French Toast with Honey Maple Syrup

Growing up, one of my favorite things was to wake up on a Saturday morning, and smell my Mom cooking a big breakfast. Now that I'm married, my wife and I cook breakfast on the weekend every chance we get.

I wanted to cook my wife a delicious, hearty breakfast without all the calories, so I give you French Toast with homemade Honey Maple Syrup. This syrup cuts the calories in half, but never cuts the flavor.

To make the syrup, you bring 1/8 cup of pure maple syrup, 1 cup of pure raw honey, and 1 cup of water to a boil for about 5-10 minutes until you reach the desired thickness. Spray your measuring cup with non-stick spray, and the honey and maple syrup will come out perfect every time!

This entire recipe is around 270 calories per serving. You can't beat it! I hope you like it!

Honey Maple Syrup

1 cup Raw Honey
1/8 cup Pure Maple Syrup
2 packets Truvia sweetner
1 cup water

Bring all ingredients to a boil.

Boil for 5-10 minutes until desired thickness occurs.

Let cool slightly, and enjoy!


French Toast (Light Version)

6 Slices of Nature's Own Whole Wheat Light Bread
1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
2 Egg Yolks
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

Mix Almond Milk, Egg Yolks, Vanilla, and Cinnamon in a bowl.

Lightly soak bread, and cook on medium low heat for approximately two minutes, and then flip.

The key to great french toast is not rushing it! Take your time! Enjoy it!

Blackened Catfish

If my accent, and my love for butter doesn't prove I'm southern, this definitely will! I love farm-raised catfish! Notice I said farm-raised... FRESH... Catfish. I'm picky about my catfish. My parents own a restaurant that specializes in catfish, so I know a good fillet when I see one. Many times, people don't cook catfish correctly. Here's a tip: If it tastes fishy, it's not right. Today, we're going to cook fresh, healthy, blackened catfish!

I served this wish some asparagus, and potatoes, and it made an amazing meal! I hope you like it!


Blackened Catfish

1 1b Fresh Catfish Fillet
1 cup Almond Milk (or Regular Milk will do)
1 Tablespoon Hot Sauce
! Tablespoon Onion Powder
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
1 Tablespoon Thyme
1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
Olive Oil
Salt

In a bowl, mix almond milk, and hot sauce, and stir. Brush the fillets with the almond milk/hot sauce mixture, and let sit for about 3-5 minutes. (The hot sauce pulls the fishy taste sometimes found in catfish out!)

Next, in another bowl, mix the onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, and black pepper.

Pour spice mixture into a casserole pan, and coat each fillet.

On medium high heat, coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil, and cook fillets on both sides, until done, usually about 3 minutes on each side.

Sprinkle salt over catfish while they cook in the skillet.

Serve!

**If you like a little kick, by all means, add some cayenne pepper to the spice mixture. It'll knock your socks off!

Shrimp Salad

So, how is 2012 kicking it so far?? I have to admit, it's going pretty well for my wife and I! I was hoping to have an amazing wheat bread recipe this morning, but again... bust. It's okay. I think instead of trying to find the perfect wheat bread recipe, I'm just going to create my own. I want a super moist, light wheat bread that's good for sandwiches, and every angle I've tried has been a failure, in my opinion. It's all good. It's going to happen soon!

It's been about a week since my wife and I changed our eating habits, and starting eating more whole foods, and cut out all the processed food. I'd say we probably live a 90/10 lifestyle. 90% real food, and 10% processed food. The first few days were rough... very rough. Day one, we went to bed early because we were so tired. But around day 3, we started coming around, and we both feel so much better, and have a ton more energy.

Now... back to the food! This is a simple salad I thought I would share with you. It's real easy to make, and I made it with things I had on hand. It's boiled shrimp over iceberg lettuce, with mozzarella cheese, and a light homemade ranch dressing (that I'm currently perfecting). This would be extra nutritious with kale, but at the time, I didn't have any on hand!

A lot of people ask me if I use low fat or full fat cheese.  Most of the time, I use full fat cheese, but watch how much I eat.  I like the taste of 2% cheese, but full fat cheese has more protein, and with our current workout schedule, we're trying to load our bodies with as much protein as possible!  A great company we're starting to purchase a lot of our meat and dairy from is Applegate Farms.  They are all organic, and have some of the best tasting cheese I've ever put in my mouth!

I hope you like it!

The T-Burger

Ahh the Turkey Burger! Why do people automatically assume ground turkey doesn't taste good? Do you not scarf turkey meat down on Thanksgiving or Christmas?? I do. As of matter of fact... I did!

I've said this before, but I'm not going to eat something I don't like. I just can't do it. Not in this sense anyway. People are always interested to know how I make my turkey burgers, so I thought I'd share it with you. It's really simple, and healthy. And just a little food for thought: just the turkey meat itself packs 19g of protein. It does a body good...

Start by sautéing half of an onion, bell pepper, and 3 cloves of garlic (diced) with about a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper!

Meanwhile, put your meat, thawed in a bowl, and pour in 1/3 cup of Panko Bread Crumbs.

After you finish the onions, peppers, and garlic, let them cool slightly, and add to the meat and bread crumbs.

Roll into patties, and cook them up!

A little side note when cooking burgers... make an indention in the middle of the patty with your thumb, because the meat plumps in the middle, and it will make your burgers even.

I'm sure at this point you're looking for a "finished product" picture, but unfortunately you won't find it here... because I ate it. I really did. I completely forgot to take a picture, and I apologize. I'll do better next time!

I hope you like it!

The T-Burger
1 pound ground Turkey meat
1 Tablespoon Olive oil
1/2 yellow onion (diced)
1/2 yellow bell pepper (diced)
3 cloves garlic (diced)
1/3 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
salt
pepper

Dice your onion, bell pepper, and garlic, and sauté them in olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and pepper until soft.

Meanwhile, place your ground meat in a bowl, and add your bread crumbs.

Let the onion, bell pepper, and garlic cool for a short period of time before placing it in the meat mixture, simply so the meat won't begin to cook.

Combine the onion, bell pepper, and garlic, roll into patties, and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes on each side.

Stuffed Chicken

This recipe is living proof that you can eat healthy, and it tastes delicious! No... I'm serious. This is Chicken stuffed with sausage and italian bread crumbs seared in a skillet, and then finished off in the oven. I was shocked at how good it was! Paired with veggies, or in our case, whole wheat pasta... you can't lose.

PS. This with bacon, even turkey bacon, would be phenomenal!

I hope you like it!

Stuffed Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 onion
Kosher salt
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 pound Turkey Sausage
1/2 bunch parsley
1 egg

Breading:
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup panko breadcrumbs

Stuffing: Carefully slice through the chicken breasts to open the thickest part like a book. Place the chicken breasts in between plastic wrap and pound lightly with the flat side of a meat mallet to flatten the chicken.

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil, add the onions and a pinch of salt. Sauté the onions and toss in the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook your sausage. Remove and let cool for a few minutes. Then transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the breadcrumbs, parsley,and egg.

Divide the filling among the 4 chicken breasts. Simply place a spoonful amount on the inside of the breast, close, and hold together with a toothpick.

Breading: Set aside 3 bowls... 1 with flour, 1 with 2 eggs beaten together with 2 tablespoons water and 1 with the panko breadcrumbs.

Dust each chicken roll lightly with flour, then dip in the egg wash and then roll in the panko. Once all the chicken rolls have been breaded, let them hang out in the fridge for about 20 minutes to let everything set.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil (Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan). Brown the chicken on both sides. When the chicken is brown, remove from the pan and blot on paper towels to remove excess oil. Transfer the Chicken to a sheet tray and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes.