Home-Made French Toast

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Doesn't this look like a great breakfast?  Make it!

What You'll Need:

• 4 medium sized eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup white cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
• 4 slices of Texas toast bread
• butter

Procedure:

1. In a large lasagna dish, mix eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla together with a wire whisk.
2. Place the Texas toast bread slices into the mixture and allow them to soak in the mixture on each side of the bread slice.
3. Place a skillet on the stove and turn the stove onto a low-medium heat.  Butter the skillet to prevent sticking and place one to two slices at a time on the skillet.  Cook each side of each slice for no longer than 3-3.5 minutes, or until the slice is fluffy and cooked.
4. Feel free to make some Home-Made Whipped Cream to top your french toast.  Don't like whipped cream?  What about sweet butter?  Follow the instructions on the Home-Made Whipped Cream recipe, but whip the mixture longer to turn it into soft butter instead of whipped cream.
5. Top it all off with maple syrup!

Enjoy!

Why Eat This?

Eggs are high in vitamins and minerals, nutritious, and low in calories.

There are 54 antioxidants in maple syrup.  These antioxidants include anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic.

Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms

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Doesn't this look good?  Learn how to make them in this blog!

What you'll Need:

• Butter
• 51-60 white shrimp (frozen; it should be a bag of a pound of shrimp, I honestly don't think it matters what kind of shrimp, but this is the kind I used)
• 12 oz of scallops (frozen)
• 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil (have more handy)
• 3 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp chives
• 1/2 of a garlic clove
• at least 20 medium sized mushrooms
• salt
• pepper

Procedure:

Mushrooms:

1. Rinse mushrooms and pat lightly to dry
2. Remove stems and put them in a bowl to save for later
3. Place mushroom caps on a cooking sheet and gently brush them with olive oil.

Filling:

1. Thaw the scallops and shrimp and remove shrimp of their shells.
2. Mince the scallops and shrimp, two mushroom stems, and half a garlic clove (You can use a processor like a Magic Bullet but I think it makes the seafood pasty and hard to work with, but I guess it all depends on the consistency you want the filling to be)
3. Mix these ingredients with the olive oil and vinegar.  Add the chives, some salt, and some pepper depending on the flavor you like.
4. Spoon the filling into the mushrooms (if there is leftover filling don't worry)

Cooking:

1. Preheat oven to approximately 300 degrees (my instructions said 425 but I think it cooks the mushroom too fast and leaves the filling partially uncooked)
2. Cook the mushrooms between 10-15 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and filling has a pinkish hue.

Enjoy!

Have leftover filling?  Use it on toast!

1. Butter a small pan on medium heat
2. Put filling into the pot and cook until the shrimp is pink
3. When filling is cooked top it on a piece of toast

Why Eat This?

Mushrooms are packed with antioxidants, they provide a good source of fiber, and they have high glutamic acid levels which are known to enhance flavors in foods.


Scallops, in addition to their delectable taste, contain a variety of nutrients that can promote your cardiovascular health, plus provide protection against colon cancer.



Shrimp are an excellent source of selenium and unusually low-fat, low-calorie protein.

Home-Made Whipped Cream

Can't go to the store?  Too lazy to drive there?  Just make some whipped cream at home!

What You'll Need: 

• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2-3 tbsp of white cane sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla (optional)

Procedure:

1. Take the cream, sugar, and vanilla and you can do one of two things:
1. Quicker way: Put the ingredients into a bullet container (or something similar to the Magic Bullet) and whip until it is the consistency of whipped cream
2. Longer way: put all ingredients into a plastic container with a tight lid and shake until it is the consistency of whipped cream.
2. When the whipped cream is ready just use a spoon to place it on whatever you'd like!

Don't want whipped cream?  How about sweet butter?  Just keep blending/shaking the whipped cream and it'll turn into soft butter (refrigeration is suggested before use of the butter so it holds its shape better).

Why Eat This?

Well, look at the ingredients in Reddi-Wip® whipped cream:

INGREDIENTS:

Cream, nonfat milk, corn syrup, sugar, mono- and diglycerides, natural and artificial flavors, carrageenan, nitrous oxide (propellant).

How about Kraft® Cool Whip?:

INGREDIENTS:

Water, corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil (coconut palm kernel), high fructose corn syrup, less than 2% of: sodium caseinate (from milk), natural and artificial flavors, xanthan and guar gums, polysorbate 60, sorbitan monostearate, beta carotene (color).

Do you even know what half of this stuff is without looking it up?  When you make whipped cream at home you know exactly what you are eating without having to look on a label and think "what is that?".

Culture Blend Pasta and Rice

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Doesn't that look delicious?  Learn how to make it here!

