Fun in the Sun

This is how we have spent our past couple days of warm weather and (mostly) sunshine.

Joseph has loved it.
But I just wonder....
Why does my child always have a stick in his mouth? Crawl softly and chew on a big stick? I don't think that's how it goes, bud.

Caramel Baked French Toast

This is one of my favorite breakfast dishes (when I'm not concerned with calories). I've made it when I've had people stay with us. I've made it for breakfast potlucks. I even made it for my parents this weekend. It's really good because you do most of the work the night before and then all you have to do is pop it in the oven in the morning. I know I hate to do a bunch of prep early in the morning.

I will say that if you have issues with foods that kinda stick to your teeth like my husband does, then this may not be the dish for you. If you are like the rest of us (normal...jk) people, then try this. You'll like it.

Caramel Baked French Toast (from Pillsbury Annual Recipes)

Topping:
6 Tbsp butter
1/3 c heavy cream
1 c packed light brown sugar
1 Tbsp light corn syrup

Toast
8 slices day old french bread cut diagonally (you can use more slices if your bread is smaller...say baguette sized)
3 eggs
1/2 c milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Heat the topping ingredients in a saucepan over med to med low heat stirring constantly until melted and combined. Don't boil.

Pour topping into a greased 9x13 glass dish.

Beat eggs with milk, vanilla and salt. Dip bread in egg mixture. Place bread in a single layer over the topping.

Cover and refrigerate overnight (at least 8 hrs).

Bake uncovered at 400 for 20-25 minutes. Flip the slices of bread over and serve.

This is also delicious cold and left over...just so you know. :)

Personal Chef for a Weekend

I just love this picture. I was playing fetch with the dogs. You can see how focused Shyann is, but Shelby...he's a bit ADD.

Well, I told ya'll about me cooking for my parents this past weekend. I have to say that it was successful. Now, it's not like I've never cooked this many meals in a weekend, but I've never cooked this many meals in a weekend for my parents. My dad tends to like what he likes. As I said before, he's not real big on experimental.

Here's breakfast Saturday morning:
Caramel Baked French Toast (recipe to come later), bacon, and eggs. I don't think Dad was real keen on the french toast. That's fine...Michael isn't either, but that's why we had bacon and eggs! I think Mom and I could live on the french toast. YUM!

Michael, Munchkin, and I had lunch with my friend Joanie on Saturday, so I didn't cook then. Here is what we had for supper:
Garlic Butter Roast Chicken, roasted asparagus, and fococcia bread. This was a HIT! My dad ate like half the chicken....so I think he liked it ok. The bread was sooooo good! I had never made it before.

I failed to take any food pictures Sunday.
I didn't plan on making breakfast on Sunday since we usually have food at church. Joseph was up a good bit of the night throwing up, which was very traumatic for me since he's never done that before. I still don't have any idea what caused it. So, we missed church. :(

For lunch we had Slow cooker london broil, rice, and broccoli with lemon butter.
For supper we had the Other White Meat Pizza. It was all good.

Since I've been home, I've eaten mostly cereal and KFC. Michael is out of town and my kitchen is closed except to cook mac n cheese for the Munchkin.

Anyway, the Munchkin is asleep and I'm about to finish watching Eat Pray Love. Have a good one!

Joseph just loves his Shelby. Shelby...not so much...unless Joseph is eating. Then he LOVES Joseph because Joseph loves to share his food.

Anyway...I made these today. All I can say is GOODNESS!! I am usually immune to rich foods. People will be like..."this is sooo rich, I can't eat much." And I'm all like, "I could eat the whole thing!" But these, these are rich. I finished icing them right after Michael got home and couldn't wait to try them. I had made them for him as a Valentine's treat. Well, we shared one. I don't know if it's because I grazed while I made them, but I was good with half. I figured we would have another one for dessert, but we're both still good. They are fantastic, though. I fully recommend them if you have time to make them and 50 sticks of butter laying around. :) It only took me 3 hours to make them. But of course, I had help from the Munchkin, so it probably wouldn't really take that long for a normal person.

Well, we are off to TN tomorrow for the weekend again. Let's hope for better sleep from the Munchkin than last weekend. I'm pretty excited because I'm shutting down my kitchen for the weekend and moving into my mom's. Yep, I'm fixing the meals this weekend. I wanted to do something nice for my parents. It might not be so nice for dad though....he's not usually very big on experimentation. But I think I picked some things he'll still like. I guess we'll see! He can just eat cupcakes if he doesn't like anything else. :)

Great Green Beans

I don't post enough side dish recipes. The main dishes and desserts seem to get all the credit, but side dishes are important too! These days, I usually throw a box of frozen veggies in the microwave and call it a day. These are pretty quick though and I've gotten a few people who tried them out of our wedding cookbook that rave about them. I think they are pretty good and an excellent way to spruce up a can of green beans. Now, I make these just any old way but I'll give you a base recipe that you can tweak according to your tastes.

