A to Z Monday Food Stuff ~ The Letter Y

The Letter Y.

YOGURT.

I bet everyone is going to be using yogurt for the Y word, but if so, I'll just join the crowd then. I really do like yogurt. I like to eat it several times a week. While down in Phoenix I buy my favorite yogurt at Trader Joe's. The French Vanilla is just yummers. They also have the Greek yogurt. Up here in farrr N.Idaho I usually just stick to Activia. I like the Vanilla best in that too. Since it has warmed up here I always keep a few Activias in the freezer and eat it like ice cream. Then I give the container (with a bit still in it) to Baby Rocket Dog. She loves to finish it up! (Hootie isn't fond of yogurt.) If you click HERE it will take you to one of my old posts that gives a delicious recipe for a breakfast/yogurt dish that I got from Trader Joe's. (My photo at the top of this post shows the 4 ingredients used.)

For more A to Z FoodNuts, just go(gurt) on over to Jen's blog! Blessings to all who pass this way.

love, Cassie

An Easy, Tasty Snack

Yesterday morning Patrick had off work, so I made a quick and easy breakfast treat for us. It only took 4 ingredients: 2 bananas, nonfat vanilla yogurt, dry roasted pecan pieces and ground cinnamon. I wrapped each banana (still in its skin) in aluminum foil and baked them in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. They POP right out of the skins after baking! Once out of the oven I let them cool to the touch, then mashed them up in a medium bowl. Next I added a hand full of pecans, and about 16 ounces of yogurt. Then I sprinkled the top (heavily) with the cinnamon and stirred it all up. You don't need to use as much yogurt if you desire a thicker texture. I spooned it into custard cups and we had a healthy and yummy breakfast.

We both had a doctors appt. after that and all our numbers (from the blood tests) were good. I told Dr.Ungar that Pat was eating about a pound of dark chocolate a week and that Pat said Doc Ungar said it was okay. Well, Patrick is still a little high on his glucose (he is diabetic) but the doc was very pleased with how good everything was over all & said "a little" dark chocolate wasn't going to hurt him. I guess Hootie & I are both tattletales!

I hope you all have a good weekend. I'm going to start my taxes. Blessings on each of your heads. love, Cassie

Artists Patrick & Cassie!

Here Patrick and I are cleaning the glaze off the bottom of our pieces. This is done so they won't meld to the floor of the kiln when they are fired. This was actually the last step we did.

These are the two pieces that we dipped in Woo Blue, a high heat glaze. They look red now, but once they are fired again they will be a really pretty blue.

Jade, who instructed us in the glazing process, was very knowledgeable. She's telling Pat that normally you don't want the tongs to hit the pottery like that, but because the opening is so small it can't be helped. So, after he's done dipping he will dab some glaze where it missed.

Here Patrick is dipping one of his pieces in the Woo Blue.

Who knew Woo Blue would start out red before firing? Not me!

Here I am trying my hand at dipping in the Woo Blue. (Gee I like saying that color!)

This is what our pottery looked like after the first firing and before we put the glaze on it. I was very conservative with my wheel work because I was afraid I'd ruin another pot. I used too much pressure on my first one and it flew to pieces and off the wheel! Patrick, on the other hand, seemed like a natural (our wheel instructor, Casey, said he was "golden" ) and his 2 pieces have much more character than mine. Can you guess which ones were made by whom?

Don't know how many of you are familiar with Groupon, but I have become a Groupon addict since returning to Phoenix. I have always loved a deal, and there are some excellent deals with Groupon. Thus far I've gotten:

• Steaks for Patrick for half price at fab Phx. butcher, Hobe Meats.
• Half price therapeutic massage at Movement Restoration.
• Half price coupon for Nutty Guys. (haven't used this one yet)
• Half price frozen yogurt at Yogurtology.
• Half price classes at Desert Dragon Pottery for Pat & me.

Anywhooo,we took our pottery class a little over 3 weeks ago. (I was kicking myself that I forgot to take Patrick's camera.) It was so cool. I always wanted to try my hand at the pottery wheel. It is not near as easy as it looks folks. I envisioned making this fabulous creation, and in reality I turned out 2 canned shaped pots! It was lots of fun though and in about a month Patrick will pick up our finished products. If anyone out there is a ceramic artist my hat is off to you.

It's Wednesday, Humpday, so the week is half over! Blessings to all who pass this way.

love, Cassie