Special Recipes | Gotta Eat, Can't Cook

Archive for the ‘Special Recipes’ Category

September 29th, 2023

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, How To & Tips, Running Food, Special Recipes

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Pumped Up Flavor Fresh Whipped Cream With Cinnamon and Coconut Sugar

The other day I mentioned that I keep a vat of fresh whipped cream in the fridge. That vat went dry just after I wrote that. So, what a great opportunity to whip up a new one – and add flavor, all fun and very easily. As shown below, all I did was add a good shake of ground cinnamon (I do that all the time now) and use coconut sugar instead of regular white table sugar.

Whipping then took only 2 minutes as I’d used heavy cream right out of the fridge and a frosted glass measuring cup I’d put in the freezer over night.

You’ll notice in the last shot above that I didn’t whip the cream until it was firm enough to keep the ejected hand mixer blades standing. All fine. That’s the consistency I like, as it dissolves more easily in coffee, works great on anything else I top with it and makes it easy to pour into a “vat” I put in the fridge for easy access anytime I want it.

Click any picture on this page for step-by-step picture book Fresh Whipped Cream directions that you can vary however your personal taste desires.

Enjoy & have fun!

September 27th, 2023

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, How To & Tips, Running Food, Special Recipes, Sports Nutrition

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Rocket Fuel Breakfast, Part 5: Fresh Whipped Cream

Fresh whipped cream tastes far better than whipped cream spritzed from a can or scooped from a plastic tub – and it’s both as incredibly easy to make as it is versatile to use. I love it with the “rocket fuel breakfast” you see above: on fruit pancake, with yogurt and fruit, in coffee. But, as always, imagination is your only limit!

Here’s what you need for both for ingredients and equipment – easy.

Before you get started, here’s an easy tip. Make sure the heavy cream is cold and put whatever container you’re going to use to whip the cream in the freezer until it is well chilled as shown below. The reason: cold cream and a cold container make the cream whip faster – I like that!

Please click any picture on this page or this link for step-by-step fresh whipped cream picture book directions – and enjoy!

July 28th, 2022

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Pancakes, Special Recipes

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Killer Versatile Active Life Power Food: Fresh Crepes with Picture Book Recipe

Though France is well known for the premier cycling events of the year, the men’s and women’s gutsy, rip fast Tour de France, they are even better known for full-on food flavor.

One of my favorite go-to French foods is fresh crepes, which are, no kidding, just as easy to make as flapjack pancakes but much more flavorfully versatile and a great physical activity power source.

Here are the needed ingredients.

Click this link or the photo below to see a short, thumbnail sketch video showing how I made fresh crepes to take on a bike trip last weekend.

Click this link for a complete, very easy to use step-by-step picture book Crepes Made Easy recipe.

December 11th, 2021

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Fruit, Pancakes, Running Food, Special Recipes

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Picture Book Warm Pineapple Coconut Topping Recipe

This warm pineapple coconut topping is just an example of how you can easily improvise on the warm fruit topping theme.

Last two posts showed how to make warm fruit toppings that go great over hot or cold cereal, with yogurt, on pancakes, waffles or French toast. Your imagination is your only limit.

This post is about a variation on the fruit topping theme I’d never tried before but put together on-the-fly for breakfast with my good Hickory, NC, buds a little before Thanksgiving. The key to this warm pineapple coconut topping recipe is using a fully ripened pineapple, and the picture book recipe you can get here shows exactly how to check a pineapple for ripeness and ripen a pineapple that will most likely be under-ripe when you buy it at the store.

Here’s what you need to to make a warm pineapple coconut topping.

Click this link or any picture on this page for this warm pineapple coconut topping picture book recipe.

Next post will show an example of how I use this topping and toppings like it to power me through a morning that almost always includes a good rip on the bike.

December 6th, 2021

Blog, Breakfast, Cycling Food, Fitness Food, Fruit, Running Food, Special Recipes

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3 Easy Picture Book Variations on Warm Apple Cranberry Fruit Topping

3 easy-to-make variations on the warm apple cranberry fruit topping recipe theme

Last post showed how to make a warm apple cranberry fruit topping that goes great on warm or cold cereal, pancakes, French toast, waffles and much more. I mentioned in that post that the recipe is a base or building block recipe that can be easily varied by using different ingredients to meet your personal taste. This post shows three specific examples that work great as is and can also be used to fire your imagination.

The first two recipes are direct riffs on warm apple cranberry fruit topping. The third is berry based.

Apple, Kiwi, Cranberry Topping: This recipe just adds kiwi to the topping, which you can substitute with any other fruit: pear, grapes, berries and more. Click this link or the picture to get the recipe.

Here are 3 easy-to-make variations on the warm apple cranberry fruit topping recipe theme

2. Apple and Papaya Topping: Quickly cooking papaya is my favorite, most flavorful way of eating this tropical fruit. The recipe for this topping that you can get by clicking this link again is just an example of exchanging one ingredient for another either for the fun of it (I mean that) or to suit your personal taste.

3. Warm Berry and Kiwi Fruit Topping: This is an example of a more dramatic variation on the apple, cranberry topping theme. Again, you can substitute the berries or any fruit in this recipe to suit your specific taste. Click this link or the picture below for a picture book recipe.

Next post: Pineapple Coconut Topping. Made it recently. Friends asked for the recipe. I’ll get that out later this week.

November 25th, 2021

Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Cooking Technique, Special Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner

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How to Roast a Thanksgiving Turkey: Picture Book Directions

First, I wish you, your family and your friends a fun, relaxing (ha!) and fully flavorful Thanksgiving!

