Delicious Yogurt Pie to Celebrate Our Wedding Anniversary

Today The Captain and I are celebrating our 21st wedding anniversary... and I wanted to make a special treat for him today...  but I didn't want to spend hours in the kitchen doing it cause we have so many things planned for the day.

I decided to put together a yogurt pie. It is easy and delicious and can be as Points Plus friendly as you like! For this one, I made a graham cracker crust, and after baking it, left it in on the counter to cool for about an hour. Then I filled it with some Chobani fat free Strawberry yogurt, and topped it with a few raspberries and put it in the fridge till I served it. Mmmmmm!

Happy Anniversary, Dear Captain!

Graham cracker pie crusts are so versatile and easy.  Just the right thing to fancy up a pudding or a serving of fruit and yogurt.

This is the way I make mine when I want a good sized one for a 9 or 10 inch pie plate.



Graham Cracker Pie Crust

• 1 cup graham crumbs
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

1. Stir all the ingredients together well in a medium bowl, then pour into a pie plate.
2. Press over the bottom and sides evenly, with you finger tips.
3. If you need a prepared crust to complete your dish, bake this crust in a preheated oven at 350°F for 8 minutes. 

The whole crust.

Weight Watchers P+ = 25.

Calories 917; Protein 6g; Carbohydrate 105g; Fat 54g; Fibre 5g.

Usually a pie is divided into 8 or 9 pieces so that makes the N.I. as follows:

Per serving of 1/9th of pie crust.

Weight Watchers P+ = 3.

Calories 102; Protein 1g; Carbohydrate 12g; Fat 6g; Fibre 1g.

Per serving of 1/8th of pie crust.

Weight Watchers P+ = 3.

Calories 115; Protein 1g; Carbohydrate 13g; Fat 7g; Fibre 1g.

Add your prepared filling to the baked and cooled crust... or if your filling needs to be cooked, add it to unbaked crust and then pop into the oven.

Chill till serving time... can hardly wait!

Printable Recipe

Chobani Greek Yogurt and My Easy Apple Danish

A few weeks ago I entered a giveaway for some Greek yogurt. It was a brand I had not seen before and thought it would be fun to try it.  I was really happy to learn that I had won it, and eagerly awaited its arrival.  A few days later a rather large carboard carton appeared on the doorstep.  It was labelled CHOBANI .

I was so excited to open it!  Inside I found a styrofoam cooler full of styrofoam packing peanuts.  As I rummaged around inside, I found three 32 oz. (907g) cartons of Chobani Greek yogurt and 4 freezer packs.  I was surprised and very pleased to find that they were all still frozen quite solid after a cross-continent journey from the East Coast of the U.S. to the West Coast of Canada.

Chobani Greek yogurts contain only natural ingredients and no artificial sweeteners and no preservatives. The nutritional information on these large containers is based on weight and after doing some calculations I determined that 1/4 cup of each of these flavor is equal to 1 P+ on the Weight Watchers Points Plus program. 

The first yogurt we tried was the fat free Vanilla.  Every spoonful was absolutely delightful...  thick and creamy...  The Captain couldn't believe that it was fat free and kept asking for another serving!  It didn't last more than a few days.  We ate it at every opportunity!

We spooned it on fruit, breakfast oats and quinoa, and enjoyed it for dessert.

My oat scones with blueberries and Vanilla Chobani

Then I opened both the fat free Plain and the 2% Plain.  I love to have Plain yogurt on hand as I like to spoon it into soups, and onto stews, and I like to eat it with fruit and use it in smoothies.  I love the versatility of Plain yogurt because you can enjoy it just as is or add honey or spices to it if you like.

Sweet Potato soup

Oatmeal, butterscotch chips, brown, sugar and raisins

Mixed berry-banana smoothie

Baked oatmeal with raisins and canned peach slices

Apple Danish - recipe at bottom of this post

Another really nice thing about these Chobani yogurts is that the expiry date was more than a month in the future so I didn't feel like I had to gobble them up... I could savor them and really enjoy them.  And I think that is important.  These Greek yogurts are so thick and so rich-tasting, that a little bit really satisfies me.  With a regular yogurt, I tend to eat about 1/2 cup or more at a time.  With these, a couple of tablespoons is enough, so they are naturally going to last longer and it is very important they are going to stay fresh in the refrigerator for longer too.