What You'll Need:

• 8 oz. Spaghetti
• 1 cup of Instant Rice
• 1 cup of mushrooms, chopped
• 2/3 cup olive Oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (Maybe even less depending on the strength of flavor you want)
• 1-2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• a small handful of Asiago cheese

Making the Mushrooms (and sauce):

1. Put the olive oil, vinegar, and soy sauce into a medium sized pan, try to mix them with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula as best as you can.  Since Olive oil is an oil it won't blend very easily until it is heated up.
2. Heat the pan up and carefully put the mushrooms in the pan.  Make sure you didn't heat up the oils too much, not only will it burn, but it could also splatter and burn you.
3. Cook the mushrooms for no more than about 3min. 30sec.
4. Set pan aside, do NOT empty out any liquids or the mushrooms

Making the Rice:

1. Since you are using minute rice this will be remotely easy.  Pour 1 cup of water into a small pot and bring it to a boil.
2. Once the water is boiling, put the rice in, make sure ALL of the rice is wet.  Then turn off the heat, put a lid on the pot, and let the pot sit undisturbed for at least 5 minutes

Making Spaghetti:

1. Get a large pot of water up to a boil, and put your 8 oz. of noodles in the pot.  You might even be able to use less noodles since this meal serves 1-2 people.
2. If you don't cook your spaghetti this way, cook it the way you cook it!

Put it All Together:

1. When putting your dish on your plate, I find it easier to put down the rice first, then the noodles.
2. Once those are on the plate, pour the liquids and mushrooms on your noodles and rice.
3. Top it off with a small handful of Asiago cheese. 

Enjoy!


Why Eat This?


Mushrooms are packed with antioxidants, they provide a good source of fiber, and they have high glutamic acid levels which are known to enhance flavors in foods.


Vinegar will clean your internal systems by killing potentially harmful bacteria, and it also helps control blood sugar and insulin levels if you ingest it after eating a meal that is high in carbohydrates.


Rice is a high source of carbohydrates. Carbs are necessary for releasing energy in your body and keeping you satiated throughout the day.  Rice also contains other nutrients like zinc, magnesium, manganese, and is an excellent source of iron, protein, niacin (Vitamin B3), thiamine (Vitamin B1) and essential fatty acids.  Rice also has no cholesterol, and it is low in fat, salt, and sugar. 

Coconut Strawberry Shake

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Doesn't this look delicious?  Well in this blog I'm going to give you ingredients and step by step instructions for you to do this at home.

What You'll Need:

• 10 medium sized strawberries (I would suggest getting them frozen for this recipe)
• 1 cup of coconut milk (I got a canned kind; if you get it in a can make sure you shake well before opening it)
• Vanilla Ice cream (My measurements for this would be three scoops that are about the size of a tennis ball?  If that's too much then just shrink it down a little bit
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2-3 tbsp of white cane sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Shake:

1. Put strawberries, coconut milk, and ice cream into a blender or Magic Bullet and blend to desired consistency

Home-made Whipped Cream:

Refer to my Home-made Whipped Cream Recipe.

If the shake is not as sweet as you want it then add a few tablespoons of white cane sugar to it.

Why Eat This?

Coconut milk is low in calories and contains protein and dietary fibers.

Strawberries are the 27th most valuable source of antioxidant rich food that people in the USA eat, and it ranked 4th when judged with fruits alone.  Strawberries also improve your blood sugar.

Fettuccine Alfredo

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Doesn't this look delicious?  Well in this blog I'm going to give you ingredients and step by step instructions on how to recreate this lovely meal.

What You'll Need for this Recipe:

• 1 bag of 51-60 white shrimp, uncooked (the bad should say that it contains 1LB of shrimp)
• Mushrooms (I honestly don't think it matters what kind, at least to me it doesnt, you can just buy a container of pre-cut and pre-rinsed ones at the store)
• 1 loaf of french bread
• Olive Oil (I don't have exact measurements because some of the measurements aren' really exact, just have a good amount of olive oil ready)
• 1 cup of butter (That is equal to two 8tbsp blocks of butter, don't do anything with the butter yet, it will be in the procedure, just make sure you have it)
• 1-2 cups of heavy cream
• 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup of Parmesan (You will start off with exact measurements, but depending on the amount of sauce you want it can change so just have that much ready) 
• 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of finely grated Asiago cheese (Most Asiago cheese is sold in solid triangles at the store, which is fine, I grated mine in my Magic Bullet and it worked just fine)
• 2 tsp of white whine vinegar
• Fettuccine noodles (most Fettuccine comes in boxes with 1LB of noodles, you will only need about 8 oz. = half of the box)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced or minced
• Salt
• Pepper

Procedure:

Procedure for Fettuccine Sauce:

1. Put 1/2 cup (one 8tbsp block) of butter in a medium sized pot with 1 cup of heavy cream, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup of Asiago cheese.  Add desired Pepper and Salt.
2. Heat on a low medium setting and stir occasionally, you don't want to burn the sauce.
3. If you want a little bit are a garlic taste to your sauce, add a 1/4 teaspoon of Garlic Powder.

Now for me I just put all of the ingredients in and heated them (like the procedure above), but my ending sauce hadn't completely melted the cheeses, so if you have a way to melt cheese before combining the ingredients then go ahead and do that.  Be sure to leave a comment telling me what you did so I can add it to the procedure!

