Cool Cooking Recipe Section – Page 2

Delicious Date Overnight Oats

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Delicious Date Overnight Oats

What would happen if you mixed two of the world's oldest and most beloved foods? Well, the outcome would have a very high likelihood of being dates mixed with oatmeal. These two foods have graced the pages of the world's oldest stories, and yet still exist to deliver wonderful flavors for us today. Not only is this grouping of foods healthy, it also fits into the current trends for healthy food in that it’s also gluten free. Feel free to check out this recipe for delicious date overnight oats.

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Course Breakfast

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups water
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp lemon juice
2 cups milk or almond milk
1/8 tsp salt
4 chopped dates

Instructions

Like most overnight oats, this process is quick and painless. Simply mix the ingredients in a medium sized bowl until they look thoroughly mixed together. Be sure to cover the bowl properly before storing so that it doesn’t end up absorbing the other flavors from nearby foods. You can then put the mixture in the refrigerator or icebox to cool for a night, then scoop some into a cup and top with some extra cinnamon to enjoy the next day for breakfast.

Keyword oatmeal, overnight

Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats

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Apple Cinnamon Overnight Oats

If there’s anything that you want when they first wake up, there’s a pretty big chance that it’s probably going to be a delicious breakfast that they can just grab and start their day. Most of the time anything quick to grab also probably means that you’re sacrificing the nutrition, so what can you do to get a fast breakfast that’s healthy and helps you get out of the door? Oatmeal is typically one of the cereals that can be prepared very quickly, and in some cases with little more than leaving it alone completely. Try this recipe for Apple Cinnamon Overnight oats.

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Course Breakfast

Ingredients

1 cup diced apple
1 cup oats any kind of oats
12 oz vanilla Greek yogurt
1/4 cup Apple Butter
4 tbsp chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

Put your oats in a bowl or large tumbler cup. Add the walnuts and stir along with the Greek yogurt. Heat the apple butter so that it’s liquid and add that to the mixture. Stir in the cinnamon and cover. If you would like the meal to be ready as soon as you get up, then you can add the apple pieces before you cover the oats. Place the mix into the refrigerator or a cool place to sit until morning. When you go to your oats, they will now be a delicious breakfast ready to spoon up until it’s gone!

Keyword apple, oatmeal

Honey Cashew Oatmeal

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Honey Cashew Oatmeal

Some of the most celebrated flavors with oatmeal is that of the honey and nut variety. Generally, the nuts used are usually peanuts, but for a richer more high-end product, you should use cashews. These nuts are sweeter and richer, so they will add a lot of depth to your oatmeal. Also, this following recipe has some tasty stuff going on with its use of cranberries for its dried fruit ingredient. Once you get a taste of this oatmeal recipe, you’ll probably end upmaking it for friends and loved ones for years to come.

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Course Breakfast

Ingredients

1 cup fully prepared oatmeal
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp dried cranberries
1 tbsp crushed roasted cashews
1/2 tbsp brown sugar optional
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Make a half serving of oatmeal. Get your mixing bowl and mix the toppings together in the bowl. Stir the honey and the sugar into the oatmeal while it’s still very hot. Add almond milk if you should choose, and top with cinnamon. If you want to have enough for more servings, you can simply double up on the ingredient amounts to get the appropriate amount of servings.

Keyword oatmeal

Berries and Cream Oatmeal

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Berries and Cream Oatmeal

Are you looking for a lighter oatmeal recipe? Sometimes oatmeal recipes can tend to lean heavy on the buttery goodness side, while they are lacking in the light fluffy, healthy side of food.

A lighter feeling oatmeal with a few servings of sweet fruit is likely to help you to feel a lot more energized after eating the carbs in the oatmeal, and your blood sugar won’t spike as heavily causing you to feel tired suddenly in the middle of the day. If you want to something healthy and easy to digest, then you can take a look at this recipe for berries and cream oatmeal.

