Blueberry French Toast

I love make a head meals. This is a breakfast dish you make the night before. The blueberry sauce is divine. This came from the Taste of Home Most Requested Recipes cookbook and we loved it!

12 slices day-old Texas toast, crusts removed

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

12 eggs

2 cups milk

1/3 cup maple syrup

Sauce:

1 cup sugar

2 T cornstarch

1 cup water

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 T butter

Cut bread into 1 inch cues; place half in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Cut cream cheese into 1 inch cubes and place over bread. Top with blueberries and remaining bread cubes.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk and syrup; mix well. Pour over the bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 25-30 minutes longer or until golden brown and center is set.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium hear; cook and stir for 3 minutes. Stir in blueberries; reduce hear. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until blueberries have burst. Stir in butter until melted. Serve over the french toast.

Asian Crunch Salad

Hi everyone! Courtney invited me to contibute to this blog a LONG TIME AGO, but all of a sudden I feel an urge to conribute. Maybe I will more often? Let me know if you like this salad! This may sound like a weird combination of ingredients, but this tastes amazing.

Asian Crunch Salad

Green stuff:

1 head cabbage, shredded
1 bunch green onions, chopped

Crunchy stuff:
2 (3 oz.) packages ramen noodles, crushed
1 c. slivered almonds
2 t. sesame seeds

Sauce stuff:
3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 c. distilled white vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
2 T. soy sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix crunchy ingredients together. Spray a cookie sheet lightly with PAM. Spread crunch ingredients out over the cookie sheet and bake for 7-8 minutes or until lightly toasted.
2. Cut/chop all the Green stuff.
3. Prepare the Sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients.
4. Keep all the parts of the salad separate until it is time to eat. You want the crunch to be crunchy!

Enjoy!

-Mary

Cilantro Lime Rice

Cilantro Lime Rice
2 T. butter
1 1/4 c. rice
2 1/4 c. chicken broth
3/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 lime, juiced
2 T. cilantro, chopped
1/4 t. cumin
Directions
In a skillet, melt butter and add rice. Let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 18-20 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.

I served this with the Easy Black Bean and Chicken Enchiladas. Also from the Deals to Meals website.

Easy Black Bean and Chicken Enchiladas

I tried a new recipe tonight and it was delicious! Thought I would share it with everyone. I got it from the Deals to Meals website, which I have been trying this week.

Easy Black Bean and Chicken Enchiladas
2 c. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/2 onion, chopped
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. chili powder
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1 (15oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chilies
1 (10 oz.) can red enchilada sauce
6-8 flour or corn tortillas
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (Mexican blend if desired)
1 (8 oz.) container sour cream
Directions:
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and saute chicken and 1/2 onion until cooked through with a little olive oil or butter. Turn off the heat and add the chopped cilantro, cumin, black beans, chili powder, and green chilies to the chicken and onions. Stir until combined. Spread half of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of an 11x17 baking dish. Place 1/2 of the tortillas on the bottom of the pan, overlapping if needed. Spoon 1/2 of the chicken mixture onto the tortillas. Sprinkle with half of the cheese and half of the sour cream. Spoon the remaining enchilada sauce over the cheese, and make another layer of the tortillas. Layer the remaining chicken mixture over the tortillas. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes in the oven. Remove the cover and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and dot with sour cream. Continue cooking uncovered for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until cheese melts. Serve.

Grandma Nila's Sugar Cookies

These are so yummy they will ruin your diet, trust me I know. I made these on Sunday thinking I had enough will power to resist, but I didn't! They are super moist and have the perfect texture for a sugar cookie. They are wonderful on their own, but even better with frosting.

Sugar Cookies
2 Cups butter, or lard
4 cups white sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups cream (sweet or sour)
2 tsp. vanilla
(I added 1 tsp. almond extract too because I like it in the cookies as well as the frosting)

Mix these ingredients together and then add:
6 tsp. baking powder (sweet cream)
or 4 tsp. baking powder, & 2 tsp. baking soda (sour cream) and 4 cups flour.

Mix together slightly then add 4 more cups of sifted flour. (You may need more flour if dough is still pretty sticky) Roll into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Put in fridge for 1 hour or freezer for 30 minutes. Don't skip this step because the dough needs to firm up again to roll out nicely. If you skip it the dough will stick and become a big mess.

once chilled, roll out to about 1/2 in thick and cut out. Put on a parchment lined or silicone mat lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Cool for about 3 minutes on pan before moving to a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting. Makes a lot of cookies

Grandma's Pink Frosting
1 cube butter, room temp
4 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
2 lbs. powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp. milk
Mix until your desired consistency and tint color of your choice (my grandma always did pink). Spread on cooled cookies.

Alfredo Sauce

This recipe came from a Worldwide Ward Cookbook series and it's full of recipes from around the world-I can't wait to try everything! Here is the first one we tried and we really liked it!


Alfredo Sauce

1/2 C. Sweet Butter

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

2 C. Heavy Cream

1/4 tsp. white pepper

1/2 C. Parmesan Cheese, grated

3/4 C. Mozzarella Cheese

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add garlic, cream, and white pepper, and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring frequently. Add parmesan cheese and simmer sauce for 8-10 minutes or until sauce has thickened and is smooth. When sauce has thickened, add mozzarella cheese and stir until smooth. STIR FREQUENTLY! Makes 5 servings.

Serve on your favorite noodles. We also like to add grilled chicken. So yummy and easy!

Creamy Mexican Noodles

I originally found this recipe on foodgawker.com from Annie's Eats. It's quick and easy and yummy. Below is her original recipe and what I did.

Ingredients:
1¼ lbs. ground turkey (I used beef)
8 oz. dry pasta shapes
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
4 tbsp. taco seasoning (I only used 3 1/2 T., I was worried it would be too salty if I put it all in. I thought this was enough seasoning.)
3 oz. cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
Salt and pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese, optional (I topped each serving with cheese.)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground turkey over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the turkey is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the turkey is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. Remove from the heat and top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.