Special requests & my harp!

Tomorrow I will be making French Onion Soup as requested by Don Collins.  If you have a special request, leave it in the comments below!

Check out my harp playing on my YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMbPzMUw_IgvlehMYshZ24g

Dessert with sore teeth . . .

If you're anything like me, you never skip dessert, especially when your teeth hurt!  I mean it's only common sense!  My favorite dessert, even when my teeth aren't sore, is tapioca!  Now most people think of tapioca as the gross white goo that the grocery stores sell, but it's actually very tasty, and easy to make!  All you need is sugar, eggs, fat-free milk, vanilla, and Kraft Minute Tapioca.  Again, it takes a lot longer than a minute people!

I follow the recipe on the tapioca container, but I always double the egg whites.  If you don't have powdered egg whites, you can just separate an egg and save the yolk for later.  But in my case, I have powdered egg whites, so I'll be using them.

 First of all, I'm making a double batch (believe me, tapioca disappears fast if you make it right!)  So I'm going to start by pouring my 4 cups of milk into a big pot.  It needs to be bigger than you think you need, the milk starts to bubble after a while.  If you're making a single batch, only use 2 cups of milk.

 Now I'm going to add my 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of white sugar to the 4 cups of milk, but again, I'm making a double batch, so if you're making a single, you only need 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Separating the egg is a little tricky, but they sell egg separators, so feel free to use one!  You're going to put the egg white in a very clean container . . .

And dump the egg yolk into the pot, but don't turn on the heat yet!  If you do, the eggs will curdle.  I repeated this process with both of my eggs, but if you're not doubling the recipe you only need one.

Add 6 tablespoons of tapioca if you're doubling the recipe, but if not only use 3 tablespoons.

Now whisk all of your ingredients together and turn on the heat to medium/high.

Since I'm using powdered egg whites for my extra two, I'm going to add those to my two that I already have.  Again, if you're doing a single batch, you only need two eggs whites, not four.

Once the powdered eggs are softened, pour them into the bowl of a standing mixer.  Make sure it's very clean!  If it isn't, the egg whites won't whip.

Give them a quick mix on low with the whisk attachment, just to make sure they aren't any clumps.

Turn up the mixer speed to 6.  By now, if the egg whites haven't started to get foamy, it means that you didn't clean your bowl well enough.  If this happens, you have to get new egg whites and start over.

If your egg whites have started to get foamy, start adding the 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of white sugar, but keep in mind that if you're making a single batch, you only need 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Unfortunately I didn't put my milk mixture in a big enough pot, so it boiled over!  Thank goodness my Mom was there to help!

If this happens to you, move your pot to a cold burner . . . (you don't need to cook it anymore)

And pour water on the spill sight so that the tapioca doesn't stick.  Don't worry, you can clean it off later!

Back to the tapioca!  By now the egg whites should be whipped into stiff peaks.

It's time to whip the 2 teaspoons of vanilla into the egg whites, unless you're making a single batch, in which case you only need to use 1 teaspoon.

Once the vanilla is fully mixed into the egg whites, very carefully pour into the egg whites while the whisk is moving.  The milk mixture should still be very hot, hot enough to cook the egg whites, so be very careful!  You might need help . . .

Once the egg whites and milk mixture are mixed together, cover the mixing bowl and let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, there are lots of dishes to be done . . .

And a dirty stove to be cleaned.

Lets get to work!

First of all, add more water.  It'll help dissolve the tapioca.

Wipe up the water and tapioca with a paper towel . . .

And clean up the rest with another one.

There!  All clean!

And I washed the dishes!  So there's no clean up for my Mom or Dad!

By now the tapioca should be set.  Time to dig in!

I mixed some Big & Chunky Applesauce from Trader Joe's in for a little extra flavor.

Yum!  And it won't hurt my teeth!

It's so good . . .

My Mom thinks so too!

And she's extra happy because I didn't leave any dishes!

So there you go, an easy, delicious dessert that won't hurt your teeth, just don't forget to clean up the dishes!  Good luck, happy cooking, and let me know how it turns out!

Breakfast with sore teeth . . .

I'm getting braces next Monday, and I got spacers last Monday (spacers are little blue rubber bands that go in between your teeth to make space).  As you can imagine, both are very painful, so I'm going to need some recipes that don't involve much chewing.  Usually I have a fried egg and toast every morning for breakfast, but today I needed something soft.  I decided on a scrambled egg and oatmeal, since I still wanted my egg and oatmeal is delicious!  That is, if you make it right.  If not, it feels like a brick in your stomach . . .

I like Kroger's quick 1 minute oats, but the funny thing is, they take a lot longer than 1 minute!  But they still are very quick . . .

The recipe on the container says to use 1 cup of water and 1/2 cup oats for one serving, but that's never enough liquid for me, and it's a pretty big serving, so I use 1 cup water, 1/2 fat-free milk, and 3/4 cup oats for 2 servings.  Then I add more milk during the cooking process.

The first step is to add your 3/4 cup oats into a medium pot.  Don't turn the heat on yet!

 Now add your 1 cup of water to your 3/4 cup oats . . .

 Along with your 1/2 cup of fat-free milk.

Now stir everything together, move the pot to a back burner, and turn on the heat to medium/high.  It's time for the eggs!

 Crack your egg into a mixing bowl, make sure not to drop any shell in!

 Get out a frying pan, turn on the heat to medium, and spray with non-stick olive oil.

 Add a dash of salt and pepper to the egg and whisk until smooth.

Once your pan is preheated, add the scrambled egg.

 Don't forget to stir your oatmeal, and add some milk every now and then!

 Cook the egg until it is fully cooked, but not browned.  Remember, it's supposed to have a little bit of moisture!

Now that my egg and oatmeal are done, it's time to eat!

 I like to add some brown sugar and raisins to my oatmeal, but I always eat the egg as is.  Nothing else necessary!

 My Mom makes homemade kefir, so I drink that with breakfast, but you can have whatever you feel like!  Juice, water, a fruit smoothy, so many possibilities!

Good luck and happy cooking, I hope your teeth feel better soon!