Eric's Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt

Vanilla Frozen Yogurt Recipe
Eric loves Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt and since you can not buy it in Logan he has settled for making his own. This is a healthy surprisingly addictive frozen yogurt.
Just a note. First off, remember it is important to use good-quality whole-milk yogurt.

3 cups (720g) strained yogurt (see below) or Greek-style yogurt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Mix together the yogurt, sugar, and vanilla (if using). Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

To make 1 cup (240g) of strained yogurt, line a mesh strainer with a few layers of cheese cloth. then scrape 16 ounces or 2 cups (480g) of plain whole-milk yogurt into the cheesecloth. Gather the ends and fold them over the yogurt, then refrigerate for at least 6 hours. So, for the above recipe start with and strain 6 cups of yogurt.

Makes about 1 quart.

Serve with fresh or frozen fruit and cereal (captin crunch is particularly tasty)

Greek Rice Salad

I love salad and in the summer when the house is hot I like to make a salad the main dish for dinner. This is the one I really like. I usually add whatever other veggies I have on hand, like green peppers, cucumbers or even carrots. My kids really like rice but are not so fond of salad dressing so I usually take some rice out before I add the dressing so that they will eat it better. Greek Rice Salad Source: USA Rice Federation. For more good-tasting rice recipes, go to www.usarice.com Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings 3 cups cooked medium grain brown rice 1 cup red grape tomatoes; sliced in half 1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced 1/4 cup Feta vinaigrette dressing Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste Romaine leaves Combine rice, tomato halves, olives and vinaigrette in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with whole Romaine leaves, which can be used like taco shells to hold filling. Alternatively, arrange Romaine leaves on a platter and place rice mixture on top of greens. Chill.

For an Italian Rice Salad, you might try substituting an Italian oil/vinegar-type dressing and green olives for the Feta vinaigrette dressing and the Kalamata olives.

Big Shells with Basil-Cheese Filling

When it's hot, we like to eat cool, light suppers. But I get tired of salads pretty fast. I stumbled on this unbaked cheese filling in a grilled eggplant recipe a few years ago. While, the egg plant didn't do much for me, I really liked the filling, since then we have used it as to stuff big shells. (I think they are officially called "jumbo shells".) The fresh basil in this really makes it, so I wouldn't recommend trying it with dried.

Big Shells with Basil-Cheese Filling

1/2 package of big shell pasta (about 20 shells), cooked and cooled (a wire rack works well)

12 1/2 oz. (1 1/2 cups) cottage cheese (or ricotta)
1 1/2 oz. (1/2 cup) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 Tbsp Basil, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 oz mozzarella (optional)

Cook and cool the shells. A wire rack works well. Stir together the filling ingredients. Fill the shells with the filling. Serve with tomato sauce.