Frozen Yogurt Bites

  I'm always trying to figure out ways to make healthy snacks my kids will eat.Joseph is picky and Gabriella will pretty much eat anything but can't eat just anything due to choking hazards and things like that.

  I noticed on the gogert box that it said you could freeze those little tubes of yogurt.Joseph likes those, but yogurt in those little cups just are not any fun I guess, cause he wont eat that kind.So,it hit me that maybe I could make it more fun and appealing to him.

  I decided to buy a large cup of yogurt and make frozen yogurt bites,which makes it a nice little finger food for Gabriella.I made some smaller ones for her.They turned out great and pretty much melt in your mouth quickly so I don't have to worry about Gabriella choking on them.

She gobbled hers right up! Joseph liked them but complained about them being cold.He is temperature and texture sensitive, so I kind of expected that comment.He eats ice cream in the Summer, so I'm thinking he will warm up to them and will make a great summer snack at some point.


  I just dropped a little on a cookie sheet which I lined with wax paper just to not have the extra mess.Put it in the freezer for about 20 minutes.As they got done I put them in a freezer bag until I got the container empty.
When they were all froze I wanted to be able to just dump them all in the original container for freezer storage.

  If your children like yogurt this might be a great option for summer time snack.Much healthier than ice cream.A toddler that is unable to use a spoon yet can actually feed themselves yogurt without quite the mess.
                                           
                                              Ready for the freezer

                                                  Comes right up with a spatula once froze

Easy Chicken and Tortilla Dumplings

Yummy and easy recipe I came up with.I have been hearing how you can make dumpling with flour tortillas so decided to give it a try and add a few experimental ingredients as well.This would work well if you just did not have time to make the traditional dumpling.To make even quicker, boil chicken the night before and refrigerate until ready to cook.This way your not trying to remove hot chicken from the bone or waiting for it to cool so you can.Also,a great way to use up some of that left-over Thanksgiving turkey!

• 4  chicken breast or chicken of choice
• 14 ounces of burrito size flour tortillas
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10 1/2 ounce) can of cream of celery soup
• 2 tbl.spn butter 
• 1/3 cup cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• couple dashes of basil

1. Fill 4-quart pot half full with broth
2. Boil chicken until tender.
3. While chicken is cooking, slice tortillas with a sharp knife 5 slices across and one slice through the middle.
4. Remove cooked chicken,take off bone and cut in cubes,shred or however you desire.I like to just pull mine apart into big chunks
5. Place chicken, cream of chicken soup, cream of celery soup, butter, salt, pepper,basil into boiling broth.May need to add a little water if much evaporated while boiling chicken.
6. Bring to a rolling boil.
7. Drop tortilla strips into pot one at a time.
8. Stir gently around the top, not bottom of pot
9. Boil medium/high heat for 10 -12 minutes.
10. Add 1/3 cup whipping cream and move the dumplings around gently to mix the cream,then remove from heat

  

How to Brine a Turkey

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I would share how I made the best turkey in the world one year.It was extremely moist and yummy.My family still talks about that turkey!

what you will need

• two cups of kosher salt
• two gallons of water.
• include sweeteners

1. Dissolve salt (and sugar, if using) in two cups of hot water. Stir in remaining gallon plus 3 ½ quarts of cold water.               
2. Remove giblets and neck from turkey. Immerse turkey in brine and refrigerate for at least eight hours but no longer than 24 hours.               

 Cooking the Turkey

 When you're ready to roast, pour off the brine. Rinse the turkey well with cool tap water, and pat dry with paper towels. Tuck the wing tips behind the back and place the bird, breast-side up, on a roasting rack. Proceed with your preferred recipe, but remember that the turkey has already absorbed a significant amount of salt--any drippings that you use for gravy will already be salty, and no salt should be added to compound butters or spice rubs.