Braces Friendly Recipe: Thanksgiving Edition

Thanksgiving is only a day away, and everyone here at the office is so excited! Take a look at our awesome Thanksgiving window paintings.

This week our recipe is a Thanksgiving favorite, and is super easy to make. Even the kids can help with this one. 

Honey Orange Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup honey

Zest of 4 oranges

1 12 ounce package of cranberries

Directions:

1. Over medium heat, dissolve the honey in the orange juice.

2. Zest the oranges directly into the mixture.

3. Add cranberries and cook, uncovered, until most of the cranberries have popped and the sauce has thickened quite a bit (it'll continue to thicken as it cools). It takes about 10-15 minutes. You don't even have to stir the berries.

4. Pour sauce into an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

We hope you enjoy the recipe, and have a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 42

Happy Thursday everyone! We hope you are having a great week so far. We know everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving since it is only a few weeks away. This week's recipe is a great one to get you in the mood for Thanksgiving food.

You can view the original recipe here.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups canned pumpkin
3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

1 Heat oven to 350.

2 In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, water, vegetable oil and eggs.

3 Beat until well mixed.

4 Measure the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cloves into a separate bowl and stir until combined.

5 Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth.

6 Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans and dust with flour.

7 Evenly divide the batter between the two pans.

8 Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

9 Cool for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pans by inverting onto a rack and tapping the bottoms.

10 Slice and serve plain, buttered, or with cream cheese.

Note: Cream cheese is the ONLY thing to put on this bread because--it is so so so yummy!

If anyone has a special Holiday recipe that they'd like to see featured on our blog, email Januari at januari@dunayortho.com.

Halloween Themed-Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 40

Halloween is right around the corner, and we are getting ready here at the office. This week we have two recipes that will be a delightful treat!

Pizza Pot Pies

       Ingredients:

1     pound lean ground beef or Italian sausage

1/2

cup chopped onion

1/2

cup chopped green bell pepper

1

can (8 ounces) pizza sauce

1

can (4 ounces) sliced fresh mushrooms

1

cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 ounces)

1

cup Original Bisquick® mix

1/4

cup very hot water

Directions:

Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease four 10- to 12-ounce casseroles.

Cook ground beef, onion and bell pepper in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in pizza sauce and mushrooms. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon beef mixture into casseroles. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese on each.

Mix Bisquick mix and very hot water; beat vigorously 20 seconds. Turn dough onto surface dusted with Bisquick mix; gently roll in Bisquick mix to coat. Shape into ball; knead about 10 times or until smooth. Divide dough into 4 balls. Pat each ball into circle the size of diameter of casserole. Cut steam vent in each circle with knife or cookie cutter. Place each circle on beef mixture in casserole. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until very light brown.

Jack Skellington Cupcakes

Ingredients:Batch of chocolate cupcakes

White buttercream frosting

2 toothpicks

Tube of black decorator's icing

Directions:

Frost the cupcakes.

For each cupcake, use the tip of a toothpick to lightly etch the outline of two large Jack Skellington eyes in the frosting.

Slowly pipe black decorator's icing onto the etched lines and then fill in the inner circles. Use another toothpick to spread and smooth the icing.

Pipe on two short lines for a nose. Next, pipe a long line across the bottom of the cupcake for the mouth. For the finishing spooky touch, randomly top the mouth with a bunch of short icing barbs.

Find the original recipes here and here.

If you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on our blog email Januari at januari@dunayortho.com.

Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 38

Hi everyone! We hope you are all having a great week! School is in session and Fall is right around the corner, so we thought we'd bring you a few Autumn inspired recipes this week.

Creamy Corn and Potato Chowder

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 5 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 large all-purpose potato, peeled and diced
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• Black pepper, to taste
• Fresh dill or parsley for garnish, chopped

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan or medium soup pot.
2. Stir in the onion and celery.
3. Partially cover the pan and cook the vegetables over moderate heat for 9 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the chicken stock, corn, potato, and salt and bring the mixture to a low boil.
5. Lower the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for about 7 minutes, until the potatoes are just tender.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the cream and flour.
7. Stir the mixture into the soup with the pepper.
8. Bring the soup back to a low boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 8 minutes.
9. Serve hot, garnished with herbs.

You can see the original recipe here.

Country Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 2 large granny smith apples, peeled and cored
• 2 (10 oz) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 oz Mountain Dew

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9X13 inch pan.
2. Cut each apple into 8 wedges and set aside. Separate crescent rolls into triangles. Roll each wedge in crescent roll starting at the smallest edge. Pinch to seal and set in baking dish.
3. Melt butter in small sauce pan and stir in cinnamon sugar. Pour over dumplings. Pour Mountain Dew over dumplings. 
4. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes in preheated oven., or until golden brown. 

You can see the original recipe here.

We hope you enjoy this week's recipes. If you have recipe you'd like to see featured on our blog email Januari at januari@dunayortho.com, or message us on our Facebook page.

Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 36

Hi everyone! We hope everyone is having a great week so far. As the summer is quickly coming to a end, and the new school year is quickly approaching, every one's lives are getting very busy. Which is why we chose this particular recipe for this week. It is a personal recipe of Januari's and it is a crowd pleaser.  

Meat and Four Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 box no boil lasagna noodles

1 jar marinara sauce (or other favorite red sauce)

1 cup hot water (to add to sauce)

1 16 oz package part skim ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

dash of milk (will be added to cheese mixture)

1 lb ground turkey or lean beef

seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried parsley, and dried thyme- all to personal taste. Can omit any seasoning for personal preference or allergy. 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In saucepan cook ground turkey or beef thoroughly. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder while cooking. Once cooked through, add jar of marinara and cup of hot water. Heat until boiling.

3. While sauce is heating, in a medium-large bowl mix ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan, and 1/2 grated Parmesan. Add a dash or two of milk to help combine mixture. Add garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, thyme, and basil to taste. 

4. Once sauce is brought to a boil, turn off flame. In a 13" x 9" glass or ceramic casserole dish ladle enough sauce to cover bottom of dish. Add a layer of no boil lasagna noodles (usually 3 across depending on brand). Do not over lap noodles. Spoon cheese mixture onto noodles and spread evenly. Continue to add sauce, noodles, and cheese mixture until gone. The last layer on top should be sauce. 

5. Sprinkle remaining cup of shredded mozzarella and shredded Parmesan on top of lasagna. Tent with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 15 minutes to brown the cheese. Allow to rest on counter for 5 minutes before serving. 

The lasagna can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

(Best if served with garlic bread.)

Garlic Bread

Ingredients:

1 loaf french bread from grocery store

1 stick salted butter softened (not melted)

garlic powder and parsley to taste

grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cut french bread lengthwise.

2. Mix butter, garlic powder, and parsley. Spread half of mixture onto each half of bread with a soft spatula. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

3. Put halves of bread back together, and wrap in aluminum foil. Add to the oven last 15-20 minutes lasagna is cooking.

For maximum braces friendliness, do not eat heels of garlic bread, and cut or rip into bite sized pieces.

We hope everyone enjoys this week's recipes, and if you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on our blog, email Januari at januari@dunayortho.com .