Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Giovanni's Super Satisfyingly Stuffed Sandwich

Giovanni's Super Satisfyingly Stuffed Sandwich

Sandwiches, can be a healthy , easy, and quick meal or snack to prepare. For me, sandwiches were part of the weekly menu, it was practically it's own category on the food pyramid as I moved from home to home, but I digress. Anyway,I have created this sandwich to satisfy hunger more than a Snickers bar. Here's what you'll need:\

A Subroll
Boar's Head Deluxe Ham
Boar's Head Genoa Salami
Boar's Head Swiss Cheese
Boar's Head Bologna
Boar's Head Honey Glazed Turkey
Shredded Lettuce
3-4 Slices of Tomato
Your choice of chips and a drink

First, cut through the subroll evenly.
Second, add a slice of delicious ham on both the top and bottom halves of the roll.
Third, add a slice of Swiss cheese.
Fourth, you accompany that slice of cheese with not one, but 2 slices of salami.
Fifth, don't be a phony, add some bologna.
Sixth, add another blanket of Swiss cheese.
Seventh,just to be sweet, add two slices of sweet honey glazed turkey vetically. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum,... delicioso.
Eighth, place another slice of scrumptious ham, can't get enough ham. Que sabroso.
Ninth, you shred and spread some lettuce.
Tenth, you top it off with a couple slices of tomato.
With some chips and a refreshing drink, you'll have a lunch fit for a king or queen.













Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Quinoa with Chicken and Kale Salad

         What I made is called "The healthiest meal that you can eat!!!" The main ingredient is Quinoa. Let me explain first what is Quinoa ( many of you might not know ). This is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. Quinoa is usually considered to be a whole grain but it is actually a seed. Is one of the most healthiest "thing" that you can eat. It has calcium, iron, proteins, fibers and is poor in sugar.  In 2013 Quinoa got the award of Superfood of the Year . And together with chicken and salad the taste is amazing. 


Ingredients used
- one 12 oz box of Quinoa
- a package of chicken cutlet
- kale salad
- 3 tomato
- 2 avocados
- a glass of red wine ( Montepulciano D`Abruzzo )
- soy flower donuts - for desert ( healthy again )


Instructions
1. Wash the chicken and mix it with olive oil, onions and parsley


2. Make the kale salad by mixing it with olive oil

3. Start to boil the quinoa

4. Start to pan sear the chicken

5. Prepare the decoration : cut the tomato and the avocados
6. Final : Put everything together and Voila

FRUIT SALAD !!!!!

What I created was a Fruit Salad. Its not just any ordinary fruit salad... it's a one of a kind, rich, creamy, "you're about to get fat", Fruit Salad. If you don't care about a diet, if you don't care about how healthy a fruit is, and you only care about taste. I guarantee you will enjoy this tasting! I got this recipe from my girlfriend. Although I'm in somewhat of a diet, she likes to ruin it and fatten me up. 

INGREDIENTS: 
2 cans of fruit cocktail 
1 can of peaches
1 can of pineapple chunks 
2 cans of nestle cream 
2 - 4 cans of condensed milk (depends on serving size)

Toppings (optional)

cinnamon 
1 cherry 
sugar (if you have a "big sweet tooth")

STEPS: 
1. Open all the cans 














2. Remove the juices from the canned fruits. Keep fruits dry as possible. 












3. Place all fruits into serving bowl/dish (fruit cocktail, pineapple chunks, peaches)















4. Insert condensed milk into the bowl














5. Mix the fruits with the condensed milk.
6. Keep in refrigerated for a couple of hours. 
7. Add optional additions (cherry, cinnamon)














8. ENJOY YOUR REFRESHING RICH FRUIT SALAD!!




Confused Omelette

What I made I'm going to call a "Confused Omelette".  This particular type of omelette is "confused" because, rather than being peppers within eggs, it is eggs within peppers.  It is also confused because there is no cheese.  I randomly saw a picture of something like this on a recipe website a while back, and that served as inspiration.  Besides for that I pretty much improvised this dish.


Ingredients:
-an onion
-a red bell pepper
-three eggs
-coconut oil (because its healthy)
-milk
-salt
-ground pepper


Instructions:
1.) Chop pepper three times so that you have three circular rings.  Chop up a little more of the pepper into minced pieces for a garnish.
2.) Chop up some onion into minced pieces for a garnish.
3.) Whip up the eggs and a splash of milk into a bowl as if you're making scrambled eggs.
4.) Fry minced onion and minced pepper until onions are browned.  Put off to the side.
5.) Dip one side of the bell pepper ring into the liquid eggs and put on frying pan so as to seal in the bottom to prevent leaking.
6.) Pour liquid eggs into the bell pepper ring.  Allow eggs cook completely.
7.) Take off of pan.  Add the minced onions and peppers as a garnish along with salt and pepper.
8.) ENJOY!!!










Ma’karonah Bil Bechamel


The official name is Ma’karonah Bil Bechamel. I call it lasagna and it is a very popular Egyptian food. It is easy to make and is basically a baked pasta dish. Bechamel is a white sauce that is made thick with flour. This is a dish that we eat a lot at the holidays and when we friends over. My mom makes this a lot. When I went to Egypt, this was a dish that my aunts made for me. I really like this dish because of the noodles and sauce.


