Baked French Toast with Berries

This is another one of my favorite Breakfast recipes. This is often served at our MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schooler's) Brunch. It is seriously delicious! It's French bread, soaked overnight in a mixture of eggs, milk and vanilla. Then topped with a streusel like crumb topping, fresh berries and baked. Then again topped with Fresh sliced Strawberries and finished with a dusting of Powdered Sugar. Come on! Yum!

This recipe serves about 6-8, Double if making for a large crowd.

1 French Bread Loaf (Cut into 1 inch squares)

3 Eggs

3 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Ts. Vanilla

2 1/4 cups milk (Sometimes If I'm feeling naughty, I will do 1 1/4 cup milk, and 1 cup half & half)

1/2 cup Flour

6 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon (If you have "Pumpkin Pie Spice, try using it instead, it's delicious!)

1/4 cup Butter (cut in small slices for topping)

1 1/2 cups Fresh Berries (I use Blueberries, Raspberries and Blackberries)

1 cup Fresh Sliced Strawberries

Powdered Sugar for dusting

Directions:

Grease a 9x13 baking dish.  Place bread squares in the dish.  It's ok if they overlap.

In Medium bowl, lightly beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and milk (and/or half and half if using)

Pour mixture over bread squares, toss lightly.  Make sure if the slices are overlapping that you spoon the liquid in between and all around the pieces.  You want every piece soaked!

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven 375.

In small bowl, combine flour, butter, brown sugar and spices.  Cut in butter slices until mixture resembles course crumbs.  Scatter mixed berries (EXCEPT STRAWBERRIES) over bread and sprinkle  evenly with crumb mixture. 

Bake 30 minutes, covered with foil, and 10-15 minutes un-covered until golden brown.

Top with fresh sliced Strawberries and a dusting of Powdered Sugar.

The photo was from Taste of Home website, although the recipe slightly different.

I don't know who to give credit for the recipe because it's in our MOPS group. I found many similar recipes on the web.

Menu #49

Monday: Fajita Panini's

Homemade Potato Chips

Tuesday: Skirt Steak

Chili Roasted Potatoes

Broccoli

Wednesday: Penne Pasta

(Chicken, Goat Cheese, Fresh Tomatoes, Pesto)

Green Salad

Thursday: Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Cole Slaw & Fried Onions

Friday: Taco Salad

Chips & Salsa

Saturday: Chicken with Spinach & Pepper Jack

Mashed Potatoes

Fajita Panini

Last Christmas I got a panini press. It's been ok - just trying to figure it out with as less mess as possible.

I also got/get the Food Network Magazine - It's been ok - just trying to figure that out with as less mess as possible, too. In each magazine they have little booklets that you can remove. In each booklet are 50 recipes - all focused on one thing such as, pasta sauce, pizza, after-school snacks, summer drinks, burgers, etc... (If I could just get these little booklets, and forget the magazine, I would!)

So, in their October 2010 magazine, Food Network inserted their booklet on..... 50 PANINI!

It totally rekindled my love for panini.

Last night I made Fajita Panini -

Yes. Fajita Panini.

I followed their instructions - which are so simple.

1. Brush the inside of a split sub (I used a crusty loaf of bread) with olive oil.

2. Fill with sliced grilled chicken (I used rotisserie chicken), sauteed peppers and onions, and shredded pepper jack cheese (I used sliced pepper jack).

3. Press and cook until golden.

So your list of ingredients looks something like this:

-- Sliced Chicken Breast (Rotisserie, Grilled, or even that kind you can find in the frozen section in the grocery store that's already cooked, you just reheat, do you know what I mean?)

-- Sliced Onions & Peppers (I used half of a red onion, a quarter of both red & green peppers)

-- Pepper Jack Cheese (sliced, shredded or slivered :))

-- Bread of Choice

-- olive oil for brushing

Then:

Heat your panini press. I heated mine to about 350 degrees. (if you are cooking on the stove, preheat a skillet with butter or oil to medium low. Add your sandwich, then press a heavy pan on top to weigh it down. Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side -- that's all from FN Mag)

Sautee your onions and peppers in a little bit of olive oil (i used butter, yum), about 5-8 minutes.

It's really all about assembly after that. Put as much chicken, onions, peppers, cheese as you like. Press it like a panini and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese is melty.

I think next time I will put another slice of cheese on it - and I had cilantro, which I totally forgot to put on it. But I think it would have been so good in it, too.

Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!!

Menu #48

Monday: Asparagus & Shiitake Risotto

Garlic Bread

Tuesday: Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter

Tortellini

Wednesday: BLT Skewers

Crusty Bread

Thursday: Pepper Jack & Spinach Stuffed Chicken

Mashed Potatoes

green beans

Friday: 16 minute beef & bean burritos

Saturday: Pizza

Back-to-School Breakfasts: French Toast Sticks

I had some time this morning, so I broke out the thick cut bread. The plan was to make a big batch and freeze whatever was left. I think I ended up freezing 5. So, the batch wasn't quite big enough for my 3 kiddo's and me.

French Toast Sticks

8 slices of thick cut bread

2 T butter

4 eggs

1/4 cup sugar (or if using sugar substitute, cut in half again)

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla (I always use a little more. i love that stuff!)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 T orange juice

Preheat oven to 375, place the butter on a baking sheet in the oven to start warming.

Cut the bread into 3rds.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl (i always end up pouring it into a shallow bowl - easier to dip the bread in) and beat well to combine.

Dip the bread sticks into the egg mixture and place on the warm baking sheet (make sure to swirl the butter around the whole baking sheet).

Bake for about 30 minutes, flipping the sticks over halfway through the cooking process to toast both sides.

TO FREEZE: allow the sticks to cool thoroughly, place in a freezer bag. To reheat, place in a toaster oven or oven at 375 for approximately 8 minutes. They can be microwaved for a couple of minutes, but may be a bit soggy...

Back-to-School Breakfasts: Yogurt & Fresh Fruit

This morning I hit a home-run. My Kindergartner loves yogurt. Today, I simply put a few pieces of fresh fruit on top. Raspberries, Blackberries and banana's. Try some granola on top, too.

For the last 6 months, I've been buying greek yogurt. It has a higher protein value as well as less sugar than regular yogurt. All of which makes you fuller and last longer in your body. Most resources say to get the low-fat or non-fat version, because it can be high in saturated fat. I never paid much attention to the brand I buy, but it turns out mine is full fat. I'm not too worried for my kids, they all need to put on some weight, but you may care. So think about that when your standing in front of the yogurt aisle.

Greek yogurt is also richer and thicker than traditional yogurt. All of which adds to the texture and flavor. The kids find it tastes more like a dessert than a healthy snack or, in this case, breakfast.

Back-to-School Breakfasts: Birds Nest

For this mornings try-out, I made Birds Nests...

With a piece of whole wheat bread, make a cut-out with and shape cookie cutter you have. Try to make sure the cutter fits within the perimeter of the crust, so your nest stays pretty.

I buttered the toast and put it on a pan that was warmingover a medium heat. Then crack your egg and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Then flip it over (i had to use 2 spatula's this morning to make sure it flipped cleanly) and let it cook for a couple of more minutes.

The finished product. A fried egg inside a lightly toasted (and buttered!) piece of toast.

The yolk was still soft, too!

I'm scoring big with my 3 year old, but the Kindergartner is still wanting cold cereal. ~sigh~