Yogurt Fruit Cup

I'm sure you've done your own version of a Yogurt Fruit Cup, well here's mine - and I think you will want to make my version some time, too.

I find that yogurt with added fruit, from the grocery cold case, is way too sweet. If you read the ingredients of most brands, you will find sugar, cane juice, and/or fructose near the top of the list.

Click on any photo to see larger.

I prefer plain yogurt with fresh fruit mixed in. That's plenty enough flavor. But if you like your yogurt sweet then add your own favorite sweetener. At least you will know how much you are adding. And use any fave vegan yogurt too.

And, often the fruit on the bottom of the yogurt container is cooked, so it's mushy like jam. Or, if it's not cooked, the texture will still be off.

If the only yogurt on sale has fruit on the bottom then I will spoon out the yogurt and toss the too sweet fruit.

There is a lot of cheap and tasty fruit out there to choose from. So keep an eye open for seasonal fruit that hits the bargain bins at your local grocery store, farmers market, or local fruit stand.

It is quick and easy if you use whole fruit that can be mixed into yogurt, like berries and seedless grapes.

Some fruit will not age well when peeled or sliced, turning brown quickly, like banana and apple, so you want to eat a Yogurt Fruit Cup with these right away. In general it best to make just enough of a Yogurt Fruit Cup to eat in one sitting, as other types of fruit may water down yogurt over a few hours.

Start with a banana, as they are usually the cheapest fruit. During cherry season in May and June (at least out here in Los Angeles) I can find them for around a dollar per pound.

For extra crunch add an on-sale apple. We also get mangoes and peaches cheaply at my neighborhood Latin market.

One pound plastic bins of strawberries cost 99.99 cents at the local 99c only Stores. Whole pineapples even make an appearance there.

You can mix and match any favorite fruit you find. Some fruit may come on sale if it has blemishes. Since you are slicing up the fruit, it won't matter - just cut out any damaged segments.

Start you day with a 99 Cent Chef inspired Yogurt Fruit Cup sometime, especially when fresh fruit is on sale and in season.

Ingredients (2 servings)

• 2 small cartons of yogurt - I used plain, unflavored yogurt. You can use any type on sale. 
• 6-10 cherries - seeds removed. Okay to add more or fewer cherries.
• 1 banana - peeled and sliced.
• 1 mango - peeled, seed removed, and sliced.

Directions
Mangoes are a bit messy and tricky to work with. They should be ripe first, with a slight softness and yellow or reddish color, depending on the type of mango.

I like to peel them this way. First I slice into the skin from top to bottom four times. Make sure to slice intersecting at the top and bottom.

Now just peel each segment to remove half of the skin, at the widest half of mango. The mango seed is flat and wide so you want to slice off the most flesh along the seed. The seed will guide your blade, just follow the seed as you slice.

Once one side is stripped of flesh, then peel the other side and repeat, slicing along the length of the seed.

You can keep slicing around the seed to get all the mango flesh. Now just cut the mango flesh into bite sizes.

You know how to peel and slice a banana, I'm sure. Just make sure it is ripe.

Cherries are easy to peel, but can be messy, so make sure to work on a surface that is washable, as cherry juice will stain your clothes or any porous surfaces.

All I do to remove a cherry seed is cut around the middle of a cherry. Grab each half and give it a twist. One half of the cherry will separate off the seed. The other half will need to be sliced around the seed to finish removing it. Once you've done it a few times, it gets easier and quicker to do.
 
Once all the fruit is prepared, time to add the yogurt. I add some yogurt in the bottom of a bowl.

Next add the fruit. And finally I mix in the rest of the yogurt. 

Fresh Fruit Salad

Cherries are on sale at my local  Latin market for 99 cents per pound! And, they provid the bulk of sweet and tangy produce as well - just read below all the Spanish words of the abundant frutas on sale.

So, now the time is right for my refreshing Fruit Salad. Of course, any seasonal fruit on sale can go into your own citrus salad. I like to mix up crunchy fruit with the soft and juicy.