Lasagna with Bechamel

Ingredients
1 box of ziti noodles
½ jar of pasta sauce
1 bag of shredded cheese any variety

Meat sauce:
2 lbs Chopped beef or lamb
1 onion finely chopped
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce

Bechamel Sauce
4 cups of milk
3 tablespoons of flour
3 tablespoons of margarine or butter
1 egg whisked

Directions:
The first step is to add the pasta to a pot of boiling water
Cook the pasta according to the directions about 12 minutes and drain
In a pan, sauté the chopped onion until soft and then add the chopped meat.
As the meat cooks break up any large clumps. Season the meat with salt and pepper
And add the barbecue sauce

Bechamel Sauce:
In a saucepan melt the butter. Add the flour to the melted butter and stir constantly. Let the mixture cool for about one minute. Slowly a little at a time, add the milk to the mixture and keep stirring to avoid lumps. When all the milk has been added add the whisked egg. Keep stirring until it comes to a boil.  Add ½ cup of cheese (any variety)

To assemble the dish put a spoonful of the sauce in a baking dish, add half of the cooked
Noodles and spread out evenly.  On top of the noodles, put all of the meat mixture and spread evenly.  If you want, you can add some type of cheese. On top of the meat mixture add the other half of the noodles. The last step is to put the béchamel sauce over the top layer of the noodles. Bake in a hot oven at 350 degrees until brown about 45-50 minutes.  Let cool for 15 minutes then serve hot.
Boiling the noodles


Brown the meat in a pan
Make béchamel sauce

1st layer of noodles and meat
Ready for 3650 degree oven

Final pasta dish


Banana-Strawberry Pancakes with Whipped Cream

First of all I would like to say that pancakes are my favorite food! I will never forget how my grandmother was making them for me when I was a kid. This love for pancakes is coming from childhood and I learned it from my grandma how to make the most delicious banana-strawberry pancakes. I would like to share with you our family recipe you will definitely fall in love with!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup flour
3 table spoons of honey (you can use sugar, but I prefer honey because I don't eat or drink anything with sugar)
1 teaspoon baking soda
salt
olive oil
3/4 cups nonfat milk or water (it depends on how you like it)
2-3 eggs

For the topping:

3 peeled bananas
10 strawberries
whipped cream

Steps:

1. First we are going to mix all ingredients together.












2. This is how the mix looks like.

















3. Then we melt and spread a small piece of butter in a frying pan (you can use canola oil, but I think that butter gives pancakes a very delicious taste)















4. Pour the mix slowly to desired size.
 Wait till each size of the pancake gets golden brown.















5. After we finish with pancakes it's time for the topping (my favorite part).
For the topping we need sliced strawberries, bananas and whipped cream.














6. Squeeze a small amount of whipped cream in the center of the pancake and place 3-4 slices
of strawberry and banana on the top of it. Then make a roll and add  more of whipping cream on the top of the roll again. Place 3 slices of strawberry and 2 slices of banana right in the cream.















7. Now you can finally enjoy your delicious banana strawberry pancakes! :)










Strawberry Cake

Strawberry cake has always been my family's favorite dessert. My mom would always bake this cake when i was younger and still bakes it once in a while.We would usually eat a slice after dinner or if we had a sweet tooth through out the day. This cake is very easy to prepare, convenient,delicious and it doesn't take much time to bake.


Ingredients:
Strawberry cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
3-1/3 cups of water
Non-sticking baking spray
Vanilla frosting (optional)
Cake sprinkles (optional)
 * Preheat oven in advance to 350 F.



Steps:
1. Dump strawberry cake mix into a bowl and add the 3 eggs,the 1/3 cup of vegetable oil and the 3-1/3 cups of water.


2. Start blending the cake mix, water, eggs and oil at a medium speed for about 2 minutes. Blend until it is moistened enough and make sure that there isn't any chunks of mix left.



3. Grease the sides and the bottom of the pan with the non-sticking baking oil spray. Then pour the strawberry batter into a 13 x 9-inch pan.


4. Stick the strawberry cake batter in the oven at the 350 F temperature for about 30-35 minutes.

5. After 30-35 minutes, insert a toothpick at the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is ready to be taken out. Let the cake cool off for about 10 minutes before adding the frosting.

5. After it cools off, you may start to add your desired amount of vanilla frosting and sprinkles on the cake.

6. Finally you are ready to cut up a piece of your strawberry cake and enjoy a slice! 

Coconut Chocolate Balls

Feeling for chocolate? Don't want an ordinary chocolate bar? Got your solution. Coconut Chocolate Balls! I make these before I watch a movie or before I play video games. Great for party desserts too. Easy to make and delicious if done right.

Ingredients:

Milk
Butter
Tea Biscuits/Graham Crackers
Milk and Dark Chocolate
Shredded Coconut 

Steps:

1. Melt and spread the butter in a pot.

2. Add the chocolate pieces and pour milk. Stir till melted into a liquid state.

3. Crush crackers.

4. Mix crushed crackers and melted chocolate together. Then leave out to dry.

5. Roll mix into small balls. Then roll the chocolate balls in some shredded coconut and there you have it! Coconut Chocolate Balls! Enjoy.