{Recipe Recap} French Toast Casserole

I kinda can't believe I'm 1) doing two posts in one week and 2) sharing a recipe with you guys.  I could look and see how long it's been since I did either, but that'd take too much time, something I just don't have enough of to spare on such frivolity.  I just know it's been a long time.

I like this recipe because it's simple, both in ingredients and preparation.  Oh, and because it's DELICIOUS!  I didn't mention that yet?

The recipe calls for 18 slices of bread, but the bag of bread I bought only had 15 slices and I made it work.  I'd do the same thing next time rather than buy a second bag of bread.  My other two adaptations were adding a little vanilla to the egg-milk mixture and not brushing the baked casserole with the remaining melted butter.  Mostly because I didn't have any since I used it all up on the bread prior to baking the casserole. What's that rule about always reading the recipe all the way through before you start...?

I was feeling optimistic about not going to work last week on Friday thanks to the winter storm so I assembled this Thursday night and baked it the next morning.  I like that the bread has time overnight to soak up the liquid, plus I'm not trying to feed a hangry toddler, a dog, a cat, AND get breakfast assembled and into the oven all at the same time.

You will definitely taste the nutmeg in this recipe so if you aren't a big fan, decrease the amount or leave it out altogether.  I liked the little extra flavor it imparted so I will keep it in the recipe the next time I make it (which will be sooner than later).

We ate this as leftovers the rest of the weekend and it was just as good reheated.  Of course, if you make this for more than 2.5 people, you may not get the opportunity to eat it the next day.

Bon appetit!  And P.S. I apologize for the not-great phone pictures.  Don't let my photography sway you more than my words; this thing is worth making.

{Recipe slightly adapted from here} 

Our weekend + a recipe

Another weekend on the books and it was a good one.

We had the Fall Festival at Connor’s daycare on Saturday and unlike most Saturdays in recent memory, the weather was perfect.  Connor’s class and one other sat in a semi-circle while their teachers sang a song.  Connor had some performance anxiety but luckily the McHusband was there to help.

Other than those few minutes of unhappiness, Connor had a blast and we appreciated the school coming together on a weekend for all of their attendees’ and their families.

Connor’s school is only a mile or so from our house and since the festival took place at the same time as my normal Saturday-morning class at the Y, I decided to run home afterward.  It was a great afternoon for it and I was very glad it worked out for me to “do it all” that morning.

When I got home, the McHusband was talking to the buyer of the Magnum, who eventually drove away in the car.  He is on a roll with the sale of our cars since this is the third time the first person to look at and drive the car has bought it.

We went to a couples’ baby shower Saturday evening and were home in time to Connor to bed at his normal time, and then I pretty much went to bed at my normal weeknight time as well.  I was tired and looked forward to catching up on my sleep a little.

Sunday was our day to play catch-up from all the playing we did on Saturday.  Connor and I got groceries, then while he napped I tried a Pinterest tip for cleaning my shower.  More on how that worked out soon.

Connor has decided that his favorite snack – or “nack” as he calls it – is raisins straight from the container.  So, yeah, keep that in mind if you come over here and we offer you some.

He had to fuel up for all his yardwork.  As soon as he heard the McHusband start up his mower, he got excited and ran to the door to the garage yelling, “Guide!” which is how he says “outside.”  Luckily the McHusband just so happened to be in need of an apprentice.

While the boys used the mower to move leaves off the grass and into the natural areas, I did some cleaning inside.  I don’t have good toy storage in the den yet so I am struggling with having them all just kinda piled in the corner.  I do have a basket, but what happens is Connor only plays with what’s showing. So I went through the basket and took some meant for younger kids out and put some others on a table in the den so Connor will see them and can easily access them.

Finally, we wrapped up our day with this Chicken Noodle Soup Casserole, which was very good.  I’m already looking forward to my leftovers for lunch today!

So there you have it, our weekend in a nutshell.  Hope everyone else had a nice one as well!

{Recipe}

Our weekend

How about a little weekend recap without many pictures?  I know, that’s no fun, is it?  I’ll try to do better next Monday.

The McHusband was in Alabama for work on Friday and didn’t get back to the airport until after 10:00.  So that evening Connor and I had Mexican for dinner because it was too nice not to eat outside.

