My Mom’s Homemade Yogurt

This is my mother’s recipe for homemade yogurt.  I made her recipe so many times.  She probably took it from the yogurt maker which is a Yogourtmet.  It’s very old like I said the other day.

Sorry for the bad photo.  I don’t have cute bowl 😦  I really should buy some cute bowls very soon.

My Mom’s Homemade Yogurt
as you can see it gives a 2 liters of yogurt

• 2 liters milk (I already used whole-milk but these days I use skim milk)
• 1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
• 6 ounces plain yogurt (this time I used 2% fat milk)
• 2 (5 g)  yogurt starter

1. Pour 1/2 cup of milk in a small measuring cup. Sprinkle the gelatin. Stir just a little bit. Set aside.
2. Pour the remaining milk in a large saucepan. Heat at medium heat, always stirring, until milk is 180F (you can use a candy thermometer).
3. When the milk is 180F, remove from the heat. Take some of the hot milk and add it to the mixture of milk and gelatin. Stir well. Put this mixture in the saucepan with the milk. Stir.
4. Allow the milk to cool to lukewarm-110°F To speed up the process you can place the pan in cold water. When the milk is 100F, you can remove it from the water.
5. In a small bowl, mix the plain yogurt with the yogurt starter. Stir well. Put in the saucepan. Stir well. Pour in the yogurt maker by straining it. Follow the directive of your yogurt maker.
6. When it’s ready (I let it in the yogurt maker near 10 hours), put it in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
7. I like to add splenda and instant coffee that I sift so it’s easier to dissolve in the yogurt.
8. Or I add splenda and 1 tablespoon of jam.
9. Or just maple syrup on top mmmmm.

Low-calorie Sweet Treat

I have a sweet tooth. I love anything sweet. If I could eat anything without gaining weigh, I’ll eat dessert at each meal. But since January 5th, I’m trying to eat healthier so that means cut down on the sweet treats.

When I found this recipe that was low-calorie, I knew I had to try it. I love anything with lemon and desserts, even better 😀

So here there are the famous lemon squares that have less than 100 calories each. I know the squares are small but it’s better than having none. And yesterday I had enough calories left, that I ate 2. I was so happy.

Lemon Squares With Cream Cheese
From Coup de Pouce (a magazine we have in Quebec)

16 squares of 90 calories each

Lemon Cake:

• 1/4 cup butter, softened (I used unsalted butter)
• 1/2 cup Splenda sugar substitute
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened creamy applesauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 drops yellow food coloring (obtional) (but I used 3 drops)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (I omitted it)

Cream Cheese Icing:

• 1/2 cup light cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon Splenda sugar substitute
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1. Cake: In a bowl, with a mixer, beat butter until light. Add splenda and eggs, and beat for 1 minute. Add applesauce, lemon zest, vanilla and yellow food coloring and beat until mixture is homogeneous.
2. In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, folding delicately. Spread the dough in a greased 8 inches square pan. Cook in center of a preheated oven of 350 F for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Put the pan on a rack and let cool.
3. Icing: In a bowl, with a mixer (clean), beat cream cheese and splenda until creamy. Add lemon zest while beating. Spread the icing on the cold cake. Cut in 16 squares.
4. Notes : you can add 2 tablespoon of ground flax seeds. This recipe can be doubled and put in freezer (without icing).

Healthy and Filling Soups

On Sunday I made two soups. One for me and one for my boyfriend. First let me present you the Black Bean Soup.

My boyfriend says it’s spicy. I used a medium salsa.

Black Bean Soup
From Guilt Free Cooking from Taste of Home cookbook

10 servings

• 3/4 cup celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 3 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (I used black beans, that I soaked overnight and cooked)
• 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa (I used medium)
• 1 cup cubed cooked chicken breast
• 1 cup cooked long-grain rice
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (I omitted it)

1. In a large saucepan, saute celery, onion and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Heat through.
2. Diabetic Exchanges : 1 1/2 meat 1 starch.

**********************************

Now it’s time for my soup. In fact, in the description it’s mentionned that it’s more like a stew.  On my photo, you can see that it looks like a soup. But now it’s really thick.  I can almost eat it with a fork.  I love the taste.  It’s low in calories and there is plenty of fibers.  I love it.

Lentils are loaded with protein and fiber, can be kept on hand in the pantry, and cook quickly without presoaking, making lentil soup an excellent anytime meal. Peppery watercress perks up the flavor and adds vibrant color to this earthy soup.

