seriously....this is my life

Crunchy French Toast

This recipe might just rock your breakfast world! 

Several years ago when visiting Portland, OR we went to Mother's Cafe and Bistro for breakfast. For some reason I ordered their Crunchy French Toast because it intrigued me.  Growing up, I was not the biggest fan of French Toast...or any breakfast foods for that matter.  My idea of a perfect breakfast was a BLT (still is today, in fact).  But the Crunchy French Toast called my name and I answered....and my life was changed...or at least my relationship with french toast changed!

When it comes to food, I love the creamy/crunchy/chewy texture.  This recipe hits all the right notes.

Prepare to start thinking about French Toast and determine to make it this weekend for your family.  You could easily make this Gluten Free by using Gluten Free bread.  Cornflakes are already gluten free!  If you don't like coconut then leave it out!

**a note about cornflakes...I don't eat them as cereal, but I do buy a generic box and divide the contents into 2 cup portions in ziplock bags.  Then I keep them  in the freezer to use as breading for chicken, fish, french toast or I'll toss them into a batch of cookies for extra crunch.***

Crunchy French Toast Download Crunchy French Toast

Makes 2-3 adult servings

Ingredients:

½  loaf challah bread or whatever bread you have

1/3 cup half and half

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp Baking Spice (Penzey’s) or cinnamon, divided

¼ tsp salt

4 eggs, lightly beaten

 2 cups cornflakes, coarsely crushed

½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes

6 Tbsp butter

Powdered Sugar

Maple Syrup       

Directions:

Slice bread into 1 inch thick slices.  In a shallow dish, whisk together half and half, sugar, 1 ½ tsp baking spice/cinnamon, salt, and eggs.  In a separate dish combine cornflakes and coconut.  Working with one piece of bread at a time, dip in the egg mixture, allowing bread to soak for about 10 seconds on each side, then coat in cornflake mixture.  Transfer to waxed paper.

 

Heat 3 tsp butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat until the butter is bubbling.  Transfer the bread to the pan and cook about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove cooked French toast from pan, add 3 more tbsp of butter and finish the rest of the French toast.  Just put cooked French toast in a warm oven while the rest is being cooked.  Dust with powdered sugar and drizzle with syrup.  YUM!!!

 

Egg Salad

The other day I was home, Karsten was sleeping, and I needed something for lunch.  Egg Salad seemed to be the winner for that day.  This is not something I make often, but when I do make it, I love it...and make enough to have for lunch the following day. 

It's hardly a recipe, but regardless it's good. 

First, I want to share my almost fool proof way to boil eggs.  It's from a post a few years ago...

I think I finally figured out how to boil an egg and make it perfect.  Here's how.  Place eggs in a pot and cover with cold water.  Bring water to a boil with lid off.  When water comes to a boil, turn off heat, cover with a lid, and let sit for 10 minutes.  Drain off water and then shake the eggs in the pot to crack the shells just a little.  Submerge eggs into ice water for a couple of minutes to stop the cooking.  The water will seep under the shells making them very easy to peel.  Pull out of the water and peel.  Perfection.  One tip I read in the same book If found these instructions in is this:  If you're trying to make deviled eggs, turn the carton of eggs in it's side and the yolks will go to the center of the eggs, so even when you boil them the yolks will stay in place.

So here's the "recipe" for Egg Salad and the printable of course Download Egg Salad

Ingredients

4 hard boiled eggs, cooled and peeled

1 ½ Tbsp Hellman’s mayo

1 tsp yellow mustard

1-2 tsp sweet pickle relish (or if you’re lucky enough to have my Mom’s zucchini relish use that)

A few shakes of paprika

Optional: 1 tsp Fox Point Seasoning (Penzey’s)

Directions:

Mash up eggs using a pastry blender. (I find this works best, plus this is the way my Mom did it.)  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Serve on bread, in a pita, stuffed in a hollowed out tomato, or on a lettuce salad. 

 

 

red sangria

This recipe is adapted from a Bobby Flay recipe and it's delicious! 

Download Red Sangria

3/4 cup simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)

2 bottles red wine, I used an inexpensive Shiraz

3/4 cup brandy

1/2 cup triple sec

3/4 cup orange juice

1 orange, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

1 lime, sliced

1 green apple, cored and cut into thin slices

1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved

1 cup fresh pineapple

 

Make simple syrup by dissolving the sugar in boiling water.  Let cool.  Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher or jar and refrigerate, covered, for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.  Serve over ice with a few pieces of fruit in each glass.

 

 

Herb Roasted Red Potatoes

Inspired by the homegrown red potatoes at the farmers market last week I threw these yummy spuds together to accompany the Grilled Chicken and salad with Green Goddess Dressing

Download Herb Roasted Red Potatoes

6-8 medium red potatoes or 10-12 small red potatoes

2 Tbsp fresh rosemary

2 Tbsp fresh thyme

2 Tbsp fresh dill

½ Tbsp kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

3 Tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Quarter medium potatoes or halve small potatoes and place in a bowl.  Finely chop herbs together.  Sprinkle herbs over potatoes.  Add salt, pepper, and olive oil.  Mix to coat the potatoes.  Place potatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until tender and golden brown. 

