Donna's Black Cherry Amaretto Frozen Yogurt

Hello to All, thank you for visiting my blog!  I enjoy creating and sharing my recipes with anyone interested and offer this simple, easy and delicious frozen yogurt recipe using fresh black cherries.  It takes very little time to pull together and freezes fast so you can have a showstopper dessert ready anytime!  Best, Donna:

Donna's Black Cherry Amaretto Frozen Yogurt

Ingredients:

2-2/3 cups black cherry flavored Greek yogurt (or four 5.3 ounce containers)

1-1/3 cups vanilla flavored Greek yogurt (or two 5.3 ounce containers)

1 Tablespoon Amaretto liqueur

1 cup black cherries, washed, pitted and coarsely chopped (about 24 cherries)

½ cup almonds, slivered or sliced

¼ cup mini chocolate chips, if desired

Method:

Using spoon, mix together the yogurts and amaretto in medium sized bowl.  Place in ice cream maker and process for 15 minutes, adding the cherries and nuts (and chocolate, if desired).  Process for an additional 5 minutes or until ingredients are incorporated.  Place in container and freeze immediately.

Makes 1 quart.

Copyright 2015.

Donna's Meatless Taco Salad Pizza, Meatless Spanish Breakfast Scramble and Meatless BBQ Lettuce Wraps

Dear Friends in Health, I have been experimenting with a meatless protein product called Beyond Meat that was recommended to us by my son and daughter-in-law.  He is working on a documentary about how we as a society eat factory farm animals for sustenance and explored alternative protein sources.  I developed these recipes using the Beyond Beef Feisty Crumbles product and was very surprised and pleased at the results.  I hope you give these recipes a try - we will be going meatless more often!  Best, Donna:

Donna's Meatless Taco Salad Pizza

Ingredients:

1 large gluten-free tortilla or pizza crust

½ cup fresh salsa, medium

1½ cups Beyond Meat’s Beyond Beef, Feisty Crumbles flavor, meatless protein product

½ sweet onion, chopped

½ green pepper, chopped

¼ cup grape tomatoes, chopped

1 cup corn kernels

½ cup black olives, sliced

1 cup Colby Jack cheese, shredded

1 cup gluten free tortilla chips, crumbled

Avocado slices

Lime wedges

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray a pizza pan or cookie sheet with cooking oil and top with crust.  Spoon on salsa and add rest of ingredients in order given.  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until cheese and chips are golden brown and ingredients are heated through.  Remove from oven, let rest for a few minutes before slicing.  Serve with avocado slices and lime wedges, if desired.

Serves 2.

Donna's Meatless Spanish Breakfast Scramble

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons butter

½ green pepper, chopped

½ sweet onion, chopped

½ cup black olives, sliced

12 eggs, beaten

1 cup Beyond Meat’s Beyond Beef, Feisty Crumbles flavor, meatless protein product

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Salsa

Method:

Melt butter in large frying pan over medium high heat.  Saute pepper and onion until softened and onion is golden; add olives and heat through.  Add eggs, the crumbles, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir until cooked through.  Top with cheese and serve with salsa, if desired.

Serves 5 – 6.

 Donna's Meatless BBQ Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

One 11 ounce package Beyond Meat’s Beyond Beef, Feisty Crumbles flavor, meatless protein product

1 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle BBQ Sauce

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1 bunch Romaine lettuce, leaves separated and washed

½ sweet pepper (green, red or yellow), chopped

2 Tablespoons Asiago cheese, freshly grated

Method:

Mix first 3 ingredients in glass dish with lid.  Cover and heat in microwave on High about 3 minutes.  Place filling onto romaine leaves and top with sweet peppers.  Serve with rice or tortilla chips, if desired.

Serves 2.

Copyright 2015.

Donna's Perfect Blueberry Jam and Perfect Raspberry Jam

Dear Friends, I know that this is the middle of summer but I just cannot resist preserving the luscious fruit that is available this time of year!  Pulling out a jar of blueberry or raspberry jam - or both - in the middle of winter and serving it with hot bread or on toast is such a delight!  I hope you make some soon!  Best, Donna:

Donna's Perfect Blueberry Jam

Ingredients:

2 quarts fresh blueberries, cleaned and mashed

One 1.75 ounce box Ball Fruit Jell, No Sugar Needed

½ cup orange or cherry juice

4½ cups sugar

Method:

Mix berries, juice and fruit jell; bring to full boil.  Add sugar and bring to full, rolling boil for 1 minute.  Place in 8 ounce canning jars.

Makes 9-10 eight ounce jars.