Lentil Soup With Watercress
From Healthy Heart Cookbook from the American Medical Association

6 servings

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 celery rib, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 5 cups fat-free no-salt-added chicken broth or vegetable broth (or more)
• 1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed (I had green)
• 1/3 cup medium-grind bulgur
• 1 cup watercress leaf, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I omitted it)

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and celery and sauté until the vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato and oregano and cook for 3 minutes longer. Add the broth and 1 cup water and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the lentils. Return to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, then add the bulgur. Simmer until the lentils are soft but still intact, about 10 minutes longer. Add more broth if necessary, but the soup should be slightly thickened like a stew.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the watercress. Season with the salt and serve immediately.

Healthy – Country French Chicken

Yesterday I had an amazing dinner.  This chicken was in the marinade maybe 4 hours.  Already, the smell was amazing.  I knew it would be delicious.

Country French Chicken
From Betty Crocker The 300 Calorie Cookbook

8 servings

• 1/4 cup sun-dried tomato packed in oil, drained, chopped
• 2 tablespoons herbes de provence (if herbes de provence is not available, use any combination of dried basil, fennel seed, lavender, marjoram, rosemary, sage, summer savory, tarragon or thyme to equal 2 tablespoons.)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt (I omitted it)
• 8 large chicken thighs, skin removed (about 2 lb)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced (about 4 ounces)
• 1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
• 1 medium carrot, shredded (3/4 cup)
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 tablespoon fresh italian parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons lemon peel, grated

1. In shallow glass or plastic dish or resealable food-storage plastic bag, mix tomatoes, herbes de provence, oil, lemon juice, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Add chicken and mushrooms; seal bag. Turn to coat chicken and mushrooms in marinade. Refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 24 hours.
2. Heat oven to 375°F Spray a 13×9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Place rice, carrot and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in baking dish; stir in boiling water. Place chicken, mushrooms and marinade evenly over rice mixture.
4. Cover with foil. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and juice of chicken is clear when thickest part is cut to bone (180F). Sprinkle with parsley and lemon peel.
5. Exchanges : 1 1/2 Starch, 2 Lean Meat, 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices : 1 1/2.

As you can see, I had a nice serving (and I didn’t eat it all), with steamed asparagus and rutabagas.  It was so yummy.

Healthy Snack

I made these Cucumber Nachos 2 years ago.  This is something I plan to do again soon cause it’s healthy and so good.

Cucumber Nachos
From RecipeZaar

21-25 nachos

• 1 cup salsa
• 1 cucumber (I didn’t peel it)
• 1/2 cup fat-free cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream

1. Put the salsa in a strainer to remove some of the liquid.
2. Peel and slice the cucumber.
3. Put the slices of cucumber into the bottom of a 9×13 pan, without overlapping.
4. Discard the extra salsa liquid.
5. Put about 1 teaspoons of salsa on each cucumber slice.
6. Sprinkle the tops of the cucumbers with the cheese.
7. Put about 1 teaspoons of sour cream on top of each slice.
8. Serve cold.

Green Veggies Soup

This is another winning recipe from Ricardo.  Greens are good for our health?  Then this soup is perfect.  I don’t like broccoli but in this soup it’s yummy.  This is very simple.  For a complete meal Ricardo suggests to add chickpeas.  Great idea! I love to bring soups for my lunch at work.  But I need filling and low-cal soup.  Sure I don’t eat only that.  Today I had iceburg salad with raw chopped veggies (celery, carrots, green/red bell peppers), topped with italian dressing (5 cal/tablespoon).  I had a big bowl of this salad.

There is 2 tablespoon of pesto in this soup.  It makes it so tasty.

Green Veggies Soup
From Ricardo

4 servings

• 1 cup green beans, cut in pieces of 1/2 inch
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup zucchini, diced
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 5 cups chicken stock (I used low-fat low-sodium)
• 2 tablespoons pesto sauce
• pepper
• (I added 1 cup of chickpeas)

1. In a saucepan, brown the green beans in oil about 4 minutes at medium heat. Add remaining veggies and keep cooking 1 minute.
2. Add chicken stock and pesto. Bring to boil and let simmer until the broccoli is tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add pepper.

Do you know Chop Soui?

The thing I don’t like about Chop Soui is the bean sprouts.  I don’t like the taste and weird I don’t like the way it looks LOL  My mother made Chop Soui when I was young.  I ate it but didn’t like.  And then, older, when I was a teenager, I said no to it and ate something else.  Maybe her recipe was not so great.

I saw this recipe of Chop Soui in the magazine of Ricardo.  I always love his recipes.  I decided to try it but for my boyfriend.  I tasted it.  In fact, it’s the better Chop Soui I have ever tasted.  But again, I leave it for him for his lunches of the week LOL  I’m so generous 😀 And he’s happy.  So everyone’s happy.  That’s great!

