How about a Thanksgiving recipe? Okay. I’m on it. And it even involves booze.

Pumpkin Bourbon Frozen Yogurt
1 32 oz container of 0% Plain Chobani
1 small can of pumpkin (plain pumpkin)
1 c sugar (I used 3/4 at first, but Mark said to add a bit more)
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
2 t cinnamon
4-5 T bourbon
Optional: 1 vanilla bean

If using the vanilla bean … you should probably start making this recipe 3-4 days ahead of time. Why? Because you’re going to infuse the bourbon with the vanilla. Put your bourbon in an airtight container and throw in your bean. You could probably add a bit more bourbon if you wanted to have more of this saved for later.

Since I didn’t know any better, I mixed the two together and let them sit for about 6 hours. The bourbon was more vanilla-y but not quite what I had expected.

Okay — to make the yogurt you mix all the ingredients in a big bowl. I let them sit in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors mingle.

Pour the mixture in your ice cream maker and let it go to work. Should take 20-30 minutes.

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What happens when advertising and our obsession with making everything from scratch leads to bad ideas?

This.

Nutter butter blizzards. Kind of. We were drooling over these at DQ a couple of months back when these were the special blizzard of the month. I refused to spend $5 for a small cup of ice cream. So instead I went to the grocery store and got a box of (double stuffed) nutter butters and some vanilla ice cream. I got out the blender, put most of the ice cream and nutter butters and a little bit of milk in there, hit blend, and voila! Blizzards. Probably more naughty than the ones you get at DQ considering how many nutter butters I generously added. They always skimp on the candy part of the blizzard.

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I get the feeling y’all think I’m turning this thing into a food blog.  I’m not. It’s just that the last couple of months I’ve had NO spare time to blog, let alone do anything that I normally do like make things, troll the internet for cool stuff or even workout.  One thing that everybody has to have time for (I hope) is eating.  So I’ve been taking photos of all the stuff we made all summer and am JUST NOW getting around to talking about them.

I normally keep my food posts to Saturdays, which I do in hopes that you can use Saturday night or Sunday to make something that I talk about.  However, I’m going to have to do a double-food post on the weekends for a while to catch up.  I’m sure nobody is going to complain.

Also, I was going to start sharing WW points for all my items since I have quite a few followers on WW … I realized that I really can’t do that now because I’m not a WW member and instead of using their handy-dandy food lookup system I’d have to look at ALL the labels for ALL the ingredients for things.  Which I really don’t have time to do.  And since I made a lot of these things a while back, I don’t have labels for things.  So that being said, if you are on WW, use  your noggin to figure out which of these recipes aren’t going to work for you (hint: juicy Lucy burgers are probably out).

Enjoy.

We made strawberry frozen yogurt after experimenting with Vanilla yogurt and figuring out a good recipe for that.

Strawberry yogurt is super easy.

Strawberry Frozen yogurt

1 large container of Chobani Strawberry yogurt
3/4 c frozen sliced strawberries
2 T sugar
1 T vanilla

Mix together in a large bowl. Pour into ice cream maker and follow directions on your ice cream maker.

Bonus points: make a homemade hot fudge sauce. [This I cannot give you a recipe for as I just throw stuff together until it tastes right.  And it involves a bit of baking-know-how because of the sugar + butter melting temperature. If you do it wrong, you get hard-as-a-rock grossness.]

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Chobani!

Wait, Chobani?

Yes. Chobani.  Greek yogurt.  Of the frozen variety.

I’ve been toying with the idea of buying an ice cream maker for a VERY long time.  But I realized it would be a very bad idea.  That was until I saw a blog post about one-step frozen yogurt — ie. freezing Greek yogurt.

So I bought an ice cream maker.  And we’ve been experimenting with frozen yogurt.

Just so you know, if you put vanilla Chobani in the ice cream maker, it doesn’t miraculously turn into what you think frozen yogurt should taste like.  It tastes like vanilla Chobani.  However, that gives you an excuse to eat frozen yogurt for breakfast and impress your friends and coworkers.

After two tries, we came up with a recipe we like.

Vanilla Bean Frozen Yogurt

1 large container plain 0% Chobani yogurt
1/8 t vanilla bean
2 T honey
1 T vanilla extract
1/4 c sugar (or brown sugar for a carmely taste)

Mix yogurt, vanilla bean (the stuff inside the pod), vanilla and sugar vigorously until well-combined.  Turn on ice cream maker and pour in.  Ice cream maker will stop when yogurt is too thick for the bowl to turn anymore.  Freeze if the consistency isn’t hard enough for you. Top with whatever you please (we had chocolate chips handy!)

