Filled French Toast

filling
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c honey or pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
grated zest of 1 small orange
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/4 c finely chopped nuts (almonds, pecans, etc), toasted, or shredded sweetened or unsweetened dried coconut (optional)

1 lb loaf white bread, preferably egg bread, trimmed of crusts

egg wash
1 c milk
3 large eggs
1/4 c flour
3 tbs sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

1 tbs unsalted butter
1tbs vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 400. Lightly butter a baking sheet. Mix cream cheese, brown sugar, honey, vanilla, zest, cinnamon, salt, and nuts together. Cut the loaf into 1-inch-thick slices; you probably will get 8 slices. Carefully work the knife into one side of each slice of break to create a pocket that you can open with your fingers. Spoon an equal amount of filling into each pocket. Whisk the milk, eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla and salt in a shallow bowl. Soak the bread in the egg mixture until thoroughly saturated but not falling apart. Heat butter and oil in a skillet over medium-low. Add as many slices of bread to the skillet as will fit without crowding and cook until the the underside is just lightly golden. Turn the bread and cook until the second side is lightly golden. As each slice is cooked, transfer it to the baking sheet. Continue cooking the French toast, adding more butter and oil as needed. Bake the sauteed slices until puffed and golden, about 6 minutes. Serve immediately with powdered sugar, maple syrup, or honey.

*Notes* We used honey, I'm too cheap to pay for maple syrup. I used an egg bread which worked well. I wouldn't use French bread or anything that doesn't have a firmer structure. I'm not sure if it could withstand the stuffing. After the bread is stuffed, it looked like the stuffing would ooze out during cooking. It did a little, but not much. You could refrigerate the bread after it is stuffed, maybe 30 minutes. Because I used an electric griddle to brown the toast, I didn't use the butter or oil. It was a little time consuming because I was making it by myself with the girls wanting to "help," the phone ringing, diaper changing, etc. I would make it again though. It's pretty rich, the girls split a piece and one should fill you up, especially with side dishes. The recipe also suggests putting apple butter or a thick fruit preserve in with the filling, would be worth a try. We also thought about lemon zest instead of orange, but the orange is really good. I hope you enjoy.

Picadillo

Don't judge this recipe by the picture, or the ingredient list for that matter. It doesn't look all that appealing, and some of the ingredients are odd in their combinations, but this is very tasty.

1 lb ground beef
1 sm onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 c golden raisins
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/4 c slivered almonds (optional)

1. Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until beef is no longer pink; drain. Place mixture into slow cooker.

2. Add tomatoes, raisins, chili powder, vinegar, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, and pepper flakes to slow cooker. Cover; cook on low 6-7 hours. Stir in salt. Garnish with almonds, if desired.

4 servings (although, if you put it in tortillas, it will serve more)

*Notes*
The recipe doesn't give ideas on how to serve this; we like it in corn tortillas with cheese and sour cream. If you make this and have other ideas, let me know. I'm sure it would be good over rice too. I have occasionally added the salt by accident before letting it cook. I haven't noticed a difference either way. I haven't ever used the almonds. I think the raisins are nearly the best part. They plump up during cooking and add just a little sweet to cut the spice, not that it's terribly spicy though. I have used regular raisins instead of golden and they were fine. I prefer the golden raisins though.

Saucy Southern Beef Ribs

I normally don't care for beef ribs, but thought this recipe was worth a try. We live down the street from a little grocery store that sells USDA Prime meat, I'm sure that helped things out in the flavor department.

4 lbs beef ribs, cut into 3 inch pieces or 4 lbs short ribs
10 c. cold water
1 c brown sugar, packed
1/3 c soy sauce
1/2 c ketchup
2 tsp prepared mustard
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 med onion
1/4 c Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c vinegar
1/4 c chili sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced

Place beef, water and onion in heavy stock pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until tender. Remove ribs and arrange in single layer in shallow roasting pan. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over ribs. Marinate one hour in refrigerator, turning often. Remove ribs from marinade and place under broiler or grill. Broil until brown and crisp, basting often with marinade. Makes 4 servings.

Notes: We cut the meat into individual ribs. We let this boil for three hours and marinate for 2 hours. We basted them 4 times. 1/4 cup of chili sauce sounded like a lot, but was just fine. Not too spicy, but just a little kick. Michael doesn't usually like ribs, in fact, I was surprised he was willing to try this recipe out. We really liked them, even the girls liked them. I would say this serves more than 4.

Cinnamon Streusel Cake

As you can see from the picture, this has an interior of yummy, cinnamon goodness. We topped ours with whipped cream, which balanced out some of the sweetness.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8x8 in baking pan or a 9 in spring form pan with cooking spray and set aside (I used the spring form).

1/2 cup butter, soft
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl, mash the soft butter, 1/4 cup flour, brown sugar, sugar and cinnamon with a fork. It will be creamy.

In another small bowl combine 1 1/4 cups of flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl beat the egg and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the melted butter, milk and vanilla. Add the flour mixture all at one time and stir together until just incorporated. Don't over mix.

Pour into prepared pan and dot surface with the brown sugar mixture. Bake for 40 -50 min or until moist crumbs cling to a toothpick inserted in the middle.

Honey Bun Baked French Toast

4 tbs butter
4 eggs
3 tbs honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup pecans, toasted
pinch of allspice
2/3 cups apple cider or orange juice
6 slices thick bread

Preheat oven to 400. Whisk cider, eggs, cinnamon, salt, and allspice together in a shallow bowl. Place butter and honey in a 13x9-inch glass baking pan. Heat in the oven until the butter is melted and the honey is bubbling. Do not allow the mixture to take on any color. Remove the pan from the oven, stir to mix the honey and butter. Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a skillet until fragrant. Sprinkle the pecans over the honey and butter mixture.

While the butter and honey are melting, dip one or two slices of bread at a time in the egg mixture, turning until thoroughly saturated but not falling apart. Arrange the soaked bread over the nuts in the baking pan. Bake until the top is golden brown and the bottom is bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Notes - This is from the Joy of Cooking. The original calls for apple cider, but we rarely have cider and always have orange juice. Cider is bar far the best, but if you don't have any, juice is still tasty. I prefer orange over any other juice, because it seems to make the bread more tender. Be sure to let it soak for a bit, you don't want it to fall apart, but it needs to be pretty saturated. Be careful not to overcook this, the top doesn't brown as much as I expected it too. When it goes longer than 20 min, the syrup and pecans start to burn and the bread gets tough. This goes together really fast and is so yummy. Those who have a sweeter tooth will want a little extra syrup, but it's good without any extra. Enjoy!

Carrot Cake

I usually don't care for carrot cake, but this is yummy. The frosting really makes this cake. Chocolate improves everything!

Cake
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
20 oz carrots, shredded (about 3 1/4 cups)
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup crushed pineapple, well-drained

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
1 1/2 lbs cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups white chocolate chips, melted
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp lemon zest
chopped peacans, toasted

Preheat oven to 350. Spray bottom of three 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray and then line with parchment paper, spraying bottom again.

Combine eggs and oil in a large mixing bowl. Beat 2 minutes with a mixer on medium speed. Add 1 cup sugar and continue mixing 2 minutes. Add remaining sugar and mix 4 minutes.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg; add to egg mixture, beating on low speed until blended (about 1 minute). Add carrots, nuts and pineapple; mix until well combined.

Divide batter evenly among pans.

Bake 60 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.

Cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Run knife around edge of cakes and remove from pans. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To prepare icing, place cream cheese in mixing bowl; beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add melted chocolate a little at a time, continuing to beat at medium speed. Add butter a little at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl; add lemon zest and beat until combined.
Remove cakes from refrigerator. Ice the top of one layer. Place second layer on top; ice top. Place third layer on top; ice top and sides of cake. Press chopped nuts into sides of cake.
Serves 20

Notes - The recipe said you could use 2 9-inch pans instead of the 8-inchers, increasing the time to 75 minutes. I did this and found the baking time to be too long. I took the cakes out with 12 minutes remaining and they were done. Next time I'll stick with the 60 min and add if necessary. Since I did two cakes instead of three, I split the cakes in half to make four layers. The ratio of cake to icing would have been too much for me (I don't like thick icing - this way it was more spread out). I also didn't press the nuts into the sides of the cake. I don't like a lot of nuts either. The original called for walnuts, but I swapped those for pecans. Toasting adds a lot of flavor, so don't skip this step (I just heat a skillet and toast them on the stove top). I've had two pieces of this cake now and I like it better after it's been in the refrigerator. The first time had soft icing, and the second time the chocolate and butter and gotten firm again. Enjoy!

Blueberry French Toast Bake

1 loaf French Bread, cubed (if you have an egg bread like challa, even better)
1 pound Cream Cheese, cubed
1 cup Blueberries
12 Eggs
1/3 cup Maple Syrup
2 cups Milk

1. Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish. A lighter color works best for this recipe. Cut the bread into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Cut the cream cheese into 1-inch cubes. Layer the bread cubes and cream cheese cubes in two layers in the bottom of the dish, with the bread on the bottom. Pour the blueberries over top.

2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, add the maple syrup and milk. Pour over the bread mixture and cover loosely with foil. Place dish in refrigerator with weights.

3. Refrigerate overnight or at least 3 to 4 hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Reposition foil so that dish is tightly covered. Bake for 30 minutes covered, then uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes, check at this time, it may take up to 40 minutes without the foil.

Blueberry Syrup
1 cup Sugar
2 tbs Cornstarch
1 cup Cold Water
1 tbs Unsalted Butter
1 cup Blueberries

Stir sugar, cornstarch and water over high heat in a saucepan. Add butter and blueberries and cook until the blueberries pop. Serve warm over French Toast Bake.

Notes
Cream cheese is normally sold in 8 oz blocks, so make sure that you get two. It will look like a lot of cream cheese when it is all in the pan. I’m too cheap to use maple syrup in this; regular pancake syrup works fine. To weight the dish, you can use another 9x13-inch dish placed on top, adding cans or whatever you can find to fit inside, just make sure it's even. If you don’t use another dish, just make sure that it is equally weighted. Be careful though, this easily overflows. Don’t skip this step, otherwise you will have some parts that don’t get any egg mix and will burn. Other parts will be too saturated with egg mix to cook thoroughly. With the syrup, be sure that the cornstarch and water are thoroughly mixed before heating, lumpy syrup is just as gross as lumpy gravy. This dish will serve 8-12.