Happy Valentines Day 2018!
Every year, I really enjoy making different creative heart shaped foods! These are easy and fun recipes to try! I made this for my Valentine this year and made the French toast with my students. Remember Valentine’s Day should be actually celebrated every day! You can definitely make these meals all year round for the ones you love.
Give these recipes a try and let me know what you think! 🙂
oxox
Christina
1. French Toast (Breakfast)
As a teacher, you want to continuously always make things really fun and memorable for students to do at school. The kids absolutely loved the chance to make “Heart French Toast” for the Breakfast program at school. The left over bread pieces we cut up into cubes and made a “French Toast Casserole” so that no bread was wasted.
Ingredients:
- 12-16 slices of bread (I used the Dempsters brand, whole wheat)
- 3 Large Eggs
- 2/3 Cup Milk
- 4-8 Tablespoons Butter
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla (optional)
- 1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
Heart Shaped Cookie cutter
1 Pinch of Salt
*You can double this recipe if needed.
Directions:
1. In a medium size bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon until well combined.
2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat with 1-2 tablespoons butter.
3. Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter or a knife, cut a heart out of each piece of bread.
Dip each piece of heart-shaped bread into the egg/milk mixture, being sure to coat both sides.
4. Cook the bread (as many slices as will fit in the pan) for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden or you can use a griddle (pictured above).
5. Transfer to a plate and repeat with remaining bread slices, adding more butter to the pan as necessary.
2. Bruschetta (Appetizer)
Voila!! My latest (this year’s) creation! Bread is homemade as well (low calorie). I could not stop eating this as it turned out fantastic. This bread is SUPER quick to make and has a delicious flavour.
Dough Recipe:
- 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup of flour
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
Directions:
1. Combine all incredients in a medium size bowl. Mix until combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary. I use first a fork and then my hands to form into dough. Knead a few turns until dough is tacky, but not sticky (it should not leave dough on your hand when you pull away). Add more flour if that’s the case.
2. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter (larger size) or form (that’s what I did) a heart with the dough. Place on parchment paper to bake.
3. Roll out and top as desired. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 20-22 minutes (adjust as needed).
To Make the Topping:
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic (I use and love a garlic press)
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1⁄4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 1⁄2 cups minced roma tomatoes (cut very fine in small squares)
- 1⁄3 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaf (optional)
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 tsp of Italian seasoning
3. Heart Shaped Ravioli (Entree)
Thank goodness this year I found at Costco the three cheese heart shaped “Valentino” ravioli. I have made the raviolis often from scratch and I’m not going to lie, it was a lot of work. First, I would suggest to try Costco as well as Sobeys to try and find them frozen. These raviolis are delicious and easy to make. You literally just plop them into boiling hot, salted water and cook until they rise. I added some of the incredible, Tomato Basil Raos sauce which I purchased in the States. I added a dash of heavy cream to turn the sauce into a “blush” sauce. I usually always make homemade sauce, but this year I wanted to try something a bit different.
4. Mini Nutella Pizzas (Dessert)
*The bread used is the same recipe I used for the Bruschetta bread. Recipe is shown above!
All you have to do is add Nutella, bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes to warm up the Nutella. Then, add powdered sugar and when directly out of the oven. Looks and tastes fantastic.
5. Nutella Wontons (Dessert)
I most certainly make this meal every year (a couple of times a year I should say) because it’s SO simple to make but looks so gourmet! You can make this for dessert, all year round and not just on Valentine’s Day, because who doesn’t love Nutella???!! All you need is 4 main ingredients – Nutella, Wonton wrappers (small square size), Powdered sugar and Water.
Ingredients:
- 1 package wonton wrappers (you will have leftover wrappers)
- 1 block of cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup Nutella
- Canola or other neutral oil, for frying
- Powdered sugar, for topping
Directions:
1. Cut wontons into 40 heart shapes.
2. In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, whip cream cheese and Nutella together. I added a bit more then what was required for this recipe.
3. Prepare your wonton filling station by setting up an assembly line of: Stack of wontons, plate for filling wontons, bowl of water, plate for completed wontons.
4. Place one wonton on your wonton filling station. Spoon about 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of filling into the wonton. Do not overfill, less is more. Dip your finger into the bowl of water and, using your wet finger tip, create a perimeter of water around the border of your filled wonton wrapper. Place another wrapper on top and press to seal. Move your filled wonton to your finished wonton plate and continue until all wontons are filled. Wontons can be refrigerated until used or frozen.
To freeze: lay out wontons on a baking sheet. Do not let wontons touch. Place in freezer until frozen. Once frozen, remove to freezer bag for storage.
To fry: Heat oil in a large, heavy bottomed skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Heat until a small droplet of water sizzles in the oil. Place wontons in the oil, being careful not to crowd the pan. Fry on both sides, flipping if necessary, until well browned. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.
Top with powdered sugar. Serve immediately. Best eaten WARM.