Procedure for Cooking Shrimp and Mushrooms:

1. Peel the shrimp (remove the shells or any veins that weren't completely removed; I would suggest having three bowls: one filled with water just below room temperature where you put the frozen shrimp to thaw a bit, one bowl for the shells and veins that you remove, and a third bowl for the shrimp that have gone through the process.  TIP: Wear some cheap rubber gloves, the water get's cold quick and the shells tend to love to stick to skin)
2. Take out a medium/small pan and cover the bottom of the pan with Olive Oil (this is why I didn't use exact measurements, all pans are different).  Turn the heat on to a low medium setting and carefully place the shrimp on the pan.
3. Keep an eye on the shrimp!  They cook fast!  Your shrimp should have looked grey when you first got them but as they cook they begin to turn pink, and the edges should begin to curl.  You shouldn't cook your shrimp for any longer than 2-3 minutes.
4. When the shrimp are done get out another bowl (yes, I know, you need a lot of bowls for this recipe, but what cook doesn't have tons of bowls?) and place the shrimp in the bowl.  DO NOT EMPTY OUT THE POT OF THE OLIVE OIL MIXTURE!!
5. Put the pan back on the stove.  Take out your mushrooms (amount depends on consumer) and cook them in the pan.  COOKING TIME IS THE SAME FOR MUSHROOMS!!!  You should NOT cook your mushrooms any longer than 2-3 minutes (maybe 3 minutes and 30 seconds depending on the size of the mushroom pieces).  We cook the mushrooms in the same olive oil that the shrimp were cooked in to give the mushrooms a little more flavor, and it also connects the seafood with the magnificent fungi.
6. When you are finished with the mushrooms, yes, you'll need another bowl, put the mushrooms in the bowl.  DO NOT RINSE OUT THE PAN!!!  Pour the Olive Oil mixture into a cup or bowl of some kind and save it for later.

Procedure for French Bread and Topping:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Take half of your shrimp and move them onto a cutting board.  Dice them up, they don't have to be diced so much that they are like apple sauce, but dice them enough so that there are large and small pieces throughout.  
3. Move the diced shrimp into another bowl (yes, another bowl, you need a lot of bowls to make a good meal!) and add:
• one tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of white whine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt (you can also use half that amount and replace the other half with finely grated Asiago cheese to connect the sauce and the bread)
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
4. Set this bowl aside and grab your loaf of bread and a bread knife.  Cut off the heal and enjoy it, because you are working hard to make this meal.  Cut your loaf with a slant and make sure the pieces are each about 3/4 of an inch thick.  Depending on the size of your loaf of French bread you might have to cut each of these pieces in half.
5. Take your diced/minced garlic, olive oil, and a little bit of butter, and top each piece of bread with them.  Make sure each piece has an even amount.
6. Take half of the pieces of bread and top them with a bit of Asiago cheese (I'll explain why you only top half in a moment).
7. When the oven is preheated, put the bread in for about 5-7 minutes or until lightly toasted.
8. When bread is done, take the half of the pieces that do NOT have Asiago cheese on them and top them with the diced shrimp mixture that you made.

Procedure for Fettuccine Noodles:

1. Get a large pot and fill it with water.  Bring water to a rolling boil.  DO NOT ADD ANY SALT!  Asiago is a very salty cheese, so if you add salt to the water that the noodles are absorbing you could get a very salty meal, unless you like it that way, then go ahead.
2. Put your 8 oz. of fettuccine into the boiling water and cook until you have reached your desired tenderness.

The Next Steps:

1. When the noodles are cooked, move JUST THE NOODLES into the pot of fettuccine alfredo sauce you prepared.  Keep the heat on LOW, EXTREMELY LOW, as to keep the sauce and noodles warm but not cook them too much.  
2. If there isn't enough sauce, simply add a little more cream, Parmesan, and Asiago cheese until you have reached the desired amount of sauce.  You can also add some of the starch water from where you cooked your fettuccine noodles to make more sauce as well.
3. Spoon out your desired amount of Fettuccine Alfredo and top it with shrimp and mushrooms (your desired amount of course).  And feel free to enjoy some garlic french bread toast or some lovely toasted french bread topped with Shrimp Vinaigrette.

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Enjoy!
Don't like Mushrooms or shrimp?  Just skip those  steps!

If you have leftover shrimp, mushrooms, and Asiago, you can make yourself a lovely gourmet Omelet the next day!


Why Eat This?
Shrimp are an excellent source of selenium and unusually low-fat, low-calorie protein.


Mushrooms are packed with antioxidants, they provide a good source of fiber, and they have high glutamic acid levels which are known to enhance flavors in foods.


Vinegar will clean your internal systems by killing potentially harmful bacteria, and it also helps control blood sugar and insulin levels if you ingest it after eating a meal that is high in carbohydrates.


French bread is low in fat, and sometimes it is even fat free!