Some sweet cravings..

I have been craving bread pudding among other unhealthy desserts for months now. I remember getting it hot off the smorgasbord when I was a child or as we walked through the lunch line at our local delicatessen with my grandmother(MaMa). I have had some really great interpretation of this dessert and some you could patch a block wall with. 

So I decided I want that sweet sweet treat again. Small problem with that; we pretty much eat strictly organic. Sometimes we will step off the organic train and that is all the reminder we need as to why we got on in the first place. Plus the ingredients in bread pudding are some of the most GMO you could find. So what do I do? I make my own, a quick trip to the grocery store and I have the haul. Organic Valley half & half, unsalted organic cream butter, organic madagascar bourbon vanilla beans, organic golden raisins, Florida Crystals organic & vegan demerara sugar, free range organic eggs, organic cinnamon & nutmeg. Plus the main ingredient Rudis organic whole wheat bread with a touch of honey. 

Only thing that wasn't organic was the Jameson Irish whiskey for the sauce, didn't think to look for organic whiskey. Plus I had just enough Jameson left for the recipe and we don't toss anything away just because its not organic, we just use it up and never buy it again. We have been on the organic path for almost 2 years now and I can say from our soaps, lotions, toothpaste and other hygiene items we are about 70% organic but our food is 99%. 

Enough of the babbling there will be plenty more of that later on....On to the real reason your here; THE RECIPE!!

Organic Bread Pudding w/ Whiskey Sauce. 

8 or 9 cups of bread cubed into 1 inch pieces. Left out to stale over night (or longer)

1/3 tbls butter

3 1/2 cups half & half

3 large eggs

1 1/3 cup Demerara sugar (sub brown sugar)

1/4 cup raisins

1 vanilla bean

3/4 tsp cinnamon 

3/4 tsp nutmeg

Pinch of sea salt

Start with your bread; cube it up and let it stale over night in a bowl or oven. I left mine for 3 days in a bowl, I'm a dad to a toddler and well my plans never seem to go as planned. Hers on the other hand seem to be timed just right for that. 

Use some of the butter to grease a 9 by13 inch casserole dish. 

Take 1/2 cup of your half & half, remaining butter and put it in a small sauce pan. Next cut your vanilla bean in half then split it to remove the seeds. Place the seeds, leftover bean and raisins in the sauce pan with your half & half then heat on medium. As soon as steam starts to form pull from heat and cover and let steep for 15 minutes (if mixture simmers remove from heat immediately). 

While vanilla mixture is steeping mix eggs, sugar, salt & spices in a bowl. As the 15 minutes rounds out remove the vanilla bean pods from the pan.Take the remaining half & half adding a little at a time to the hot mixture to bring the temp down. Once the vanilla mixture is cool pour it in with the eggs and spices. 

When everything is mixed well pour over bread and let soak for 30 minutes mixing it at the 15 minute mark. Preheat over to 350. Pour bread mixture into greased casserole dish and place in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Bread pudding will be done when middle is firm.

Whiskey Sauce:

1 cup half & half

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 tablespoons cornstarch (maybe more)

3/8 cup irish whiskey

Pinch salt

1 tbls unsalted butter

In a saucepan turn to medium heat, add the half & half and sugar. Place the cornstarch and 1/8 cup of the whiskey in a small bowl and mix to make a slurry. Pour the slurry into the cream mixture and bring to a boil. Once the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 5 minutes until thick. Remove the sauce from the heat, add the salt, and stir in the butter and the remaining whiskey. Serve warm over bread pudding.

If you don't eat organic like my family feel free to use whatever products you'd like to make this. Take this recipe and make it your own. I'd love to see your creations in the comments below. 

                          

Enjoy!

A turn for the Healthy!

Well it looks like my recipes from here on out are going to be more on the healthy side. Last Thursday I got a call from my doctor after seeing them that Wednesday and being in the ER twice a few months back complaining of chest pains. That while we are trying to figure out the root of the chest pains, they found out I have a fatty liver and if I don't change a few things around I'm gonna be in well.....not the best shape. So now I plan to correct all the food and lifestyle mistakes I can. Especially since I found out about 5 weeks ago I'm going to be a new Daddy!!!

So I doubt I will do 1 restaurant review a month now. I have about 3 that im still writing, but after that it will be slim to none. I now have to rework all the amazing things I cook on a regular basis so it is liver and calorie friendly, but now I'm on a mission!! I have been eating healthier for the past 6 to 8 months but I have slacked on portions, caloric intake, and exercise. Well its changing, I plan to make my self write down everything I swallow, work out for at least 6 hours a week.So I'm going to post before and after shots (& maybe progress pictures too)....

 

 I have already cut out soda months ago along with fried food... So this is my farewell to junk food, huge portions of red meat, restaurant food, loads of my wife’s homemade baked goods and all other sorts of delicious-ness I have come to love, but it will all be worth it to be 100% healthy again and I get back into the shape I use to be so its a win, win. I just have to REALLY stick with it this time instead of losing some weight and being satisfied and going back and eating not so great and just maintaining the weight I lost but not losing any more. I have to do it, not only because I want to look and feel better....because I'm going to have a new baby in Jan!!! So wish me luck and pray for me! I hope all these changes come easy for me. So be on the look out for healthier recipes and more blog of my babble!
 
I will leave you with a recipe my wife made me the other day, I have to say this is by far better than i ever expected, and is my new favorite "healthy" lunch.
 
Orchard Chicken Salad

3 c apples (your choice), chopped small

½ lemon juice (to stop the apples from browning)

½ c celery, chopped small

4 c baked chicken (topped with basil, parsley, & rosemary) cut into cubes

¼ c golden raisins

¼ c dried cranberries (I used dried cranberries infused with cherry juice)

¾ c mayo (or just enough to incorporate everything together)

½ ts celery seed

salt & pepper to taste

Mix everything together and spread onto a whole wheat tortilla. Top with spinach, tomato, or cheese if you like.

Eat & Enjoy!

Taco Taco........Bus.?.

So if you Live in Tampa (and I happen to) you've heard about the 24/7 Taco Bus and if you haven't you need to figure out why? Its kinda like a landmark around these parts.

Like I said I have heard about it, but never have I tried it. Not because I didn't want to, its just a little ways from my usual stomping grounds and I usually get sidetracked and end up going elsewhere when we plan to go there.

That all was gonna change, after waiting for the mail to run (new company I work for mails checks) we head out to do some normal saturday errands. While out and about I ask the misses if she's up for some mexican food, and her being my wife she said of course when am I not! So we head down toward Hillsborough Ave to this famed Taco Bus, now don't let the name fool you......well it is a bus, but also a sit down restaurant. We pull up and the place is packed, and from what I've heard this is to be expected.

As we walk in there are only 2 seats left and there at the bar so we grab a menu and take a seat. More people walked in and soon had frowns on their faces that they had to either stand and eat or sit out side (a big no no in florida unless its water side or night).

We look over our menus and with some help from out waiter we go with the carne asada burrito combo with rice and beans. Our waiter took our order then rushed off to do the other 99 things he was doing. The food is made in an old bus out on the side of the building and they have a few updated buses too, but the original bus is still where the magic happens.

This hangs on the wall across from us, gotta love tampa and CL!

As me and the misses set there at the bar and look over the other menu items and notice the breakfast part of the menu (note to self come here for breakfast). We tried their hibiscus lemonade, which wasn't half bad. Our food comes, it smells delicious and looks great. Even though its on styrofoam served with plastic utensils, it's all about the food and nothing else here at the Taco Bus.

We both unwrap our burritos and take a bite, the burrito was over flowing with beef, with hints of tomato, onion, shredded cabbage, cilantro, and cheese. As I drew closer to the end of this fantastic burrito the ratio became closer to even, instead of the hints of toppings like it started, but there's no complaining here! The veggies tasted so fresh, well everything tasted fresh. Something you wouldn't expect from the name, but I've grown to realize to expect the unexpected. We made no joke about devouring our lunch combos. The food is better than any Mexican food I have tried in Tampa. It blows Moe's, Chipotle, and all the other chains away. From fresh food, to great atmosphere and the biggest one its ALWAYS OPEN!

As we polished off the plates thoughts of something sweet entered my head. I has saw a small dessert section of the menu so I reached and grabbed one. The only hard thing was to place the order, our waiter as mentioned above was doing about 100 things from the normal refills, to plating food, on to planning a catering event with the table behind us. He soon came over and asked how everything was, and took our order for Tres Leches Cake which the menu noted it was baked in-house so we gave it a try. Now I have wanted to try Tres Leches Cake for awhile but never got a chance until now. As hard as it was to get the waiters attention I can say this, our order was taken quickly our food and dessert was brought even quicker and drinks never went dry.  Back to the dessert, he placed it in front of us and we dug in, then stopping to take a pic, what can I say when the food is this good I almost forget about doing this.

We finish our dessert and pay our tab and head out to finish up our Saturday. So if you're looking for Authentic Mexican  for a great price and a fun location; Be sure to check out the Taco Bus at 913 E. Hillsborough Ave, Tampa FL 33604
813-232-5889 Their site is; http://tampatacobus.com

They also have a newer St. Pete location at; 2324 Central Ave St. Pete, St. Pete FL 33712. I haven't ate there so its on you to go and try it.

So if you're craving authentic mexican style food from ceviche, tacos, burritos, chilorio, and quesadilla be sure to stop in at the Taco Bus.

Tortilla soup recipe

Chicken:

1 (14oz) Chicken breast

Lime

Cover chicken with lime juice, then sprinkle with cilantro, marjoram, basil, paprika, dash of oregano, and black pepper.

Soup:

Evoo

1/4 c onion

1/8 c carrots

Squeeze 1/2 lime

3 tbls Cilantro

1 tbls Marjoram

1 tbls Basil

1 tbls Paprika

1/2 tbls Cummin

Dash celery seed

Dash sage

Salt

20 Grinds of pepper

1 can (14.5oz) Chicken broth

1 can (14.5oz) Fire roasted tomatoes

1/2 c Frozen corn

1 can (15.2oz) Black beans, rinsed

1/2 c Water

2oz diced green chilies

Bring to boil

Bake chicken on 350 till it reaches a temp of 160-165, shred in food processor.

Grill 4 corn tortillas on stove top, put shredded chicken in bowl, pour soup over chicken, cut/break the tortilla in to triangles and serve on top with a lime wedge.

Eat and Enjoy!