Chop Soui
From Ricardo

4 servings

• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 celery root, diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1/4 cup peanut oil (I used only 1 tablespoon in a large non-stick skillet)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped
• 3/4 lb lean ground beef (I had 1 lb)
• 6 cups bean sprouts
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• salt and pepper

1. In a large skillet or a wok, stir-fry the onions, celery and carrot in half the oil until onion begins to brown. Add garlic and ginger. Stir-fry 1 minute. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
2. In the same skillet, stir-fry the beef in remaining oil at high heat, breaking it until it’s completely cooked and cooking liquid has evaporated.
3. Add the cooked veggies and bean sprouts. Add soy sauce and reheat well. Adjust seasoning.

Homemade Yogurt / Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

I found great recipes on the blog of Two Peas and Their Pod.  I think it’s the 3rd recipe I do in 2 weeks.  Today I plan on looking at the archives to find more recipes to try.

So on Sunday I made Homemade Yogurt.  I have a old yogurt maker from my mother.  The brand is Yogourmet.  This is exactly what you can see on this photo.  But the one I have is yellow cause it’s so old LOL

This recipe was very easy to do.  I used skim milk and fat-free plain yogurt.  I let it in the yogurt maker for at least 15 hours cause I was sleeping.  It could be more thick but anyway I’m used to not-so-thick yogurt. To show you, I did 2 bowls, one with blueberry jam and one with raspberry jam.  Both jams are ultra-light in calories (only 20 calories per tablespoon).  And I added Splenda to both.  My son ate the raspberry yogurt and said it was really good.

If I want thick yogurt, I can take a coffee filter on a bowl?  How many hours to have thick yogurt?

*********************

Then yesterday when I came home after work, I took the time to do the Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms.  I ate mine with leftover chicken and spinach topped with italian dressing.

This side dish is very filling, healthy with lots of good vegetable.  I don’t always like spinach but combined with the other ingredients, it’s delicious.  I left out the garlic (was too lazy too chop it finely).  I left out the breadcrumbs, cause I don’t really like breadcrumbs and also it made less calorie.  I used a part skim mozzarella cheese.  I used about 60 g of grated mozzarella.

I roasted diced red bell pepper in a non-stick skillet. After the 10 minutes at 375 F, I put the oven to broil and let the cheese turn golden.  It was so good.

If you like mushrooms, you have to try this recipe.

Healthy Salads

I don’t like all kinds of salads.  I don’t like bitter green, endives…  I like spinach but not in every way.

In this spinach salad, the dressing makes it really good.

Spinach Salad with Warm Maple Dressing
From RecipeZaar
4 servings

• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
• 1 (10 ounce) package fresh spinach, torn or 12 cups baby spinach
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch slices (I didn’t peel it)
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded smoked cheese (such as Gouda) or cheddar cheese (I used smoked Gouda, it makes it delish)

1. Toast pecans in a small dry skillet over low heat, stirring often, until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.
2. Toss spinach and cucumber in a salad bowl.
3. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallot and cook, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add vinegar and maple syrup and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Immediately pour dressing over the spinach and cucumber. Toss well and sprinkle with cheese and toasted pecans.

********************************

I don’t like to eat plain tomatoes.  Even with salt and pepper on it, I don’t like.  It has to be in a recipe.  Last year I tried this recipe.  I loved it so much.  I made it last week.  I even doubled the recipe.

Sesame Tomato Salad
From RecipeZaar
1-2 serving

• 1 large ripe tomato, chopped
• 1-2 tablespoon mayonnaise (I always use Hellmans light, the one that has 40 calories per tablespoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• salt (no salt for me)
• pepper (no pepper for me, it’s too good like that)
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds (optional)

1. Place the chopped tomato in a bowl. Mix in mayonnaise and sesame oil and mix. Salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the top.
2. Serve and enjoy!

**************************

There is a giveaway on the blog of Megan’s Munchies

Happy Awards

I got an Award from Barbara of Barbara Bakes.  I feel so honored since my blog is still new to the blog world LOL

The rules of the award are:
1. Copy the award image into a post.
2. List 10 things that make you happy.
3. Tag ten bloggers who brighten your day.
4. Put in a link to their blogs.
5. Notify the award receivers.
6. Recipients to link back to the sender’s blog.

Here are the things that make me happy :

1. My son
2. My boyfriend
3. having a drink
4. cooking something new
5. taking food photo
6. eating desserts, I love dessert
7. my cat
8. reading my twitter friends 😉
9. dancing
10. baking bread

I’m giving awards to these wonderful person I discovered recently via twitter.  Be sure to look at their recipes and blogs 🙂  There are some yummy stuff there 😉

1. Dragon’s Kitchen
2. Our Life in the Kitchen
3. Kalofagas
4. LaDue & Crew
5. The Kitchen Mouse
6. Daily Unadventures in Cooking
7. Fuzzy Koala (not via twitter)
8. Two Peas and Their Pod
9. He Cooks… She Cooks
10. The Left Over Queen