Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Fluffer Nutter French Toast

I am typically a savory type of gal for breakfast.  I enjoy omelets, breakfast burritos, eggs Benedict...you get the point.  For some reason I got the idea to make fluffer-nutter french toast and I couldn't get it out of my mind!  I offered to make it for Mike, but he declined last Thursday and said he just wanted eggs.  So, this Thursday was my day off and I took full advantage of trying to make this treat for myself.  I am SO glad I did!  It is so delicious!  Yummmm....melty peanut butter...

What You Need:
  • Bread
  • Peanut Butter
  • Fluff
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 2 tbs Milk
  • Cinnamon (Optional)
  • Syrup (Optional)


Start by beating the egg, milk and vanilla together.  This will be enough for two sandwiches, adjust for more if needed.


Beat the snot out of it until everything is mixed together.  A good trick is to stab the egg yolk a few times before you start whisking.


Once everything is blended, set a side and move onto making the sandwich.


You can use whatever type of bread you would like, we had wheat, so I used wheat!  Start by spreading peanut butter onto both pieces of bread.  This will prevent the fluff from soaking into the bread. 

I am a peanut butter fanatic, so I used a good amount.


Then, glob on the fluff.  I used a good amount of fluff, too.  Make it how you like your fluffer-nutter sandwiches.  Apparently, I like a lot of everything!


Spray a frying pan with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium heat.


While the pan heats up, dip your sandwich into the egg mixture. 

Flip and dip the other side too.  Make sure to get every inch covered in the egg goo!  I wiped off any large globs.


Place your masterpiece into the heated pan and cook for about 3 minutes or until browned. 


Before I flipped it, I added a sprinkle of cinnamon to the uncooked egg side.


I wanted the taste to still be like french toast and I think the cinnamon is what does that!


Flip and cook for 2-3 more minutes.


The top is nice and golden and the fluff is getting all melty and peaking through the cracks...YUM!


When browned on both sides, take out of the frying pan and plate it up!


The peanut butter and the fluff just ooz out!


I added some maple syrup.  I know it seems like a lot of sweet, but I am a sweet-a-holic!  I didn't add butter, but I know a lot of people do when the eat french toast.  Do whatever you like!


Now...DIG IN!


You can see how it all swirled together!  It was toasty, warm, sweet and a perfect way to start my day off!


Enjoy!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Naan Margherita Pizza

My poor, handsome fiance hurt his ankle Wednesday night at his softball game :(  Because of this, he called off work on Thursday to keep weight off of it and since it was my day off too, that meant that he was going to have a servant for the day!  I took care of him and headed to the gym, followed by the grocery store.  In typical Mike fashion, he didn't know what he wanted for lunch.  I decided for him!  I wanted something easy but tasty, and figured mini pizzas would be good!  This is my version of Margherita pizza, I know it is different whereever you go, but try it...you just might like it! 

What You Need:
  • naan bread (I used garlic)
  • pizza sauce
  • 1 block of mozzarella
  • 12 basil leaves (give or take)
     

Use one naan bread per person.  Since there were two of us, I put two pieces of naan bread onto a greased cookie sheet.


Topped with a thin layer of pizza sauce.  I put a little extra on my naan because I like it saucy!  A little note:  surprisingly the Ragu pizza sauce was pretty good and only 99 cents for the jar!


Slice the mozzarella into 1/4 inch slices (thereabouts).  None of my slices were the same, don't stress, no one is judging you!


Back in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.


While the yummy naan pizza bakes, chop your basil.  An easy trick is to collect all the leaves, roll it into a cigar shape and then run your knife through it.


You'll get beautiful little slivers.  Perfect for your pizza!  Also, a lot easier then cutting one leaf at a time too!  (BTW the basil if from our porch garden)


When the pizza is done in the oven, sprinkle the basil on top.


So simple, but so good!


Cut with a sharp knife or a pizza roller. 

I cut them into quarters.  It looks like a funny football...


Serve with your favorite pizza toppings!  I am a garlic salt and crushed red pepper type of gal.  Mike is crushed red pepper and Parmesan cheese type of guy.  Put whatever sparks your fire.


Mike (and his bum ankle) really enjoyed this.  I liked the simplicity and the few ingredients of it! 

Enjoy!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Turkey Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Portobellos

Mike's Mom was coming over to have dinner with us.  I thought it would be nice to cook for her since the week before she took me out for a nice lunch and to get our nails done (and wouldn't let me pay for anything).  I always pine over what to make, but it is even more difficult when you are trying to impress your future mother-in-law (you want her to know her son is going to be well taken care of).  Luckily, Mike was watching Bobby Flay and Bobby (yes, we are on a first name basis) was making stuffed portobello mushrooms...YUM/JACKPOT!  When I looked up the recipe, I didn't really care for it, so I looked up a few more.  Still, every recipe was missing something, but the one I thought I could use the most was Giada's.  I still changed and added a lot of things and this is what I came up with!


What You Need:
  • 1 1/4 lbs turkey sausage (roughly) I used Hot, but use what you like!
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning
  • 6 oz bag spinach 
  • 1/4 c white wine
  • 1 c marscapone cheese
  • 3/4 c bread crumbs
  • 1/2 c parmesan cheese
  • 2 c mozzarella
  • 6 portobello mushrooms

Start by adding 2 tbs of olive oil to a frying pan.  Remove the casing from the sausage.  Do this by cutting an incision lengthwise down the link...



and peel the casing away...

and put into the heated oil.  Start mashing the sausages into bits using a spatula.


While it is browning, mince up 2-3 cloves of garlic depending on your taste preference and the size of the cloves.


Once the sausage is browned (about 5 minutes), add the minced garlic and the Italian seasoning.  Stir to combine.


Add in the garlic...


and the white wine.  Wilt the spinach.  I placed a lid on the pan to steam the spinach and make it wilt faster.


While the spinach wilts, prep the mushrooms.  Start by cutting the stems off and either discard or chop up and throw into the sausage mix.


Dress with olive oil, salt and pepper.


Place in a heated grill pan and cook 3 minutes per side.


While the mushrooms cook, we are going to finish the sausage mix.  Turn the heat off once the spinach is wilted.  Add in the mascarpone cheese and stir until melted and combined throughout.


Add the bread crumbs...


parmesan cheese...


 and 1 cup of mozzarella.  Stir to combine all of the ingredients.


Take the mushrooms off of the heat and put on to a greased cookie sheet.  Top each mushroom with a heaping portion of the mix.


Distribute the rest of the mozzarella evenly among all 6 of the mushrooms OR add more to the one you know you are going to eat ;)


Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly browned.


I placed each mushroom on top of a bed of cous cous to serve.


They were SO good!  We all enjoyed it very much (along with a glass of white wine)!  Mary had a really amazing idea to make these into appetizers.  It would be the exact same recipe, but use cremini (baby bellas) instead of portobellas!  So smart!  Either way, you will wow people with this recipe!

Enjoy!