With the holidays approaching, one of my favorite things to bake are classic desserts. I have only made bread pudding once before and it turned out to be a huge success, so today I decided to try a different version. I’m excited to say that it also turned extremely well! I consider this Dark Chocolate Orange Bread Pudding the perfect dessert for the holidays ahead.

Bread pudding consists of cubed bread, soaked in a custard mixture made of eggs, sweetener and milk and/or heavy cream. I use stale or toasted bread, since it will hold its shape better when soaking up the custard mixture. Otherwise, fresh bread will tend to fall apart and become mushy.

I have seen many recipes that call for different types of bread, but I believe challah bread is one of the best options to obtain a hearty bread pudding recipe. Challah bread is slightly sweet with a unique flavor, perfect for bread pudding.  

I love the orange flavor that comes through from the Florida’s Natural orange juice in this recipe, and with the dark chocolate, the mixture is just superb. I used 100% dark chocolate bars rather than chocolate chips because I didn’t want the overpowering sweetness of milk chocolate. Also, the big chocolate chunk effect is what I was looking for, which is obtained using chocolate bars rather than chocolate chips. 

For the orange flavor, I used Florida’s Natural orange juice. As I’ve talked about in past recipes, I love this juice because it’s made from one simple ingredient—Florida oranges. I like to keep my ingredient list to a minimum, so this alone has made Florida’s Natural a favorite of mine. So, what gives the juice its fresh-from-the-grove flavor? It’s made from seven different varieties of Florida oranges.with a fresh, citrusy taste I love in my recipes.

For the holidays this year, this dark chocolate orange bread pudding will be the perfect pairing for my other recipes that call for Florida’s Natural orange juice. Altogether, this makes for an awesome, unique and well-balanced menu. The full menu consists of:

1. baked orange rosemary chicken as the main dish
2. avocado orange salad with orange honey vinaigrette. for a side
3. Dark chocolate orange bread pudding.

If you haven’t yet decided your holiday menu, I highly recommend this dark chocolate orange bread pudding with the baked orange rosemary chicken and orange avocado salad.

I know this menu was a hit at my house – especially the bread pudding! My husband is not a fan of bread pudding and he thoroughly enjoyed this version.

Enjoy!

Dark chocolate orange bread pudding

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40-60 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 loaf challah bread, cubed (or brioche)
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup Florida’s Natural^® Orange Juice
• 4 oz 100% dark chocolate bar, chopped

Directions:

The bread you use should be a little dry. If the bread you are using is fresh, after you cube it, spread it out on a sheet pan and put it in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes rotating the pan halfway through. Alternatively, you can leave cubed challah bread out overnight to dry out.

In a mixing bowl, add the eggs, heavy cream, whole milk, orange juice and maple syrup. Combine with a wire whisk.

In a previously greased baking dish, add the toasted challah bread. Pour the custard mixture over the challah bread. Sprinkle the chopped dark chocolate and let it sit for 30 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the bread pudding for 40-60 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Let it rest to cool and serve as desired.

Keep bread pudding refrigerated. Before serving, you may warm it slightly in your microwave. Serve it topped with ice cream, if you prefer.

The post Dark chocolate orange bread pudding appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

The place is Noodles & Company which uses globally-inspired recipes and fresh ingredients to give guests real, crave-able flavors. They don’t use any artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, or preservatives on their core menu, which for me is of most importance.

At Noodles & Company, dishes are made fresh to order every time, which also includes the ability to customize the fresh ingredients already loaded in the bowls. Every time we go I always add extra veggies to our dishes. You can add extra vegetables or extra protein to your bowls, so more often than not, we do.

For the little ones, if they don’t want to try a world flavor they are not familiar with, they can stick to a regional favorite – Wisconsin mac and cheese. What kid doesn’t like mac and cheese? As you can see you can add veggies to it which in this case I added extra broccoli to all the dishes, mac and cheese, Pad Thai and Whole Grain Tuscan Fresca. To find the nearest Noodles & Company to you visit this link.

As you can see there are many dishes inspired by flavors around the world that you can choose from. Tasty, fresh, delicious and healthy for you.

Now because we had an Asian styled lunch at Noodles & Company, I wanted to make a dessert that was also Asian-inspired. Believe it or not Caramelized sweet potatoes is something that it is served in many Korean restaurants. This recipe, Goguma Mattang, actually originated in China but it is most used in Korea.