I made some cookie dough that night and went to bed early.  I baked the cookies on Saturday and guess what?  They were fabulous!  I highly recommend this recipe.  I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and toffee chips, and I sprinkled a little fine sea salt on top before baking.  Yum!

Saturday was my class at the Y, a long walk with my boys (all three of ‘em), then home for Connor’s nap and my shower.  I got the downstairs cleaned up because we had a new sitter coming over later to watch Connor while the McHusband and I had a belated anniversary date night with dinner at T.MAC then the 3D showing of The Martian.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  I don’t think 3D is necessary though.  We saw it that way because that was the movie time that worked best for us.  Sure, it had its perks, but I don’t think we would’ve missed out by seeing it in a normal theater.

Sunday was laundry, grocery shopping, a walk, playing outside, and cupcake making.  I want to surprise Connor’s class with candy corn cupcakes: yellow cake, orange frosting, and a white marshmallow on top.  Cute, right?

The not-even-two-year-olds are totally going to appreciate them.

Oh!  Connor learned a new word this weekend: cookie.  Or as he says, “kooo-keee.”  He doesn’t say many two-syllable words but he picked this one up quick.  Guess he just needed the right motivation.   Also, we saw him use his sign for “thank you” a few times.  It’s so much fun to watch him developing and practicing his new skills.

All right, it’s Sunday night at 9:45 and I have to wrap things up. I plan to take advantage of what might be the last morning with decent temps tomorrow.  Being up and out around 4:30 in the mornings sucks no matter what, but it’s especially terrible when it’s freezing outside.  I’m just not strong enough to crawl out of my warm bed so I can go running when it’s 30-something outside.

Happy Monday!

Weekend stuff

Our weekend was bookended by good dinners so I’m sharing in case anyone’s looking for easy, relatively healthy meals.

We had chicken at home already so I picked up some veggies during my lunch break on Friday.  The McHusband helped me get those cut while I got the “sauce” made.  We let everything sit in the sauce while I put Connor to bed (the McHusband was working out) then I roasted it all at once for about 45 minutes.  Easy and delicious!

The sauce/marinade is from Skinnytaste.  The mushrooms were my favorite part.

Then on Sunday, we had our favorite turkey burgers (you guys REALLY should try them) with corn on the cob and, thanks to Ina Garten, a new-to-me roasted potatoes with garlic side dish.  OMG, so so good!  I only had 1.5 pounds of potatoes plus a few mushrooms leftover from Friday, but I did the full amount of olive oil, spices, and garlic.  I will be making this again and again.

In between those fabulous meals, there was a stroller run, cupcakes and pizza (birthday party), sushi and a movie (triple date night), more cupcakes (birthday party), and other fun stuff like laundry, some chores, and packing.  Yes, we finally got some stuff boxed up.  Now we just have to keep the momentum going and, preferably, continue to put stuff in boxes each night.  We close on the new house this Friday so we will probably try to get some stuff over there this weekend, especially if it’s stuff that goes upstairs where there aren’t going to be any renovations.

(Could I have said “stuff” one more time?)

Hope you guys had good weekends!

PS  At the time that this post published, I should’ve been halfway through my run.  I missed the past two Mondays due to turning my alarm off the first time and the alarm going off silently (Thanks, Connor!) the second.  Third time’s the charm as they say.

Adults only

We went to a party at the neighbors’ house on Saturday.  I of course signed up to share some baked goods, but I made a third treat.  Two ingredients and it was a hit!

That’s the sign I made to indicate that the fruit was NOT okay for the kids to eat.  It’s not supposed to be gray (it was white on paper, but I can’t figure out how to fix it so just imagine the background is white.  (I know, you are impressed again with my amazing photoediting skills.)

The McHusband cut up two small pineapples and we soaked the pieces overnight in coconut rum.  We drained the rum right before the party (don’t worry, it didn’t go to waste) then served the pineapple with skewers.  You should’ve seen how happy everyone was to find out what was in that bowl.  If you have another party to go to this summer, I highly recommend you try this “dish” or some version of it.  Oranges soaked in pineapple rum. Strawberries soaked in Whipped Vodka.  Or a classic, watermelon soaked in tequila with a little salt sprinkled on it.

And then invite me to help you eat it.

