Blackberry FroYo!

Have I mentioned how much I love my mom?  I’m sure it goes without saying, but I do.  And I know every child is biased, but my mom is my favorite mom on the planet.  Why?

Because even at 32 (my age, not hers) she still does what she can to help me out.

My folks aren’t well off, so I paid for & worked my way through college, but my parents always did what they could.  Every time I came home to do laundry (a couple times a month) my mom always gave me a $20 for gas (remember when that got you a full tank?  *sigh*) and would have a huge BOX full of groceries for me.  If I had casually mentioned in conversation a week or so before that I needed to watch for tuna on sale, sure enough, when I came home there would be a 6-pack of tuna cans, a few boxes of mac-n-cheese, cans of ravioli and Spaghetti-Os, miscellaneous cans of veggies, snack cakes, chips/crackers, etc. waiting for me in the kitchen.

I’m 6 years out of school and married w/ a professional job, but my mom, may the Lord bless & protect her, still loves to take care of her only daughter.

So when I asked my mom to keep an eye out for blackberries at the local farmer’s markets up around my hometown…she came through like a champ.  She called me up last weekend & asked to meet me for breakfast at a town about halfway between here & there (We live about 2.5 hrs apart), and THIS was the haul waiting for me:

That’s EIGHT pints of blackberries, and a huge pile o’ maters—the little ones are from her own plants, and one lil’ onion.  All I had to do was buy her breakfast.  And since my mom eats like a bird, that’s a pretty cheap date.

Never mind that she’d also given me two pints a week prior to this.  TEN PINTS of blackberries!  I’m the richest girl on the block.

Now, I suspect at least ONE person out there is whispering under her breath: “I thought this was a CAJUN food blog? She hasn’t posted anything Cajun in like, a month!”  This is true…Pinterest has stolen a lot of thunder from my Cajun recipes.  However, the FIRST thing I think about when I see blackberries is Louisiana.

One of my favorite things about my job in Louisiana was the constant source of mid-day snacks while out in the woods.  Wild blackberry bushes (Rubus argutus) are everywhere—dewberries too (Rubus trivialis), which are extremely similar, but slightly sweeter and more pinkish.  And then there are the mulberry trees (Morus rubra), and the occasional stray satsuma tree.

(Deer like to hunt for berries as well.)

 

Anyway…After a good soaking, half of my blackberry haul went in the freezer…but what to concoct with the other half? The world is my oyster. Or, my blackberry bush.

My first adventure was a blackberry cobbler….but I forgot to include baking powder and it sorta flopped…it was delicious, don’t get me wrong, but not photo-worthy.

Next mission?  BLACKBERRY FROZEN YOGURT. And this time, I SHALL NOT FAIL.  It’s the perfect treat for this sweltering summer weather, nicely tart and sweet, and FAT FREE. 

 

Ingredients:

2 cups blackberries, washed & patted dry

2 cups plain greek yogurt

1/2-2/3 can of fat free sweetened condensed milk (depending on how sweet your berries are, or if you have to use a flavored greek yogurt)

 

Directions:

First: prep your ice cream maker.  For us, this means freezing the metal canister for about 24 hours.

Then, 24 hours later, in your blender or food processor, blend your blackberries & the condensed milk.

 

Then add the greek yogurt and pulse until combined.

Look at that color!  Is that not gorgeous????

Now, set up your ice cream maker, & pour the mixture in.

(Avoid making off-color jokes about your ice cream maker’s “extra large opening”.  Teehee.)

Let mix until frozen—for our maker, that’s about 15-20 minutes.  You can hear when the mixing paddle starts to strain.

Then scrape into a freezable storage container.  If your froyo isn’t 100% set up, let freeze for an additional hour or two.

Serve w/fresh blackberry garnish.

Makes about 4-6 servings.

The Greek yogurt has a pretty strong flavor, so that will be predominant in this dish.  For that reason, I think I’d love to try making this with a flavored greek yogurt next time—maybe honey or vanilla?  Or even lemon!

NutriFacts:

Calories 165.3

  Total Fat 0.2 g

  Saturated Fat 0.0 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.0 g

  Cholesterol 4.8 mg

  Sodium 64.8 mg

  Potassium 196.3 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 31.6 g

  Dietary Fiber 2.5 g

  Sugars 25.5 g

  Protein 9.9 g

Homemade Granola, and a Fruit & Yogurt Parfait!

I love sleep.  Which is why it’s probably a good thing that I’m a pretty low maintenance gal.  On weekdays I sleep in as long as possible, then after the 3rd or 4th Snooze button, I crawl out of bed, slink into the shower, and hope the hot water will help me wake up.  My morning routine is about 30 minutes from getting up to getting out of the house. 

Meaning I don’t usually have time to eat breakfast at home, so I take my breakfast with me & eat it at the office.  Ergo, my breakfasts need to be portable, easy to throw together, and of course, hearty enough to stick with me. 

Somedays it’s oatmeal with a tablespoon of dark chocolate chips thrown in. (An idea I learned from Pinterest.  God bless Pinterest.)

Somedays it’s a hard boiled egg, an orange, and half a bagel with some peanut butter.

Oh, and coffee.  Every day.  Of course.

