Chunky Monkey Yogurt Pie

#MadeWithChobani

the Official Yogurt of College Football

When I heard Chobani was looking for bloggers who would be interested in featuring their products in one of their posts I was thrilled. After all I already buy and use Chobani. I thought of all the many uses I have for their yogurt. I use it as a replacement for sour cream and as a topping. I use it in dips and dressings. I eat it for breakfast and as a sweet treat in the evenings. Then finally I use it to make all kinds of Yogurt Pies. My family has been making yogurt pie for years. It is often dessert at celebration dinners, get-togethers and holidays. So it just seemed natural that I would create a new one for Chobani's campaign.

Go check out their website for even more recipes using Chobani.

So let me tell you a bit about Chobani's ad campaign. With football season upon us, Chobani has been named the Official Yogurt of College Football! They want to remind us not to drop the ball when it comes to staying healthy at the tailgate. So they are asking bloggers, well everyone to share healthy recipes for tailgating with the #MadeWithChobani.

Most of my tailgating is done at home these days; getting together with family and friends to watch and cheer on our favorite teams. So I decided to use Chobani Flip Nutty for 'Nana Greek Yogurt to create a new Yogurt Pie. Nutty for 'Nana is a delicious Banana Low-Fat Yogurt with Honey Roasted Salted Almonds and Dark Chocolate on the side. You can flip the specially design cup to add the crunchy toppings to the creamy yogurt. Trust me it makes a delicious healthy dessert all by it's self. But I thought I would make it into a dessert for a group of college football fans. As a Louisiana Tech Alumni this house cheers for the Bulldogs. So this frozen treat will be decked out in red and blue. GO DAWGS! Now back to the pie... 

You can make all kinds of Yogurt Pies using #Chobani. Fresh fruit flavors or decadent ice cream flavors. With Chobani Flips you get the yogurt and a mix-in or garnish in one. Nutty for 'Nana is the perfect base for re-creating the ice flavor Chunky Monkey. You get the banana yogurt, nuts and chocolate in one carton. It made a delicious low-fat frozen dessert with all the flavor of a decadent ice cream. I decided to use the topping as a mix it; after all that is what makes the ice cream so good, all the chunky treats. I also decided to leave some of the bananas in slices too. This pie really lives up to the title of chunky.

For the garnish I had to go with something with team spirit. A bag of almond M & Ms re-enforces the almond and chocolate flavors and makes it so easy to decorate this pie for your favorite team. Beside that, the brown almond M & Ms look a lot like little footballs. So print out your team pennant or mascot and garnish this Chunky Monkey Yogurt Pie for your favorite team.

Chunky Monkey Yogurt Pie
Serves 6

Ingredients

2 cartons of Chobani Flip Nutty for 'Nana Greek Yogurt

1 cup sliced banana, divided

12 oz. light whipped topping, thawed

1 prepared Oreo pie crust

Hot fudge topping

Almond M & Ms, chopped and whole for garnish

Directions

Select your team colors (I used red and blue) from the bag of M & Ms. Roughly chop and set aside. Also set aside 7 brown M & Ms for garnish.

Place 1/2 cup banana slices in a mixing bowl, mash with the tines of a fork. Add remaining banana slices and yogurt; fold together. Fill yogurt portion of cups with whipped topping (about 1-1/2 cups or half of the carton) gently fold whipped topping into yogurt and fruit mixture. Sprinkle in the nut and chocolate topping and gently fold together. Pour into pie crust and spread evenly. Place pie in the freezer and freeze solid. When frozen, spread the top with a thin layer of hot fudge, the remaining whipped topping, chopped M & Ms in team colors and whole brown M & Ms for garnish.

Note: Remove the pie from the freezer and decorate 20  to 30 minutes before you are ready to serve. That way it is thawed just a bit when it is time to serve dessert. If you forget no worries serve with forks instead of spoons.

Disclaimer: I did not receive any monetary or product compensation for this post. I purchased the products myself and all opinions are my own.

