Another Fabulous Super Bowl Dessert: Apple Pie Parfaits!!

I am teaming up with Chobani yogurt again for Super Bowl 2016 to bring another awesome dessert recipe for you to enjoy during the Big Game.  With all the snacks, appetizers and mains that are popular for tailgating, dessert is often forgotten about....or let's face it, many times we are so stuffed already that we don't even get around to it!!  How about a healthy. lighter and delicious dessert to add to your party fare- a fantastic idea, right? Last year I developed  a yummy Carrot Cake for kick off so this time around I wanted to do something different. Apples are still in season so I thought why not make a apple pie style parfait that is very easy and can even be made and stored ahead in the fridge for game time. The combo of creamy Chobani yogurt, sweet apples and crunchy granola will be a winner for sure, not to mention these little parfaits look quite stylish as well. I have some amazing homemade applesauce and granola recipes to use in this parfait or you can use your favorite store-bought ones as a time saver. I hope you will give them a try and check out Chobani's recipe page for some other great creations!

Ingredients:

2 cups Chobani Vanilla Blended Greek Yogurt

2 cups chunky applesauce (try my recipe HERE)

1 cup granola of choice (try my recipe HERE, you can use gluten-free if you are on a GF diet)

8 four ounce cups

8 mini spoons

Directions:

Put ¼ cup of the applesauce to the bottom of each cup, then add ¼ cup of the yogurt and top each with 2 tablespoons of granola.

Makes 8 parfaits, eight servings

Serving size: 1 parfait  Calories 120 Protein  6 g Carb 22 g Fiber 2 g Sugars 15 g Fat 1 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 45 mg

Gabbys Eats: Tomato Basil Baked Egg Cups

Gabby has been wanting to try and make an omelet for awhile now but I have been intrigued with the idea or trying to bake eggs in muffin tins for individual portions and grab and go.  After showing her some example pictures she agreed and was sold trying it.  She wanted to do a very basic combo of fresh tomato, cheese and basil.  Gabs has developed  a real love of basil since we started growing it in the garden last Summer and this was a perfect opportunity to us it.  

The egg cups were surprisingly easy to make and Gabby actually prepared the whole recipe herself  from start to finish.  We keep these in the fridge and just reheat them in a microwave for a quick and fuss-free breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Ingredients

6 large eggs

½ cup egg whites

3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

a dash of salt and pepper

cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Crack the eggs into a large bowl, pour in the egg whites and the parmesan cheese.  Whisk to break up the eggs and mix well. Add the tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper and stir some more.

Coat a standard size 12 muffin tin with cooking spray and divide/pour in the egg mixture to fill all 12 cups, filling each about ¾ full. Bake for 25 minutes until the eggs are set, firm and lightly browned

Serving size: 1 egg cup Calories 50 Protein 5 g Carb 1 g Fiber 0 g Sugars 0 g Fat 3 g Saturated fat 1 g Sodium 75 mg

Gabby's Shot:

Recipe ReDux Post # 42 Power Salad!

January’s  Recipe Redux is appropriately titled “A New Ingredient for the New Year," and it was all about choosing a novel ingredient and creating a recipe with it.  I didn’t have anything particular in mind so I decided to just take a trip to the store and see what jumped out at me.  I put three new ingredients in my basket- dried mulberries, avocado oil and celery salt, thinking I could probably figure out a recipe using at least one of them.  I started with a salad, throwing the mulberries atop a bed of spinach, walnuts and white beans.  Then I decided to take things a step further and actually use the celery salt and avocado oil in the dressing...which really worked!  All three ingredients really made the recipe stand out- the mulberries add a sweet and chewy texture which combos nicely with the fresh spinach, hearty beans and the crunchy walnuts.  The avocado oil has flavor set apart from olive oil and adding the celery salt, along with honey mustard gave it some zip.  This salad is a powerhouse of nutrition too- containing lean protein, healthy fat, antioxidants and fiber….plus it is very filling and delicious! I hope you will give it a try along with all these other new ingredient inspired recipes from the talented Recipe ReDux group.

