I love cooking. This is a long post (for me.)
To start with, technically not "cooking", but food related - I've been on a smoothie kick for breakfast. It's very hot where I live right now and it's a nice start to the day.
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Smoothies
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You need:
-A blender
- 1 single serving container of vanilla yogurt (or any other flavors, depending on what you are making)
- Milk
- Frozen fruit
- Frozen whipped cream
- Vanilla flavoring
- powdered milk
- depending on the smoothie, honey
Though the last three/four are entirely optional. I'm going to use strawberries as my example since that's what I've been making lately.
Add yogurt, frozen strawberries, and enough milk to blend the strawberries - I don't cover them with milk because I like my smoothies thick, but I add enough so that the blender runs smoothly. You can always add a touch more if you're having trouble blending them. I also add a spoonful of whipped cream for creaminess and a very small amount of vanilla flavoring (probably 1/8 of a teaspoon.) You can add a couple shakes of powdered milk for extra calcium if you'd like. And when I am making a peach or mixed fruit smoothie (same ingredients except I leave out the vanilla flavoring), I sometimes add a squirt of honey for sweetness.
The good thing about smoothies is I use skim/lite ingredients for all the dairy and it still tastes lovely. It's also easy to improvise (but remember, it's easier to add more than to fix something you added too much of.)
Now for actual cooking. A quick and easy breakfast/snack.
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Apples and Toast
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You need:
- toaster
- stove
- an apple
- bread
- butter
- brown sugar
- Cinnamon
Melt butter in a frying pan (the burner only needs to be on medium heat). I cut up the apples into chunks while it is melting - if you cut it up before, though, just get a small bowl of water with some lemon juice squirted in the water. Putting the cut apple in the lemon water will prevent it from browning. Of course, drain the bowl before adding the apple to the frying pan.
Cook the apple in the butter, stirring often so that it doesn't burn. When the apple is fairly tender add half a tablespoon of brown sugar and stir until the apple is coated (stirring even more frequently, as sugar will scorch easily.) Also add a dash of cinnamon. While it is cooking, make two slices of toast. When it is toasted to your satisfaction, cut it into pieces.
When the apples are done, take it off the burner and add the pieces of toast. Stir them in and they will soak up the extra butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Then it's done!
(Hopefully that looks appealing, but if not, it's better than it looks.)
When I cook lunches/dinner, I usually make soup so that I can carry the leftovers to work in a thermos. But for something fun, pizza biscuits. It's also very easy to make if you are an inexperienced cook.
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Pizza Biscuits
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You need:
- 1 canister regular size (not jumbo) refrigerator biscuits (I usually use 10-count buttermilk)
- Some kind of pizza sauce (homemade or store-bought)
- Cheese, if you want it
- Some kind of "topping" (pepperoni, ham, etc)
- Probably some kind of oil (I use olive or canola)
- A baking sheet
- Access to an oven
Pop open the refrigerator biscuits. Separate them and roll out half of them so that they are like flat, very small pizzas. You may need to add some oil to the biscuit or your hands first to make it roll out easier. Once you do, add a small amount of pizza sauce, cheese, and whatever toppings you want to the center of the biscuit. You don't need a lot because your next step will be to roll out the rest of the biscuits and layer them on top of the others, so that your filling is covered. Your top biscuit, therefore, will need to be at least the same size as the bottom one, but maybe bigger. Mesh the sides together (you can use a fork to make "pleats".)
They only have to cook in an oven for about 10 minutes or so at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. It's easy to tell when they are done because the top part turns golden. I have made some very pretty biscuits but also some where I put too much filling in them and it spilled out the side while cooking. So no worries if it looks covered with red sauce instead - it's delicious either way. :p