill admit, I didnt actually make the frosting. I used the brand new lemon cream cheese frosting from Philadelphia, which I also used to frost these red velvet zombie Halloween cupcakes. The frosting was a perfect match for banana cake, as well as the red velvet cupcakes! It made the preparation time for this cake even less.

The recipe uses buttermilk, but if you want to cheat, remember that you can make your own buttermilk by using 1 cup of regular milk and 1 tablespoon of either fresh lemon juice or white vinegar. Give a gentle stir and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then measure out how much is needed for the recipe.

The cake was nice fresh from the oven, but I actually preferred it cold, straight from the refrigerator! The refrigerator makes the cake firm and the firmness seemed to suit the cake well, if you know what I mean? The photos I am showing you in this post is of the cake fresh from the oven, when it was fluffy and soft. The cake has an obvious firmer look when served cold from the refrigerator.

I normally dont make the same recipe twice, but this cake is a real winner and Im sure Ill be making it again. Its just the thing for a morning or afternoon tea with coffee and a couple of friends.

Do you have a go-to recipe for sharing with friends that everyone loves? If you dont yet, try this cake; Im sure it will be loved!

Banana Cake With Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from taste.com.au & Australian Good Taste magazine, September 2007
Serves 8

Ingredients
Melted butter, to grease
125g butter, at room temperature
225g caster sugar
1 1/4 cups mashed overripe banana (about 2 large bananas)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100ml buttermilk
225g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 banana, extra, to decorate
Fresh lemon juice, to brush
250g tub Philadelphia Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Brush a round 20cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to grease. Line the base and side of the pan with non-stick baking paper.

Place the butter, sugar, banana, eggs and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor, and process for 2 minutes or until well combined. Add the buttermilk and process until combined.

Add the flour and bicarbonate of soda, and process until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Shake the pan to settle the mixture.

Bake in oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly, before transferring the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frost the cooled cake with Philadelphia Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (or prepare the original frosting recipe used with this cake). Peel and thinly slice the 1 extra banana and brush 1 cut side of each slice with lemon juice. Arrange the banana slices, lemon juice side up, around the edge of the frosting to serve. Serve immediately. Store leftovers in the refrigerator 2-3 days.

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