It is normally fried but my version is baked which is healthier and less messy.

To make the sweet part of the caramelized sweet potatoes I used maple syrup but you can also use honey. I have seen original recipes use sugar but I prefer to stink with any of these two alternatives instead. Either maple syrup or honey will work. Just make sure that you sprinkle some sesame seeds at the end to give it that Asian inspired hint.

Enjoy!

GIVEAWAY

Noodles & Company is also providing me with 3 $25 gift cards to EG4L readers.

• All you have to do is LET ME KNOW what dish you would like to try in the comments below.

• I will pick 3 winners 9/17, good luck!

• Also, note my promo code EATGOOD – You can get $4 off $10 when you order online using EATGOOD promo code thru 9/30. Good for 5,000 redemptions!!

Caramelized sweet potatoes

Yield: 12 servings

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbs sesame seeds
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Place sweet potatoes into a baking sheet and coat with the remainder of the ingredients. Bake for 10 minutes. Stir and bake for another 10 minutes.

Once the potatoes are baked coat with more maple syrup if you like. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the potatoes and serve.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Noodles & Company. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Caramelized sweet potatoes appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

My kids totally love pancakes so when I told them I was making quinoa pancakes they were a little bit taken back. That only lasted for so long because the minute they try them they didn’t care anymore.

I love using quinoa when ever possible because it is full of protein, rich in B-vitamins, fiber, and it is gluten free… and lets not forget it tastes great. I also use quinoa for some recipes that call for brown rice. I use quinoa instead and it works like a charm.

Have you tried quinoa before? I have several friends that have never tried it before. To me that is odd but I guess not everyone is into food like I am.

As always, you can serve these quinoa pancakes however you wish. When it comes to toppings pancakes are very versatile so get creative. I used some pecans and plane old maple syrup which in my book is just perfect. Maybe some added fresh fruit will be great as well. I have seen many elaborate pancake toppings but in my house we just keep our pancakes simple.

To get the recipe for this quinoa pancakes visit my friends at Nuts.com. Don’t forget to browse around for any other heath ingredients you may need for your baking and cooking. They have a large variety of healthy flours, nuts, seeds, dried fruit and much more.

Enjoy!

The post Quinoa pancakes appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

Have you ever tried to pop your corn in a brown bag in the microwave? Well if you haven’t you really should. Those prepacked boxes they have at the supermarket with hundreds of weird flavors and ingredients are not only a waste of your money but a waste of your time.

I don’t know when I discovered this method but before I did I pretty much never popped corn. My popcorn machine broke a long time ago and I truly didn’t want to be bother with making popcorn in the stove and having more dishes to clean.

I sometimes just pop the corn and use celtic salt and pepper and I am good to go but you can try other variations. I think the popcorn will be really good with some Parmesan cheese as well.

This dark chocolate and peanut butter popcorn variation is rather yummy. A little goes a long way. I kind of went over board and triple the batch since there are lots of mouths to feed at my house. Running short when making something really yummy is something I don’t like to run into because then, my kids and I start fighting over the goodies!

I have also made another white chocolate version that was really good. You can do just plain dark chocolate popcorn if you like but the peanut butter adds some protein a nice flavor to it.

Let me know if you come up with other variations. This dark chocolate and peanut butter popcorn is actually pretty good.

Enjoy!

Place 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels on each brown paper bag and fold the top like in the picture before placing in the microwave.

Once the popcorn is done place it on a baking sheet to cool. Add the chocolate mixture and mix through. Let it sit until the chocolate mixture is set. Alternatively you can place the baking sheet in the fridge for a faster result.

This is the other variation I was talking to you about which I made a while back, white chocolate popcorn. If you want the recipe for this one click here.

Dark chocolate and peanut butter popcorn

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 8-10 servings

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
• 1 1/2 cup chunky or creamy peanut butter
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 cup brown rice cereal
• 2 brown paper bags

 

Directions:

In each paper bag, like in the picture, place 1/2 cup popcorn kernels and fold top of the bag twice.

Place, one at a time, in the microwave and set to high for 4 minutes. Listen carefully for when kernels stop popping. As soon as the popping stops, take the bag out of the microwave. (Mine took about 4 minutes but my microwave is not too powerful so you may be enough with 2-3 minutes).

