Cream Cheese & Strawberry French Toast

I made breakfast this morning, so so good. My husband is absolutely loving this blog may I say. I went to good ol' Paula Deen's The Deen Family Cookbook.  The recipe was titled " T.J.'s Cream Cheese and Strawberry-Stuffed French Toast". I didn't have enough cream cheese to follow the directions so I did it my way.


I started out with my prep work. I used some organic heavy whipping cream and made some fresh whipped cream(added a couple pinches of sugar to sweeten). Next,I washed and sliced up my organic strawberries. I set these things aside for later.

Whipped Cream

French toast: using sliced white bread, I dipped them in whisked up eggs (both sides), then I melted some butter in a griddle over medium heat and cooked those bad boys until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

So the cooking part was done and I began to assemble. I took a piece of french toast, spread a thin layer of cream cheese, then topped that with some fresh whipped cream and a few sliced strawberries. I made one more layer and sprinkled a little bit of powdered sugar on top and some syrup.

cheeser's

Feta & Sundried Tomato stuffed chicken breast

Today was my 5 year old's first day of Kindergarten so, I had extra time to search the web for a new recipe. I found a good one!! I also did a much needed cleaning of my refrigerator!!

Chicken Breast Stuffed With Feta Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomato ( http://www.food.com/)

By Terrence Maguire on January 24, 2002

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

1 medium red bell pepper, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

5 large sun-dried tomatoes, diced

1 teaspoon thyme

8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled finely

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I use Italian style)

olive oil

salt

pepper

toothpick (or Butcher String)

green onion, chopped (for garnish)


Directions:

Prep Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 55 mins

1 Sauté garlic and red bell pepper, in Olive Oil, for about 3 minutes (just enough to"combine" the flavors).

2 Put aside to cool.

3 In a bowl, combine Feta cheese, breadcrumbs, thyme, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic and red pepper mixture.

4 Toss until well mixed (this will be your "stuffing").

5 Lay a flattened piece of chicken breast on a cutting board or your counter.

6 Put a 1/4 of the above mixture on the flattened chicken breast like you would be making a burrito and roll as tight as you can get it.

7 Secure it with a toothpick or butcher string.

8 Place chicken breast "roll" on a baking sheet (I spray it with Pam so it doesn't stick), brush with olive oil (this gives it a nice golden brown texture), and season with salt and pepper.

9 Preheat oven to 350°F.

10 Cook for about 35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 180°F.

11 I guess you could try it on a grill, but I never attempted it yet!

12 Garnish with chopped green onion and serve hot.
 
 
 
I followed the recipe pretty much the whole way except, that I garnished with fresh chopped Basil. I also used some of the extra stuffing I had left on top of sliced baguette and baked in the oven at 350degrees for 5 minutes. MY HUSBAND LOVED EM'!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
ENJOY!!!

finished product :0)

 

my clean frig

Tuesday night's dinner

Yesterday I was out of town all day visiting my sister in law so, nothing to post for Wednesday. But here is Tuesday night's dinner, finally.

I used my Better Homes and Gardens COOK BOOK: PINK edition cookbook for this one, well the meat sauce. I really like a thick heavy meat sauce on my pasta and used a multi-colored Rotini noodle. Just a little note: when I make a hearty sauce like this I like to use a pasta noodle that has some kind of ridges or holes. I do this b/c they pick up and hold the sauce better.

In a large skillet I added: 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef and began to brown it. Then, while it began to cook I added: 1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms(my own addition), 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon dried basil, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1 tsp dried oregano, and 1/2 tsp dried marjoram. I browned the meat thoroughly and drained the grease out. I then transferred the meat to a large saucepan and added 1 can diced tomatoes, 1 6-ounce can tomato paste, 1 tsp sugar,and 1 tablespoon EVOO. I let that simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes.

While, all of this was going on I boiled up my Rotini, salting it a little while cooking. And wah-la I was done. On top I did add a palm full of my 3 cheese blend, so good when its melting on top of the meat sauce.  To drink?? The honey and I had some California red table wine.

Menage a Trois 2009 California Red Wine

my meat sauce as it simmers

EAT ME!!!

An Oakie but a goodie

I didn't cook yesterday. It was a busy day of school clothes shopping and errand running. Sooo today you get breakfast and dinner. Check back later for a yummy dinner!!

Both sides of my family had this recipe: Chocolate gravy and biscuits. You do not even know how good this is. If you like chocolate you will love this; however, its quite sugary so if you are on a diet you should know.

When I was little, my Grandmas would always make this for me b/c its such a great treat. Good memories with this one. The recipe is a little rough b/c it was and always has been passed down word of mouth.

So,here it is: in a saucepan add 1 cup sugar, 1 heapin' tablespoon of Baking Cocoa, 1 heapin' tablespoon of flour, a dash of salt, and a dash of vanilla extract. To my dry ingredients I add some milk, I totally eyeball this part. Not too much though b/c once you heat the gravy and bring to a boil you want it to thicken up. Keep stirring or you will burn it! Once you bring it to a boil, keep stirring, it'll get to a gravy consistency. Then, turn down the heat and cook it to the thickness you like. When it gets there you are done.
I serve it on top of canned Grands biscuits and of course butter.

Chocolate Gravy and biscuits (OMG sooo good)

I'll have it on the side-dish

Ok, ok, I totally cheated for the main course tonight. But hey, I'm a mom of two that helps my husband run our business and sometimes I'm allowed to cook up a frozen lasagna alright? However; I did still cook up a healthy side dish for everyone. I prepared some roasted vegetables (my own recipe).

First heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Here were my ingredients: 1 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms, 1 1/2 cup chopped broccoli (stems included), 1 1/2 cup sliced red & yellow bell pepper, 4 whole carrots cut into slices, 1/2 of a sweet onion cut into chunks, and 3 cloves of minced garlic

Next I combined, in a separate bowl: 4 teaspoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 1/2(maybe 2) tsp balsamic vinegar, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. I stirred it all up good and tossed my veggies in. Toss up all the veggies, making sure they were all coated well, and put it on a baking sheet in a single layer.

Place in your 450 degree oven for 25 minutes, tossing occasionally until lightly browned. Then I called it good!! Pretty good for veggies ;-)

balsamic vinegar...yum

before getting tossed in the seasoning

I use CUTCO knives and utensils

finished product, colorful and soooo goood