Fresh fruit and yogurt go well togetherin my latest recipe video, Strawberries and Yogurt.
Pre-mixed yogurt with fruit is too sweet for me. It is easy enough to mix a handful of sliced strawberries into yogurt. Of course, remove the bitter green stems.
This fruit and yogurt mix will keep a couple of days in the refrigerator -- if you can resist finishing it off in one sitting! This isn't so much an original recipe as a recipe reminder of how easy and nutritious it is to add fresh fruit to yogurt.
Anytime I find fruit on sale at my local 99c only Store, I immediately think of a light breakfast. My most common homemade yogurt with fruit includes strawberries, pineapple, sliced mango, blackberries and blueberries.
Fresh frozen fruit mixes nicely into yogurt, although the texture is mushy when defrosted. Some canned fruit works well, I like canned pineapple and peaches in natural juice.
As for yogurt I just use plain. Vanilla and other flavors are usually too strong and often have added sugar. But, if you like a certain type on sale then use it.
Sometimes an unusual brand will show up on sale like this creamy French-style yogurt called "oui" made by Yoplait. It was so good I got half a dozen jars. They also had a lemon-flavored that held up well with the addition of raspberries.
"Oui"is advertised as "French Style," whatever that means. But it is milder tasting - less sour than typical yogurt, with a slight almond flavor. And the glass jars are collectible too.
As with any new find at a 99c only Store, I will try it in the car parking lot, and if it's good then I will go back and get a whole bunch more. I've learned you gotta be impulsive there or it may be gone an hour later -- snooze you lose!
So do check out my latest stop-motion animated video. There's really nothing to this recipe and anyone can make it. Sometimes less is more, for a perfectly delicious recipe.
Strawberries & Yogurt - Video
Play it here. The video runs 42 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.
Fresh fruit and yogurt go well together in my latest recipe video, Kiwi and Yogurt.
Pre-mixed yogurt with fruit is too sweet for me. It is easy enough to slice and peel kiwi to mix into yogurt. You can even leave the fuzzy kiwi skin on if you like. It takes some getting used to, but it's not bad, really.
Anytime I find fruit on sale at my local 99c only Store, I immediately think of a light breakfast. My most common homemade yogurt with fruit uses: strawberries, pineapple, mango, blackberries or blueberries.
As for yogurt I just use plain. Vanilla and other flavors are usually too strong and often have sugar too. But if you like a certain type on sale then use it.
Sometime an unusual brand will show up like this creamy French-style yogurt called "oui" made by Yoplait. It was so good I got half a dozen jars. They also had a lemon-flavored that held up well with the addition of sliced kiwi.
As with any new find at a 99c only Store, I will try it in the car parking lot, and if it's good then I will go back and get a whole bunch more. I've learned you gotta be impulsive there or it may be gone an hour later -- snooze you lose!
So do check out my latest stop-motion animated video. There's really nothing to this recipe and anyone can make it. Sometimes less is more, for a perfectly delicious recipe.
Kiwi & Yogurt - Video
Play it here. video runs 49 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.
My latest recipe is loaded with veggies, too. Lamb Curry with Vegetables starts with a basic meat curry, then when that is ready I add the veggies and finish it up - so, my latest recipe is a twofer: Lamb Curry and Lamb Curry with Veggies.
Curry comes in all flavors depending on the region of origin, from India to Thailand. I am making a simple India-style curry. Even in India, curries vary from region to region.
I make a basic Cheap$kate Lamb Curry with spices, coconut milk, tomato sauce, onion and garlic. All I do is saute the meat and onion, spices, then add liquids, cover and simmer the Curry about 2 hours, or until the lamb is fall-off-the-bone tender.
And I build a basic curry powder from scratch, but if you have access to pre-made curry powder then it's okay to use it. The spices I use are mostly easy to get and include: ground cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and coriander.
It's okay to mix and match my curry ingredients. If you don't have coriander then leave it out. Spices can be expensive, but I'm lucky to have 99c only Stores to shop in.
The main curry powder ingredient is ground cumin, if that's all you can get, then use only that- all the other spices just make the curry powder more complex.
Click on any photo to see larger.
For a richer curry I add coconut milk or cream, and tomato sauce. This adds sweet and acidic layers of flavor. Okay to leave out coconut milk for a light curry sauce. I get both ingredients from my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree.
For meat, I sometimes splurge with pricy, pungent lamb. You can substitute with cheap chicken or pork.
Depending on the meat, some cheap cuts of lamb, beef or pork can be very tough, so a 2 to 3 hour simmering time is needed. I leave fat and bone attached, for extra flavor. With long simmering times, some fat will liquefy and the bone will separate from the flesh. Any tough meat will tenderize. Cooking time varies depending on simmering temperature.
This is the kind of curry you can leave heating on the stovetop -- just check from time to time and add more water or broth as needed.
Click on any photo to see larger.
I fill out this Lamb Curry with a lot of cheap veggies that include: onion, bell pepper, carrot and potato.
You can add any fave veggies you like, such as: spinach, kale, cauliflower, squash, and green beans. My local Latin market has great deals on veggies.
After my basic Cheap$kate Lamb Curry is done, I add the veggies and cook another 45 minutes. You can adjust the cooking time if you like veggies crunchy or soft.