So, I got in touch with the folks at Chobani to tell them how much I love these yogurts and to find out where I can buy them, only to learn that although they are now sold in Canada, they are available only in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).  How disappointed I was to learn that!
 
But, because I was so enthusiastic about these products, they kindly offered to send me some more!  And I will be sure to tell you all about it soon. 

Be sure to look for Chobani where you shop... and check our their web site and their Facebook page for great recipes and contests.  And if you are on Pinterest, you will find lots of good ideas there too.

The following is a recipe I came up with one morning this past week. I wanted to give The Captain a special sweet treat to have with his 2% Plain Chobani Greek yogurt and he loved it!  You could add a second apple to the mixture if you like.

Easy Apple Danish
Makes 6 servings

• 1 can crescent dinner rolls
• 1 large apple, cored and sliced thinly
• 2 Tbs butter
• 3 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling

1. Place the apple slices in a medium skillet along with the butter, sugar and cinnamon. Cook on MEDIUM-LOW for about 10 or 15 minutes to soften the apples and glaze them. If the mixture bubbles, turn the heat lower. Stir occasionally. It will be very hot so don't touch it!
2. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350°F.
3. Coat a square 8x8 pan with non-stick spray. Cover the bottom with half of the crescent roll dough and push the seams together with your fingers. Sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon.
4. When the apples are cooked, spread them evenly over the dough and then cover them with the other half of the dough. Sprinkle with more cinnamon.
5. Bake for 25 minutes till golden.
6. Remove and allow to cool for a few minutes before adding yogurt and serving.

Per serving without yogurt.
Weight Watchers P+ = 5.
Calories 192; Protein 3g; Carbohydrate 26g, Fat 9g; Fibre 1g.

Mix the butter, sugar, apples, and cinnamon together in a non-stick pan over MEDIUM-LOW heat.

Spread half the roll doug in a square baking dish.

Cook the apples till soft and glazed with sugar.

Spread apple mixture evenly over the dough.

Put the rest of the dough over the apples and sprinkle with a bit more cinnamon.

Bake till golden and allow to cool a bit before cutting and serving.

Mmmmm.... Chobani!

Printable Recipe

I was given this product because I won it in a contest. I was not solicited for a review/endorsement and the opinons expressed are my own.

Savoury Beans and Apple

This tasty and nutritious dish comes from The G.I. Diet Cookbook.  I highly recommend the book and I found it in my local library.  It has lots of healthy, simple recipes in it.

The recipe as printed makes enough for supper for 4 people so I halved the ingredients.... you can easily double or triple them if you like.  The author gives you the option of using vegetable or chicken stock.  Of course I am using the vegetable stock that I made recently and posted last week.  And using vegetable stock makes it a vegan recipe as well, if that is important to you.

It is a large serving but I added some brown rice to the plate, to give some added texture. Here is how I put it together.

Savoury Beans and Apple

Makes 2 servings

• 1/2 Tbs EVOO
• 1/2 onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 large apple, peeled, cored and grated
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 2 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 Tbs  red wine vinegar
• 2 cups cooked kidney beans
• 1 tsp each dried thyme and oregano
• 1 tsp dried mustard
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• dashes of salt and pepper 

1. In a large, non-stick frying pan, heat oil over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. 
2. Cook onion, apples, carrots, celery and garlic for 10 minutes or until softened.
3.  In bowl, whisk together stock, tomato paste and vinegar; add to vegetable mixture in frying pan.   
4. Stir in beans, thyme, oregano, mustard, cumin, salt and pepper.  Bring to boil. 
5. Then reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes. 
6. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt, if desired.

Per serving, without garnish or rice.

Weight Watchers P+ = 8.

Calories 321; Protein 17g; Carbohydrate 56g; Fat 5g; Fibre 15g.

Cook the apples and veggies until soft.

Add the rest of the ingredients and then cover to cook.

Served with some brown rice and a bit of yogurt.

Printable Recipe