Monday, April 8, 2013

Stuffed French Toast
 
 
Getting started
 
 

Gather all your ingredients.
 
 
 

Add cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla into a bowl.
 

 
Mix together with a whisk until smooth.
 
 
Zest the orange into the mixture. Then stir in the zest with a spoon not the whisk. if you use the whisk all of the zest will stick to the wires!
 




In a flat shallow bowl crack eggs, add Cinnamon, and whisk together.
 
 
Next whisk in milk.
 


 
Slather two pieces of bread with the cream cheese mixture. Next stick those two pieces
 together like a sandwich.
 

Heat a pan and melt butter.
 

 
Dip each side of the bread in to the egg mixture for a few seconds to let it absorb some of the eggs.
 

Cook until golden brown on each side.

 

Top with your favorite toppings. My husband likes his french toast with peanut butter maple syrup and fresh berries. I on the other hand am a bit more simplistic in this instance I like butter and fresh raspberries with maybe a touch of powder sugar.
 
 
 
ingredients:
1 loaf of your favorite bread
 
Filling:
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons orange zest
 
Egg mixture:
6 large eggs
1cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
 



Sunday, March 10, 2013

Gluten Free "Granola" Bars
 

These are energy and nutrient rich bars that taste of cherry and chocolate. Yumm!
 
 
Here is what you will need to get started  To give them a little more texture I add a 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats. I left them out this time to make them Gluten Free.
 


Add the dates to the food processor and process until the dates form a paste type ball.
 



Next add the cocoa powder, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Pulse until the mixture blends together.
 


Next add the chia seeds, and flax seeds. Process until the texture of corn meal.
 


 
Now add the walnuts, almonds, and cherries. Process to your desired consistency.
 



 
Dump the mixture out onto wax paper. Form into a rectangle and roll out until 1/4 inch thick.
 



 
Cut in half and put them in plastic food saver bags. Put them in the refrigerator over night. you could also put them on a sheet pan and cover with plastic wrap,
 



 


Trim the edges and cut into bars, size of your choice. I like to store mine in the fridge but the are good at room temp as well.
 
 

Enjoy!
 
 
Ingredients
 
1 1/2 cups Dried pitted dates
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup chia seeds
1/3 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dried cherries
 
 


Monday, February 25, 2013

Roasted Chicken
 

 For me this is an easy Sunday dinner. It smells amazing and everyone thinks you worked really hard and for a long time to make this amazing chicken. Also it can be transformed in to so many things as leftovers like chicken stock, chicken soup, chicken salad sandwiches, or even chicken enchilada's just to name a few! I am going to teach you how to get up close and personal with a chicken (you could also do this with a turkey) So there are some not so pretty raw chicken pictures. The end result is totally worth it though I promise.
 
 
 Here is what you will need to get started
 
 
Take everything that is in the cavity of the chicken and discard it unless there is something you like to make with the extra parts. Rinse the chicken inside and out with cold water and blot dry with a paper towel. Then set the chicken aside and wash your hands. Make sure you wash your hands after every time you touch the raw chicken.
 

 
 
Put the butter, salt, and pepper into a bowl.







 
Then zest the lime, lemon, and orange into the bowl.
 


 
 
Cut the head of garlic in half. Cut the onion in half then into sixths. Next cut all of the zested citrus fruit into quarters.
 

 
Now stand the chicken up exposing the cavity but keeping one hand clean. Sprinkle the inside of the cavity with salt and pepper.
 

 
Now stuff with as much of the cut fruit, onion and garlic as you can there will be leftovers depending on the size of your chicken. I always make sure to get all of the garlic in.
Save the left over fruit for later.
 



 
Now being very careful not to tare the skin put your hand between the chicken skin and the breast meat. go as far down as you can and go to the sides to separate the skin on the legs as well. what you are doing is creating a place for the butter to go. Now put a 1/3 of the butter under each side of the breast skin and distribute as evenly as possible. With the remaining 1/3 of butter rub it all over the out side of the chicken. I tuck in the wings so they wont burn. The butter will make the skin oh so crispy and seal in all the juices to ensure you have a very moist and juicy chicken. Now place the chicken on a roasting rack inside of a roasting pan. Put chicken stock in them bottom of the roasting pan. Place the roasting pan into a 325 degree oven for about 1 hour, at about 50 minutes in I like to check the temperature. Remove the chicken when your thermometer reads 170 degrees set aside to rest.
 Gravy recipe to follow.
 
 
Roasted Potatoes
with a
Lemon Herb Sauce
 




 

 Cut Potatoes into quarters then put them in to a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Make sure to cover your pot until the water is boiling. Once the water comes to a boil add 1 tablespoon of salt. and let boil for about 5 more minutes. Drain potatoes.
 


Put olive oil on to a baking sheet and toss the potatoes in the oil, salt and pepper. Now place the potatoes into a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. About half way through  cooking I like to turn  the potatoes to ensure even browning.
 






 
While the potatoes are cooking I like to make a sauce to toss them in when they get out of the oven. Add the zest and juice of half a lemon into a small bowl or cup. Pour in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Chop parsley and add it to the bowl now whisk together.
 

 
 Take the potatoes out of the oven, put them in a bowl, and toss them with the dressing. Now transfer them to a serving bowl.
 
 
Gravy
 

OK so remember all that butter on and in the chicken? Well a lot of it is in the roasting pan now and has settled at the top. It has been deliciously flavored and is perfect for sauteing garlic in for your gravy. So that is exactly what we are going to do with it. Use a spoon and skim some butter off the top and put it in to a pan on med/high heat.


 
Either mince or grate one clove of garlic and add it to the butter. saute for a few minutes.
 


Now add white wine and juice from half of an orange. Let it reduce for a 5 minutes and then add the juices from the bottom of the roasting pan.



 
Take corn starch and mix with water then slowly whisk it in to the pan. It will thicken up pretty quickly then remove from the heat.
 
 

 
Ingredients:
 
Roasted Chicken
1 whole chicken
1 cube of butter
1 lemon
1 lime
1 orange
1 onion
1 head of garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt (plus 1/4 teaspoon for the cavity)
1/4 teaspoon pepper (plus 1/4 teaspoon for the cavity)
2 cups of chicken stock
 
 
Roasted potatoes
2 pounds of potatoes
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
 
Dressing
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
The zest of 1/2 lemon
The juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup chopped parsley
 
Gravy
2 tablespoons of butter from the drippings
all of the drippings from the roasting pan
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1/2 an orange
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons of corn starch
1/4 cold water
salt and pepper to taste