(I have this magnet on my fridge.)

 

But one of my favorite breakfasts is a yogurt parfait.  It’s like dessert for breakfast!

They DID just open a McDonald’s on my way to work…

…however, a parfait from MickeyD’s will run about a buck-fifty with tax, and with a 5.3oz serving, you get:

160 calories, 4 g protein, 1 g fiber, 21 g sugar.

Not “bad”, but not great either. And certainly not enough to stick with you all morning.

 

I prefer to make them at home & have total control over the ingredients, and the price.

 

Step 1. Buy Greek yogurt in bulk: A 32-oz container of Greek yogurt typically runs about $4 at Walmart.  I personally love Chobani brand, and they offer 50 cent off coupons on their website.  With a 6-oz serving size, that gets you about 5.5 servings for 72 cents/serving.

One serving of Greek yogurt has about 100 calories, 7g sugar, 0g fat, and 18 g protein.  That’s like 3 eggs—but without the cholesterol & fat.

If you’re not quite hardcore enough to get the plain greek yogurt, you can get the vanilla, which adds a little bit of sweetness & cuts the tart flavor of the yogurt.  But I find that the fruit & granola add enough sweetness for my taste.

 

Step 2. Buy unsweetened frozen fruit, or make it yourself: You can either stock up on your favorites when they’re on sale, or buy a bag of frozen fruit.  I picked up a 16oz bag of blueberries at WallyWorld for about $2.  At 1/2 cup (4oz) per serving, that’s about 50 cents per serving…if you keep an eye out you can get much better deals.  Farmer’s markets sometimes have a frozen section—I used to regularly be able to find 2-3 lb bags of blueberries for about $3. Or the next time you see a roadside stand with a guy selling a half-flat of strawberries for $10, slam on your brakes & stock up. Cut 'em in half and freeze what you can't eat right away. (Same goes for peaches, berries, whatever. I love me some roadside stands. There were a lot more of them in Louisiana than here.)

Blueberries have about 42 calories, 2 g fiber, 7 g sugar per 1/2 cup serving.

Half a  cup of strawberries will set you back 37 calories, 2.5 g fiber, and 5 g sugar.

Either is way better than the syrupy stuff they use at McD’s.

 

Step 3. Make granola!  A box of granola, even the generic kind, is rarely less than $2-3 at the store.  We can do better, and cheaper.

The nice thing about making your on granola is that it can be totally customized to a) what you like, and b) what you have on hand.  The basic rule of thumb is to remember The Golden Granola Ratio.

Yes, I made that term up.  But it works.  Remember to have 7 parts dry ingredients to every 1 part wet ingredient.

For your wet ingredient, you can use honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, molasses, or any combination of those. 

Here’s my favorite recipe:

Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats

0.5 cup shredded coconut

0.5 cup wheat bran (I keep this around the house for adding into cookies, oatmeal, & other baked goods--it's full of fiber, iron, & a bit of protein, and it doesn't change the flavor of things.)

0.5 cup dry roasted almonds, unsalted

0.5 cup black walnut pieces

0.25 cup light brown sugar

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

0.5 cup Acadiana honey

1 tbsp olive oil (it gives a nice shine & helps bind)

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Add the dry ingredients to a large bowl, & add honey & oil.

 

(Layers of flavor!)

Mix thoroughly, making sure all the dry ingredients are well combined and coated.

Pour onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet in an even layer.

 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, tossing once about halfway through.

When your kitchen starts to smell unbelievable, it’s time to pull your masterpiece out of the oven! At this point, if you like, you can add dried fruit (or wait until fully cooled & add chocolate chips, yogurt buttons, etc.)

 

 

Makes 16 0.25 cup servings.

In one serving, you have 148 calories, 6g fat (mainly from the nuts, so 4.6 of that is unsaturated fats),  163 mg potassium, 4g fiber, 15g sugar, and 3 g protein.

 

Step 4: Assemble your parfait.

6 oz greek yogurt

1/2 cup blueberries

1/4 granola (Sometimes I double up on the granola to make it more of a meal, so it sticks with me longer, but if you wanted to have it as just part of your breakfast, stick with 1/4 cup granola)

 

Nutrifacts for Parfait: 12 oz serving (over twice the serving size of the McD’s one)

Calories: 290 (24 calories/ounce—the McD’s parfait has 30 calories/ounce)

Fat: 6g (4.6g unsaturated) – slightly higher than the McDs parfait, but that’s because of all the awesome unsaturated cholesterol-lowering fats coming from those walnuts & almonds.

Sugar: 27g  (The McD’s parfait has almost that just in 5 ounces!)

Protein: 21g – This parfait just kicks McD’s butt on that one, with their piddly 4 grams

Fiber: 6.5g – more than THREE TIMES what the McD’s parfait offers.

Calcium – 24% daily value

 

So hopefully this does you some good—lord knows it’s hard sometimes to get up & go in the morning!  This is super easy to throw together.  If you’re using frozen fruit, I typically scoop the yogurt & fruit into a small container the night before & refrigerate, then add in a scoop of granola in the morning on my way out the door.  That way the fruit is fully thawed & the sugars have time to integrate into the yogurt, and the granola stays crunchy!

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesdays