Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

I love breakfast! I especially love it for dinner and for which I call it "brinner". I made this yumminess for brinner a couple nights ago and it was awesome! Since it was just me and the kiddos I only cooked up half of what this recipe makes. I then kept the rest of the cream cheese mixture and syrup and cooked it up for breakfast a few days later for my hubby and he loved it! Breakfast is just good anytime of the day!

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

1 (8 oz package) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
10 slices bread (I used Texas toast)
3 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
4 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 tablespoon milk
4 tablespoon butter, optional
2 tablespoon powdered sugar extra

Combine the cream cheese, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon, and beat until smooth, and then spread 1/2 the mixture on one side of five slices of bread. Top with the sliced strawberries (you will have some extra). Spread more of the remaining mixture on the remaining five pieces of bread and place on top, and make five sandwiches, pressing them together gently to enclose strawberries inside.

Beat the eggs and milk together and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400F . Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and place in oven to warm up. Melt 1/2 tbsp or so of butter in a frying pan ( I used my electric skillet and it was a lot quicker). Take the sandwiches, one by one, and place in the egg and milk mixture, turning so that the mixture covers both sides. Transfer the sandwich to the pan and cook until the first side is lightly brown. Flip over and cook the other side. When both sides are lightly brown, place the sandwich on the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Before serving, top with the extra sliced strawberries and 2 tbsp powdered sugar. Drizzle with maple syrup or the Strawberry Syrup recipe below.

Strawberry Syrup

1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons orange juice
3/4 cup pureed strawberries

Combine all the ingredients in a small pan. Stirring constantly, heat mixture over medium heat until it begins to thicken (approximately 5 minutes). While still warm, pour over French Toast and serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

Happy Blogiversary

Since Friday was my first blogiversary I thought I would share a fun little recipe with you today. I have really loved blogging over that last year sharing recipes and crafts. But I think what I enjoyed the most is reading what my friends blog about and some stranger's blogs I have found along the way. I never thought I would love blogging but it is quite enjoyable and it has got me to try some new things, new recipes and have new thoughts about life in general.

Mini Brownie Cakes

WHAT YOU NEED

1 box brownie mix (Family Size that makes a 9x13 pan. I used Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge.)

1 can of cream cheese frosting or whatever kind you like

strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, raspberries or crumbled candy bar such as a Heath Bar

semi-sweet chocolate chips

HOW TO DO IT

Prepare brownie mix from the directions on the package.

Line mini muffin pan with mini cupcake liners. Fill each liner with brownie batter about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes. This is the important part DO NOT OVER BAKE. Remove brownies from oven, while still warm take a small spoon and make a well in the middle for the frosting. After the brownies have cooled frost with frosting. Slice your fruit how you like and place on top of brownie cake.

Pour 1/2 cup or so of chocolate chips in a microwave bowl and add a 1 tablespoon of shortening (this helps the chocolate drizzle better) Microwave the chocolate at 1 min intervals until the chocolate chips are almost melted and then stir until smooth. Spoon the melted chocolate into a plastic sandwich bag and cut a bit off one corner of the bag. Drizzle the chocolate over top of brownie cake.

Makes about 37 mini cakes

Pictures and Recipe by Me

Goodbye Betty

Not many shows come along in my lifetime that I truly love and can't wait to watch them. But Ugly Betty was one of the shows that I will truly will miss. Last night was the last episode and I just can't believe it. I thought Ugly Betty was witty, dramatic and just a whole lot of fun! I adore America Ferrera as Betty and I could relate a bit with her character. I was never the really popular girl and never had the greatest since of style. Betty was just a regular girl trying to fit in but still maintaining her integrity.

While watching the last episode I almost cried at some points, crazy I know! I just grew attached to these characters like some loony soap opera fan. At least everything in the end turned out good for all the characters even for the nasty, Wilhelmina Slater! And you know what the really sad part is that Ugly Betty is being replaced by some show called Happy Town how depressing is that!

Goodbye Betty!

Easy Parmesan Chicken

First off, sorry for the green noodles. We have a tradition of having green spaghetti on St. Patrick's Day. I love this recipe, because it really is so easy and delicious, unlike other Parmesan chicken recipes that you have to dip the chicken in egg and then in bread crumbs and so many steps I don't like to take sometimes. I have made this a couple times and the first time I used the bottled spaghetti sauce and then Brian, my husband, mentioned how even better it would be if I used my own sauce. So the picture above is the the recipe made with my homemade spaghetti sauce, without the hamburger. It was very good, Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Parmesan

What you need

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce
6 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.)
1-1/2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Make It

HEAT oven to 375°F. Pour sauce into 13x9-inch baking dish. Stir in 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) Parmesan. Add chicken; turn to coat both sides with sauce. Cover with foil.

BAKE 30 min. Uncover.

TOP with remaining cheeses; bake 5 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF) and cheese is melted.

Recipe adapted from Kraft Foods

Here is the my sauce recipe that I used instead of the bottled spaghetti sauce.

Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

1 quart tomatoes, I drain about half of the liquid so the spaghetti is not watery.
1- 6 oz can tomato paste
2- 8 oz. tomato sauce
1 packet of spaghetti seasoning
1 can of mushrooms, drained (optional)

Combine ingredients in sauce pan, bring to a boil and then simmer for 15-20 min.

Pineapple Power

Did you know that a pineapple is one of the world's most healthiest foods? In fact, one cup of fresh pineapple provides 94 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C, and pineapple also contains bromelain, a digestive enzyme that reduces inflammation and helps the body absorb protein. I definitely love pineapple, except on pizza, but I even love it more finding out these wonderful things.

Pineapple Crush Smoothie

Blend Together

1 cup frozen pineapple (fresh, not canned)

(I actually could not find frozen pineapple in the freezer section so I bought a fresh pineapple and cut it up and froze mine own.)

1/4 of a frozen very ripe banana

1 (6 oz.) can Dole Pineapple Orange Juice

Makes 1-8 oz glass

Sunday Will Come

Planting Peas and Pretty Princesses

Last Saturday we planted peas in our garden. We try to get the kids involved with the process so they will appreciate their food and where it comes from. Audrey immediately loved digging in the dirt.

Aria and Audrey "helping"

Audrey still digging

Aria went off and started reading a book.

Finally the fun part of throwing in the peas and covering them up.

On last Sunday since Easter Sunday is General Conference I dressed up the girls for church.

This is not Audrey's Easter dress, she refused to wear it. So this is one of Aria's old dresses. I was so bummed that Audrey would not wear her new dress. But she is getting a mind of her own and very stubborn.Pretty Princesses

Miss Posy

Someone did not want to share the rock.

I love my girls!