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Course Breakfast

Ingredients

1 cup prepared oatmeal
1 cup fresh strawberries cut
1 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp salt

Vanilla Cream

1/2 tbsp vanilla coffee creamer
1/8 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

Cook enough oatmeal for two servings, then put the berries, vanilla, and orange juice in the pan with honey and salt. Simmer them until the berries become soft and begin to fall apart, and the set it aside. Take the creamer and put it into a cup and stir in the powdered sugar. Dump the strawberry mixture over the oatmeal and drizzle with the cream mixture.

Keyword oatmeal, Strawberry

Blueberry Overnight Oats

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Blueberry Overnight Oats

Antioxidants are some of the best things for people because they help to keep you young and repair damage that is done to the body by exposure to pollutants and other agents that can cause illness. These dangerous agents come in the form of free radicals, which can change the structure of cells and make them cancerous, but antioxidants can repair this damage fairly easily. Blueberries are an excellent source of antioxidants, and they make a great addition to any oatmeal dish. The next few paragraphs will show you how to make your own blueberry overnight oats so you can have a quick and healing breakfast.

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Course Breakfast

Ingredients

1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/3 cup plain almond milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup blueberries

Instructions

Thankfully, overnight oats are one of the easiest things you can make. Take a mixing bowl, and mix the oats, milk, chia seeds, yogurt honey, and vanilla until it’s properly covered. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and place in a refrigerator until it’s chilled. Spoon into a bowl and to with the blueberries and cinnamon. You can even place the blueberries on a tuft of yogurt.

Keyword blueberry, oatmeal, overnight

Classic Spiced Peanut Brittle

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Classic Spiced Peanut Brittle

This crowd-pleasing peanut brittle recipe is super easy to make, so it’s perfect for casual get togethers, hostess gifts, or as a delicious anytime snack. The key to success with this recipe is to gather and measure out all the ingredients before you get started because you’ll need to add the remaining ingredients as soon as the peanut sugar mixture reaches 300°F on a candy thermometer.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Resting Time 15

Total Time 45

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Equipment

Required Tools: Candy Thermometer with Pot Clip

Ingredients

Ingredients:

Optional: 2 T. unsalted butter to grease baking sheet
2 c. granulated sugar
¼ c. water
1 c. light corn syrup
2 c. roasted peanuts salted
2 t. real vanilla extract
½ t. ground cinnamon
¼ t. ground nutmeg
1½ t. baking soda
¼ t. table salt
2 T. unsalted butter

Instructions

Directions:

Secure a candy thermometer to the side of a large heavy-duty pot. Generously grease a large, rimmed baking sheet or line it with parchment paper or a Silpat™ baking mat, as shown. Set aside.
Add sugar and water to the pot and stir to combine. Pour in the corn syrup, and heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved, approximately 2-3 minutes.
Bring the mixture to 250°F on the candy thermometer, then stir in the roasted peanuts until thoroughly combined.
Continue heating the peanut mixture until it reaches 300°F, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and immediately stir in the vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and butter until combined. Immediately pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and spread into an even layer with a butter or pastry knife.
Set aside and cool completely until the mixture is completely hardened and breaks easily into chunks, approximately 30 minutes to one hour. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for several weeks. Enjoy!

Notes

French Toast Soufflé (Baked French Toast)

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French Toast Soufflé (Baked French Toast)

by Rexanne

French Toast Soufflé AKA Baked French Toast

This is a recipe from Grandma Bobbie who got it from I don’t know where. It’s an awesome breakfast or brunch for a special occasion. Kids and Dad, this is perfect for Mother’s Day.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Course Breakfast

Ingredients

Ingredients:

8 slices fresh bread cut into cubes
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, cut into cubes
12 eggs
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups milk

Optional

fresh strawberries or blueberries.

Instructions

Preparation:

Place half of the bread cubes in the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Cover bread with cream cheese cubes. Top with remaining bread cubes.
In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Combine maple syrup and milk. Pour over bread cubes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 45 minutes until set. Serve with maple syrup on the side.
Optional: garnish with fresh strawberries or blueberries.

Zipper Baggie Omelets

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Zipper Baggie Omelets

By Rexanne

This is the coolest food prep trick I’ve seen in years and it works just great!

Have guests write their names on quart-size Ziploc freezer bags with a permanent marker.