So after hearing about me making a couple batches of Chobani frozen yogurt, my coworker, Brianne, saw that Chobani was having a promotion on twitter and started a conversation with them.  After a few tweets back and forth, we ended up getting some frozen yogurt shipped to us.

It’s yet to come, but I promised the office frozen yogurt.  So I better deliver!  I can’t wait!

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Happy birthday, USA! I’m using my national holiday today to enjoy some cancer-inducing sunshine while blogging.

I also decided to do something funky with my nails. I had a gift card for Target from work from our “appreciation day” a couple weeks back. So I spent about a half hour in the fingernail polish section picking out something fun that I could use on my nails. I ended up getting a black nail art pen from Sally Hansen.  LOVE. Why?  It’s like drawing on ceramics but on my fingers!

I used OPI fireflies as a base coat and went to town. But quickly remembered I’m right-handed … So photos are all of my left hand.

Oh and Mr. Barnabus Stinson was visiting this weekend. My parents wanted to do a weekend vacay, so we took him for a couple of days. Less than 30 days until we move somewhere pet friendly so we can have him FULLtime.

He loves noming ice cream.

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Last weekend Mark and I went to the Twin Cities to visit his parents and we went to his sister and brother-in-law’s new place that is in a really cute area … and there is a really great ice cream place within walking distance.

So we had to stop. It’s the Grand Ole Creamery. Their homemade  waffle cones are to DIE for. They’re like a sugar cookie. But better.

Oh yes — and I got some new sunglasses. Which Kelly maintains are too large for my face, but they don’t make sunglasses that aren’t and that are stylish, so I figure, get the biggest ones I can find since they’re going to be too big anyway.

AND *drumroll please* Mark got a new phone.  He went from a super crappy lame flip phone that he hated — and that would barely charge — to a freaking sidekick. The coolest phone ever next to an iPhone. I’m actually interested in it. Partially because the packaging is kind of awesome (nerd!).

SO jealous.

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So I love Pinterest. Did I ever mention that? I have a ton of boards, but one that’s always growing is my dessert board. So many naughty decadent things on there that I will probably never make.

I present to you the most naughty-looking desserts that I’ve got pinned for possible future binging.

1. Sweet, Salty, Chewy and Crunchy Brownies
   
   Holy lord these look naughty. I just ran across these the other day. Caramels, pretzels, peanuts and cream. These are actually too naughty-looking for me to attempt baking.
2. Dutch Apple Cheesecake
   
   Apple pie + cheesecake? Yes. Please.
3. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake
   
   Wow. That’s all I have to say. It’s too much for me … doesn’t look appetizing, but would be fun to make.
4. Homemade Samoas (Girl Scout Cookies)
   
   These look awesome. I think I want to try making these. It would be  interesting to see how I can modify them to have them be healthier than GS cookies (ie. less processed crap and more whole ingredients).
5. Cadbury Creme Egg-Filled Cupcakes
   
   Whoever thought to do this was a mad genius.  I don’t know if I can bring myself to do it, but awesome.
6. Snickers Caramel Cheesecake Cookies
   
   There are no words.
7. Vanilla  Bean Latté Cupcakes
   
   Any filled cupcake is just plain naughty. These look beautiful and delish.
8. Toffee Brittle with Chocolate and Sea Salt
   
   Yum. Sweet+salty=awesome
9. Hot Chocolate Layer Cake with Marshmallows
   
   Just look at the thickness of frosting on this. Whoa.
10. Peanut Butter Cup and Pretzel Terrine
    
    I actually made this for Mark’s birthday last year and made it NAUGHTIER. It was awesome. A nice option for a birthday instead of a cake in the hot summer months.

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I got a brilliant idea for Mark’s birthday cake from Real Simple.  Of course, I had to modify the recipe, but the main idea is based on this recipe.

I asked Mark what kind of cake he wanted, and we talked a little about ice cream cakes and Better than Sex cake (for those of you who don’t know what that is, Google it!).  But I remembered flagging a page in Real Simple a couple months back with a way to make vanilla ice cream not so boring by adding layers of peanut butter cups and pretzels. I also remembered that Mark’s been bugging me to try Chubby Hubby by Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and I think that pretzels in ice cream sounds gross.

So, I decided to create an ice cream cake of my own.

I used a pyrex bread pan and lined the bottom with a half inch of vanilla ice cream. The next layer was peanut butter pretzel sandwiches, then an inch of ice cream, then crumbled peanut butter cups, then more ice cream, a layer of chocolate/peanut butter ganache and more pretzels.

