Very Berry Banana Smoothie

Very Berry Banana Smoothie

Introduction:

This is a nutritious way to start the day, it combines all the essential vitamins your body needs to get you through the day. Why I use frozen berries is because it eliminates the need to use ice, therefore making your smoothie less watery and more flavorful.

Materials:

½ cup of raspberries

½ cup blueberries

½ cup blackberries

1 banana

10oz of orange juice

Procedure:

Pour orange juice in blender first to keep blades from seizing up.

Place berries and banana in and blend together

Start at low speed and work your way up to high speed and then back down to low again.

Make sure there are no chunks

Pour into a glass

Results:

Every morning I wake up and make a smoothie. The reason being is that it is filling, it tastes great, and it’s easy to make. I recommend them to anyone. You can also add other things in like greens or protein powders.

Virgin Margaritas

Virgin Margaritas

Introduction:
A mexican cocktail that goes well with any dish. The salty rim, give the sweet/tart cocktail just way it needs. The key to making a good margarita is keep the ice from melting. This will cause you to have to put more ice in and reblend it and in turn, will make the drink watery.

Materials:

• 2 tablespoons kosher salt1 6-ounce can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 lime, cut into 4 equal size wedges
• 4 cups ice cubes

Preparation:

1. Moisten the rim of the serving glasses with a little lime juice.
2. Put the salt in a large saucer or shallow pie pan.
3. Invert each glass in the salt, and gently twist to coat the rim with salt.
4. Place the limeade concentrate, orange juice and ice cubes in a conventional blender or frozen drink mixer.
5. Blend at high speed until the ice pulverizes and the drink is thoroughly mixed.
6. Pour into glasses and be careful not to disturb the salt on the rims.
7. Garnish the drinks with lime wedges and serve.

Results:
A refreshing addition to any meal, although there was no booze, it didn't keep them from being a great addition to the chocolate day. It was quick easy and a more hands on approach to making margaritas as opposed to buying the pre made mix.

Chocolate Toffee

Chocolate Toffee

Introduction:
What's more delicious than chocolate? How about chocolate sprinkled onto of a warm toffee bar? This is one of the most decadent treats I tasted in the class. The toffee was made similarly to how the caramel was made because it was made with melted brown sugar. It was a treat you could eat warm and soft or you could but it in the fridge and get a nice toffee crunch out of it.

Materials:

• FOR THE DOUGH:
• ⅔ cup flour
• 1½ tbsp. sugar
• ⅛ tsp. kosher salt
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
• 2 tsp. milk
• 
  FOR THE TOFFEE AND CHOCOLATE LAYERS:
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 1 tbsp. milk
• ⅛ tsp. kosher salt
• 1¾ cups finely chopped pecans, lightly toasted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

1. Make the crust: Whisk flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add butter and using a dough blender, two forks, or your fingers, cut butter into flour mixture, forming pea-size crumbles; stir in milk until dough forms. Add more milk, if necessary, until dough holds together but is not wet. Press dough into a parchment paper-lined 8” square baking dish; chill 15 minutes.

2. Heat oven to 350°. Bake crust until golden, 25 minutes; let cool.

3. Make the toffee layer: Bring sugar, butter, honey, milk, and salt to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Cook until sugar is dissolved and butter is melted, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in 1½ cups pecans and the vanilla. Spread toffee mixture evenly over the crust; bake until toffee is golden brown and bubbly, 17-20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack; let cool 5 minutes, then sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips. Let stand 5 minutes, then, using a spatula, smooth chocolate into an even layer; sprinkle immediately with remaining pecans. Let cool completely, and then refrigerate until firm; cut into squares.

Results:
I'm in shock, it was ridiculously good. The chocolate chips were able to melt on top of the toffee and then we could apply it as a ice cream topping. One little piece was enough to blast your mouth with flavor, but it kept you wanting more.

Chicken Veggie Soup

Chicken Veggie Soup

Introduction:
My mom's homemade soup. The thing that makes the soup flavorful is that I cooked the onion before adding the stock. This reeled the flavors of the onion and infused them into the soup.

Materials:
1 pound chicken
Fresh celery
1 yellow onion
olive oil
carrots
rosemary
bay leaves
12 oz broccoli
1 sweet potato
64 oz chicken stock

Procedure:
Chop all veggies in small pieces
place onions and olive oil in pot and caramelize them
then add the other veggies
add chicken stock
and then place bay leaves and rosemary in soup
add chicken
Bring to a boil and then let simmer

Results:
If you're ever feeling under the weather, this is a go to meal. Although prepping all the veggies may be time consuming, the cooking takes minimal watching and maintenance.

Homemade Breakfast Burritos

Homemade Breakfast Burritos

Introduction:
As a college student, we are force to try to live on a budget. This is a meal that is affordable and tasty. It is high in protein from the meat and eggs and you balance out the protein with the veggies. When cooking the meat with the veggies at the same time, it allows the meat to gain more flavor and become more juicy from the water in the bell peppers.

Materials:
1 red bell pepper
2 pounds flank steak
1/2 yellow onion
Tortillas
2 Avocados
6 eggs
salt and pepper
olive oil

Cut up beef into little strips

Cook beef in a pan with olive oil salt and pepper

Once they are just about all the way cooked, throw in the chopped bell peppers and onions

Once veggies and meat are cooked, crack eggs and scramble mix them in with the veggies and meat.

Cook all the way if you want firm eggs or cook for less time if you like moist eggs

Heat up tortilla

Cut avocado

Add everything into the tortilla and wrap

Enjoy:)

Results:
I was pleased with this homemade recipe because it was something that can be made up of left over meats or veggies. Next time I would cook the meat a little less before adding the veggies. This would make the meat less dry. It was nothing that a bottle of Tapatio couldn't handle though.

Beef Shish Kabobs

Beef Shish Kabobs

Introduction:
For an easy BBQ meal, I chose to make Shish Kabobs. Typically from the Middle East, I gave them an asian twist by marinating the meat in teriyaki sauce. The key to making the meat as tasty as possible, is by letting the meat marinade for 4 or more hours. But be careful, if your marinade has salts and acids in it, it can break down the meat and cause problems later. do not marinade you meat in acidic or salty solutions for more than a couple hours.

Materials:

3 pounds beef (your choice what cut)
2 Red bell peppers
2 Green bell peppers
2 Sweet onions
Teriyaki Sauce

Procedure:

Cube beef evenly so that they all cook at the same rate. Let them marinade in teriyaki sauce for a minimum of 4 hours.

Cut bell peppers and onions into 2in by 2 in squares.

Assemble skewer in a eye pleasing manner

Make sure you preheat grill

Place skewers on BBQ and cook till medium rare (Rotate every couple of minutes)

Take skewers off and enjoy!

Result:
I experimented by taking them off at different times, some i cooked more rare, and some I cooked more medium. I wanted to see what was the perfect way to get a tender juicy beef skewer without over cooking it. By cooking it medium rare, the meat was able to cook by itself off the grill to the perfect temperature.