Easter Make Ahead French Toast

Here we are just a few days before Easter.  While I love that it is already Spring, I'm not sure how I feel about having Easter in March this year. I feel I have so much more time to get ready, when there is more than two weeks between St. Patrick's Day and Easter.  

This week I am going to share two of my favorite Easter recipes that are both easy to make, and some of my families favorites.  The first recipe is Make Ahead French Toast.  It is such a great holiday recipe, because you put everything together the night before, and then pop it in the oven Easter morning while you are celebrating with family.  

You will need 

a loaf of your favorite bread (we love cinnamon raisin) 

4 to 6 eggs

1/2 cup milk 

vanilla 

cinnamon sugar (if desired) 

cream cheese (your preferred flavor) 

If you are making this for more than 6 people, double the recipe. 

You will need two slices of your chosen bread per person.  I have made this recipe is so many different ways over the years.  I will be sharing pictures from some of the different variations. 

On this particular day we did not have cinnamon raisin bread on hand, so I used Aunt Millie's Country Buttermilk bread.  My cream cheese of choice that day was strawberry, and added it to each of the bottom pieces of bread. 

On the top pieces of bread I added some cinnamon sugar.  

This picture was from a different day, but at the same step.  I wanted to fit more bread into my pan, so instead of using full pieces of bread, I squeezed in 12 half pieces.  Mix the eggs and the milk together in a bowl, and then pour it over the bread.  Cover the casserole dish with foil, and put it in the fridge overnight. 

In the morning, let the pan sit out for a few minutes so the casserole dish is not too cold when you put it in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Once in the oven, bake for 30 minutes. I removed the foil the last 5 to 10 minutes.  I would put this in the oven before my kids looked for their Easter eggs, and when they were done  breakfast would be ready. 

I made this variation just a few years ago. I added cinnamon sugar and used regular cream cheese.

I think this year might have been my favorite version. I used cinnamon raisin toast, regular cream cheese, and then covered the toast with strawberries and syrup. 

I believe we had guests this particular year, which is why it looks a bit fancier.  I used thick bread, strawberry cream cheese, sliced strawberries, and Redi-whip.  

No matter how you decide to put together your make ahead french toast, it is always a great dish to serve for Easter morning.  

 

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Recipes for Kids (Cooking with Kyle)

Long time readers may remember a series I did a few years back called Cooking with Kyle.  My son was interested in cooking and came up with several kid friendly recipes and shared them on the blog.  Well Kyle is all grown up now, and in college.  He still likes to cook, and helps out making meals occasionally  on days I am working.  While we are sheltering in place, making lots of meals and trying to find things for our kids to do, I thought it would be the perfect time to share a roundup of our Cooking with Kyle recipes.  If you have a kid that wants to give cooking a try, here they are. 

Chicken Salad Surprise

This was his first recipe all the way back in early 2012. He came up with his own Chicken Salad recipe and added a healthy surprise.  He was so proud of himself, and I remember it tasting really good. 

Breakfast Burritos

His second recipe was also a big success.  His burritos had mushrooms, sausage, and cheese, but you can make them with whatever ingredients you have on hand. 

Grilled Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches

Kyle still loves turkey and cheese sandwiches, he just does not always take the time to grill them. 

Bean and Cheese Burritos

What can I say?  Kyle really likes Burritos.  In this recipe he made some for dinner.  

Ham and Cheese Bundles and Deviled Eggs

In this post you get two recipes in one, and some silly pictures. 

Cheesy Chicken Legs

This recipe was quick and easy and tasted really good. I am not sure if they still make Fresh Takes, but I am sure there is some there are similar breading kits out there. 

Marinated Pork Chops

Look at that face! LOL!  He was smiling at the beginning of the recipe. We really liked these marinated pork chops, and it looks like it is about time to make them again.  

Cheese Fries

This time it was not a full meal, but a warm yummy snack. 

Chicken Marsala

A quick and easy healthy meal.  

Pizza Bites

Don't have pizza rolls in the house? This recipe shows you how to make your own and they are DELICIOUS! 

Chocolate Strawberry Muffins

Another delicious recipe that we will need to make again soon. They really disappeared fast during the photo shoot. 

Homemade Egg Potato Salad

A great side dish for the Cheesy BBQ Sliders below 

Cheesy BBQ Sliders

These are really good, and kid size. 

Homemade Pizza

This recipe was not your usual pizza.  Kyle put a twist on it, so there was something for everyone. 

I hope you enjoyed this round up of Cooking with Kyle recipes.  Some of them we forgot about, so we need to try them again.   In the next few days I will also be doing a round up for Crafting with Kara posts for those kid crafters out there.  

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Apple Cinnamon Doughnut French Toast - Dare to Share Feature of the Day

 

I love breakfast casseroles, especially ones that are easy to put together. They are great to serve for holidays, company, and busy weekends. If you would love to really impress your family and friends check out this Apple Cinnamon Doughnut French Toast Bake by Lamberts Lately.  The mix of flavors, textures and that icing is sure to be a big hit.  Make sure you go to Lamberts Lately to get the recipe.   

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Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit Waffle

We love breakfast sandwiches at at certain well known fast food restaurant. What I don't love is the price. This past weekend, we brought out the waffle maker to see if we could make a similar, inexpensive version at home.  

Did you know that you can bake biscuits in the waffle iron?  I did not know until recently.  All you need to do is spray on a little cooking spray, and bake the biscuits for a few minutes. I did find in doing this that my waffle iron does not have the heat evenly distributed.  I wanted to make sure that the biscuit was cooked through, but not burnt, so I checked it several times. 