Great Green Beans
2 cans green beans (I used French style...that's why they look funny in the picture.)
1 cube beef bouillon
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp butter
1 pinch garlic powder
1 pinch black pepper

Drain green beans, reserving half the liquid.

Dissolve bouillon cube in reserved liquid in a sauce pan over med high heat.

Add green beans to the liquid. Add Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, butter, garlic powder, and pepper.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes (or until the rest of your meal is done..I think I've cooked them 30 minutes before). Serve.
Enjoy! Please don't judge the shape of my ham steaks...I cut some ham off of my "chunk o ham" to cube for some soup and did some bad planning. So, they had a flat edge. They ate just the same, just so you know!

Munchkin Madness

We went to my parents' house for the first time in 6 weeks (an eternity for me) this past weekend. The Munchkin, who had gotten in such a good sleep groove for the past little bit, decided not to sleep this weekend. I'm talking the shortest of naps (if he took one at all) and being up most of the night. For the most part, he was in good spirits (amazingly). We chalked it up to all sorts of things...teething, growth spurt, too cold, too cramped/uncomfortable in his pack n play, getting sick....any number of excuses and who knows if any of them are the culprit. He doesn't tend to sleep as well at his Grandparents' as he does at home, but he doesn't usually do nearly as bad as this weekend.

We even went out and bought a crib for my parents' house. Had to buy it at Wal-Mart of all places. UGH. It kills my soul to buy a pack of gum at Wal-Mart, much less a piece of furniture. But if it would help my baby rest, then so be it. I would shop at the devil store. Well, it didn't help my baby rest. Maybe it will in the future. I'm still holding out hope that we didn't just throw money down the drain.

He did sleep for nearly 3 hours during the car ride home. But then, last night, the anti-sleeper struck again at bedtime. He was sleepy at 7:15 which is the normal beginning to our bedtime routine. Well, after wrestling with him for some time, he was still awake at 8:45. I had HAD it. I was tired and grumpy and irritated. I put him in his crib and was just done with it. He fussed about that. I mean, isn't this sleep stuff supposed to get easier? He's over 10 months old.....shouldn't we be moving forward instead of backward? And shouldn't I be better able to handle this stuff when it happens? Because I seem like I'm a lot shorter tempered when it come to sleep issues...I'm pretty good with other issues. I discussed my feelings with Michael and he didn't think things were as bad as I was making them out to be. He thinks things have improved...and I'm sure they have...I was just having a low point.

Well, while we were discussing that, Munchkin actually put himself to sleep. I went to bed shortly thereafter and I didn't have to get up until 3...over 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep! It improved my outlook tremendously. I know I shouldn't worry and that he will sleep eventually, but it's so hard to be positive sometimes.

Also, it snowed again today. I am so sick of snow. Hurry up, Spring!

Cheddar Potato Soup

Since I've been back at the gym, I've been on the hunt for recipes for dishes that I can make earlier in the day or prep and have Michael throw them in the oven or whatnot. Even if I make it to an earlier class (5:00 PM), I still don't get home until close to 6:30 and then it's really had to make a meal and eat before Joseph needs to go to bed. I have found soups to be a good option and we've been eating a lot of them. Plus, they are great reheated and thus make good lunches for me and the Munchkin.

Here's one that I made a little bit ago. I adapted it from Taste of Home. Here's how it's made:

Cheddar Potato Soup
Serves 10ish

1/2 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 c butter
5 c peeled, cubed potatoes
3 c water
3 cups milk, divided
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 c all purpose flour
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
6-8 slices of bacon

In a dutch oven, saute onion and celery in butter for 5 minutes.

Add Potatoes and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Stir in 2 c milk, bouillon, salt, and pepper. Combine flour and remaining milk until smooth. Add to the soup gradually.

Bring to a boil and cook and stir for a couple minutes or until thickened.

Reduce heat and add the cheese. Stir until cheese is melted.

Cook the bacon and crumble over top of soup.

Enjoy!!


This is a really awesome super rich tasty soup. There is nothing light about it. Just the thing to eat when you get home from the gym! :) I work out really hard so I deserve a splurge occasionally. Tonight class was so hard I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck. I think I'll be hitting the bed soon!