Greek Yogurt is So Hot Right Now

I've been known to get a little deceptively delicious on my former friends and sneak a couple veggies into desserts that have no business being there (spinach and black bean brownies, anyone?).  But Greek yogurt is a different story.  It's so hot right now (nevermind that that article is from 2011).

 

Fage > Chobani

Greek yogurt can successfully take the place of sour cream in many a dish as long as you never try to substitute it for ranch dip.  Or mayo, in chicken salad recipes.  Or for cream cheese in spinach and artichoke dip - some things are sacred, reader.  But here is a recipe that your newborn will like!

Sour Cream Greek Yogurt Pound Cake*

2 sticks butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs, separated (perfect for the end of the week when you're all, 'what do I do with all these extra homegrown organic eggs?'  I sympathize, reader.  This cake is for YOU)
3 cups flour, sifted (or not sifted, right?)
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda, stirred into yogurt
1/2 pint greek yogurt (don't be embarrassed if you have to Google 'how much is 1/2 a pint?'  I just did.  It's 1 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract (don't even think of leaving this out!)

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg yolks.  Add flour and salt alternately with yogurt.  In mixer, beat egg whites with extracts until stiff.  Fold into batter.  Turn into a greased and floured metal tube pan.  Bake at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.  (Recipe can also be halved and poured into metal loaf pan.)

*I've been known to not be known for my baking skills, so the fact that I am posting this means that it is delicious AND easy.


Also, you know that feeling when you get back from Ikea and you have all these new things you can't pronounce wait to show your husband and he isn't QUITE as excited about your cable sweater blanket purchase as you are?  That's where you come in.

"Look at this awesome blanket I bought that feels like a cable sweater!" 

I knew you'd love it.

(She clearly did.)

  

Yesterday was a three-egg day!  Big.  stuff.  I doubt our two chickadees laid all three at once, though.  Momma has gotten a teensy bit lazy behind on checking the nesting box.  But Ginny and Hermione don't mind a couple of extra eggs hanging around; we've tried to give them lots of treats to boost morale through the winter.  In terms of treats, they definitely have a preference.  For example, I brought out the following:

wilted celery greens
multi-grain bread crusts
a few broken strawberry frosted mini-wheats 

Guess which treats they a) completely ignored, b) stared blankly at, and c) clawed over top of each other for and inhaled before they touched the ground.  Tomorrow we're talking about the dangers of chicken diabeetus and regulating our sugar intake, right ladies?  Mini-wheat fight notwithstanding, the chickens get an A grade for laying the most eggs we've had all week.

Staying warm

 
Dino, on the other hand, gets a big fat D for taking advantage of the fact that I had a baby in my arms and jumping up on the poor Scharrers when they stopped to bring us a delicious meal (which, by the way, is extra-appreciated since they have 4 of their very own tiny humans to feed).  Dino sort of redeemed himself by licking Baby's face only once when she was doing tummytime at his eye level when we both know he could have done much worse.

Guiltyface

Since I'm finishing this post up on V Day, here is a smile from our love bug

and a brutally honest Valentine from the interwebs:


Happy Valentine's Day!

Sara