{Weekend recap} Fun and food

As promised, I’m back here on Tuesday to catch up a little.  Wanna read about my weekend?  You know you do.  What if I told you there were treats?  Yeah, I knew that’d keep you reading!

I had my PHX class at the Y Saturday morning and it was a good one!  Some parts of me were still feeling it into Monday.  I rushed home to shower and get ready so we could go to Zachary’s 5^th birthday party at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh.  (Zachary is Terry and Vickie’s little boy.)  The theme of the party was reptiles and amphibians and there were animals for the kids to touch and crafts relating to them.  Connor participated a little but when he wasn’t he wandered the room without being too needy or distracting so that worked out well.  I sent this picture to Ashley thanking her for preparing him with all the trips to the library.

If you are looking for fresh birthday party ideas, consider the museum.  Kids and adults alike enjoyed themselves.

After naps for all of us that afternoon, we joined our whole crew for dinner at the nearby Mexican restaurant.  Connor ate the fish from a fish taco and a healthy helping of black beans and rice.  So healthy, in fact, that his system has, uh, been clearing itself steadily since. #mexicanfooddiet

Sunday was busy with a walk and chores and grocery shopping.  I made one of my breakfast casseroles and as soon as it came out of the oven, I put a pan of cookie-filled cookie bars in the oven.  My one coworker had a lot to celebrate this past weekend: his birthday on Saturday as well as his new engagement the day before!  I know he likes Oreos so I whipped up these easy bars. 

The McHusband loved them.  I thought they needed salt, either in the recipe or sprinkled on top.  I might try them again with my adaptation.

My last recipe of the weekend was dinner from my new cookbook, Sheet Pan Suppers.  I chose the Soy-Mustard Glazed Salmon with Broccoli, but I also used cauliflower because the McHusband isn’t a huge fan of broccoli.  Turns out, he likes it just fine when it’s roasted and has good flavor in its crispy ends.  I can’t wait to try something else from the book.

One final note: We have the appraisal of our house this morning and we are keeping all appendages crossed for a good number so that the buyers don’t have any issues with their loan.  I got things cleaned up over the weekend then did a little more last night so the house looks good enough to sell all over again.  Let’s hope the appraiser is a fan of plum-purple powder rooms, new HVAC systems, and cul-de-sac lots with lots of trees.

Oh!  I know you guys are wondering if I got up and ran like I said I was going to.  You’d forgotten about that?  Well, never mind then.

Just kidding.  When I get up at 4:20 to exercise, I want all the credit I can get!  Yes, I did get up and the weather was perfect, which made it worth the lack of zzz’s.

Speaking of, it’s time for me to wrap things up and try to make up some of that beauty sleep.

Connor wishes you a happy Tuesday!

Friday randomness

And after we eat our pizza, we should have dessert!  I made a no-bake peanut butter cheesecake to take to Clover with us this past weekend.  It was the McHusband’s Father’s Day treat but everyone loved it.

I bought a cookbook called Sheet Pan Suppers yesterday.  I love the idea of cooking the whole meal, or most of it anyway, at once.  I’m excited to try something from it on Sunday and I will report back – eventually – on how our meals are going.

TGIF and have a great weekend!

{Recipe Recap} Slow Cooker Quinoa Enchilada Casserole

We started the week with some food talk, then we enjoyed some dessert midweek; we might as well finish strong with more food.

This meal could’ve been baked after cooking the quinoa first.  But the crockpot helped save me a step and kept me from having to defy the laws of physics by being both in the kitchen AND putting Connor to bed at the same time.

I didn’t have enough chili powder and this was still plenty flavorful, but I do think a little more heat would’ve been nice.  I wanted it to be more of an all-in-one meal for us so I also threw in some browned ground beef as well.  Mine cooked for less time than expected so if you make this, it could take closer to 2.5 hours.

If you’re looking to take some of the stress out of dinner prep, I recommend giving this recipe a try.

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TGIF!  I am looking forward to an early bedtime tonight (But aren’t I always at the end of the week?) then we’ll mostly be doing stuff around the house this weekend, but we may also have dinner with Rick and Sabrina and their 10-month-old, Owen.  They recently moved back to the area from Boston and we’re happy to have them living close by again.

Have a great weekend!

