I love that it was fat free and tasty!

You will need:

2 cups fat-free plain yogurt

2 cups pureed fresh strawberries

1 (14 ounce) can fat free sweetened condensed milk

1 cup fat-free milk

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.

Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full and freeze according to manufacturer’s directions.

Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze.

Allow to ripen in ice cream freezer or firm up in refrigerator freezer 2-4 hours before serving.

Remove from the freezer 30-45 minutes before serving. This is why the popsicles worked so well!

You gotta love AllRecipes.com!

So frozen yogurt is making my Friday magical….

What is making your week wonderful? What has added that spark of magic to your life recently? Link up here to show me or tell me in a comment!

Today I tried out a new recipe. I’m a sucker for Dr Pepper and I’m trying to quit drinking so much of it. I am trying to find something that is refreshing, tasty and not so bad for me. That’s why I thought about trying this blueberry soda idea. I used Alton Brown’s recipe:

Ingredients

4 Cups of fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained (I used frozen…they were on sale for cheap and already in my freezer and I don’t always follow the rules so well)
2 Cups of Water
7 oz of sugar (I used 1 Cup…don’t know why he had to put that in ounces, but I didn’t feel like dragging the postal scale out of the desk to measure sugar!)
1 lime, juiced (I used a couple or 3 tablespoons of lime juice from the fridge)
Carbonated Water

Directions

1. Place the blueberries and the water into a medium saucepan, set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture into a colander lined with cheesecloth that is set in a large bowl. (if you don’t have cheesecloth, you can cut up a clean, old sheet from your fabric stash…just sayin’)
3. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
4. Gather up the edges of the cheesecloth and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. Discard the skin and pulp.
5. Return the blueberry juice to the saucepan along with the sugar and lime juice.
6. Place over medium high heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof glass container and place in the refrigerator, uncovered, until completely cooled.

To Serve: Combine 1/4 cup of the liquid with 8-ounces of carbonated water and serve over ice.

It’s refreshing and different. It’s not Dr Pepper, but it’s also fun to try new things! Aren’t blueberries good for your memory? I can’t remember. Seriously!

]]> http://mymagicmom.com/blueberry-soda/feed/ 0 http://mymagicmom.com/easter-story-cookies/ http://mymagicmom.com/easter-story-cookies/#comments Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:59:59 +0000 admin http://mymagicmom.com/?p=254

I received this from our director of religious education at church. I’ve never heard of these cookies before. It sounds neat. So I figured I would share the information.

Easter Story Cookies

To be made the evening before Easter

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with wooden spoons to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
- READ John 19:1-3

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put I teaspoon vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink,
- READ John 19:28-30

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave his life to give us life.
- READ John 10:10-111

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers and the bitterness of our own sin.
- READ Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add I cup sugar. Explain that the sweetness part of the story is that Jesus died because he loves us. He wants us to know and belong to him.
- READ Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat the mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
- READ Isaiah 1: 18 and John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid.
- READ Matthew 27:57-60

Put the cookie sheet I the oven. Close the door and turn the oven OFF.

Give each child a piece of tape to seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed.
- READ Matthew 27:65-66

Go to bed! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

- READ John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.  Notice the cracked surface and take a bite.  The cookies are hollow!  On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.  Read Matthew 28:1-9.

While out searching for a great apple crumb pie recipe, I came across this cute idea for cupcakes. The original recipe was to use red in the middle for Valentine’s Day, but these were made green for St Patty’s day. This would be cute for that too since it’s just around the corner. Me thinks I may have to make these and have the leprechauns leave them behind while the girls are sleeping.

I also thought this would make a cute idea for announcing a new baby’s gender. I never came up with any creative ways to spread the word since our family was so spread out, but this would be fun. You can make white cupcakes with a neutral colored icing, like green, yellow or white. Then on the inside they can be blue or pink. It would be fun for a baby shower too. Then when you hand out the cupcakes, the person will know of a baby boy or girl is on the way.

To make the two toned cupcakes, use white cake mix to put into the cupcake liners. Save some of the batter and dye it with food coloring. Place the remaining batter in a pastry bag or  into a plastic bag. Clip the corner of the plastic bag to allow the batter to come out. Push the tip of the bag into the center of each cupcake and squeeze a couple of tablespoons into the center of the white batter. Bake as usual.

As another option, you can bake the cupcakes first and dye icing to go into the middle. It makes a yummy treat inside the cupcake. I do this from time to time and it’s always a hit with the girls. To do this option, bake the cupcakes as usual. Once they are cooled, place the dyed icing into a pastry bag. Press the tip into the top of the cupcake and squeeze in the icing. Ice the cupcake with neutral colored icing.

Enjoy!

Oh yum!

I was trying to get my last $100 from ChaCha tonight and I got a question about a girl scout cookie movie quote. It lead me to bakingbites.com and this recipe. I can’t wait to try it!

Homemade Samoas Bars
Cookie Base:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

First, make the crust.
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan, or line with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter, until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Working at a low speed, gradually beat in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly, like wet sand. The dough does not need to come together. Pour crumbly dough into prepapred pan and press into an even layer.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until base is set and edges are lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before topping.

Topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-oz good-quality chewy caramels
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
10 oz. dark or semisweet chocolate (chocolate chips are ok)

Preheat oven to 300. Spread coconut evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet (preferably one with sides) and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.
Put dollops of the topping all over the shortbread base. Using the spatula, spread topping into an even layer. Let topping set until cooled.
When cooled, cut into 30 bars with a large knife or a pizza cutter (it’s easy to get it through the topping).
Once bars are cut, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each bar into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment or wax paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle bars with chocolate to finish.
Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

Makes 30 bar cookies.

Note: You can simply drizzle chocolate on top of the bars before slicing them up if you’re looking for yet an easier way to finish these off. You won’t need quite as much chocolate as noted above, and you won’t quite get the Samoas look, but the results will still be tasty.