Linking to:
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday

Cauliflower and Artichoke Salad

You know how everyone is using cauliflower as a substitute for everything? Well I don't know if I could ever give up rice, potatoes and grains for just cauliflower but sometimes it just works. This is definitely one of those times. I got the bright idea to take a family favorite Artichoke and Rice Salad and make it over with cauliflower. My family has been making this rice salad since dear sister and I were in 4-H. We didn't raise farm animals in 4-H. We cooked, made napkin rings and neat nighties(pajamas). We also competed in 4-H cooking contests. In fact, dear sister won a rice cookery contest with this inspiration recipe for Artichoke and Rice Salad. Now our memories are not what they use to be; so there is some debate as to where this recipe came from. I say it came from a cookbook called Pirate's Pantry that fell apart and was tossed. Dear sister said it came from one called Pots, Pans and Pioneers. I included that recipe below. One thing we agree on is we added some green olives to the recipe. The original recipe gets most of it's flavor from a box rice mix, curry powder, artichokes, green onions and olives. Since I substituted cauliflower for the rice mix; I added chicken bouillon, carrot, garlic and parsley to my salad. It works really well. I really enjoyed it. It has the same mild curry flavor but it is nice and crunchy. It has a similar texture to coleslaw. I loved the texture and flavor. This salad would be a great pot luck salad. Delicious with grilled foods or just a light lunch all by its self. Mom was really impressed and wanted the recipe. Dad tried it and said it was good. Dear sister said it was very good but her favorite is still the original rice salad. So there you go! I am giving you two salads in one post. You can choose your favorite.

Cauliflower and Artichoke Salad

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

5 cups cauliflower, florets

1 small carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1 tsp. low sodium chicken bouillon

1/2 tsp. curry powder

1/8 tsp. turmeric

1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained liquid reserved

2 green onions, sliced

1/4 cup sliced green olives with pimentos

Kosher salt, to taste (optional)

Dash white pepper, to taste

Direction

Place cauliflower and carrot in a blender. Fill blender container with water and pulse until cauliflower resembles grains of rice. Drain in a colander, pat dry and set aside.

In a serving bowl add garlic, mayonnaise, reserved artichoke liquid, chicken bouillon, curry powder, turmeric and parsley; stir to combine. Add cauliflower mixture, bell pepper, artichokes, green onions and olives; stir until mixed well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Linking to:
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday

Recycle Tip: Fruit Cups + Mason Jars

Look at this! Did you know that those little individual fruit cups fit perfectly in the top of a wide mouth mason jar. Well at least the Dole brand does. I suspect others do too. How brilliant is that?! Now you can keep all kinds of things neatly separated from others when you pack your lunch or snack. That little cup that would normally be thrown away can be recycled. Use it to keep dry ingredients separate from wet ingredients or visa versa. I did a lot of food prep using this idea this week. I made snacks and lunches. 

Perhaps my favorite snack was the Cheese, Fruit and Nut Jars I made. I got the idea after purchasing Sargentos Balanced Breaks. They are a great afternoon snack and so easy to make your self. You can use your favorite cheese, dried fruit and nuts. The fruit cup and a wide mouth half pint jar makes it easy to make many ahead of time. I made several with two different types of cheese. Everything including the nuts kept their original texture even after spending days in the refrigerator. Here is what I put in each jar:

1 oz. of cheese, cubed
2 Tbsp. dried fruit
2 Tbsp. mixed nuts 

Everyone has heard of Mason Jar Salads by now. But with the fruit cup and a wide mouth quart size jar you can pack your salad with dressing or crunchy toppings separate until lunch. I made a few with artichokes, tomatoes, poached chicken, salad greens, Parmesan cheese and Italian dressing in the cup. 
It made a great light easy to carry lunch.

Another of my favorites was a Hummus and Veggies Snack Jar. I used a fruit cup and a wide mouth pint size jar. I cut up carrot, celery and red bell pepper into sticks. Then I put plain hummus in each fruit cup. Here is where I added variety to my snacks. I topped some with minced pickled jalapeno and some with minced sundried tomato then a drizzle of olive oil. You can use any selection of veggies and hummus. If prepping for a family everyone can have their favorite. You can buy store bought hummus or make your own.

Check out this link for more Hummus recipes.

Last but certainly not least I packed my Chicken Tortilla Soup with the cheese and tortilla chips. I used one fruit cup and two wide mouth pint size jars. I put the soup in one jar and the chips in another. I put the cheese in the fruit cup and placed it on top of the chip jar. Then I put both in the refrigerator. Again the chips kept their crunchy texture even after being in the frig for days. This meal prep idea is going to make life very easy.

