Lazy breakfast that will make you feel special

Saturdays are our lazy days. This Saturday was filled with finishing another season of 24, cleaning the church, and feeding the missionaries.

We had this rise-and-shine favorite for dinner:

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

Picture taken without the yummy blueberry syrup drizzled on top

I made it Friday night, before we went to the Watervue BBQ with the Schaffers. They served yummy steak, baked potatoes, salad, yummy rolls, and cookies. These apartment complexes are way nice. They cook for us once a month. Its always a delicious free meal.

Okay so back to the "make you feel special" meal. This french toast casserole is super easy, and really delicous. Y'all should definitely try it. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients


12 slices ITALIAN BREAD, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

10 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple syrup



1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup water

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1.Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.

2.In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

3.Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

4.Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.

5.In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast



Adapted from Allrecipes.com - I made some changes suggested in the comments.

Recipes

                                                                 Sloppy Joe Turnovers

I took pictures when I made it last, but that was when my camera was stolen. It looks similar to the picture above. I am making it this week because it is scrumptious.

• 1/3 diced green pepper

• 1/3 diced white onion

• 2 celery stalks, trimmed

• 1 lb chopped beef

• 1 15 oz can Manwich

• 1 tbsp flour

• 1 can pre-made biscuit dough

• Munster cheese, to taste (or your favorite kind)


1. Finely chop pepper, onion, and celery.
2. Add a dollop of oil to a large skillet. Add meat and stir in vegetables, cook until meat is brown.
3. Place cooked meat and vegetables into a new pan. Add Manwich and simmer for 3-5 min.
4. Dust wax paper with flour, and roll out dough thin and round. Add 2 spoonfuls of meat mixture to middle of dough. Fold dough over and press sides of pocket with fork.
5. Place turnovers on a baking pan, and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
6. Garnish with cheese, and top with leftover Manwhich.

                                                     
                                                          Creamy Chicken Enchilladas

 

I am in the process of making this for dinner for tonight. I already have a good chicken enchilada recipe, but its always good to try new recipes. This is my visiting teachers recipe. Christine is a good cook, so I know these will be good.


1 1/4 cups sour cream

1 1/4 cups green salsa

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 tsp cumin

8-10 (12in.) tortillas

1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese, divided


1. In a medium bowl combine sour cream and salsa. Stir to combine. Spread a small amount of mixture in the bottom of a 8x12in. baking dish. Measure out 1 cup of the remaining sauce and set aside.
2. Add chicken, onion, cumin, and 1/2 cup of shredded cheese to sauce in bowl. Mix well.
3. Spoon heaping 1/4 cup of chicken mixture into each tortilla. Roll up and place seam sides down in baking dish. Spread reserved 1 cup of sauce onto the top of the enchiladas. Sprinkle with reamaining 1 cup of cheese.
4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.
Serves 4-6




Something else that is on the list to make this week because I have all the ingredients, and my new friend just tried it recently. Have I mentioned that a new family moved into our ward, and our apartment complex here at Watervue!?!? Well, I am totally excited to have neighbors that are our age!! We had them over for dinner Saturday night, and think they are totally fun.


                                                  Burrito Pie adapted from allrecipes.com

1 pound ground beef


1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1 (2.25 oz) can black olives, sliced

1 (10.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies

1/2 cup taco sauce (I used Taco Bell brand)

1 (16 oz) can refried beans

6 (8 in) flour tortillas

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese or colby jack


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the ground beef for 5 minutes. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for 5 more minutes. Drain any excess fat, if desired. Mix in the olives, tomatoes, taco sauce, and refried beans. Stir mixture thoroughly, reduce heat to low, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a 2-3 quart round casserole dish. Cover with 2 tortillas followed by 1/3 of meat mixture, then 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat tortilla, meat, cheese pattern until all the tortillas are used, topping off with a layer of meat mixture and cheese.
4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is slightly brown and bubbly.

Serves 4-6

                                                         
                                                        Cilantro Ranch Dressing
 
On Saturday I served Cafe Rio Pork Salad/Burritos this time with the the dressing!!! Erica thanks for the recipe! The Schaffer's ended up making it, while I finished up the rice. They threw everything into our vitamix and it turned out so good! Now we can have the complete Cafe Rio experience anytime in our own kitchen.

1 Cup Sour Cream
1 Cup of Mayonnaise
1/3 Cup Milk
1 Small bunch of Cilantro
1/2 Sweet Onion
2 Small garlic cloves, chopped
1 tomatillo, quartered
1/2 t. salt
1 Ranch Dip powder mix packet

Blend all together in blender. Erica recommended to half this recipe because it makes a lot of sauce.


Last night I was invited over to my Zumba Instructors house!! How cool is that?!!? She invited 10 of her favorite classmates over and had us each bring a healthyish snack to enjoy after our workout. She gave us a biggest looser style workout. We did a lot of running, and I am not a runner. It was good for me. Anyways, I had a lot of fun meeting the girls there, and learned the secret to getting the gender you want when you have kids. ha. I had no idea you could control that, but it has worked for her everytime. After our workout we enjoyed so much good food. I brought fruit and fruit dip.

Fruit Dip:


1 8 oz package cream cheese
1 7 oz jar marshmallow cream
3 tablespoons orange juice

or

1 8oz tub strawberry cream cheese
1 7 oz jar marshmallow cream
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon lemon jucie

Beat all ingredients together until smooth. Sore in refrigerator before serving. Makes 2 cups.

I really liked April's (my zumba teachers) Red Pepper Hummus:


2 (15-ounce) cans chick peas (garbanzos), one drained, one with liquid

2 teaspoons tahini sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

Roasted Red Pepper (I canned, 1 fresh)

Cayenne Pepper to taste

Salt to taste

Put the fresh bell pepper in the oven on broil and char It up a little bit

Put everything else in the blender (VitaMix on high speed is what I use) except the salt and blend for 1 minute

Add the Fresh Red Pepper and Salt and blend another 30 seconds

You can add 1 garlic clove and 1 teaspoon cumin if you like the flavor. Also you can replace tahini with ¼ cup of raw sesame seeds


                                                  Not like any cookie you have seen before
                                                                         SPREADS

Recipe from Pioneer Woman

I made this a while back during the time when my camera was stolen. I thought I would add this to my collection of recipes on here, because we enjoyed them.

Ingredients


■1 cup Brown Sugar

■1 cup Margarine

■1 whole Egg

■2 cups Flour

■½ teaspoons Salt

■1 teaspoon Vanilla

■6 ounces, weight ( To 8 Ounces) Chocolate Chips

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Mix together brown sugar and margarine. Add egg and mix together. Add flour, salt, and vanilla, and mix together well.

Spread dough onto cookie sheet to a thickness of 1/4 to 1/2-inch.



Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until slightly brown. At this point, pull out of the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to oven for 1 minute. Remove and spread melted chips over the top. Cut into squares.

Last but not least, the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Recipe. You can use Rolo's too if you are more of a carmel person.

1 package Betty Crocker Ultimate Fudge Brownie Mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
30 mini Reeses cups unwrapped
1 box Reynolds aluminum cups, or mini cups

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Place foil liners on baking sheet - 30 if mini - 18 if regular size
3. Combine brownie mix, contents from fudge packet in mix, eggs, water and oil
4. Stir with spoon until well blended (about 50 strokes)
5. Fill each liner about half way with batter
6. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and remove from oven
7. Push Reeses in center of each "brownie cupcake" until even with surface of the batter
8. Bake 7 minutes longer for mini, and about 14 minutes longer for regular.
9. Cool 5-10 minutes in pan and then you can move them to cooling rack to cool completely.

Today

Our Sunday School class enjoyed these.....

I made the mistake of just making one batch this morning, because we did not have any leftovers. My hubby decided to make another batch when we got home from church so we could enjoy them :) I learned how to make these better by using brownie mix with fudge sauce.
I love these Reeses Brownie Cupcakes. This is the third time I have made them. If I thought about them more often, I would make them a lot. I guess its good that I forget. I already eat too much junk as it is.

Today has just been full of sugar. We had doughnuts for breakfast, and are about to go over to the Starr's for some Lemon bars (my favorite) and more cupcakes. I think I better bring some of these over there.


How we do Sunday School:

We bring treats every other week for our Sunday School class. We want to be the "cool" teachers if you know what I am saying. This is what I brought two weeks ago. I wonder what I will be making next. It depends on what the teenagers decide. We play a game every other week, so that the winning team (or winner) can pick the treat for the following week.

Today we played Deal or No Deal, and a couple weeks ago we played a dangerous game. I filled up balloons and taped them to a large thick sturdy box, and had questions under them. A person from each team had to pop one of the balloon and answer the question to have a chance to get points. If they popped a balloon after three tries, and anwered the question correctly, they were able to throw the dart at the dart board to claim their points. This is definitely a fun calling. Adam is pretty much the teacher. I make up the games and bake the treats. We look over the lesson together, and I try to find interesting facts to add to the lesson.