My fruit salad is minimalist, just whatever fruit I can find on sale. And I give it a generous squeeze of lemon, or lime, to prolong it's freshness, and to cut the sweetness with a little sour.

I always find bananas priced way below a dollar per pound. If you are making a Fruit Salad ahead of time, then don't add sliced banana until you are ready to serve, they turn brown too quickly, even with a lemon or lime bath.

Apples and oranges frequently come on sale. Apples are easy to slice and dice. Oranges can be a little messy, with a slight bitter pith, that separates the skin from flesh. I like to slice off the peel and pith. You could then slice into each orange wedge to cleanly remove the flesh. I don't go that far.

Cherries take the most work, but are worth the trouble. I slice each cherry around the center seed. Twist the cherry halves and expose the seed. Now, it's easier to pluck the seed out. Have a paper towel handy in case juice gets everywhere!

To bulk up a Fruit Salad, add sliced melon or watermelon. If you are from the South, them add some fresh peaches, nectarines, blackberries and strawberries. Northerners get to add some blueberries and all kinds of apple varieties. If you live in breathtaking Hawai'i, add passion fruit, mango,pineapple, lychee nut, papaya and  slivers of fresh coconut.

Whatever the season, keep an eye out for fresh fruit on sale at your local farmers market or roadside fruit stands, then assemble a cheap$kate Fresh Fruit Salad- your way.

Ingredients (2 servings)

• 1 banana
• 12-20 cherries
• 1 apple
• 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice - can add more or less to your taste.
• More fruit to add: peach, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, mango, papaya, pineapple, nectarine, plum, melon, watermelon and grapes.

Directions
For apples, just remove the apple core and stem, then chop.

Cherries are sliced all around the center. You then twist the opposite ends of cherry to expose the seed. Now just pry it out with a knife, small spoon or use your fingers.

I slice an orange in half. Then, slice off the skin and pith to expose the orange flesh. Now just slice of the orange into bite-sizes. Remove any seeds if necessary.

For a banana, peel and slice, but only do it just before serving your Fruit Salad. Bananas do not keep long once the peel is off.

Finally, give the fruit a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. I add about a tablespoon. You can add more or less to suit you own taste.

Dining for Free in the Garden of Marina Del Rey - VIDEO

It's Spring and time to get your garden going! Last month I replaced my topsoil with fresh compost that I make from used coffee grounds and veggie scraps. And in the last two weeks I've made many trips to the Marina Del Rey Garden Center for tomato, lettuce and herb seedlings.

I've been going here for a few years now and always find great deals. They carry many varieties of tomato plants; from tiny but flavorful Cherry Tomatoes, to hefty and juicy Beef Steak.

And I especially like the variety of lettuce flats -- everything from Mesclun Mix to Red Buttercrunch and Gourmet Salad Blend. They also have a small orchard of budding fruit trees, some starting to bear fruit -- so you know your first crop is definitely on the way.

You can't get fresher produce than growing your own. And in my latest zany film foray, this green- thumbed budget horticulturist takes you on a tasty garden trek, with camera in hand. Now, you know this will not be a typical tour -- where The 99 Cent Chef goes, high jinx follow!

 The Marina Del Rey Garden Center's staff is knowledgeable and helpful, but they give you the space to explore on your own. And, you will see how the Cheapskate Forager takes full advantage of nature's bounty! It's hard to resist plucking and tasting a tart Kumquat from a branch weighed down with the colorful fruit, and I'm sure almost everyone has snagged a Strawberry, Blackberry, or a Grape or two, from budding bushes displayed for sale. But, no one has gone to the extremes the Chintzy Gardener goes in this latest docu-comedy video.

This time around I had some help from a couple of 99 Cent Players. Making her first appearance is Garden Master Elissa (a workmate & cool drummer); while the Omniscient Voice at the end is provided by my neighbor, and frequent contributor, Pete (aka Pedro Pe), a comedian and actor. Both Elissa and Pete provided additional camerawork, too. 99 thanks to them, and also to the Marina Del Rey Garden Center and all their nursery gardeners.

