Not so simple anymore...

So I kind of lost sight of the simple things the past two weeks. It was a crazy week and I became overwhelmed by all of the demands at work, home, and with friends/family. I am trying to learn to not care so much. It is a weird thing to be working at but I really need to let other people's drama not effect me and focus on the positives in my life.

Easter was amazing. My mom and brother came to town and we had an amazing time!!! We relaxed, swam, and ate amazing food. In addition to all else my camera broke which has made it hard to blog as I like to include photos.

Here is our Easter menu. We had a Quiche-Off between Courtney and Jeff. Courtney ended up winning but all of the food was delicious!

Stuffed French Toast Strata, Biscuits with maple butter, Crab and Gruyere Quiche (Jeff), Crab, broccoli, and Cheddar quiche (Courtney), Candied Bacon (WHICH WAS UNBELIEVABLE!), fresh fruit salad(from Kate, Deviled eggs from Dara, Lots of Champagne and OJ/Grapefruit/Cranberry, Courtney's Carrott Cake, and I cant remember what else but it was all amazing!!! We played washers and it was great fun to hang and talk with everyone!

Here is the recipe for my favorite contribution. It was a hit and with real maple syrup...yum yum!! I'd recommend  it to anyone for any occasion, especially because you can make it the day before.

Stuffed French Toast Strata (Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole)

INGREDIENTS:

1 (1 lb) loaf unsliced French Bread (I used an artisan loaf)
1 (8-ounce) pkg. Cream cheese, cubed
2 1/2 cups Combo of milk, half and half, or heavy cream
8 eggs (I use Egg Beaters)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Extra Maple Syrup for serving

 

Cut French bread loaf into 1 inch cubes (About 12 cups bread cubes) Grease a 13×9 inch baking pan.
To Assemble: In the prepared pan place half of the bread cubes. Top with the cream cheese cubes and then the remaining bread cubes.
With a blender or mixing bowl with a rotary beater, mix together the eggs, milk, melted butter, maple syrup and cinnamon until well combined. Pour the egg mixture evenly over bread and cheese cubes. Using a spatula, slightly press layers down to moisten.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours. Remove plastic wrap and bake in a 325 degree oven for 40-45 minutes or until the center appears to be set and the eggs are golden. Let stand for 10 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.


And because I could not leave you hanging, here is the recipe I used for candied bacon. There are so many recipes for this. I used thick cut maple smoked bacon from Costco. Delicious!!!

Candied Bacon

Ingredients

• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 pound thick sliced bacon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a broiler pan with aluminum foil, and position broiler rack/cooling rack on top of pan. Combine the brown sugar and cayenne in a shallow dish, stirring to mix well. Press the bacon firmly into the spiced sugar to coat well. Arrange the slices of bacon on top of the broiler rack in a single layer. If there is any sugar remaining in the dish, sprinkle it on top of the bacon slices evenly. Bake until the bacon is crisp and the sugar is bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain briefly, then to a plate or serving dish to cool. (Can be made several hours ahead) Serve warm or at room temperature.


Jeff says he fixed my camera so I will be back to blogging soon. :)

Night all!

Two Breakfast Cups

I just made these again! I wanted to have breakfast made for the week as I have to be at work early every day. Jeff is driving to New Mexcio tomorrow and I wanted to have some snacks for him.

Here is the recipe for these. I got tired of searching the web for it each time. I figured I'd save it with my few changes.

Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cups (Adapted from Little Green Bites cookbook.)

• 3 mashed bananas (the more ripe the better!)
• 1 cup vanilla Almond milk
•  1/2 cup egg beaters
• 1 tbsp Baking powder
• 3 cups (240g) Old Fashion or Rolled Oats
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
•  4 tbsp  mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

1. Mix all ingredients except the chocolate chips together, and let sit while you prepare the muffin pans.
 2. Spray a muffin pan and/or liners with with non-stick spray.
3. Stir the chocolate chips into the oatmeal batter.
4. Divide batter into 15 muffin cups. They should be just about filled.
5. Bake 20-30 minutes, you’ll see the edges just starting to brown and they will be firm to the touch. The muffins may stick when hot but are removed easily when cooled for a bit.

The other muffin cups that I will be making tomorrow morning are an adaptation of the Biggest Loser Jennie O Taco Muffin Cups. These are Jeff's absolute favorite. I am going to use Morning Star link sausage to make them instead of the turkey sausage links. The veggie links are cholesterol free. :) Here is what I did:

Ingredients
3 (6-inch) stone-ground corn tortillas
12 Jennie-O Turkey Store® Turkey Breakfast Sausage Links, cooked according to package instructions and cut in half widthwise
1/2 cup tomato salsa
2-1/4 cups liquid egg white or egg substitute
1/4 cup (1 ounce) finely shredded low-fat Cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Stack tortillas and cut into quarters. Cut quarters in half so you will have
8 wedges for each tortilla (and a total of 24 wedges). Spray each muffin
cup with olive oil cooking spray.
3. To assemble: place one tortilla wedge in each muffin cup, with the widest side at the bottom of the cup. Place a second tortilla wedge on the opposite side of the muffin cup so that the wide edges will be overlapping in the bottom of the cup, by about 1/2 inch. The tortilla wedge points will extend outside of the cup, about 1/2 inch straight up. Repeat for the other muffin cups.
4. Place two sausage halves (from one whole link) in each muffin cup, on top of the tortilla wedges.
5. Place a tablespoon of salsa on top of the sausage.
6. Measure 3 tablespoons of egg substitute into each muffin cup.
7. Bake 10 minutes or until eggs are just set and no longer wiggle. They will be slightly puffed. .
8. Working quickly, sprinkle each "muffin" with one teaspoon of cheese.

These saved well and are perfect when you reheat them in the microwave for one minute. I made them in paper cups the first time. Tomorrow, I am going to make them directly into the muffin tin pan as they stuck to the paper.

Sweet dreams!