{Recipe adapted from here}

{Recipe Recap} Brownie Bars Two Ways

I wanted to make sure to share these two treats with you this week but I won’t be going on and on (and on) about them like they deserve.  This mom-wife-employee-friend-exerciser is tired!  After approximately 5.5 hours of broken sleep Sunday night, I got up at 4:20 Monday morning and went for a 30-minute run that started at 4:35.  The upside is the morning was very nice and the roads were empty (as they should be!).  But it was a long day because I didn’t get home from dinner with the girls until 9:15. (Totally worth it!) 

Then yesterday was a normal workday but it was the McHusband’s turn to have a social evening since he had concert tickets.  So I tended to Connor then headed out to the driveway for my own boot camp where I kicked my own butt.

So don’t take my lack of words about either of these treats to mean that they aren’t good.  Both are decadent.  Delicious.  And one is decidedly gooey.

Heather requested some caramel marshmallow brownies that I made once before.  When I made them the first time, I used a boxed brownie mix and chocolate-covered pretzels as my topping.  This time, I made the brownies from scratch according to the recipe and used Crunch Bites as the topping.  I thought they were much better: the brownie was fudgier and I’m a fan of the Crunch Bites.  Heather, however, preferred them the way I originally made them.

For Vanessa, I chose these Butterfinger Brownie Bars and they were a hit with everyone!  I shared one with our waiter and even he loved them.  I didn’t use any dark chocolate chips, just the minis and more peanut butter chips than the recipe called for.  I will definitely be making these again.

You won’t go wrong making either of these treats, take my fewer-than-usual words (and pictures) for it.

{Butterfinger Bars very slightly adapted from here}

{Marshmallow Caramel Krispie  Brownies barely adapted from here}

PS  Heather’s birthday was yesterday so a happy belated blog shout-out to her!

Food talk

I know, no surprise that I’m talking about food, right?  I can’t help it, I love the stuff!  Believe me, I wish I had a more “take it or leave it” attitude, but I just don’t.  Give me all the food!

One of the most interesting classes I took in college was Nutrition 101.  Not only did it keep my attention, but it was also useful.  The basics of what food does for our bodies?  How is that NOT a good thing to know?  I’m not saying I live by that info, but it’s helpful when I am trying to make healthy decisions.

I bring this up because I came across a couple links that were interesting and I thought I’d share.  Maybe I’m not the only one who’s interested in what’s in my gut or how active I should be.

Even before I was a mom, I was concerned with how antibiotics affected my natural defenses and now that I am responsible for someone else’s health, it matters that much more.  I am grateful that Connor has never had to be on a prescription medicine of any kind so far and has had very few doses of even an OTC painkiller.  Don’t get me wrong, modern medicine has its place and I would never withhold the proper treatment, but I think sometimes people are quick to ask for drugs and I don’t want to be that person.

Before I had a baby, I was quick to say that most people should get exercise most days of the week.  I still believe that, but I know that sometimes even taking the dog on a 15-minute walk can be a challenge.  So believing something is good for you and following through are two very different things these days.  Getting in your steps is a good start, no doubt about it.  And anything’s better than nothing, but apparently 10,000 steps is just a totally arbitrary number.  Very interesting.

Finally, after we’ve talked about eating right and exercising, don’t we deserve some dessert?  Yum!

Hope you guys had good weekends!  Mine was nice.  Busy, but nice.  Lots of quality family time plus (you knew this was coming) good food.  The McHusband, Connor, and I tried a new restaurant in town, The Mason Jar Tavern.  We were all quite happy with our meals.  The McHusband had a burger and I had the black bean-sweet potato hash tacos.  The McHusband tried two new-to-him beers and I had two mixed drinks – and all four were quite tasty to their respective drinkers.

Connor stuck with water.  Hey, someone had to drive!  Plus, we had errands to run in that same shopping center after dinner and someone had to check things off the list.  Of course, that didn’t stop him from checking out the drink menu…

I made two desserts on Sunday (more on those soon), and I know one of them is delicious.  I haven’t tried the other yet, but I will tonight when we girls get together to eat dinner (yes, more food!) and celebrate Heather’s and Vanessa’s birthdays so I will report back.  I know I’ve said it before, but I am so glad that we girls make these meals a priority.  It’s really nice to catch up with each other the old-fashioned way: in person.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

The short long weekend

We had a whole extra day so why do I still feel like I didn’t have enough time for everything?  Enough time to rest, to socialize, to be productive, and to have quality family time?  I crammed in a little of all of that, but I definitely could’ve used another 24 hours to concentrate mostly on that first thing up there on the list.