Place popcorn in a baking sheet and lay flat to cool. Once the popcorn is cooled add the brown rice cereal.

On a double boiler melt chocolate. When the chocolate is melted add the peanut butter and mix through until combined. Pour chocolate mixture over the popcorn and with your clean hands mix chocolate through.

Set aside until chocolate sets and serve.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 10 servings.

The post Dark chocolate and peanut butter popcorn appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

This is the easiest Raspberry chia seed jam you will ever make. No need to reduce, cook or put over the flame at all. If you have literally 2 minutes, you will be done with this insanely good jam to enjoy for days to come.

Another good thing about this Raspberry chia seed jam? You only need three ingredients.

I used maple syrup to sweetened mine but you can also use honey if you like. Either way it is fantastic. I actually use this jam for my peanut butter sandwiches. My kids actually enjoy it a lot! The uses of this jam are endless. You can use it on your toast, waffles, pancakes, yogurt, ice cream…you name it!

You can also use any other fruit of your choice. I have used frozen fruit though but I think with fresh fruit it will also work. You might have to mash it a bit more to make a smoother jam, that is all!

I think this is what I am going to be using from now on as far as marmalade, jam or preserves is concern. So easy to make, a lot less sweet and much much healthier for you. There is no excuse for me anymore! Just keep them refrigerated for up to 2-3 weeks in glass jars. That is up to how long I have kept them before in the past.

I have also just discovered that Costco, which I love, carries this gigantic chia seed bag. I have been using chia seeds a lot lately and the little bags that I was getting at Trader Joes weren’t cutting it.

If you like chia seeds, you will love this Raspberry chia seed jam. Try it at least once. You will not be sorry.

Enjoy!

I have never made any type of jam, preserves or marmalade for that matter, however, I don’t think I will ever do because this is way more healthy for you and way more simple to put together. This jam is so yummy that I don’t think I will be missing any other store bought jams at all!

Raspberry chia seed jam

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 10-12 servings

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 12 oz frozen organic raspberries, thawed out and drained
• 2-4 Tbsp maple syrup, or to taste
• 3 Tbsp chia seeds

 

Directions:

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Cover the the mixture and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.

Serve as desired over toast, with peanut butter sandwiches, yogurt, ice cream, waffles or pancakes.

I have kept this jam in glass jars for up to 2-3 weeks in the fridge just fine.

 Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 10 servings.

The post Raspberry chia seed jam appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

Who doesn’t like chocolate? I hope no one is on a diet because if you are you are truly missing out! Besides, diets don’t work so I hope you do  yourself a favor and get off of it :-)

I have never met anyone that doesn’t like chocolate. I think it is actually a weird dislike but I am sure there are some people out there that don’t, oh well, that is not me!

I have been trying to find ways in which to eat chocolate that are different from eating a chocolate chip cookie, brownies or chocolate cake. Nothing wrong with these, but I just feel that this is the only way in which I normally have it so I thought that coming up with more chocolate variations couldn’t hurt right?

This recipe it is truly super versatile. You can use any nuts of your choice or any other  add-ons. I think shredded coconut or dry fruit would be a good alternative too. Maybe next time I might just do that.

By the way, does anyone live on the East coast near the NYC area? I am getting tired of this lousy weather…. I need some sun and soon!

Well, I leave you with this super simple and versatile recipe that is sure to satisfy any chocolate lover.

Stay safe and enjoy!

Dark chocolate sunflower seed clusters

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 20 servings

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 12 oz dark chocolate chips, melted
• 2 cups roasted and unsalted sunflower seeds, you can use any other but these are the ones I used
• 1 cup brown rice cereal
• 2 Tbsp chia seeds

 

 

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with foil paper and set aside.

On a double boiler melt the chocolate chips. While the chocolate melts place the other ingredients in a large bowl. You can alternatively melt the chocolate in the microwave at 30 second intervals.

Once the chocolate is completely melted pour it over the ingredients in the bowl, and with a spatula, combine the ingredients until they are all coated with the chocolate.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet and let it sit until the chocolate is completely set. For a speedy result place baking sheet in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes.

Store in the counter in an air tight container for up to 3-4 days.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 20 pieces. It actually gives more than that!

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