It was GLORIOUS. It’s not technically his birthday until tomorrow, but since we knew we were going to be out of town this weekend, we decided to cut into it a bit early …

Look at that giant hunk of chocolate at the top. om. nom. NOM.

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Last Sunday, Mark, Barney and I went to Des Moines. I had a coffee table that was sitting out for me at work that I needed to pick up and I needed Mark’s car to retrieve it. So, we decided to take Barney so we could get him an ice cream cone at Snookies Malt Shop. For those of you who don’t know, Snookies is a really great malt shop in the Beaverdale neighborhood in Des Moines and they love dogs.  So, they hand out little doggie-sized ice cream cones along with people’s ice cream treats.

Barney was surprisingly good on the walk around the lake. He met a few other doggies and behaved himself. He also met a few little kids. So, all in all, he was very deserving of the ice cream cone he was going to get.

He was also a little apprehensive of the car ride. I’m guessing because every other time he’s been in a longer car ride the poor dog got dropped off at a new home.  I’m his 3rd home — 4th, if you count the brief stint with my parents (which I’m sure he does).  Anyway, he started enjoying it when I rolled down the window and let him hang out a bit (don’t worry guys, he had his harness on and I had a vice grip on both him and his leash).

We made it to the malt shop and Mark and I ordered.  I got Barney his cone and sat down with him.  To my surprise, he didn’t eat it all in one bite like my old dachshund* would have.  He licked it! Like a person!  He didn’t eat the cone part — apparently he didn’t consider that part food (this is coming from somebody who sometimes eats poo).

After he finished his cone, he sat around waiting patiently to see if there was going to be any more. Nope. Not sharing.  I got a brownie sundae with hot fudge and marshmallow, and Mark got a Heath not-sure-what-they-call-it-there-but-is-essentially-a-Blizzard (TM).

*side note — my old doxie (Jake the Snake) was famous for his eating feats. I don’t have all day to tell you the stories, but my favorite has to do with ice cream.  My mom was scooping ice cream for a birthday party or something, and it was a particularly frozen hard batch.  She scooped really hard, and the scoop of ice cream flew off the ice cream scooper. Jake just happened to be walking by and snatched the WHOLE SCOOP of ice cream on the way. It didn’t even hit the ground. It. Was. Epic. That dog ate EVERYTHING and lived to be almost 15.

In case you’re curious … since I got off on the tangent … here’s some pictures of Jake.

He was rather rotund here. I’m guessing this was when he was about twelve.

My papasan chair was one of his favorite places to snuggle up under a blanket. He would usually play musical beds/chairs all day long and find interesting places to nap.

For instance, on my pillow, covered up in my blanket. No joke. This dog did this on his own. This was actually the last time I saw him. I think I stayed for the weekend and I had folded my blanket up and set it next to my pillow. That dog crawled under the blanket and fell asleep like this.

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Wow that is a cheesy title, but it’s true!

I finally took the plunge and tried to eat a banana a couple weeks ago for the first time in at least 10 years. When I was younger I couldn’t eat bananas because they made my stomach hurt — which is ironic because it’s one of the things doctors always tell you to eat when you can’t digest much else.

Anyway, after a dormant period without bananas, I’m totally crazy about all things banana! (well, not as much as my friend Niki I suppose).

My absolute favorite thing and new obsession is making frozen banana custard.  I found this “recipe” on Iowa Girl Eats’s blog.  This was actually what prompted me to try bananas again.  I have a huge ice cream obsession and a few weeks back had an issue with stress eating (ie. pints of ice cream) lead to an unhealthily quick weight gain. So, I thought, if I could replace the ice cream with something healthy (ie. frozen banana) then I would be set.

AND yay. It worked. Those 7 pounds gone in a flash (gained ‘em one week, lost ‘em the next). They say that bananas are bloat-fighters, and I must agree. Because I’m going to throw it out there and say that 5 of those 7 pounds I gained in a week HAD to be water weight. (right? right.)

Anyway, here is my cleverly disguised banana for the day:

I will say that the trick is to cut the naners into smaller pieces before freezing. Also, I’ve been doing mine in the blender and using the “ice crush” function to get it going. I add a little bit of soy milk and some vanilla to the mix to get things going. I’ve also thrown in some chocolate ovaltine for a chocolate version of my faux ice cream.

Another thing that’s awesome about the banana obsession (aside from the health benefits) is the fact that they’re way cheap. I can make 3 pints of frozen banana custard using 4-5 medium bananas.  That is roughly $1.50 for 3 pints. Compare that to the price of one pint of Ben and Jerry’s. Just try.

Hopefully I don’t get sick of bananas because so far they’ve been doing wonders for me and my pocket book!

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