Apples and Oranges Frozen Yogurt - Citrus Blog Hop

For the most part, I'm not a "gadget gal".  I prefer to work with a few key tools (knives, an assortment of pots and pans, a few utensils, an oven, my hands...).  The reasons I have for this include the fact that I have very little storage space in my kitchen, not a lot of counter space to place a large gadget, and I hate having to disassemble and hand-wash things with many parts.  I do have a food processor, but I don't use it for chopping (in fact, I don't use it much at all, except to make nut butters, bean dips, and a few other things).  I have a blender that I haven't used more than once or twice in fifteen years.  Beyond that, my gadgets include a slow cooker (okay, I have two of those), a $10 hand held electric mixer and a garlic press.  And an electric ice cream maker (because I'm not willing to haul out a bucket of salt to work that cream).  I secretly want a KitchenAid mixer, but I haven't taken the plunge yet; the food processor took me almost five years of justification before I finally bought one, so with my ability to over-think myself out of purchases, I may never actually get one.

My husband, however, is a "gadget guy".  He's the one who bought the griddle, the waffle maker, the (now deceased) microwave, the toaster, the meat thermometer, the injector, the ice cream scoop, etc.  For Christmas, he bought a juicer, and he has been using it faithfully every day (sometimes more than once).  In fact, our son has been using it daily, also.  While I would never have bought one of my own accord, the juice made from it is so fresh, so tasty, and so healthy, I think I'm okay with the purchase.

Here is the simple smoothie that inspired the frozen yogurt:

It includes only two green apples, two oranges, and 1/4 c plain Greek  yogurt.  It reminded me of an Orange Julius (remember those?  I haven't had one since 8th grade, so it likely doesn't taste exactly like one, but it's the first thing I thought of when I tasted it).

We decided to add another 1/4 c of the Greek yogurt (for a total of 1/2 cup), and toss it all into the ice cream maker.  Twenty minutes later, we had the dessert (or, in our case, breakfast) you see in the main photo.  My kids think ice cream for breakfast is pretty cool.  And I kind of do, too.

Strawberries, bananas, mint, or vanilla would all be great additions.  I wanted to share the basic idea with you to show you how tasty something so simple can be.  What you do from there is entirely up to you.

If you don't currently own either a juicer or ice cream maker, you can find the ones that I have in my Amazon store (off to the left of the page, under "other items"). I am not endorsing any of the companies; I'm sure there are better ones, I'm sure there are worse ones, more expensive ones, and cheaper ones, so if you are looking for either of these products, do your homework. I am pretty happy with the quality and cost of the ones we have, though.  The image of the ice cream maker is the newer version of the same one I have, which I've had for about seven or eight years.

Apple and Orange Frozen Yogurt
makes 3 scoops (how many servings that makes is completely up to you)

• 2 Granny Smith apples, core removed
• 2 navel oranges, peeled
• 1/2 c Greek yogurt, plain or vanilla
• 1/2 tsp vanilla, optional (only if you are using plain yogurt)

Put the fruit through the juicer according to manufacturers instructions.

Stir the yogurt (and vanilla, if using) into the juice.  Place the mixture into your ice cream maker, and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. (Mine took 20 minutes)

Eat.


Please join in on the #citruslove fun by linking up any citrus recipe from the month of January 2012.  Don't forget to link back to this post so that your readers know to stop by the #citruslove event!  The twitter hashtag is #citruslove.


Citruslove Blog Hop Co-Hosts

A Little Bit of Everything ~ Roxana ~ @RoxanaGreenGirl
Astig Vegan ~ Richgail ~ @AstigVegan

Baker Street ~ Anuradha ~ @bakerstreet29

BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cakeballs, Cookies and More ~ Sue

Easily Good Eats

Elephant Eats ~ Amy

Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Hobby And More ~ Richa ~ @betit19

Mike's Baking ~ Mike ~ @mikesbaking

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives ~ Lisa ~ @parsleynsage

Peaches and Donuts ~ Sylvia ~ @PeachesandDonut

Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem

Smart Food and Fit ~ Lisa ~ @LisaNutrition

Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood 

Teaspoon of Spice ~ Serena ~ @tspcurry
That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~ @TAofCRF

The More Than Occasional Baker ~ Ros ~ @bakingaddict

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd  

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma

You Made That? ~  Suzanne ~ @YouMadeThatblog

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes with Cinnamon Pear Topping

At the beginning of October Unprocessed one of our biggest hurdles was going to be breakfast cereal (which, I'm proud to say is no longer a sore spot after a month of forced alternate breakfast choices).  These pancakes, and numerous others of various flavors, were made en mass to help ease my poor son's pain of having to endure the entire month without commercial cereal.  They freeze well and warm nicely in the toaster.  The fruit and nut topping is quick and easy to make, even first thing in the morning.


