I love this French toast recipe! It's super easy and makes an awesome breakfast (or lunch... or dinner in a pinch!) It's also an excellent way to use up bread that's about to expire. You can freeze the extras and reheat for a super quick school-morning breakfast. My nephews are HUGE fans of my French toast, and can plow through an astounding amount of it; I brought them several bags of French toast last week and I heard they had devoured all of it by the following afternoon. Wow!
The secret is using whole milk (I prefer organic, but it doesn't matter), and cinnamon (shout-out to my friend Melissa for that idea!). I think any regular sandwich bread should work, but my top favorite is the half-white, half whole-grain sandwich bread that I get at Wegman's.
Here's what you need:
4 eggs
1 cup whole milk
~3/4 tsp cinnamon
~14 slices sandwich bread
non-stick spray
Beat eggs thoroughly with a fork. Add milk and cinnamon and mix well. Heat griddle to 325 degrees (or if you don't have a griddle, you can just use a frying pan); spray lightly with non-stick spray. Pour egg/milk mixture into a shallow pan (I like to use a round cake pan). Dip bread, one slice at a time, into the egg/milk mixture, making sure both sides are thoroughly wet - then place on hot griddle. Flip after about 90 seconds or until browned appropriately. Cook on the other side, then remove to a plate to cool.
To freeze, use a gallon ziploc bag; put two slices in the bag and then cover with a piece of waxed paper; add two more pieces to the bag, then cover with waxed paper, etc. This way the pieces don't freeze together, and you can pull individual servings amounts out of the freezer for a quick school-morning breakfast! (It's best if you thaw pieces in the refrigerator overnight first; then in the morning just heat in the microwave, top with syrup, and go!)
Enjoy!
Yummy Easy Affordable
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Party Snack Mix
Just in time for New Years, this recipe makes an awesome snack mix. The salty/sweet combination is addictive!
1 box Kix or Corn Pops cereal
1 large bag original Fritos corn chips
12-14 cups popped popcorn (butter flavor or plain)
32 oz (2 1/2 small bags) white/vanilla chips (find by the chocolate chips)
~ 2 tablespoons butter
Half n half or cream (just a little)
Stir together cereal, Fritos, and popcorn in several large bowls. Melt vanilla chips on the stove over medium-low heat (using a double boiler is perfect); be careful not to burn! Stir frequently. While vanilla chips are slowly melting, slice up butter into small pieces and melt along with the chips. Once it's all melted, stir in a little cream (start with like a tablespoon) to thin it down just a little so it's not like a paste. Pour over snack mix in bowls and stir well immediately. Spread in several large pans to cool. Store in ziplock bags. Yum!
1 box Kix or Corn Pops cereal
1 large bag original Fritos corn chips
12-14 cups popped popcorn (butter flavor or plain)
32 oz (2 1/2 small bags) white/vanilla chips (find by the chocolate chips)
~ 2 tablespoons butter
Half n half or cream (just a little)
Stir together cereal, Fritos, and popcorn in several large bowls. Melt vanilla chips on the stove over medium-low heat (using a double boiler is perfect); be careful not to burn! Stir frequently. While vanilla chips are slowly melting, slice up butter into small pieces and melt along with the chips. Once it's all melted, stir in a little cream (start with like a tablespoon) to thin it down just a little so it's not like a paste. Pour over snack mix in bowls and stir well immediately. Spread in several large pans to cool. Store in ziplock bags. Yum!
Friday, November 15, 2013
Kielbasa Potato Bake
This super tasty dish is perfect for a
chilly fall/winter day! It features one
of my favorites, marinated artichoke hearts.
Prep time is about 45 minutes (but most of that is bake time). You'll need:
6 large red potatoes
1 kielbasa
10 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts
½ cup lowfat sour cream
2 to 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Preheat oven to 425. Scrub potatoes and cut into larger bite-size
pieces. Spread potatoes in the bottom
part of a broiler pan, and drizzle lightly with oil. Bake 15 minutes. Slice the kielbasa into bite-size pieces and
add to the pan. Stir well and return to
the oven for 10 minutes. Chop artichoke
hearts and add to the pan. Stir again
and return to the oven for 10 more minutes or until potatoes are tender (test
with a fork). Sprinkle with salt
and pepper. Let cool in pan a
few minutes before serving.
Stir together sour cream and Dijon in a
small bowl. Put a dollop on each plate
(to be used as a condiment/dip).
Delicious! Add a green salad and you've got an awesome dinner!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Easy Crockpot Meatballs & Pasta
This is about the easiest dinner ever! It’s pretty much a crockpot version of basic
spaghetti-with-meatballs, except that my husband isn’t a fan of “long stringy
pasta” so I use a short pasta like ziti or lately rigatoni (which is
ridiculously inexpensive at Wegman’s, like 69cents a box!) I love how tender
and flavorful the meatballs get in the crockpot!
