Creme Brulee French Toast

Wow!  Oh WOW!  If you want to treat someone to an extra special, exceptional and truly decadent breakfast make them this Creme Brulee French Toast!  I was completely blown away by this recipe.  As soon as I tried it I said to Matt, "This might just be the best thing I've made in a long time."  I wasn't really sure what to expect when I tried out this recipe or just how sweet it would be.  In fact, when I served it I had syrup on the table.  You won't need syrup!  The bottom of the french toast gets an amazing, gooey yet somehow slightly crispy layer of delicious caramel.  You can serve it however you prefer, I inverted it so that the unbelievable caramel side is on top.

Lincoln helped me make this.  It is actually very very easy.  I love love love it when easy recipes taste outstanding!  Nothing fancy to the preparation so  let the kids in on the fun :)  Not that you need another reason to make this, but it is a make ahead recipe!  Mix it up the night before, sleep in and just pop it in the oven when you wake up!

Lincoln was so excited to help me make this for Daddy!

Creme Brulee French Toast  Source: Your Homebased Mom

Ingredients:

1/2 C unsalted butter
1 C packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp corn syrup
1 loaf of french bread or other artisan style bread
5 large eggs
1 1/2 C half and half
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange juice concentrate
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a small pan melt butter with brown sugar and corn syrup.  Stir until smooth.  Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. 
2. Cut bread into 1″ thick slices. Do not use end pieces. Arrange bread slices into pan, on top of sugar mixture.  Squeeze them to fit together.
3. In a bowl mix together eggs, half and half, vanilla, orange juice concentrate and salt.  Pour evenly over bread. 
4. Cover dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
5. Heat oven to 350 degrees and bring bread to room temperature before baking.
6. Bake bread mixture uncovered until edges of pale gold. Approx 30-40 minutes.

Quick Cheeseburger and Vegetable Bake

As you guys know Matt is not a big veggie eater.  I have been trying to slip vegetables into the food I make in hopes that it will go down with the rest of whatever he is eating.  As far as I know he still doesn't know of my mission :)  I like to have quick and easy recipes on hand for simple weeknight dinners and my neighbor recently gave me a Bisquick cookbook.  As I was flipping through it I saw this recipe for Quick Cheeseburger and Vegetable Bake.  I thought it may be just the ticket for an easy dinner for me and more vegetables for Matt :)  I literally laughed out loud when after dinner Matt announced that he liked the meal but it would be better if "you got rid of the veggies and added bacon".  Ahh, I love this man! 

The Bisquick cookbook showed this served with ketchup and pickles.  At first I wasn't sure if I would like the ketchup but I did.  I enjoyed vegetables mixed in and so did my little boys.  It was a fun twist.  I determined that I like Bisquick.  The crust was crispy and had a nice flavor.  I will be making this again- I just don't know if it will be the original recipe or the one Matt wants :)

Quick Cheeseburger and Vegetable Bake  Source:  Slightly adapted from The Ultimate Bisquick Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1/2 C chopped onion

1 (10.75 oz) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup

1 1/4 C frozen mixed vegetables

1 small can mushrooms (optional)

1/2 C milk

2 1/3 C Bisquick mix

2/3 C water

1 1/3 shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.  Generously spray the bottom and sides of a 15x10x1 inch jelly roll pan.

2. Cook ground beef and onions, drain.

3. Stir in soup, vegetables and milk.

4. In a separate bowl combine Bisquick and water until moistened.  Press into prepared pan.

5. Spread beef mixture over Bisquick in pan.  Sprinkle with cheese.

6. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes.

Honey Glazed Trail Mix

Last night I had a snack attack.  The boys were in bed and Matt wasn't hungry not that that was going to stop me- I needed something sweet but not too sweet and I needed it right then.  So I opened up our cabinets and started staring at the contents (c'mon you do that too right?)  The perfect snack did not jump out and land in my arms but I did see this recipe on the box of our generic Corn Pops cereal.  I was saved!  This trail mix was EXACTLY what I was hungry for. It turned out to be a good thing that Matt wasn't hungry because I was all too happy to sit there and munch away to my heart's content by myself :)

I was pleasantly surprised by the vibrancy of the flavor from the orange zest in the trail mix.  Even while baking it smelled so amazing. 

Honey Glazed Trail Mix  Source: Millville cereal box

Ingredients:

Cereal Mixture:

6 C Corn Pops

1 C shredded coconut (I omitted after looking at my sad bag of old opened coconut :)

1 C dried mixed fruit, coarsely chopped (I used Craisins)
1 C oatmeal
1 C raisins
1 C walnuts, coarsely chopped (I omitted)
1/2 C sunflower seeds

Glaze:
1/3 C butter or margarine
1/3 C honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp grated orange peel
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. In a large bowl combine all of the cereal ingredients together and set aside.
3. In a small saucepan, combine all glaze ingredients. 
4. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture comes to a full boil.
5. Boil for 1 minute.
6. Drizzle the glaze over the cereal mixture and stir to coat evenly.
7. Spread mixture in a greased 15x10x1 pan.  Bake for 10 minutes, stirring after the first 5 minutes.
8. Remove from oven.  Stir occasionally and allow to cool.

Strawberry Orange Smoothies

After making this Strawberry Orange Smoothie I decided to try and make smoothies on a regular basis.  Lincoln kept calling it a 'milkshake' and everyday since I first made it asked me to make more until I ran out of ingredients.  I definitely prefer to give him a healthy smoothie over his typical requests for candy, candy, candy.  The man has a one track mind and it is stuck on sweets :)  I loved the smoothness from the yogurt and the flavor was perfect.  I liked that you don't add any extra sugar, the yogurt provides enough sweetness combined just a tablespoon of honey.  Matt doesn't like yogurt very much so he thought it had a little too strong of a yogurt flavor but the two little boys and I were huge fans.  Soo good! 

Strawberry Orange Smoothie  Source: Betty Crocker

Ingredients:

2 C vanilla yogurt

10 oz frozen whole strawberries

2 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp honey

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Makes 2-3 servings.

2011 Memory Verse Challenge #1

Wow! One whole week of 2011 is in the books and I am still writing 2010 on everything!  As I mentioned last week Lydia challenged me to memorize 2 Bible verses a month with her during 2011.  My first verse is Zechariah 4:6.

Then he said to me, "This is what the Lord says to Zerrubbabel: It is not by force, nor by strength but my Spirit, says the Lord God Almighty.  Zechariah 4:6

I came across this verse this past week during my devotion time and it really struck me how I can try and try to get something to work but that it is the Lord that I need to look to in all the things I do.  When the Lord is behind my efforts things work seamlessly without excessive force or efforts of strength on my part.  With all the plans Matt and I have for this year I just love knowing that if it is the Lord's will it will work! 

Couldn't resist posting a picture of my two boys reading together.  For those of you who know Lincoln & Carson this is proof that they can sit quietly!!  I grabbed my camera as fast as I could before the moment was gone :)  I hope you all have a relaxing weekend.  I'll see you on Monday with more recipes!