So sit back and let me give you a comedic tour of the Marina Del Rey Garden Center. It comes with a  warning though: don't try what you see here at your own local nursery -- I'd hate to have to bail you out of the slammer!

Dining in the Garden of Marina del Rey- VIDEO

Play it here. Video runs 4 minutes 45 seconds.

To view or embed from YouTube, click here.

Marina Del Rey Garden Center

13198 Mindanao Way

Marina Del Rey, CA 90292

hours: 8am to about 5pm. Open 7 days.

phone: (310) 823-5956

website: marinagardencenter.com

Please Note: I brought my own fruit, veggies and props to the Marina Del Rey Garden Center. I did pluck a grapefruit from the tree there, but used my own to eat from (there were a lot of grapefruits that had fallen to the ground, so I didn't feel too guilty picking just one -- which I left behind.) Finally, I bought the flat of lettuce used in the video. Although, I must 'fess up to noshing a handful of kumquats during several visits to the nursery.

To make your own Wanted Poster like mine above, click here (and upload a photo.)

Sausage & Sauerkraut With Beer

Sausage and sauerkraut are made for each other and the Chef will use any excuse to cook with beer. And you can be sure there will be no leftovers with this recipe! All the ingredients are cheap, the way The Chef likes it.

This dish is traditionally made with bratwurst - I substitute inexpensive Polish sausage from this 99c only Store - they always stock it. Of course, my readers living high-on-the-hog can use any gourmet hand-crafted sausage they like! As for sauerkraut, it is one cheap canned/jar veggie.

Other budget ingredients include one onion, one apple and a 24 oz. can of beer, bought on sale from my local liquor store - only 12 ounces are needed so the leftover elixir will sustain the Chef through the duration of cooking.

Sauteed onion with the addition of an apple brings sour sauerkraut into a sweeter flavor profile. One last ingredient is a couple slices of browned bacon -- and you know how everything is good with bacon.

I first had sauerkraut on a hotdog, but learned more complex versions when I filmed in Hollywood and lunched on Melrose Avenue, just past the Paramount Studios lot, at a German Hofbrau restaurant (long gone, but not forgotten). One of the attractions was the constant hiring of fresh-faced frauleins from Germany who worked as waitresses.

I'm not sure why, but they were usually quite curt and no-nonsense, although always cute in their Hofbrau-style frocks, snaking through tables laden with trays of smoked pork chops, bratwurst, German potatoes, sauerkraut and decorative steins of frothy pilsener. The lads in the film-crew loved this place. Frauleins and steins, Prost!

I has always had a fondness for German culture including: German Expressionist art, the tragi/comedy musicals of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, and the cinema of Rainer Werner Fassbinder -- a difficult artist and not everyone's cup-of-tea, or stein-of-beer.

The Chef's Sausage & Sauerkraut With Beer is a slow-cooked hearty entree you can hoist a foamy filled stein of hefeweizen to. Guten Appetit!

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 lb. sausage - your favorite
• 1 12 oz. can of beer - light or dark - photo shows 24 oz., half went into marinating the Chef.
• 1 whole apple - cored and sliced
• 1 whole sliced onion - red, white, or yellow
• 14 oz. sauerkraut, drained - sauerkraut is so tasty prepared this way that you may want to add an extra can.
• 3 slices of bacon - optional
• 1 bay leaf
• Pepper to taste - bacon and sauerkraut has plenty of salt.

Directions
Brown bacon and sausage together about 10 minutes in a large pan or pot. Add sliced onion and cook to soften, about 5 minutes.

Add 12 ounces of beer and deglaze the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Drain sauerkraut and add to sausage and onions. Lastly, core and slice one apple, mixing into sauerkraut.

Cover and cook for about one hour over low heat. Check and add beer, water or stock a half cup at a time, if liquid evaporates.

The song "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" is sung by Louis Armstrong.

Lyrics & Music by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill from the play "Three Penny Opera".

Movie clip from "Lola" by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.