A very close second: there’s not a lot that feels and smells better than being in a kitchen while a turkey roasts in the over and all the side dishes cook on the stove. Terrific stuff!

The last few posts showed how to prepare Thanksgiving side dishes and desserts. This post shows how to make the traditional Thanksgiving centerpiece, roast turkey, which I found best to roast at high heat – and upside down – to start and then finish off a more moderate heat, as shown below.

I also strongly suggest not cooking the turkey stuffed but instead cooking the turkey and stuffing separately. The reason: roasting a stuffed turkey only adds mores cooking time and causes the meat to dry out.

Click this link or the picture below for step-by-step picture book directions that show both how to roast a turkey and remove the meat from the bird.

You can also click this link or picture below for complete Gotta’ Eat, Can’t Cook Thanksgiving help.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 24th, 2021

Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Seasonal/Holiday Recipes, Side Dishes, Special Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner, Video & Picture Ebooks, Videos

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Two Traditional Thanksgiving Sides: Bread Stuffing and Fresh Mashed Potatoes – Made Easy with Picture Book and Video Directions

Fresh mashed potatoes and bread stuffing are most flavorfully enjoyed when made just before serving dinner.

Last post showed how to make fresh cranberry sauce: killer flavor and as easy to make as boiled water.

This post shows how to make 2 traditional Thanksgiving side dishes: fresh mashed potatoes and bread stuffing, which you can learn how to make on the fly with the picture book and or video directions shown below.

First, here’s what you need to make fresh mashed potatoes, which are best made just before you serve dinner.

Click this link or the picture above or below for picture book directions or…

…this link/picture below for quick video directions.

Here’s what you need to make quick & easy bread stuffing, which is also most fully flavorful and best made just before serving dinner.

Click this link or the picture above or below for picture book directions or…

…this link/picture below for quick video directions.

Of course, please click this link for complete Gotta’ Eat, Can’t Cook picture book Thanksgiving help.

November 21st, 2021

Blog, Dessert, Special Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner

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Thanksgiving Apple, Pumpkin and Apple-Pumpkin Pie Picture Book Recipes

The best of Thanksgiving pie flavors – and freedom of choice

As I’ve mentioned here before – and you probably know yourself – pie is the most popular Thanksgiving dessert. But, you might ask, what kind of pie should I make for my Thanksgiving dinner?

Freedom of choice is key. Here are 3 fully flavorful pies that work great as traditional Thanksgiving desserts: Quick & Easy Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie Made with Fresh Pumpkin and Apple-Pumpkin Pie.

Fresh & Easy Apple Pie: Fresh, crisp apples, the fruit flavor of fall, are the key to this recipe that’s fully flavorful and easy to make. Just click this link or the picture below for a complete picture book recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Made with Fresh Pumpkin: Yes, the fresh pumpkin adds flavor and texture to the finished pie, but you can always substitute canned pumpkin for fresh pumpkin if you’re short on time or for “please get me out of the kitchen NOW!” convenience sake. Click this link or the picture below for a complete picture book recipe.

Pumpkin Pie Made with Fresh Pumpkin (that can be substituted with canned pumpkin)

Apple-Pumpkin Pie: This recipe, which you can get by clicking this link or the picture below, makes for a full-on fall flavor powerhouse that combines the rich flavors of apple and pumpkin pie and is just as easy to make as either of those pies on their own.

Apple Pumpkin Pie is an explosion of flavor that combines everything you love in both apple and pumpkin pie on their own

November 19th, 2021

Blog, Dessert, Special Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner

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Picture Book Recipes For Flavor Packed Homemade Pie Crust Variations

These two recipes are designed to inspire your imagination to meet your taste

There’s a line you might’ve heard: “You can improvise with cooking, but you have to stick to the recipe with baking”. I’m not a fan of sticking to the letter of recipes and very quickly learned that you can improvise with baking, at least somewhat, especially when it comes to making pie crust.

Last post showed how to make a quick and easy pie crust from scratch, which tastes way better than any pre-made store bought pie shell. This post provides two recipes that are intended to inspire your imagination. Sure, both recipes work fine as is, but the best thing about preparing anything to eat is making it just the way you want to suit your personal taste.

The first recipe for Banana Nut Pie Crust, which you can get by clicking this link or the picture directly below, uses banana both to add flavor and replace the need for oil or butter in the pie crust dough.

The second recipe, Fully Flavorful Nut, Quinoa and Flaxseed Pie Crust, which you can get by clicking this link or the picture below, shows how to use a variety of optional ingredients to pump up flavor across the board.

Next post: picture book recipes showing how to make Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie and Apple-Pumpkin Pie

November 15th, 2021

Blog, Chicken & Turkey, Cooking Technique, Poultry, Special Recipes, Thanksgiving Dinner, Vegetables

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Thanksgiving Dinner Help: Stress-Free and All in Pictures

Just 10 days out to Thanksgiving, by far my favorite holiday because all that’s expected is a fully-flavorful meal and being together with family and friends.

At the same time, I know from my own experience that laying down a Thanksgiving dinner for those same family and friends, especially if it’s your first time around, can be stressful. The goal here is to provide straight-forward stress-relief, which you can access by:

clicking this link or the tab above labeled Thanksgiving Help for a Thanksgiving dinner planning and timing guide and uniquely easy to follow step-by-step picture book recipes that show how to make roast turkey, turkey gravy, mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, apple pie, and fresh whipped cream and more.
getting your own first-of-a-kind Stress-Free, Quick & Easy Thanksgiving Dinner video/picture ebook for $2.99 (it’s extraordinarily affordably priced, especially these days, to make it as widely accessible as possible). Click this link to a short video trailer about the ebook. The ebook itself is available at: