Thank you, Mrs. Hallow for introducing me to plain yogurt and so many other foods. My favorite afterschool snack was original Fritos with plain yogurt then I tried flaming hot Cheetos with plain yogurt..... I am still eating and making yogurt about the only dairy I do eat.  The dips in the attached file are the ones I do most often. If you haven't noticed I am a firm believer in easy, no recipes and all from a base that is always in my refrigerator or pantry. Spending time shopping for ingredients for recipes is something I really don't do much of anymore (we won't discuss my walls of cookbooks...inspiration). When I make a recipe it is because more than 90% of the ingredients are in my kitchen. I have cooked my whole life and now I am letting the restaurateurs make me the ethnic foods I don't have all the ingredients handy such as Ethiopian, Chinese, Japanese and more. We have reinstituted our weekly eating out adventure and this week it is to Sunnyvale to The Falafel Stop, it is the made-on-site pita bread that pulls me so far north plus we have to go to a Doctor's appointment.

As I sat down to write this the reference below popped into my email about the decrease in hip fractures, the study points to a decrease in "smoking and drinking"  which supports the education about foods that support a healthy skeletal system and increased walking in some groups and improved lifestyle.  Studies have also shown that in some overweight individuals there is increased bone mass, not a good reason to be overweight or obese as with time other bone ailments appear in the knees and hips and cause havoc with adulthood and aging. 

Swayambunathan J, Dasgupta A, Rosenberg PS, Hannan MT, Kiel DP, Bhattacharyya T. Incidence of Hip Fracture Over 4 Decades in the Framingham Heart Study. JAMA Intern Med. Published online July 27, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2975
​
​or click this link
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2768887

Last thought! Skip all the flavored yogurts.... pick a great preserve; add overripe mashed fresh fruit, and more! I make a bagel spread inspired from a local bakery, chopped candied ginger, chopped dates and chopped walnuts or pecans. To one cup of yogurt cheese, you only need 1-2 dates, half teaspoon of ginger and nuts. Best of made the day before but even minutes before it is great.  If adding honey or nut spreads warm slightly to blend in then cool again not much is needed. 

Gluten Free Piña Colada Upside-Down Cake
Happy Mother’s Day to all nurturing women and men in our lives. This recipe takes me back to childhood and I have had a box of yellow gluten free cake mix in my pantry that just needed to become pineapple upside down cake. My mom, Irene was not a frequent baker, she made her famous Valentines Day cake and Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, my Aunt Irene was. It was always a staple at all potluck throughout my career in aging. Maybe someday I will make this recipe with grilled fresh pineapple which became one of the two ways to eat fresh pineapple. Don’t use fresh pineapple as it can affect the set up of the syrup.  Again, celebrate with this treat today or soon!

Serves 8-16
Ingredients:
Syrup & Topping
¼ cup non-dairy butter-flavored spread, such as Earth Balance (dairy choice: butter)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup (or cook down the pineapple syrup or juice in can until thick)
9 slices pineapple, drained (fresh, or from 16 or 20-oz. can of pineapple in 100% juice, unsweetened.)
9 maraschino cherries, drained
 
Cake Gluten Free NonDairy version:
1 box (15 oz.) Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix
1/3 cup coconut oil (or 1/3 cup flavorless vegetable oil, or ½ cup softened butter)
2/3 cup coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
 
Cake Elsa’s version of pudding cake:
1 box (15 oz.) Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Yellow Cake Mix
1/2 cup creamed butter or oil
8 oz creamed tofu
½ cup orange or pineapple jc or buttermilk
1 Tbs vanilla
3 eggs
Opt. add toasted coconut at serving or add coconut to the batter if not using coconut milk and oil otherwise change name.
 
Directions
Read Directions depending on ingredients used.
 
Preheat oven to 350° F. In 9-inch cake pan, melt ¼ cup non-dairy buttery spread in oven. Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup; spread evenly in pan. Arrange pineapple slices on brown sugar mixture, place cherry in center of each pineapple slice. (To make the design pictured here, cut the pineapple slices into 6-8 arc-shaped pieces each, start with a tight ring of pineapple arcs around a central cherry, and build out with cherries and half-circles from there.)