Ingredients:

2-3 packed cups of spinach leaves (washed and dried well)

¼ cup dried mulberries

¼ cup canned white beans (rinsed well)

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon avocado oil

1 tablespoon honey mustard

¼ teaspoon celery salt

Directions:

Add the first 4 ingredients to a medium bowl.  In a small bowl whisk together the avocado oil, mustard and celery salt.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

Makes 2 servings

Serving size: ½ salad Calories 220 Protein 5 g  Carb 22 g  Fiber 6 g Sugars 8 g Fat 12 g Saturated fat 1.5 g Sodium 280 mg

An InLinkz Link-up

Avocado Crema: A New May To Liven Up Leftovers Using Chobani Greek Yogurt

The New Year is here and all the holiday goodies are now (hopefully!) replaced with tons of healthy foods in our fridges.....at least that's the case in our household!! Plenty of fresh veggies, fruits and lean proteins- like chicken, egg whites, low fat cheese/cottage cheese/yogurt, beans and tofu, are great staples to have on hand. One of my GO TO meals is grilled chicken with cooked veggies. I like to use the leftovers for salad the next day.  Chicken and veggies by themselves can be a bit boring so I always enjoy finding new ways to spice them up to keep them interesting.

I was excited to be contacted by Chobani recently to post about how their yummy yogurt can be used to liven up leftovers. This was certainly great timing and I wanted to use their yogurt to help give my chicken and veggies more flair, so I developed a super simple but really healthy and delicious avocado crema recipe! This is a nice sauce to serve with chicken or fish, on salads, in tacos, or even to dip veggies in, the possibilities are endless!! Plus, the healthy fat from the avocado and it's lean protein help make your meal more satisfying.  I hope you will give it a try and I thank Chobani for giving me the opportunity to post! Check out madewithchobani.com and Chobani's Greek yogurt recipe page for more great ideas!!

Ingredients:

1 large very ripe avocado (to yield 1 cup mashed)

1 six ounce container plain Greek yogurt (I used Chobani!!)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/8 - ¼ teaspoon ground cumin

salt to taste

Directions:

Cut the avocado in half, remove skin and pit and add 1 cup mashed to a blender or food processor. Put in the yogurt, lemon juice and cumin and blend on high speed until smooth mixture is formed. Transfer the mixture to a small bowl, add salt to taste and serve.  Chill in the fridge if not eating immediately.

Makes 12 tablespoons

Serving size: 1 tablespoon Calories 35 Protein 2 g Carb 2 g Fiber 1 g Sugars 1 g Fat 2.5 g Saturated fat 0 g Sodium 5 mg

Disclaimer: Although this post is associated with a particular brand, the opinions are my own.

Celebrating a New Year and My Blog Turns 7!!!

Happy 2016 everyone!  Another 365 days went by just like that and this blog has been up and running for 7 years now!!  Always so thankful for the support of my family, friends and readers. I hope you have been continuing to enjoy the posts.

Being that the New Year is often a time to reflect and also to look ahead, I thought I'd do just that in this post! 2015 was one of the busiest and best years that I have had professionally and creatively thus far. My blogging led way to some amazing opportunities. I continued to enjoy working with the National Cranberry Institute  and posting on their behalf and also took part in many more monthly Recipe ReDux challenges (creating recipes for that group always keeps me on my toes!) I also teamed up with Nuts.com, Chobani  and Quaker for some fun posts as well. Gabby and I kept up her Gabby's Eats segment , which included a lot of cooking together as a result of her multitude of ideas for recipes.  The two biggest developments of 2015 were creating an eBook with Gabby, containing all her recipes that she has developed so far with all proceeds going to the Food For the Hungry Charity and....publishing my own Diabetes Cookbook after being approached and given the amazing opportunity by Adams media.  All in all it was quite an eventful year and I feel blessed.

So what's in store for 2016? Well, I will certainly will be keeping up with the Cranberry and Recipe ReDux posts for sure. Gabby and I also plan to create and cook many more yummy recipes this year and I hope to team up with some great sponsors and organizations for a variety of fun posts too.  Beyond that I look forward to more surprises of what's to come in 2016 and I am glad you will be with me along for the ride!

Btw, before I forge ahead, here are my fav recipes from 2015!  Enjoy :)

Quinoa, Kale and White Bean Saute With Bacon

Sweet and Spicy Acorn Squash Soup

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Super Easy Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

Morning Glory Muffins

Power Cookies

Cranberry Walnut Quinoa and White Bean Salad

Pumpkin Pecan Smoothie

Honey Mustard Tofu