Chicken Gyros with Cucumber Greek Yogurt Sauce

#madewithchobani

About at week ago I received an email from the social media team at Chobani Greek Yogurt! How cool is that?!?! I thought it was spam at first till I stated reading it and they are challenging everyone to create a healthy recipe that is #madewithchobani and share it on your social media! So if YOU have a good recipe to share please do and make sure to #madewithchobani. I'd love to see what others have come up with. 

It wasn't hard for me to come up with one because I cook with Greek yogurt all the time. Anytime a recipe calls for mayonnaise or sour cream I substitute it for Greek yogurt and never notice a difference in taste.

Try Chobani Greek Yogurt next time you’re having chili, tacos, desserts, or making a dip! For more fun and healthy recipe ideas visit their website here.

I'm all about the quick weeknight dinner meals and today for dinner I made Chicken Gyros with a cucumber Greek yogurt sauce. Now, I know this isn't the traditional way gyros are made, but my family loves these and it only takes me 15-20 minutes to put on the table from start to finish. How bout that for a quick weeknight meal?!

Cucumber Greek Yogurt Sauce

1 1/2 Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup chopped cucumber (peeled and seedless)
1 garlic clove minced (I love garlic so I used 2)
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 or 2 dashes Sriracha sauce (optional)
Salt, pepper and dill to taste

Combine all ingredients and store in fridge.

While the Yogurt sauce is in the fridge; grill or sauté a well-seasoned chicken breast (to your liking) and chop the tomatoes and cucumbers.

Once the chicken is done just assemble your gyros with pita bread, fresh veggies and top with the cucumber yogurt sauce. That's it! 

(Note: You can substitute chicken for pork or steak! And the more veggies you load in the better! I love making this for dinner and even my picky 2 year old eats her entire plate.)

Enjoy!
#madewithchobani

Arugula Pesto Pasta with Homemade Pesto Sauce

I love a quick and easy weeknight meal. And this one is pretty much a regular in my house. I originally found this recipe for Arugula Pesto Pasta from an old Trader Joe's cookbook. Don't you just love Trader Joe's?! I'm still bitter that there isn't one close by me, but don't even get me started on that. As soon as I run into one I promise I'm buying up the whole store. Any who...This is such a forgiving meal I've made it with different types of pasta shells, sausage brands, and even store bought pesto. After I learned how to make pesto I'll never buy it again. Nothing beats a good fresh homemade pesto sauce.

Pesto Sauce:

3 cups Fresh Basil (or fresh spinach/parsley) Note: I've used half basil/parsley or spinach/parsley and it's still good.

1/2 cup toasted Pine Nuts (or slivered almonds/walnuts)

1/2 fresh grated Parmesan Cheese

1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3-4 cloves of garlic

Salt & Pepper to taste

• Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender and blend until well combined.

What's good about pesto is you could freeze it in ice cube trays and use at a later date. Pesto is excellent on grilled meat, pizza, bruschetta just about anything to add flavor. 

Arugula Pesto Pasta:

12 oz (1/2 bag or box) Pasta (any type of pasta shell will do)

1 (16 oz) pkg. of Chicken or Turkey Sausage (any fully cooked brand sausage)

3-4 heaping Tbsp. Pesto Sauce

3.5 oz (1/2 bag) Arugula

Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

• Cook pasta according to package directions. 

• While pasta is cooking slice the sausage and pan-fry in lightly oiled pan till browned. 

• Once pasta is cooked drain. Add cooked pasta into pan that sausage was cooked in. 

• Add pesto sauce until pasta is well coated then add arugula. The heat from the pasta will slightly wilt the arugula. 

• Toss all ingredients until well combined and serve with fresh Parmesan Cheese.

Kentucky Derby Bunco Party

I recently hosted my first ever Bunco Party!!! I was super excited. I love hosting gatherings at my house and decorating. Since my bunco party was held in May I decided on a Kentucky Derby theme. I found on Hostess with the Mostess site a ton of Kentucky Derby printables and for FREE (Ya girl likes free) downloaded a few that I liked and had them printed at The UPS Store for only $5.00.

Banner from Target Clearance section for $2.50

Horses from toy section at the Dollar Store add a coat of spray paint and Voila!

I also made a few placemats. Bought the fabric from Hobby Lobby for about $6.95 a yard.  I followed this tutorial here for my placemats. Super easy to make.

