Braces Friendly Breakfast Recipe

Enjoy this cake with any sort of fruit that inspires you! Roasted apricots, fresh plums, or smashed blackberries would be great if you're not a strawberry fan!

Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

For the Roasted Strawberries:

• 8-ounces medium strawberries, hulled
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

For the Buttermilk Cake:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon aluminimum-free baking powder (I use Rumford Baking Powder)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• Roasted strawberries
• 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar for topping

To Make the Strawberries:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. The strawberries get juicy, so a rimmed baking sheet is important. Set aside.
3. Cut each strawberry in half and place in a mixing bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together maple syrup, olive oil, and salt. Whisk together until completely incorporated. Drizzle the mixture over the strawberries and toss until each strawberry is coated. Arrange strawberries in a single layer across prepared baking sheet.
4. Roast strawberries for 40 minutes. The juices will thicken, but remove the strawberries from the oven before the juices begin to burn. Remove the berries and juice from the pan while still warm. Place in a small bowl, stir in balsamic vinegar, and set aside.

To Make the Cake:

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter an 11-inch cast iron skillet. You can also use an 11-inch round tart or quiche pan, or a 9×13-inch pan… although the cake will be more thin and you’ll need to keep a close eye on it in the oven.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, and butter. Whisk in the vanilla or almond extract.
4. Add the buttermilk mixture all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined and no lumps remain. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Top batter with half of the roasted strawberries and juice. Sprinkle generously with turbinado sugar.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow cake to cool to room temperature before slicing to serve. Serve with the remaining roasted strawberries.
6. Cake will last, well wrapped in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.

If Tom Can Do It, So Can You

Braces aren’t just for kids anymore. Tooth alignment can be changed at any age if your gums and bone structure are healthy. At Wentz Orthodontics we offer a variety of treatments that are designed for different age groups; including adults.

Orthodontic treatment at later stages in life can dramatically improve your personal appearance and self-esteem. Improving the health of your teeth and gums is equally important. Crooked teeth and a bad bite can contribute to gum and bone loss, tooth decay, abnormal wear of the tooth enamel and surfaces, headaches, and jaw joint (TMJ/TMD) pain.

The new techniques and appliances we use greatly reduce discomfort levels, decrease the frequency of visits, shorten treatment time and may allow you to choose from several options. Your options may include metal braces, translucent braces or transparent aligners that can be worn at night to improve mild cases of misaligned teeth.

A large percentage of our patients are adults, and they agree that it’s never too late to improve their smile. Contact Wentz Orthodontics to learn more or get started now. 

Tater Tot Skewers for Super Bowl Sunday

INGREDIENTS 

• Bag of Tater Tots
• 8 slices of cooked bacon chopped
• 1 cup of cheese grated
• 1 tablespoon ranch seasoning
• Skewers

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook your tater tots according to directions until golden brown in color - Set oven for 425 degrees for about 20-30 minutes.
2. Once you pull them out of the oven, let cool for approximately 2-5 minutes until you can skewer them onto the skewers. We suggest 6-7 per skewer.
3. Once on the skewers and on the pan, sprinkle ranch dressing over each of the tater tots.
4. Sprinkle the bacon and then the cheese.
5. Put into the oven for an additional 10 minutes until the cheese is fully melted and golden in color.
6. Remove from oven and serve.

Nacho Loaded Potato Skins | Braces Friendly Super Bowl Snack

Have you heard of Nacho Loaded Potato Skins? What does that even mean? It means basically that this is the end all be all game day snack. Imagine a crispy potato skin stuffed with refried beans, bacon, topped with cheese, salsa, guacamole, and chives. Can you dig it? We thought we would provide the recipe for our patients who are looking for a braces friendly alternative to tortilla chip nachos during Super Bowl Sunday! Enjoy!