Want the soup recipe follow the link below:

Chicken Tortilla Soup

The possibilities for meal prep with these little fruit cups are endless! 
So get out there and eat more fruit.

Some other ideas not pictured here:

Make your own Fruit, Yogurt and Toppings

Keep spreads like Nutella, Peanut Butter or Almond Butter 

separate from your fruit, Crackers or Pretzel Rods

Keep Protein, Rice or Grains separate from your Salad 

so you can warm them before adding to your salad

Keep your Dips separate from your Chips

Or keep cold things like sour cream separate so you can warm your chili

Linking to:

I Thee Cook: Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop
Tornadough Alli: Throwback Thursday Link Party
Love Bakes Good Cakes: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Reasons To Skip The Housework: STH Link Party
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
Carole's Chatter: Food on Friday - Cheese

Stuffed Green Peppers

This recipe has been in my family for years. It dates back to our very first Panasonic microwave. My parents bought a large counter top model with auto sensor features. My Mom, dear sister and I even went to an instructional course on microwaving at the store where they bought it. I have forgotten most everything we learned that day. What I remember is that Dad did not go to microwave school. Whenever he had a question about using the microwave he would say, "I didn't go to microwave school". We all got a good laugh about that. We even reminded him on many occasions saying. "Oh yeah, that's right you didn't go to microwave school." Those were silly times. Anyway this is a recipe from the Panasonic cookbook that came with the microwave. It is so easy and very tasty. I usually use the microwave, but this time I used the oven and foil pans so I could freeze a few pans for future meals. This recipe is easy to assemble. The only difficult thing is deciding how long to cook them. Sometimes those peppers take a little longer than others. You will have to experiment a little. I am sure it will be different for everyone. It just depends on the peppers, your oven or microwave. You can cook them to your families taste; tender crisp peppers or nice and soft peppers. The good news is the beef filling is always light and fluffy no matter how long you cook them. The rice keeps it from being too dense. This really is a delicious comforting family meal. Add a side of corn or a salad and dinner is done. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have all these years.

Stuffed Green Peppers
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 cans (8 oz ea) tomato sauce, divided
1/4 cup water 
3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, divided
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup instant white rice
4 medium green peppers (about 1 lb)

Directions

In medium glass bowl, combine ground beef, onion, 1 can tomato sauce, water, 1 tablespoon cheese, salt, pepper and rice. Cut peppers in half lengthwise; remove seeds and rinse. Spoon beef-rice filing into each half. Place in oblong dish. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. 

Microwave: Cover completely with plastic wrap. Heat on High for at least 15 minutes or as long as 25 minutes until the peppers are cooked to your liking. After heating, release plastic wrap.

Oven: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cover completely with foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake for 15 minutes or until the peppers are cooked to your liking.

Linking to:

Love Bakes Good Cakes: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Reasons To Skip The Housework: STH Link Party

Pancake Tacos

This recipe was inspired by brown sugar bacon. I watched a few videos on the Brown Sugar Bacon BLT where they made this bacon. When I tried the bacon for myself it screamed pancakes to me. It has a sweet, salty, nutty flavor sort of like pecans. I knew it would be just delicious with pancakes. Well since I am taco obsessed right now I decided to use the pancakes for taco shells. All that was left was deciding on the rest of the fillings. Since it is pancakes and bacon then it should be breakfast right? So eggs? Maybe cheese? But what kind of cheese? And I can't forget the salsa! I decided on scrambled eggs, goat cheese and an apple salsa. After all goat cheese is mild and creamy and it goes well with eggs and apple. The scrambled eggs and goat cheese were so creamy, a great contrast to the crunchy bacon and apple salsa. The salsa turned out to be the biggest surprise, such a delicious combination. The honey, lemon, green onion, and cilantro really makes the apple salsa. It is the perfect crunchy topping for these pancake tacos. I can't wait to try it on a salad one day too. It is great with the bacon. I know both would make a great salad. Now believe me when I say this is a filling breakfast. Huge in fact, so get really hungry before you make it.

Pancake Tacos
Serves 2

Ingredients

Shake and Pour Pancake Mix

Apple Salsa:
1 pink lady apple, chopped
Juice of one lemon
1 green onion, sliced
1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
1 tsp. honey
Kosher salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Red pepper flakes, to taste

8 slices low sodium center cut bacon
Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp. Butter, divided
4 eggs, beaten
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
Maple syrup, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Prepare pancake mix according to package directions and set aside.