Lemon Raspberry Muffins

I love lemon.  I love raspberries.  Although not the chocolate raspberry combination like my coffee creamer addict, Kelly. 

When I saw a recipe in a Cooking Light cookbook for Lemon Raspberry Muffins I knew I wanted to try it out.  The raspberries in our grocery store are gorgeous right now.  I adapted it a bit, using Greek Yogurt I had and adding lemon juice and zest. 

Download Lemon Raspberry Muffin2

2 cups all purpose flour

½ cup sugar

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 cup vanilla yogurt (I used Greek God’s Vanilla Honey yogurt)

Juice of one medium lemon

Zest of one medium lemon

½ cup canola oil

2 large eggs

¼ cup flour

1 (6oz) package fresh raspberries

3 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp cold butter

 

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine 2 ¼ cups flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, making a well in center of mixture.

 

• Stir together yogurt, lemon juice, zest, oil, and eggs.  Add to the dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened. 

 

• Toss 2 tbsp flour with raspberries, fold into batter. Spoon into lightly greased 12 muffin tin pan, or into cupcake liners. 

 

• Combine 3 Tbsp sugar with 2 Tbsp flour.  Cut butter into mixture with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly.  Spoon over batter in a muffin pan. 

 

• Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden.  Remove from pan to wire racks.  Let cool and then enjoy!! 

This the yogurt I used....it is decadent....the creamiest, most delicious Greek Yogurt I've tasted.  I love it with fruit and granola

12 Days of Christmas (day 8) Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls and 10 things I learned about making them

I made THEM....the thing I've tasted once (because my cousin Kate made them for me) and the recipe  I thought was too complicated for me.  You see, I'm not a baker...I don't like measuring ingredients and to be honest flour and I don't get along.  Not because I'm gluten intolerant, but because I swear it goes everywhere as soon as I open my jar.  I decided to get over my flour phobia and start baking this Christmas.  I've made several batches of cookies, Almond Butter Toffee, and PW Cinnamon Rolls.  In fact, I found the entire process rather cathardic and I think I want to try making soft pretzels next! 

On Friday afternoon I made sure I had all the ingredients for the Cinnamon Rolls, so that on Saturday I was ready to tackle this notion that I'm not a baker.  Food Network had a PW Christmas episode over the weekend and she made her famous Cinnamon Rolls.  I watched her as closly as possible, over and over until I felt like I had it down.  I made the dough on Saturday and kept it in the fridge until today. I then rewatched her making the cinnamon rolls this morning and would do a step and then watch the next step.  I guess you could say I was cooking with The Pioneer Woman!!!  I wish...talk about something on my bucket list!!! 

Here are a few things I  learned about making PW's Cinnamon Rolls. (click here for the recipe)

1. She says you can make the dough and then start making the rolls.  I don't buy that because the dough is extremely sticky when it's warm or room temperature.  The chilled dough was still sticky, but it was easier to work with. I also floured my countertop before rolling them out even though she doesn't mention that.

2. Cover the dough in the fridge with a damp towel, otherwise you're going to get a dry crust over the exposed areas.  I covered mine with a dry towel and won't do that again. 

3. Rolling out the dough into a rectangle took a little more skill than I expected.  Granted the last time I rolled something out was probably many years ago....seriously!!!  And I need a good rolling pin.  I really like this one, I wonder if it's any good?!

4. The first batch I made looked a little funky due to my lack of skill with rolling out the dough, the second batch looked much better.  Note, when I say batch I am talking about the fact that you split the dough into two batches when rolling it out. 

5. I used 8, aluminum foil cake pans.  This recipe makes a lot of cinnamon rolls, be ready to share them.  I believe that you can cut the recipe in half without too much trouble.

6. The frosting is REALLY sweet...the next time I make them I'm going to figure out a way to cut down on the sweetness. I did not have maple flavoring, so I used some vanilla instead. 

7. When she says to pour the frosting over the cinnamon rolls when they're right out of the oven she means it.  I waited a few minutes on the first batch and they looked so different than the second batch. 

8. Using a serated knife to cut the dough is helpful

9. Plan to use one of the pans for just the ends of each roll of dough because the ends look a little messed up, but still taste good. 

10. This really is a very easy recipe that requires some time.  I found that making the dough one day and then making the cinnamon rolls another day made the task manageable. 

rainbow fruit skewers and fruit dip

Another thing I made for my shower were these fruit skewers and fruit dip.  The skewers took some time, but the cuteness factor made it worth it.  The dip is easy!!!  The kids and adults at the shower loved the skewers. 

My skewers included:

Strawberries

Cantaloupe

Pineapple

Kiwi

Blueberries

Grapes

Fruit Dip

1 container of cream cheese fruit dip (found in produce section, I used Marzetti)

Zest of one lemon

2 (6 oz) containers of lemon yogurt

Mix all of the ingredients together and serve with fruit

Download and Print Rainbow Fruit Skewers and Fruit Dip