The only part of this sandwich that I did not make in the waffle maker was the bacon.   I put it in the oven and used the this method.  It was turkey bacon though, and I can never quite tell when turkey bacon is done. It turned out pretty good other than being a tiny bit too crispy on the very end.

The last step was to make the eggs.  I had never tried to make eggs in the waffle maker, but I knew it could be done.  I thought it might be easier to add the cheese in the eggs, instead of adding a slice of cheese later.  You will need to carefully add the egg, because it can easily overflow. (as we would find out on the second batch)  

A few minutes later we had an egg waffle.  It turned out really well, and was the perfect size for the sandwich.   It only took a few minutes to make, and was very filling. I am not sure if we will make them all the time, but it is great alternative to using the oven/stove.  I do like my square waffle maker, but I think the next time I get one, I think I will get a round  Flip Waffle Maker. (this is an affiliate link)  The one I have is not easy to clean, and I like the look of round waffles. 

What type of waffle maker do you have? 

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Pepperoni Pizza Frittata- Feature of the Day

Now that school has started, and dance, scouts and robotics have too.  My family have quite a few busy nights during the week where we do not have a lot of time to plan out big meals. This Pepperoni Pizza Frittata byAdrian of  Life with Garnish would make a great meal for those busy nights or rushed mornings.  The meal can be ready and on the table in only 30 minutes! Be sure to stop over to Life with Garnish to get this recipe the whole family will love.  Thanks so much Adrian for linking up to Dare to Share.!

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Cinnamon Rolls - Feature of the Day

We are in the final hours before Christmas.  Have you thought about what you are going to serve for breakfast while opening presents with the family? Connie from Hill House Homestead shares a step by step picture tutorial  on how to make these delicious looking cinnamon rolls yourself.  If you would like to see how to make some of your own,  be sure to check out Hill House Homestead here.  Thank you so much for linking up to Dare to Share Connie! 

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Cooking with Kyle - Breakfast Burritos

Kyle made another  wonderful recipe in this week's, "Cooking with Kyle."  He decided to make a breakfast/brunch burrito, and fruit salad.  Almost all of the ingredients were on sale at Meijer this past week, so not only did it taste great, it was inexpensive to make.

These are the ingredients he used for his breakfast burrito: eggs, mushrooms, chicken sausage, cheese, and tortillas.     In the fruit salad, he used cantaloupe, bananas, strawberries, and grapes.

He started by cutting the mushrooms into small pieces, while the chicken sausage cooked. The directions said they could be cooked in the microwave, so that is what he decided to do.

Kara helped him break 6 eggs into a bowl.  I was not too thrilled when it became a race, and an broken egg ended up on the stove.  These two are so competitive sometimes.

He added some milk to the eggs, and then sprayed the skillet with cooking spray.

He added in the ingredients to the egg mixture while it was in the skillet.

Once all of the ingredients were added, he made sure they were evenly distributed  throughout the pan.

He had hoped to make it into more of an omelet than a scramble, but it was a bit too hard for him to get the eggs to fold over.

He rolled some of the eggs in each tortilla.   Our tortillas were too small to make an actual burrito, but it could easily be done with 10" tortillas

Brunch is served!  He once again  made an excellent recipe that we all loved.  I personally  really liked the addition of the chicken sausage to the burrito. ( Johnsonville brand)  It gave the taste a nice kick, and made it more filling.  This recipe is great for all ages, because it is very easy to change the ingredients to your own preference.  

Hmm... what should he make next week?

Check out last weeks recipe, Chicken Salad Surprise here

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Mini Frittatas

I found this recipe in the Aug issue of All You, and you can see the original here.   It reminded me of my Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bites  that I posted a few months ago.  That was a huge hit with the family, so they were willing to try this this recipe as well. 

You will need:
 8 Eggs,
Sliced Ham
1-2 small potato
Onion
Red Pepper
Milk
Salt
Vegetable Oil 

Cheese (optional)

Place a ham slice into each of the cups in your cupcake pan, and preheat the oven to 375.

The original recipe called for only one small potato.   I used two, since I thought my potato would not be big enough.  I actually had a few too many potatoes.  I also think next time I will just use frozen hash browns instead of peeling, dicing and browning my own.     Dice the potato and brown in a skillet over medium heat  with a little bit of vegetable oil.  I changed the recipe a this step.  The original called for diced onion, red pepper and salt to be added to the potatoes.   My family does not like cooked onion or red peppers, so I just added some mixed onion and salt to add some flavor.

Place a spoonful of potatoes into each one  of the cups.  Since I had 2 potatoes,  my cups were a little fuller than I think they were supposed to be.

 

Wisk together the eggs, milk and a little more salt, like you are making some scrambled eggs.   I added two more eggs because again I didn't think it would be enough food for everyone.   The original said to only pour the egg mixture until the ham cup was 1/2 full.   I didn't read that part of the recipe until later on, and I filled my cups all the way to the top. 

The original said to bake for fifteen  minutes.  Since I filled the cups more than I was supposed to I checked it and then added five more minutes.    When the tray come out of the oven,  I thought that it looked like something was missing.

There we go!   It needed CHEESE.   I had a handful of shredded cheddar cheese to each of them and put it back in the oven for five minutes.  

Yummy, cheese goodness!

Since I added more egg mixture than I was supposed to, egg  had baked on the outside of the ham slice. In reality, it doesn't really matter.  They taste the same either way.    I got a thumbs up from all.   My son did say he preferred bacon to the ham, but still liked them both.    

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