Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt / Weekly Recap

Hi Everyone and Happy Sunday!

Not only is it Sunday but it is National Sundae Day!!  I love Sundae’s!!  Fudge, whip cream and ice cream, yes please!  After all who doesn’t love a good sundae?

As a kid my favorite, favorite, favorite ice cream was mint chocolate chip!  I loved it, I didn’t need anything on it, I just loved the mint.  I bet your surprised by that!  lol  As I grew older I started to experiment with different kinds of ice cream and found that I loved Neapolitan.  It has three yummy flavors, but to be honest strawberry was my least favorite.  You can tell someone’s favorite when you go to the carton of ice cream only to find the chocolate and vanilla are gone and all that is left is strawberry!  Poor strawberry!!  Then as an adult I loved vanilla ice cream.  Plain and simple!  But I never kept it plain and simple, because vanilla ice cream is perfect for adding goodies to it, like strawberries, candies  chocolate and more!  But today I wanted to go back to my first ice cream love!  My yummy Mint Chocolate Chip!

I took my childhood favorite and made it more healthy!!  Now it does have whip cream, chocolate syrup and chocolate chips, but it is much more healthier then what you would by at a store or even a yogurt shop.  I made mine with Chobani 0% plain yogurt and added peppermint extract, vanilla extract, stevia and green food coloring to give it the green color.  I really enjoyed my minty treat!!  Word of caution, if you make this, go light on the mint extract, it can be over powering!!

After making this, I bet using Vanilla Greek Yogurt would be great too!!  This recipe is super easy to make!  Just add all your ingredients together, place in a freezer safe bowl and freeze for one hour!  That’s it!  Your frozen yogurt will become soft and ice cream texture!  I really enjoy making ice cream with yogurt!  It’s so quick and the best part, no ice cream maker needed.  When I calculated the calories, I did include the whip cream and chocolate syrup, after all it is a sundae!

Monday:  Apple Cider Donuts – These were a hit at my house!  I froze them, and my Husband took them to work and he said they tasted fine.  Yah!  Now I know I can make a batch of donuts and not worry about them going to waste.  These little Guys are low enough calorie to eat a few for breakfast and I like them dipped in maple syrup!  Then they taste almost like pancakes!

Tuesday:  Peppermint Mocha Frappe and Peppermint Mocha Latte – This was a big hit on Pintrest this week and with me.  Everyday when I came home from work I made a Peppermint Mocha Frappe.  Now that it’s cold out I’ll be making the latte instead.  I am loving the peppermint.  Went to TJ’s this Friday and they were out of Peppermint Extract already!  They better get more in, if they know whats good for them!!!

Wednesday:  Chocolate Peppermint Loaf Cake – I guess I was craving peppermint and chocolate this week!  This bread is amazing!  It’s more like a dessert then a bread, actually more like a fat brownie!!  I love it!  I will most likely be making this again this week. My Husband loved it!!

Thursday:  Butternut Squash and Smoky Black Bean Salad - After all the sweets I have consumed including the 5 bags of candy my Husband bought for Halloween, I am in need of a healthy salad!!  This salad has everything I love!  Black Beans, and Butternut Squash!   One of the best parts about this salad is you can make it a head of time!!

Friday:  Roasted Carrot, Fennel and Apple Soup - Since the weather got dramatically cold by the end of the week, I was craving a hearty warm your soul kind of soup and this soup did it for me.  It’s slightly sweet and slightly spicy, and down right comforting!  It’s thick and creamy, yet I didn’t use any kind of cream in it at all!!  I had this soup for leftovers three nights in a row!  I really love the flavors in it!!  It was perfect with my cranberry and walnut rolls, which reminds me, I need to make more of them this week!

Saturday:  Mini Apple Galettes – This was on my food bucket list for over a year and I finally made them.  They are cute and would make a perfect little appetizer at a party.  They are also easy to make if you use a pre-made pie crust.  Not only do they taste like apple pie, they are also just 70 calories each!  My Husband snagged just about the whole batch and took them to work with him.  He said he loved them and requested them again!

I have to tell you I haven’t been apart of the Foodie PenPal Program since June of this year, but I got my monthly e-mail from Lindsay asking if I was joining.  This year instead of sending goodies to a penpal you are donating the $15.00 that you would normally spend on you package and donate the money to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  I’m just going to copy and paste Lindsay’s e-mail.  She can explain it better!  I really think this is a wonderful idea!  I feel so bad for the poor people on the East Coast who have lost their home, jobs and loved ones.  So, if you can spare $15.00, please do and help others that are less fortunate then you.

Hi Friends!

We’re taking a break from Fitness Friday today. I want to tell you guys about a project I’m working on. As you know, each month, I organize Foodie Penpals. As you may or may not know, my parents live in NYC and their neighborhood was one of the hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy. Although their apartment is fine, their building is still without power and will be on generator power for several more weeks as all of the building’s electrical systems were destroyed by the flooding. While I’m grateful that my parents are safe and were very lucky to escape with only spoiled food due to loss of power, my heart is breaking for those that were not so lucky. Looking at photos of their neighborhood, seeing all of the small businesses that flooded, the parks and streets littered with trash and debris is overwhelming. Thinking of all the people that lost their homes, those that are still without power, those that are struggling to stay warm as the cold temperatures set in makes me want to cry.

So many people were affected by this storm and it didn’t take me long for me to put on my thinking cap to come up with a way I could help. I immediately thought of Foodie Penpals. I toyed with the idea of doing Foodie Penpals for Charity last December but the program was just a few months old and I didn’t quite get things organized.

This year it was a no brainer. A natural disaster + the approaching holidays means there are lots of people out there that need more help than ever. So I’m turning to you guys. Whether you’ve participated in Foodie Penpals in the past, are doing it currently, or are thinking about doing it in the future…this is the month to get involved! Heck, even if you’ve never done it and aren’t planning to, you can still help!

Below is the information that is currently displayed on the FPP for Charity tab on my blog. It has replaced the traditional FPP tab for the next few weeks. Please keep reading and consider signing up. Let’s make a difference!

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Attention all past, present and future Foodie Penpals. I’m talking to all of you- Americans, Canadians, Europeans, Australians…We’re changing things up for Foodie Penpals December!

Introducing….

Instead of matching people up to send FPP packages in December, we’re going to use this group for good and raise some money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. There are two ways you can get involved:

1) I will be setting up a paypal account to accept donations. Please consider donating the $15-$25 you would have spent on purchasing items and mailing your FPP package in December. Donations will be accepted from December 3-7th and I will make one big donation to a recovery organization in the name of Foodie Penpals at the end of the week. I’m still researching organi