Happy Valentine's Day! Braces Friendly recipe: week 14

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

(and Happy Mardi Gras!)

We hope everyone is having a great week leading up to Valentine's day. We wanted to give you guys a very special Valentine's recipe for you to make for your loved ones.

This week's recipe comes from www.recipegoldmine.com

Classic Creme Brulee

Hands-on time: 20 mins. to 30 mins.
Baking time: 28 mins. to 35 mins.
Total time: 1 hrs 48 mins. to 2 hrs 48 mins.

Yield: 4 servings

2 cups heavy cream (or 1 cup half and half and 1 cup
    heavy cream)
5 tablespoons sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
3 tablespoons sugar (Demerara or coarse white sparkling
    sugar work well)

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2) Pour the cream into a 1-quart saucepan, and heat the cream just until it almost comes to a boil. Remove it from the heat.

3) Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until the sugar dissolves.

4) Add the hot cream a little at a time; mix well.

5) Stir in the vanilla bean paste.

6) Pour the custard through a fine sieve or strainer, and pour it into four heart molds, or 1/2-cup capacity ramekins about 2" tall.

7) Place the molds or ramekins in a large baking pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.

8) Bake until the custard is set but still a bit jiggly in the center, about 30 minutes.

9) Remove the dishes from the water and let cool completely. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, or up to overnight; no need to cover.

10) To serve, sprinkle the sugar evenly over the custards. For easiest caramelizing, run a torch evenly over the tops of the custards until the sugar 
is a deep golden brown. Or caramelize the sugar by placing molds or ramekins under your oven's broiler; watch carefully, as a broiler element can turn sugar from browned to burned quickly.

Yield: 4 servings.
Read more at http://www.recipegoldmine.com/desspudd/classic-creme-brulee.html#AS4pCTLD6eKRxb3q.99 

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

It's February! Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 13

It's February, which means we had our window painter come and decorate our office for Valentine's Day! 

This week our recipe comes from recipegoldmine.com

Red Velvet Dream Cake

1 (18.25 ounce) box Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe
    Red Velvet Cake Mix
1 (6 ounce) package milk chocolate chips, melted
1 (8 ounce) container frozen nondairy whipped topping, thawed
1 can Duncan Hines Creamy Home-Style Cream Cheese Frosting
Chocolate shavings, optional

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare, bake and cool cake according to package directions for two 8-inch round baking pans.

For chocolate hearts garnish, pour melted chocolate chips into heart-shaped molds or spread melted chocolate to 1/8-inch thickness on wax paper-lined baking sheet. Cut shapes with heart cookie cutter when chocolate begins to set and lose its shine. Refrigerate until firm. Push heart shapes out of molds and refrigerate.

To assemble torte, split each layer in half. Place one split layer on serving plate. Spread one-third of whipped topping on one layer. Repeat with remaining layers, making sure to place bottoms of each layer together, leaving top of cake plain. Frost sides and top of cake with frosting. Garnish with chocolate hearts and shavings (see below) if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes 12 servings.

How to make chocolate shavings: Start with a large block or bar of good quality chocolate. (White and milk chocolate are softest and curl most easily.) Hold the chocolate with a paper towel and using a vegetable peeler shave the narrowest side of the block. The chocolate will curl best if the room or the bar is slightly warm. Keep refrigerated in a covered container until needed.
Read more at http://www.recipegoldmine.com/valentinecake/red-velvet-dream-cake.html#vGfpOKlpH0t9yWJ6.99 

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

Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 12

Happy Tuesday everyone! We hope everyone is having an awesome week so far. 

Since we started our blog in October 2012, we have had over 250 views! We want shout out a big THANK YOU to all of our readers. 

This week's recipe comes from www.recipegoldmine.com.

Pizza Casserole

4 cups uncooked wagon wheel pasta (8 oz.)

1/2 lb bulk Italian sausage (or substitute 1/2 lb ground beef)

1 jar (28 oz.) pasta sauce

1 can (4 oz.) mushroom pieces and stems, drained

1/4 cup sliced ripe olives

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz.)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.

