Too Easy Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

Hands down, one of the easiest recipes you will ever make.  And it's so good (and good for you!).  I've been buying strawberries like they are going out of style lately - my 3 year old is addicted - and thought I'd try a little dessert with them one night.  I started researching recipes for frozen yogurt and found that most had steps like, strain the yogurt 2-4 hours and make a strawberry puree in the food processor.  Don't get me wrong, those things aren't hard...it's just that I wanted dessert like, now.  I'm all about instant gratification!  

So, I took a large tub of low fat Strawberry yogurt that I had in the fridge and dumped it into my ice cream maker!  I let that go for about 15 minutes, then chopped 1 cup of fresh strawberries, tossed them in a little sugar and lemon juice and dumped them in for about the last 5 minutes.  

The result was excellent!  The strawberries froze a bit and the yogurt was creamy with a bit of added sweetness from the lemon juice and sugar.  We ate one of these small tubs immediately (don't laugh - they are the containers that soup from Chinese restaurants come in - I love them!) and put the other in the freezer for later.  Just a heads up, left in the freezer for a couple of days this gets REALLY hard.  I had to put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds to get it a little softer (or get it out 15 minutes before you want to eat). 

Too Easy Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

1 large tub of low fat Strawberry yogurt (32 oz)
1 cup of chopped strawberries
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Turn on ice cream maker and pour yogurt into frozen freezer bowl; let mix for about 15-20 minutes until it gets thickened.  Meanwhile, combine strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice.  Dump the strawberries into the yogurt for the last 5 minutes to combine everything.  The yogurt will be softer if you decide to eat it right away or you can transfer to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours.  Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving (or 30 seconds in the microwave).

Banana and Peaches Smoothie

I'm having a blast trying new and interesting food ideas for Max.  I found this recipe in a baby food cookbook and was pleasantly surprised that this turned out to be more like a frozen yogurt than a smoothie.  Max loved it, of course (there hasn't been a single thing that I've introduced that he has not inhaled) and it made a little over 2 cups so we have extra in the freezer and fridge.  If you have a toddler at home, this is a great snack right out of the freezer...you can tell them it's ice cream!  :)  Also, if your baby is at an age where he or she is using a sippy cup, let this melt a little after you first make it and put it in a cup...then it truly is a fruit smoothie (this way it's also not so cold for them).  Or if it's easier, just use room temperature fruits.    

Makes 2 cups

1 frozen banana, sliced into 1/2 slices

1 cup frozen peaches, peeled and sliced 

1/2 cup whole-milk yogurt (not low fat or fat free)

1 tablespoon wheat germ

Put bananas, peaches, yogurt and wheat germ in a blender and blend until smooth.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days, or the freezer for up to 3 months.