I love to cook food with lots of interesting spices and flavors.

This dish combines the taste of lemons, cinnamon, paprika, and ginger, just to name a few.  It tastes amazing with rice or couscous, if you are going for the full Moroccan feel.  I will warn you, this recipe is for lemon lovers only.

{moroccan chicken with green olives and lemon}

adapted from bon appétit

serves 4

Cut 1 lemon into 8 wedges. Squeeze enough juice from second lemon to measure 2 tablespoons; set wedges and juice aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sprinkle with salt and pepper; sauté until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Add next 5 ingredients; stir 1 minute. Add broth; bring to boil. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper; add to skillet. Add lemon wedges. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, turning occasionally, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter. Add olives and 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and coconut milk to skillet. Increase heat to high; boil uncovered to thicken slightly, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over chicken.

Serve over rice or couscous!

enjoy!

With a few easy steps, you can be well on your way to making homemade yogurt too!

I purchased this yogurt maker, and I really like it.   They aren’t necessary, but I found a great deal, and I liked all the jars with screw on lids it came with.  I hear you can even use your crock pot to make yogurt. see here.

Another tool that is necessary is a thermometer.  I just used my candy thermometer and it worked just fine.

Yogurt is typically made using milk, plain yogurt [for a start to keep the live and active cultures], and sometimes dry non fat milk.

Here is the recipe that is used that came with my yogurt maker.

For more recipes, and tips click here, here, + here.

{Rich Vanilla Yogurt}

makes 6 servings

4 3/4 cups lowfat milk [2%]  – I used 1% organic milk and it turned out fine.  you just need to up the processing time by one hour.
2-3 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
1 tablespoon vanilla paste1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons dry nonfat milk
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons plain yogurt [or you could use the freeze dried yogurt starts]  – I actually used greek yogurt for my start and really liked it.  Otherwise, I’d recommend mountain high brand.

directions

heat the milk in a saucepan with high sides over medium heat.  Place the thermometer and when the milk reaches 180 degrees F and is about to boil, remove from heat and stir in the agave nectar or honey, vanilla paste, and vanilla extract.  allow the milk to cool to 110 degrees.  To speed up the cooling process, whisk the liquid frequently or place saucepan in a bowl of ice water.

Once the liquid reaches 110 degrees, whisk in the dried milk and yogurt until the ingredients are thoroughly homogeneous.

Pour liquid into jars, and place jars into yogurt maker without lids.  cover and set for 10 hours and press the on button.

When yogurt maker is done, the yogurt should have gotten thick.  Remove and screw on the lids and place in fridge to set up at least 3 hours before eating.

Enjoy!