NACHO LOADED POTATO SKINS

INGREDIENTS

• 6 Russet Potatoes, scrubbed and pricked with a fork
• olive oil
• 6 strips applewood smoked bacon
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup refried beans
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup Chipotle Guacamole (http://whatsgabycooking.com/chipotle-guacamole/)
• 1 cup salsa

Optional

• chopped scallions
• sour cream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Drizzle the whole potatoes with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Bake for about 60 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
3. While the potatoes are baking, cook off 6 pieces of bacon until crispy and then set aside to cool. Once cooled, roughly chop the bacon.
4. Remove from oven and let cool until they are cool enough to handle. Cut the potatoes in half, lengthwise, and scoop out a most of the flesh, leaving about 1/4 inch remaining.
5. Crank the oven up to 450 degrees F.
6. Place the cut potatoes back onto the baking sheet, flesh side up. Lightly drizzle the tops with olive oil and a sprinkle of garlic powder and red pepper flakes and place them back into the oven for about 10 more minutes. Flip them onto their other side and bake for another 10 minutes before removing them from the oven.
7. Arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet, cut side up.
8. Spoon equal amounts of refried beans into each potato, followed by equal parts bacon and shredded cheese. Place the potato skins back into the oven for 3-4 minutes until the cheese melts.
9. Take the potatoes out of the oven and top them with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, scallions, chives or whatever else you'd like to top them with and serve immediately.

Super Bowl LI Contest

Who ya got??? Falcons or Pats? Send us your predictions of winners along with the score and the closest guess wins $200!!!Head to our Facebook page to enter now!

Honeydew Melon Cucumber Smoothie | NEW RECIPE

We know some kids can be fussy when it comes to eating healthy foods, especially when they're dealing with a new set of braces. Changing eating habits to better accommodate new braces, and health is not always easy as healthy food choices tend to look less appealing than a slice of pizza or hard shell tacos. If you want to ensure your kids will intake some healthy fruits and vegetables, we suggest making smoothies for them! Smoothies are a wonderful way to make fruits and veggies appeal to kids, and they're healthy as well as braces friendly. 

To help get you started on your smoothie journey, we're sharing a delicious recipe with you below! Try it out this weekend and let us know how you liked it!

Honeydew Melon Cucumber Smoothie

Our personal favorite, a lean green smoothie your teenager will love.

You Will Need:

• 1 honeydew melon
• 1 cup green grapes, preferably seedless
• 1 cucumber peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup mint leaves

How To:

• Peel the honeydew melon, remove the seeds and dice it.
• Add the melon cubes, green grapes, cucumber pieces and mint leaves to a blender and blend for a minute.
• Serve fresh.

Preparation Time: 10 Minutes
Servings: 4
Nutritional Value: calories – 86, carbohydrates – 21.2g, protein – 1.6g, fat – 0.5g, cholesterol – 0mg

Invest In Your Child's Future

Braces are an investment in your child’s future for their oral, facial and overall health. At Wentz Orthodontics we advise our patients of the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) recommendation that all children have a check-up with an orthodontist by the time they reach age 7.

Find out some benefits of early orthodontics below:

• Improved appearance: Attractive smile for life after having braces is a great self-esteem and confidence booster, improving both your child’s emotional well-being, as well as their social life.

• Improved oral health: Following braces, the teeth are better aligned and much easier to clean and floss, making them less likely to decay over time.

• Good bite: A well-positioned bite reduces wear on and fracturing of the teeth.

• Correction of issues: These can be from previous thumb sucking or extended pacifier use, or craniofacial abnormalities.

• Better sleep: Many children who grind or clench their teeth during sleep experience a resolution of their symptoms after orthodontic treatment.

• Improvement or elimination of recurrent headaches: Misalignment of the bite can cause damage to the temporomandibular joint and headaches and earaches. Orthodontics can help correct this.

• Improved speech: Many children who experience an array of speech impediments notice a difference when their teeth are aligned properly.

Call us at Wentz Orthodontics today for a consultation for your child. It’s never too early to start exploring your options and with a comprehensive assessment,