We stayed in Friday night and I did some baking (more on that in a minute) before an early bedtime.  I was up early Saturday morning with Connor then headed to the Y for my class.  That afternoon was hanging out at the house, no-baking one more treat, then we headed over to Ryan and Sandra’s house for a Memorial Day cookout.  Connor took two good naps that day so we were able to stay at their house until 9:30 or so before we scooted home and put him to bed.

Sunday was mostly socializing.  I slept in, got laundry started, then Heather picked me up for our lunch-and-a-movie afternoon with her daughters and Vickie.  We saw Pitch Perfect 2.  What a fun movie!  It was totally worth the “deal” of $8.10 – yes, eight dollars AND TEN CENTS – to see the movie in the theater.

When I got home, our friends AJ and Maritza were there with their dogs and they were playing with Monte in the backyard.  AJ and Maritza weren’t just there for canine company; they also shared with us that they are expecting their first baby!  We are very excited for them.

Yesterday was a fun day.  Yes, I did get stuff done around the house, but the McHusband, Connor, and I also had lunch outside before playing in a nearby park for a bit.  A stop at Walmart on the way home then Connor took a nap and I baked some mini muffins and did some cleaning (yay for finally mopping my kitchen floor!).  My bathroom and Monte also got scrubbed – it’s a toss-up which of those needed it more.

All in all, it was a very nice long weekend that went by way too quickly.  I was very happy to have the extra time with Connor who has really come into his own lately with his little personality.  We practiced his words and his walking and we laughed at all his antics.  I’m going to miss spending that time with him today while I’m at work.

But enough of all my rambling.  Let’s talk about food for a minute!  Sandra said something peanut butter and chocolate would be a good treat and I know she’s not one to like things that are overly sweet (I know, but we’ll overlook that character flaw ).  So I opted for these Peanut Butter Cookie Cheesecake Bars.  It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time.  The bars were delicious!

They were tasty right out of the fridge, and they were tasty after sitting out a while when they were a little softer.

I used peanut butter chips and those peanut butter-filled chocolate chips as my mix-ins, then I used only melted peanut butter chips drizzled on top.  Yum, yum, yum!

The recipe calls for making these in an 8” pan, but I used a 9x13 pan and baked these for 29 minutes, I think.  I thought they were plenty thick made this way.

No fewer than 5 people asked me about these bars, saying how amazing they were.  So don’t just take my word for it – believe the strangers who I can’t even prove existed.

{Recipe adapted from here}

PS  Happy belated birthday to Maxie!  She turned four yesterday.  Talk about time flying…

{Recipe Recap} Malted Chocolate Cake

We had a “gathering” on Saturday: just our nearest and dearest hanging out, no big deal.

I differentiate between a party and a gathering by how hard I have to work to get ready for the event.  In this case, I only made four things (and three of them were treats!), I didn’t do any extra cleaning other than the usual weekend stuff, and people brought food to share.

Karis came with Shawn and Vanessa, and Connor, ever the gentleman, let her ride in his walker.  He showed her how all the fun buttons worked and even tried to push her a little.

(Vanessa and I can’t wait to display all these pictures of them at their rehearsal dinner.)

But back to the food.  I rarely make cakes and when I do, they are typically the 9 x 13 type.  But I decide to do a layer cake this time, just something a little more special.

Chelle isn’t a fan of malt, but the flavor isn’t prominent in the cake (disappointing to some of us) and she said it was a delicious cake.  I can’t argue with her, it was quite tasty.

I loved the frosting.  It was silky and unlike how I like and need it for cupcakes, it was very smooth and creamy.

I appreciated that this recipe just doctored up a cake mix.  Easy is always good.

Once we had our fill of munchies, sweets, and pineapple margaritas, we ended up having a dance party in the den.  Jeremy came prepared with his music and even a fancy party light.  Who needs the clubs when you can push the coffee table out of the way and get your groove on without paying a cover?  Another perk?  No long lines in the bathroom!

I think Heather and Jennifer headed out just before we snapped this selfie, but I need to include them when I say that I am incredibly lucky to have these amazing ladies in my life.  Love you girls!

{Recipe}