My Derby Fascinator headband. Like my model? ;) Totally forgot to take a picture of my self with it on, but it turned out really cute. Followed this tutorial. Bought all my supplies from Hobby Lobby as well. I love that place. 

And now onto the good stuff.... FOOD :) I made Mini Hot Browns, Sweet Tea and White Wine Julep. Everyone else brought a dish to share.

Mini Hot Browns

Sweet Tea

Wine Julep in the makings

Hot Brown Recipe:

Mornay Sauce:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
Pinch of ground pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup grated swiss cheese

Kentucky Hot Brown Bites:
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup finely chopped turkey
1 cup mornay sauce
2 slices bacon, chopped
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese


Mornay Sauce:
Melt butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in flour, and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. (Do not let mixture brown.) Add milk, whisking constantly. Bring to a low boil, and cook, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes more. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese.  Allow to cool slightly.

Bites:Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl combine finely chopped turkey and mornay sauce.
Lightly spray a mini muffin pan with non stick cooking spray.
Unroll crescent rolls and press dough into one large rectangle. Cut rectangle into 12 squares. Press dough squares into muffin cups and shape up around the edges.
Fill each muffin cup with some of the turkey mixture. Top each bite with some diced tomato, bacon and parmesan cheese.
Bake 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned 


Overall I'd say it was a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and that's all the matters. Thanks for stopping by :)

~Monique

French Breakfast Puff

Ahhhh... How could I ever forget about the French Breakfast Puff?! I learned how to make these in my 6th grade Home Economic Class. Actually it’s the first thing I learned how to make ever. And hey, if my 11-year self could make these then surely anyone can.

Soft, sweet, and delicate pastry perfectly pared with a nice cup of coffee or tea. Quick and easy to whip together with simple staple ingredients sure to please.  Make these for breakfast ASAP! J 

Makes 9 muffins

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 egg

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

           

For the topping:

6 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

Cream together the sugar, butter and egg in a mixer. Add sifted flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition.

Fill greased muffin tins. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes.

For the topping:

Mix together the cinnamon and sugar.

Remove muffins from the pan while they are still warm, and immediately dip them in the melted butter. Then roll the butter-covered muffin in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm.

-Enjoy!

The Perfect 6" White Cake

My two year old calls cake “Birthday Party”.  I think that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard, but then just about every other thing she says is cute to me. HA! So I made her a “Birthday Party” and we sang to her lambie and she blew out the candle.  

I hit the mean streets of Pinterest for the perfect 6” white cake and I couldn’t decide which one to use so I combined a few recipes and I think I have a winner here. 

The frosting I swear is the best cake frosting I’ve ever made. It’s a combination of milk, flour and granulated sugar. Sounded weird to me but I will ONLY make this type of frosting for now on. 

Now, without further ado I present to you..... BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!  

 

White Cake

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 egg whites, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 6-inch round cake pan with butter and flour, then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg whites and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk, mixing well and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. Pour the batter in your prepared baking pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on wire rack before removing cakes from pans to cool completely.

Frosting!

1 cup milk

5 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup butter (room temperature)

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (not powdered sugar)

In a medium saucepan, whisk one cup of milk with 5 tablespoons of flour. Heat over medium until the mixture begins to sputter, whisking constantly. Continue to stir as the mixture thickens. It should be as thick as cake batter. Once thickened stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and set aside to cool COMPLETELY.

Now, in your stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat 1 cup of butter  with 1 cup of granulated sugar until light, fluffy, and white in color, about 3 solid minutes of beating on medium-high speed. You want the sugar to be totally incorporated into the butter. Then add the cooled milk/flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture. Beat for about 1 minute on high speed, scraping down the bowl halfway, until they are smooth and well blended. Your frosting will be light and fluffy as whipped cream.

Overnight Oats

I'm not a fan of oatmeal but these overnight oats are delicious and easy to whip together the night before. My husband and I eat these every weekday morning with hard boiled eggs. It’s perfect for him to grab on his way out the door to work and me after my morning workout.

Also, I'm not a milk fan, but I find almond milk and coconut milk easy for me to drink. So if your like me and don’t really care for milk I recommend trying one of these options.

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Steel Cut Oats
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk (any kind of milk will do though)
1 Tbsp. Honey
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Banana (or 1/2 cup of any fruit)
1 Tbsp. chopped walnuts (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together in a mason jar or bowl cover with a lid and leave in the fridge overnight or for 4 hours. Serves 1 person.

Enjoy!