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Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Ingredients

2 eggs - only 2, large or extra-large

Instructions

Have guests write their names on quart-size Ziploc freezer bags with a permanent marker.
Crack 2 eggs (only 2, large or extra-large) into each bag, shake to mix.
Set out a variety of ingredients such as shredded cheeses, chopped ham, chopped onion, chopped green pepper, chopped tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.
Everybody adds they’re own ingredients to their baggie of eggs, shake to mix again.
Squeeze air out of bags before zipping.
Place bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes (I’ve tried playing with the time – don’t bother … nothing else works). 6 to 8 bags should fit in a large pot. Use another pot for more, don’t crowd.
Unzip each baggie and slide omelet onto each person’s plate.

Notes

Be prepared for amazement.

The omelet will be perfectly shaped and perfectly cooked.

This recipe does not work well for a runny omelet. I add plenty of shredded cheese to make my omelet appear more runny.

Fruit Spritzers

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Fruit Spritzers

By Rexanne

Spritzers

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Course Beverage

Ingredients

In each chilled champagne flute or wine glass, combine

1/2 cup chilled fruit juice grape, apple, etc.
1/2 cup chilled lemon-lime carbonated soda or Champagne.

Instructions

These are really good served with fruity ice cubes:

Place small strawberries, blueberries, any berry or small sliced fruit in ice cube tray sections.
Fill with water and freeze.

Fruit Smoothies

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Fruit Smoothies

By Rexanne

Fruit smoothies are healthy, delicious and kids love them … what could be more perfect?

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Course Beverage

Ingredients

Fruit Smoothies Ingredients:

2 cups fruit juice orange, apple, grape or combination
1/3 cup yogurt plain or with any fruit
1 to 2 cups cut up fresh fruit strawberries, blueberries, bananas, grapes, mangoes, etc.
2 ice cubes

Instructions

Instructions:

Blend (in a blender) all ingredients until smooth. Serve immediately.

Notes

Smoothies make great after school treats!

Easy Party Punch

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Easy Party Punch

By Rexanne

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Course Beverage

Servings 9

Ingredients

1 liter bottle Hawaiian Punch
1 liter bottle any lemon/lime soda
2 cups vanilla ice cream
Ice ring

Instructions

Instructions:

The night before your party:

Fill a bundt cake pan with filtered water and freeze to create the ice ring. (If you only have a large bundt pan, fill it only halfway.) Or make an extra special ice ring with a fun cake pan in the theme of your party or just one you happen to like.

Right before your party begins:

In a large punch bowl, combine Hawaiian punch and lemon lime soda in equal amounts. Add the ice ring. Add vanilla ice cream in scoops inside and along the edges of the ice ring (The ice cream will be floating in the punch). Add more ice cream when the original scoops dissolve.
Ladle into party cups to serve.

Notes

Makes enough for approximately 12 guests. If you run out, just add more Hawaiian punch and lemon-lime soda to the original bowl and top with more ice cream. The ice ring should last at least 3 hours.

I always have extra ingredients on hand. This punch tends to go fast as everyone loves it. This works well for an adult party punch, too. Sure, I suppose you could spike it with a little rum.

Pasta Cooking Tips

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Pasta Cooking Tips By Rexanne

– I always use De Cecco pasta. It makes a big difference in texture and taste.

– Use a large pot capable of holding 1 quart of water per 3 1/2 oz of pasta.

– Bring water to a rolling boil, then add salt ( 3 Tbs. salt per 1 quart of water.)

– Add the pasta to the water plus a few drops of any cooking oil (prevents pasta from sticking together and prevents water from boiling over). Stir pasta right away with a wooden spoon or a pasta fork and also stir occasionally during the cooking process. I typically taste test a piece of pasta close to the cooking time suggested on the package to ensure it is not overcooked which is pure sacrilege in Italian cooking .

– When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain immediately in a colander. For recipes that indicate adding some pasta water to the sauce, do not drain pasta completely. Otherwise, shake and drain all the water from the cooked pasta and transfer to a serving dish.

– Add sauce immediately and stir to coat all pasta. If the pasta is going to sit for any length of time before adding the sauce or toppings, drizzle with olive oil and mix to coat evenly.