I love brunch. I wish we could all stop what we're doing and have brunch every day at 10:00 A.M. I am ALWAYS hungry at 10:00 and I just love brunch food. Unfortunately, that's not realistic so I am limited to Saturday mornings brunches. This Sweet Orange French Toast recipe is a perfect brunch food because I can make it ahead of time and store it in the freezer. I put the frozen toasts on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven for half and hour and viola - brunch! Sweet Orange French Toast 8 ounce package cream cheese 4 eggs ¼ cup sour cream 1 cup milk 2 loaves French bread 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla ¾ cup orange marmalade 1 cup milk 2 ½ cups chopped nuts
Dip bread in egg, turn and then dip in nuts.
To serve: Place frozen french toast on baking sheet and bake 30-35 minutes at 350. Serve with maple syrup. I served these yummy little treats at Christmas time to my family. They are a great brunch item to have tucked away in the freezer.
Change up the type of bread or the kind of nuts to put your own spin on this yummy french toast. Ciao!
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Pasta and bread are my comfort foods. (Must be the Italian in me.) There is nothing like sitting down to a big bowl of pasta topped with the very best Parmesan cheese and a thick slice of freshly baked Italian bread to go with it. Unfortunately, consuming that amount of carbs in one meal means that I have to do even more insanity workouts to burn them off. (Worth it.) Even though the carbs are hard for me to burn, the kids love them and they crave pasta and bread. With their super active schedules, they need the carbs for energy so I try and incorporate big pasta dinners into our menu at least twice a month. (It's a great a excuse for me to eat them too.) I've made this baked bow tie pasta for several years now and it's really good. You can substitute your favorite pasta for the farfalle to make it your own. Trust me - when this dish comes out of the oven, bubbling over with cheese - you will hardly be able to wait for it to cool before you dig in. Baked Bow Tie 1 pound cottage cheese 28 ounces tomato sauce 2 eggs 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes 3 ounces Parmesan cheese 1 teaspoon oregano 1 pound bow tie pasta ½ cup fresh basil, chopped 2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon sugar 5 cloves garlic, minced ¾ teaspoon cornstarch 1 cup heavy cream 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, diced
Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes at 350. Remove foil and bake 3 more minutes. There is something about pasta that has been baked with cheese that I just can't resist. This is so good.
Ciao! Surely, I'm not the only mom with a teenager who forgets until 9:30 at night to tell me that he needs treats for school for the following morning? I will spare you all of the "not so pleasant" details of the conversation regarding these much needed snacks but I should tell you in his defense however, that he did offer to make the snacks himself. With my son standing in front of me, I had a split second decision to make: allow my 16 year old to make a batch of cookies - unassisted - and face the mess that would inevitably be left in the kitchen or --- bake them myself. As much as I love to have him help in the kitchen, I decided that I didn't have enough energy to clean up after him that night. (Sometime's it's just quicker and easier to make something myself.) I turned to a recipe for chocolate chip cookie cake on Thatssoyummy.com because it was the easiest thing that I could thing of to make on such short notice. Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake 1 stick butter, unsalted 1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup light brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 large egg Cream the butter, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined.
Bake until lightly golden and puffy around the edges (the center should still feel quite soft), 18 – 22 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and then run a paring knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Cool for at least 4 hours before turning the cake out of the pan and onto a large plate. Slice then serve… So if any of you are faced with a late night baking project, try this chocolate chip cookie cake. Kids love it.
Ciao! If you missed yesterday's post featuring Chicken Marinara, you need to check it out because today's post is a continuation of that delicious meal. I found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website and it looked really good. The original recipe was for Baked Zucchini Sticks and Sweet Onion Dip. I decided to forgo the dip and serve mine with a side of marinara that I had made for the Chicken Marinara. (2 dishes - 1 sauce) Baked Zucchini Sticks 3 medium zucchini, unpeeled, cut into 3"-long stick 1 tablespoon salt 1 cup Panko bread crumbs scant 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1 tablespoon Pizza Seasoning or mixed Italian herbs olive oil spray 1/2 cup egg substitute; or 2 large eggs; or 3 egg whites, lightly beaten
Combine the Panko, Parmesan, and pizza seasoning; set aside. Beat 1 egg with 1 Tablespoon water. If you're making this recipe at the same time as the Marinara Chicken, omit the seasoning and use the same egg and panko bowls for dipping. Make sure that you coat your zucchini sticks before you dip your chicken. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment, and spray the parchment with olive oil. Dredge sticks a few at a time in the egg, then roll in the crumb mixture. Bake sticks for 12 minutes, turn over, and bake for an additional 8 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. This may be my new favorite way to eat zucchini. I loved that the zucchini maintained a nice crunch instead of the mushy texture of traditional baked zucchini. Dipping the sticks in marinara sauce made them feel more like part of the meal as opposed to a random side dish. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that these zucchini sticks are delicious. I will be making these again soon.
Ciao! It took me exactly 24 hours after receiving my new Cooking Light magazine to make my first recipe out of the new issue. The pages of my magazine weren't even wrinkled yet. This recipe for Crisp Chicken Marinara was exactly what I had been craving for dinner. I had never cooked chicken marinara like this before and I was surprised how easy it was. I made some baked zucchini sticks to go along with my chicken marinara. I'll post the recipe for the zucchini sticks on tomorrows blog - you won't want to miss it. Marinara Chicken 2 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 3 garlic cloves, minced 1/3 cup red wine 1 1/2 cups low sodium marinara 1/3 cup pitted olives, chopped 5 Tablespoons water 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 egg, beaten 2 ounces Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Combine remaining 1 Tablespoon water with egg in a shallow dish. Grate 1 ounce of cheese into panko bread crumbs. Coat chicken in egg mixture and dredge in panko. The chicken marinara was a big hit. It was pretty much the reverse of most chicken Parmesan recipes. Cooking the chicken in the marinara sauce kept it moist and flavorful. Breading the cooked chicken and then just browning it quickly in the skillet really cut down on the amount of oil that was needed. I was a big fan of the semi-homemade marinara sauce. The salty olives and the red wine added a nice depth of flavor to the sauce. It was delicious.
Ciao! |
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