Here’s what you need:
~12 frozen meatballs, any variety
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/3 cup water
Slightly more than ½ a box rigatoni or
other pasta
Shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese,
optional
Place meatballs in crockpot. Cover with spaghetti sauce and water. Cook on low for about 4 hours (or if you
forgot to get started until 3:00 in the afternoon, start it on high for an hour
or two!)
About 20 minutes before dinnertime, cook
pasta according to package directions.
Drain and add to the crockpot.
Stir well. I like to top servings
generously with shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese – yummy!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Rice
Somebody brought me dinner kind of like
this after my first baby was born, and I LOVED it! That was more than three years ago now, but
for some reason when I was making my grocery list the other day I thought I should try to figure out how to make that
chicken dish with the asparagus and rice and lemon… So I gave it a run tonight, and it was
DELICIOUS!
It’s pretty much a complete meal right
in one dish, and plenty fancy for company.
And it was surprisingly easy and quick to put together! Here’s how I made it:
Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Rice
4 bone-in chicken thighs
1 small box Uncle Ben’s wild rice
1 bunch (or large handful) fresh asparagus
1 lemon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line an appropriate-sized pan with aluminum
foil (or you can spray with non-stick spray, but I think the foil is so much
easier. No scrubbing!) Place chicken thighs in pan, and sprinkle with
salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, 30
minutes. (You will cook it more later.)
Meanwhile, cook rice on the stove
according to package directions. While
that’s cooking, wash asparagus and cut into 2-inch lengths (kitchen scissors
make this super easy!). Use a serrated
knife to slice the lemon in half, and then each half into three pieces (leave
the peel on, but take out any seeds you notice).
Once chicken is finished with the first
30 minutes of cooking, use a fork to transfer chicken temporarily to a
plate. Spread cooked rice in chicken
pan. (If there’s a lot of chicken
drippings in the pan, you may want to drain off some of that first, but leave a
bit in the pan for flavoring.) Layer asparagus
over the rice. Return chicken to the
pan, on top of the asparagus. Arrange
lemon slices (with peel facing up) around the chicken pieces. Return to the oven and bake for 25 more
minutes. Before serving remove at least
two or three of the baked lemon slices, and squeeze the juice all over the
chicken. SO YUMMY!
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Easy Crockpot Chili
This chili is delicious and only takes a
few minutes to prepare. It’s the perfect
dinner for a cold winter evening! I like
to make it using ground turkey, although ground beef works fine as well. And all the ingredients can be found at Aldi!
Suggested
menu: Easy Crockpot Chili, cornbread muffins (Jiffy is fine!), green salad OR
microwaved frozen vegetables.
1 lb. ground turkey or ground beef
2 cans chili beans
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 envelope chili seasoning
Chopped green pepper, celery, and/or onion
(optional)
Brown ground turkey and drain. (The easiest way I think is to cook it in a
pyrex measuring cup in the microwave for 2-minute intervals, draining and stirring
after each, until browned). Crumble and
place in slow cooker. Add chili beans,
diced tomatoes, and one can full of water.
Add chili seasoning and veggies and stir. Cook on low at least 5 hours. Yum!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Healthy Pancakes
These pancakes are AMAZING! They are whole wheat, sugar-free, and easy to
make. They don’t have a weird “healthfood”
taste or texture. And my kids love them! (So do I.)
I’ve made these twice just in the last week, and am really enjoying giving
my picky eaters a super healthy breakfast that makes them happy. Pancakes also make a great toddler snack! These are sweet enough that my 2-year-old
does not require syrup on top - so she can eat these with her hands.
Make a batch and let me know what you think! You’ll need:
Make a batch and let me know what you think! You’ll need:
3 eggs
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ¼ cup milk (reconstituted powdered milk
works fine)
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup apple juice (or more)
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Edited to add: Blueberries or mini chocolate chips are fun to add, too!
Edited to add: Blueberries or mini chocolate chips are fun to add, too!
Beat eggs lightly with a fork. Add oil, milk, honey, and ½ cup apple juice;
mix well. Stir in dry ingredients until
lumps are gone. You can add a bit more
apple juice if the batter seems too thick. Spray griddle or frying pan with non-stick
spray (for the first batch only). I don’t
have a griddle so I just use my largest frying pan and cook three pancakes at a
time over medium-high heat. I think it’s
handy to use a ¼ cup measure to scoop the batter for each pancake. This recipe makes about 20 pancakes. Store extras in a ziplock bag in the
refrigerator. Yum!
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