Donna's Perfect Raspberry Jam

Ingredients:

5 pints fresh raspberries, gently washed and mashed

One 1.75 ounce box Ball Fruit Jell, No Sugar Needed

¾ cup cherry juice

5 cups raw (turbinado) sugar

Method:

Mix berries, juice and fruit jell; bring to full boil.  Add sugar and bring to full, rolling boil for 1 minute.  Place in 8 ounce canning jars.

Makes 9-10 eight ounce jars.

Copyright 2015.

Donna's Mediterranean Salad, White Sangria, Tara's Quick Iced Tea, Sulfur Island Iced Tea

Dear Culinary Adventurers, a simple pizza party can be turned into a feast with a few outstanding side salads and desserts.  In celebration of our 7 month old grandson, Phinneaus, we hosted a pizza party this past weekend for 21 family members and served this luscious vegetarian salad as well as Donna's Hash Brown Potato Salad (see 04 January 2015 post for recipe) and Donna's Shrimp Guacamole Salad (24 December 2014 post for recipe).  May you live long and prosper!  Best, Donna:

Donna's Mediterranean Salad

(Inspired by James Caruso’s Ensalada Mediterranean)

Ingredients:

1 cup sauvignon blanc or other white wine

One 6 ounce package dried apricots, cut into thirds

One 12 ounce package Medjool dates, cut into thirds

3 Tablespoons raspberry vinegar

¾ cup olive or canola oil

¼ cup honey

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

10 ounces (~7 cups) spring mix lettuce or arugula

½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted

½ cup Marcona almonds

½ cup blue cheese, crumbled

Gluten free croutons

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Method:

Heat the wine in a small saucepan and add the dried fruit.  Bring to boil and heat until liquid is almost absorbed.  Remove from stove and set aside to cool.  Mix together the next 5 ingredients for the dressing.

Place the greens on a large platter and top with the cooked fruit, olives, almonds, blue cheese and croutons.  Pour dressing over top of salad and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese to finish.

Serves 12.

Donna’s White Sangria

 Ingredients:

One 1.5 liter or two 750 mL bottles pink Pinot Grigio or white zinfandel

1½ cups Canada Dry ginger ale

1 cup apricot flavored brandy

Assorted sliced fruit such as lemons, limes, oranges, peaches, strawberries

Method:

Mix all ingredients in large pitcher and chill.  Add fruit to sangria just before serving.

Serves 6 – 8.

Tara's Quick Iced Tea

Place 4 tea bags, any variety, into a quart jar and fill with cold water.  Microwave 3 - 5 minutes until water turns brown.  Chill in refrigerator.  Add ice and lemon or other citrus slices when serving.

Sulfur Island Iced Tea

Combine equal parts of Tara's Quick Iced Tea with Donna's White Sangria, add ice cubes and fruit and enjoy!

Copyright 2015.

Donna's Tuscan Farmer's Market Pizza

Hello to All, I hope you are enjoying the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables at your local farmer's market.  I wanted to capture the essence of summer with this somewhat unusual yet tasty tortilla pizza.  It turned out even better than I expected and it is so quick to make which is an added bonus for busy folks like you.  Ciao!  Donna

Donna's Tuscan Farmer’s Market Pizza

Ingredients:

1 gluten free tortilla

4 ounces cheese, sliced

12 green grapes, halved

20 olives

6 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1 small red onion, sliced

1 nectarine, sliced into 8 pieces

2 Tablespoons basil leaves, sliced

3 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated

Ground pepper to taste

Olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Place tortilla on baking sheet sprayed with cooking oil.  Layer ingredients on tortilla in order given, ending with a light drizzle of olive oil on top.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Serves 2.

Copyright 2015.

Donna's Berry Cheesecake Trifle

UPDATE 28 July 2015:  I froze the leftover trifle in sprayed muffin cups and topped with gingersnap crumbs - they were delicious frozen too!

Dear Friends, I hope that you had a wonderful time this past weekend celebrating our nation's Independence Day!  For this special occasion, I pulled together this simple dessert that is less time-consuming than making traditional cheesecake.  I hope you get a chance to try this soon!  Best, Donna:

Donna's Berry Cheesecake* Trifle

Ingredients:

Two 8 ounce packages Neufchatel cheese

2/3 cup sugar

One 16 ounce container light sour cream

Two 8 ounce containers whipped topping

4 teaspoons vanilla

1 quart fresh strawberries, stemmed, washed and quartered

1 pint blueberries, washed

1 cup Mi-Del Gluten Free Ginger Snaps, crumbled

Method:

Mix together first 5 ingredients to make cheesecake.  Starting with cheesecake, alternately layer with fruit.  For last layers, decoratively place fruit and chill.  Before serving, top with crumbled ginger snaps. 

*Adapted from Epicurious Strawberry Cheesecake recipe.

Serves 12 – 16.

Copyright 2015.