Combine salsa ingredients and set aside.

Place bacon in a pan over medium heat. Cook until you start seeing a little brown color on the bacon (see first bacon photo), flip and sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook the second side until slightly brown, flip and sprinkle with brown sugar. Watch carefully the bacon will brown (or burn) fast now that it has brown sugar on it. Flip one more time to caramelize the sugar. Remove from pan and set on paper to drain.

In another non-stick pan, melt a little butter over medium heat. Pour enough pancake batter to make a 6" pancake. When you see bubbles on the surface of the pancake check to see if brown and flip. Cook until second side is brown. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and put in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter until you have four 6" pancakes.

In another non-stick pan, melt remaining butter over medium low heat. Add beaten eggs and season with salt and pepper. Gently stir eggs until soft curds form, continue to cook until eggs are set and remove from heat.

To assemble the tacos, start with a pancake, place two pieces of bacon inside, add a fourth of the eggs, top with crumbled goat cheese and apple salsa. Drizzle with a little bit of maple syrup.

after first flip with brown sugar sprinkle

with maple syrup drizzle

Linking to:
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
My Turn for Us: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Tornadough Alli: Throwback Thursday Link Party
Reasons To Skip The Housework: STH Link Party
The Lazy Gastronome - Taco Tuesday Blog Hop

Bloody Mary Hamburger Steaks

This recipe turned out to be a bright idea as well as a bright and savory meal. A while back my Mom made a recipe for Bloody Mary Stew with Egg Noodles and Olives. It was a delicious dish but what I was smitten with was the noodles. I loved the briny bite the olives added to the noodles. The stew was great but you could not taste the Bloody Mary flavors. So I began to think.... Can you hear Jeopardy music playing? I can. LOL! Anyway, back to thinking. I wondered what would be delicious with those noodles? What can I make with more Bloody Mary flavor. Then it occurred to me why not smother a hamburger steak with Bloody Mary Mix. Perfect! I was able to add the Bloody Mary flavors inside the burger then smother it in even more flavor. It was delicious with the noodles. Bright, saucy and tangy comfort food. My only regret is that I was a little timid with the spice. I thought anything spicy or with heat would intensify when cooked and it had time to reduce. It really didn't. So I would say this recipe as is would be family friendly. It is not spicy. But if you are looking for the spicy heat of a Bloody Mary bump up the hot sauce and horseradish. I am totally going to bring the heat next time I make it. I may even try adding a little vodka? I hope you will give it a try. I used a store bought Bloody Mary mix but you could totally use your favorite recipe as well. Don't forget to try the noodles too! You will love them. They are a delicious side for saucy meals like this and stew. So good!

Bloody Mary Hamburger Steaks
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

16 oz lean ground beef
1/4 cup minced shallot or onion
1/4 cup minced celery
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Horseradish
1 Tbsp. chili sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
Celery salt, to taste
Lemon pepper, to taste
1 Tbsp. olive oil
12 oz. Bloody Mary Mix
1 tsp. hot sauce, or to taste

Directions

In medium bowl, combine beef, onion, celery, Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, chili sauce, and garlic; form mixture into four equal patties, each about 3/4" thick. Season both sides with celery salt and lemon pepper.

Heat olive oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat 1 minute; add patties. Cook, turning once, 2-3 minutes on each side, until browned.

Add Bloody Mary Mix and hot sauce to skillet; reduce heat to low. Cook, 5 minutes, until patties are cooked through and sauce reduces. Serve over Egg Noodles with Olives.

Egg Noodles with Olives

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 cups dry egg noodles
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup sliced green olives
4 ribs from the heart of celery with leaves, sliced
Kosher salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

Directions

Prepare egg noodles according to package directions in salted water. Drain and place in a serving bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Add olives and celery, season with salt and black pepper to taste. Toss to combine. Serve as a side to Bloody Mary Hamburger Steak or stew.

Linking to:
Miz Helen's Country Cottage: Full Plate Thursday
Love Bake Good Cakes: Freedom Fridays with All My Bloggy Friends
Tornadough Alli: Throwback Thursday Link Party
Reasons To Skip The Housework: STH Link Party