In a large bowl, first cream coconut oil if it has hardened. Then add rest of cake ingredients, and blend. (If using a liquid oil, omit first mixing and simply blend all ingredients. If using butter, it could use the initial mixing to make sure it’s soft and fluffy.). Beat all ingredients on low speed 30 seconds until combined, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
Scoop batter using a #16 or #24 carefully over pineapple and cherries, trying not to disturb the pattern; the carefully with a metal spatula join batter gaps until it is even and smooth without disturbing the topping below. The cake tends to keep the shape of the uncooked batter when it goes into the oven because of its thickness

Bake 38 to 43 minutes or until surface is golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Immediately run knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Place heatproof serving plate upside down onto pan; turn plate and pan over together. Leave pan over cake 5 minutes so brown sugar topping can drizzle over cake. Carefully remove pan; cool 30 minutes.
Notes: from original author: Do not use 8-inch square pan as there will be too much batter and it will not bake all the way through. (A 10-inch round pan also works.) Serve warm or cool. Store covered in refrigerator. Best eaten in 2 days as it will absorb sauce and get soggy over time. 
​
Addendum from Elsa: Use a generous pan no matter which type you use as all my square rectangle and round pans are different thicknesses. Often trying this in different pans until you find the one you like best in your collection for this recipe. If you have too much batter mini cakes or cupcakes made in 4 oz pyrex always let the baker taste it.
Adapted from https://www.hodgsonmill.com/blogs/blog/gluten-free-pina-colada-upside-down-cake by Dr. Elsa Ramirez-Brisson, RDN to celebrate Mother’s Day 2020

The three top items in my holiday menu are cranberries, yams and dressing. The turkey is there because without it, there would be no gravy and it sure tastes good on the dressing. I grew up cutting out shapes in cold jellied cranberry, We never ate whole cranberries or sauce. I did make cranberry bread. Then my husband introduced me to homemade cranberry sauce. Over the years because I can't leave well enough alone and inspiration during my stint as a spokesperson for the American Heart Association's Holiday Recipes. I worked on the recipe to reduce the sugar by adding naturally sweet items such as raisins, apples and orange rind. Below is my halved sugar recipe. To totally delete the sugar I use powdered pectin to form the gel instead of the sugar syrup. I also have a much higher percentage of cranberries in the recipe. I make a double or triple batch and freeze it to eat with pork, chicken and turkey all year long. Or, to make my own cranberry yogurt at breakfast with granola. 

Ingredients:
 1 bag              cranberries, cleaned
1 sticks           cinnamon (hard) don’t use powder it makes it dark and cloudy)
4                      whole cloves (use 8 and put in a tea ball…very important for children and
                        folks that could choke.
1                      orange, peeled and chopped –remove white membranes
1 tsp                orange zest
1                      apple (remove seeds and cut in small pieces)
1 cup              sugar (see sugar free version below)
1 cup              water
 
Directions
Put all the ingredients in a heavy lidded saucepan.  Bring mixture to a boil and remove from heat.  Use a lid since the cranberries will pop.
 
Use for Sugar free (reminder this is not CHO free and it is high in fiber due to the pectin-sure jell)
 
1 cup apple juice concentrate (do not dilute)
1 pkg of sure jell (found in the canning section of grocery stores or baking section) the powder that lists low sugar version –the other works too but this is better.
Combine the sure jell with 1 tbs of granulated sugar (to omit this use liquid sure gel) Stir well into all the ingredients above including the water and bring to a boil (slowly) cook for about 3-5 minutes, set aside and it will set. To make a cranberry non chunky sauce take the warm mixture and puree in a blender or food processor. It will gel or set when cool don’t add anything to make it thicker.
 
This can be made several days ahead and will keep the 7 days in refrigerator.

Buen Provecho!