All of the pictures I took of these pancakes turned out blurry (and worse than my usual pictures) for some reason, so I just want to mention to you that by the time I captured this particular picture, enough time had gone by that the syrup had soaked into the already very cold pancakes.  And I was hungry, so I ate them.  And by the time I saw the only picture that turned out and noticed that there was no buttery, syrupy topping glistening on top of these super moist, flavorful pancakes, they were gone.

At any rate, they were quite delicious even cold; I'm not sure if it was the richness of the buttermilk, or the pumpkin and pecan combination, or the pears and maple syrup...or a combination of all of those things.

This recipe makes quite a few pancakes, so if you'd like to freeze them like we did, simply cool them on a wire rack, transfer them in a single layer to trays lined with waxed paper, and put them in the freezer.  Once frozen, transfer them to an airtight container and store in the freezer.  When ready to eat, pop them in the toaster or warm them in the oven while you make the fruit and nut topping (which can also be made in larger batches and stored in the refrigerator and warms nicely in a small saucepan on the stove).  I suppose all of the rewarming could be done in a microwave, too, but I don't own one, so I can't say for certain.  If you choose to make them and reheat them in a microwave, please come back and let us know how it turns out.

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes with Cinnamon Pear Topping
makes 20 4-inch pancakes

• 1 c unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 c whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 2/3 c buttermilk
• 1/4 c pure maple syrup
• 1 c pumpkin puree
• 2 Tbs oil (extra virgin olive oil, canola oil, coconut oil, or melted butter)
• 1 c chopped pecans (or 1/2 c chopped pecans and 1/2 c chocolate chips)

In a large bowl, mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy.  Add the buttermilk, maple syrup, pumpkin puree, and oil and whisk until well mixed.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture.  Whisk until smooth.

Fold the nuts (and chocolate chips, if using) into the batter.

Oil a griddle or large skillet set to medium heat.  Drop batter by 1/4 c onto hot griddle or skillet. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until small bubbles surface on the top of the cake.  Flip and cook another 2-3 minutes, or until bottom is golden.

For the topping:
2 servings

• 2 tsp butter
• 1 large pear or apple, peeled and diced
• few good pinches cinnamon
• 2 Tbs chopped pecans
• 1/4 c pure maple syrup

Heat butter over medium low heat.  Stir in the pears or apples and cinnamon.  Saute until tender - about 4-5 minutes, depending the size of the cut.

Stir in the pecans and maple syrup.

Serve immediately over pancakes.

Maple Pecan Granola

"Where's the cereal?"  I can already hear my son calling this out tomorrow morning.  And I'll have to remind him once again that for the entire month of October (and hopefully beyond), he's going to need to find something other than cereal to eat for breakfast because I'm  not buying any more.

Tomorrow is the first day of EatingRules' month long challenge to eat only unprocessed foods (see the October Unprocessed button on the top left of this blog).  We mostly eat this way already, but there are a few things we'll need to address, and cereal is one of them.  Honestly, most of us, with the exception of our son, do not eat breakfast regularly - we usually eat "brunch", and what we choose varies based on what we are hungry for at that time of the morning (for me, it's usually just toast).  However, my son wakes up famished and immediately pours a big bowl of cereal.  On the weekends, he does make pancakes or waffles, but during the week, cereal is his go-to meal.

So, today I made a big batch of Maple Pecan Granola and I'm stashing it where the cereal boxes used to be. I also made a menu with breakfast, lunch and snack ideas (along with the dinner menu) and stuck it to the front of the fridge.  Hopefully this will make the transition easier for the poor kid so he won't have to think too hard about what he can eat.

I posted our menu here, and there is a link on the right side of the blog. I'm still working on setting up the menu page, so it might look a little different than this one for a while, but at least the menu is available right now.  If everyone likes the menus, I may keep posting them after October (so feel free to comment about whether they are  helpful to you or not).

Good luck to all the Unprocessed October warriors!

Maple Pecan Granola
makes about 7 cups; about 14 servings

• 4 c rolled oats (not quick)
• 1 c raw, unsalted pecans, chopped
• 1/2 c raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 1/2 c raw, unsalted sunflower seed meats
• 1 Tbs cinnamon
• 1/2 c oil (unrefined coconut oil is my first choice, but extra virgin olive oil or a good quality canola work well, too)
• 1 c pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp pure maple extract (such as Cook's Pure Maple Extract)
• 1 c dried fruit (apples, pears, rasins, cranberries, or a combination)

Preheat oven to 300F.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pecans, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and cinnamon.

In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the oil (if using coconut oil, warm it to a liquid state), maple syrup, and maple extract.  Mix well.

Pour the maple mixture over the oat mixture and mix well.

Turn the granola out onto a 15x10 jelly roll pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, stirring well every 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, stir again, and mix in the dried fruit.

I used cranberries and raisins, but apples and cranberries are amazing!

Cool completely.  Store in an airtight container.