I don't make this recipe too often as lamb is a bit expensive, but sometimes I gotta have a Lamb Curry with Vegetables -- damn the price!
Best Lamb Curry with Vegetables - Video
Play it here. Video runs 4 minutes, 46 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here. Ingredients (about 2-3 servings)
1 to 2 pounds of lamb - slice into bite sizes. Okay to substitute any meat, including chicken, turkey, beef and pork.) The balance of meat to veggies is up to you.
1 tablespoon cumin powder - okay to substitute cumin with a favorite curry powder (if you use a pre-mix curry powder, then leave out the other spices that follow.)
1 teaspoon powdered ginger - or fresh chopped ginger.
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon - okay to use a cinnamon stick.
1 teaspoon ground coriander
13.5 ounces coconut milk or cream - one regular size can.
8 ounces tomato sauce - one small can.
1 onion chopped - white, yellow or red onion.
1 tablespoon garlic - chopped (jar or fresh.) Okay to use garlic powder.
1 bell pepper - chopped
1 carrot - chopped
1 potato - chopped. I used a large russet potato.
1 tablespoon oil - to saute lamb.
1 cup of water or broth
Salt and pepper to taste
*Other curry spices - garam masala, chili powder and turmeric. About a teaspoon each. Okay to mix and match what you like to make a curry powder, but always start with a tablespoon of cumin.
Directions
Slice lamb into bite-sized pieces. Okay to trim off some fat and remove bone. I like to keep most of the fat and leave bone in for extra flavor.
Add a tablespoon of oil to a medium heated pan. Add lamb and brown one side about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how hot the pan is.
As meat browns, roughly chop one onion. Once meat is brown on one side then add the chopped onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add curry spices, including: cumin, ginger, cumin, cinnamon and coriander. Okay to use a favorite pre-mixed curry powder.
click on any photo to see larger
Salt and pepper to taste, then add chopped fresh garlic or garlic powder. Mix well and saute dried spices and garlic for a minute or so.
Add one can of coconut milk or cream, a small can of tomato sauce, and a cup of water or broth. Mix well and bring up to a low simmer.
Cover and cook until lamb is tender, about 2 hours. Other types of meat may cook quicker. Chicken takes about an hour. Check from time to time, making sure liquid does not cook out. Add a little water or broth if needed.
This is a basic Lamb Curry. You can stop here if you like, I sometimes do.
The idea is to make a simple Lamb Curry with onion and spices, and cook it until tender. Then you add rest of veggies and cook them just enough to slightly soften.
If you added all the veggies at once, in the beginning, they would cook until way too mushy for my taste.
While Lamb Curry cooks, chop the rest of veggies. After the lamb is tender, add chopped bell pepper, carrot and potato. You can add any favorite veggies you like including: cauliflower, green beans, squash and spinach.
Bring to a low simmer. Cover and cook veggies until they reach desired tenderness, about half hour to 45 minutes.
I like to serve my Lamb Curry and Veggies over rice.
Fresh fruit and yogurt go well togetherin my latest recipe video, Cherries and Yogurt.
Pre-mixed yogurt with fruit is too sweet for me. It is easy enough to slice and pit cherries to mix into yogurt. I use about 3 to 4 cherries per small yogurt container. The fruit and yogurt mix will keep a few days in the refrigerator -- if you can resist finishing it off in one sitting!
This isn't so much an original recipe as a recipe reminder of how easy and nutritious it is to add fresh fruit to yogurt.
Cherries are notoriously expensive, but for a month or so they come down in price, and I always get a few large bags during the summer season. At first appearance, they are around $2 per pound but wait a week or two and the price quickly drops.
Click on any photo to see larger.
I like to add them to yogurt or as a mealtime dessert -- I'll also nibble from small bowls throughout the day. They are especially good in yogurt, like almost any seasonal fruit would be. And if cherries are too expensive or hard to get, you can substitute with your own local fruit stand favorites, or even can/jar cherries.
Fresh cherries are a little messy to work with though, so you want to rinse off any surfaces that the cherry juice pools on, and especially clothing or kitchen towels.
It's easiest to slice around the cherry pit and twist cherry halves apart, then dig out the cherry pit. Once you get going it only takes a few minutes to get a cup full. You can go online to get a special device that pits them as well.
Anytime I find fruit on sale at my local 99c only Store, I immediately think of a light breakfast. My most common homemade yogurt with fruit including strawberries, pineapple, sliced mango, blackberries or blueberries.
As for yogurt I just use plain. Vanilla and other flavors are usually too strong and often have added sugar. But, if you like a certain type on sale then use it.
Sometimes an unusual brand will show up on sale like this creamy French-style yogurt called "oui" made by Yoplait. It was so good I got half a dozen jars. They also had a lemon-flavored that held up well with the addition of sliced cherries.
"Oui"is advertised as "French Style," whatever that means. But it is milder tasting - less sour than typical yogurt, with a slight almond flavor.
As with any new find at a 99c only Store, I will try it in the car parking lot, and if it's good then I will go back and get a whole bunch more. I've learned you gotta be impulsive there or it may be gone an hour later -- snooze you lose!
So do check out my latest stop-motion animated video. There's really nothing to this recipe and anyone can make it. Sometimes less is more, for a perfectly delicious recipe.
Cherries & Yogurt - Video
Play it here. video runs 56 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.