3. While pasta is cooking; cook sausage in 10-inch skillet over medium-heat, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink; drain. Mix pasta, sausage and remaining ingredients except cheese in ungreased 2 1/2-quart casserole.
4. Cover and bake about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

If anyone has a recipe they'd like to see featured on our blog, please email Januari at januari@dunayortho.com. We hope everyone enjoys this recipe.

Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 11

Hi everyone! We hope everyone is having a great week so far, and that everyone is staying healthy with all of those nasty flu bugs going around. 

This week's recipe is from "The Braces Cookbook" by Pamela and Brenda Waterman, and it is another great one for those tender and sore teeth.

Three-Cheese Macaroni Extravaganza

2 cups uncooked macaroni noodles

Water for boiling

(optional: 1 or 2 onions, chopped)

(optional: 1 to 2 tablespoons margarine for sauteing onions)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (fresh is best, but the canned type works too)

1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded mild or sharp cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup bread crumbs or dry stove-top stuffing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes.

In a medium pot, boil macaroni in water until you can just cut it with the side of a fork; drain and set aside. In a medium saucepan, saute the onions in the margarine until they are clear and tender.

In a 3-quart greased casserole, stir together the macaroni and milk. Sprinkle with the cheeses and onion, then stir it all together. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top.

Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serves six to eight.

We hope everyone enjoys this weeks' recipe. If you have a recipe you'd like to see featured on our blog, email Januari at januari@dunayortho.com. 

Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 10

We hope everyone has had a great week so far. Just one more day until the weekend is here! This week's recipe is a great one for people who just got their braces on, or who have had an adjustment recently and have sore teeth. The recipe comes from Pamela and Brenda Waterman's "The Braces Cookbook" (pg 39).

Creamy Tuna Noodle Casserole

2 1/2 cups medium or wide egg noodles

water for boiling noodles

2 (7 oz.) cans tuna (drained and flaked apart)

2 (10 3/4 oz.) cans undiluted cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup of your choice: crushed Ritz or Saltine crackers, potato chips, or bread crumbs (with 1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 40 minutes, covered.

In a large pot, boil water and cook noodles until not quite tender. Grease a 2-quart casserole and stir in the noodles, tuna, and soup. Pour milk over noodle mixture. Sprinkle with the crackers, chips, or crumb mixture. Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Serves six.

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

Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 9

Happy Tuesday everyone! We hope everyone is having a great week so far!

This week's recipe is a crock pot recipe, and it comes from recipegoldmine.com.

Cheeseburger Chowder

2 (10 3/4 oz) cans Cheddar cheese soup

2 to 3 soup cans of milk

1 large bag frozen hash brown potatoes

1 lb ground beef (or turkey), browned

1 cup Velveeta cheese chunks

Pour ingredients into crock pot and heat thoroughly. Add cheese chunks to taste.

If anyone has a recipe they'd like to see featured on our blog, email Januari at januari@dunayortho.com. We'd also like to see photos of any of our recipes that anyone tries at home. 

Happy New Year! Braces Friendly Recipe: Week 8

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

We hope everyone is having a great week! Our painter came in today and painted our windows for the new year. We think it's very festive!

This week's braces friendly recipe comes from "The Braces Cookbook" by Pamela and Brenda Waterman (pg 48).

Cheese Pastry Bites

(these are a substitution for hard cheese crackers)

1 cup water

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1 cup Swiss or Cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake an additional 18 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, boil water and butter or margarine until melted together. Remove from heat, let cool for 5 minutes, then stir in flour until completely mixed. Add one egg at a time; the first one will take several minutes to combine, but it will work! Stir in cheeses.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet, 15-18 per sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake an additional 18 minutes. 

Makes about 3 dozen "bites".

We hope everyone enjoys this recipe. If anyone has a recipe they'd like to see featured on our blog email Januari at januari@dunayortho.com.