Easy as 1, 2, 3!

I made broiled grapefruit last night. It was really good! My husband doesn't like grapefruit, but I know he would like it this way. Thanks Redhead recipes! I'll have to get my husband to try it when he is home.

Not as Easy as 1, 2, 3!!!

I tried out the BIGGEST LOSER Bootcamp here at Watervue last night. Boy was it intense!! It was A LOT harder than I thought it would be, and I am in pretty good shape. I had never done most of the things required of us. There were times where I wanted to give up, and thought I couldn't possibly do one more set. My legs were shaking, and almost gave out a few times, but I did everything! I am so proud of myself. I completed the workout. I don't know if I will be going back though. lol I told my husband what we did, and he will never try it now. Most people who come on a Monday end up quitting, according to the trainer. Thursdays are suppose to be easier, so maybe I will just go those days. I already go to the gym enough during the week as it is. I am really sore today. The girl that invited me said she would never go back. haha. She is in shape too! She works out with her husband every morning. It really was a hardcore workout. We got our butts kicked! The trainer guessed my weight before I got on the scale. They have you weigh in every week. I was surprised, but I guess he does this for a living. I haven't gained too much weight since High School. I was 100-105 lbs in High School. I weighed in at 108 last night. I fluctuate between 104-110. It just depends on what I eat, and how much I work out. I haven't weighed myself since CA, so I had no idea how much I weighed. I like that I have gained muscle! Id much rather weight more and be in good shape, then weigh less and just look skinny. On our trip to Hawaii I weighed 104 lbs, and last summer (before I started going to the gym regularly) I was around that too. I look at those pictures now and think wow I was pretty skinny, but definitely not toned. A few pounds makes a difference on someone who is 5'2". I have no room to hide fat, so I am trying to maintain right now.  I will look rediculous as a pregnant lady. lol. I haven't been doing weights since CA, because I don't want to get ripped. I have the body structure for that. Thanks dad. lol.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip

I bought some cranberries a while back because they were on sale. I put them in the freezer, and pulled them out today to make this yummy cranberry cream cheese dip. It was a perfect snack during our football watching. My visiting teacher sure has good recipes! I ate most of it before Adam got around to trying it. I couldn't help myself. Its really easy to make, so I thought I would share Christine's recipe.

I haven't been cooking anything new lately. This week, during the days Adam was home, we had things such as Roast, Chicken Alfredo, Cafe Rio Pork, Chicken Tortellini, etc. I need to get some new recipes to try. Hopefully I will have some new recipes to post soon!

We danced our way into the New Year

New Year's Eve we meet up with the Saunders at the Hurst Stake Center to get our grove on baby!
I felt 17 again! They were having a youth dance, and Rachel and Aaron were chaperoning. We showed up at the last hour, and made it intime to do the electric slide. Oh ya! haha. Rachel had never done it before, so we had to do it!

It was funny to watch all the nervous boys ask the girls to dance. It brought back so many memories. Nothing has changed since I was a youth. All the girls group together with their circle of friends, and the boys with theirs. When a slow song comes on you can feel the nervousness in the room. haha.

I can't believe how old I am now! Dang!! I'll have kids at those dances before I know it.

Me and Rachel. She looks so cute prego!

My husband is so handsome!

Setting a great example for the youth;)

I got to slow dance with my man, and got a romantic teenagery New Years kiss. What could be better than that? We were young and in love that night. I guess you would still consider us young, so we are that way every night we are together, but felt extra young that night. We stopped at Jack in the Box (my favoite fast food place in High School) and got wasted on their oreo shake, sour dough jack, funnel cake, and curly fries.

New Years Day was filled with football, and yummy snack food. Love Pepperidge farm stuff!

I don't try to make New Years resolutions I know I can't/won't keep.  For example, if I think too much about eating healthier, it just makes me extra hungry. I set goals throughout the year when I feel the need. There are a ton of things I could work on, but ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY.... I like to focus on one thing at a time. Otherwise, it can be overwhelming. Last year, I focused on exercising more. It is now a routine in my life, so its time for something else. If you made a list this year, and have already failed at doing some of the things on that list, don't get discouraged. We are human. Just keep trying to do your very best!!! Maybe you should focus on one thing at a time, like me!

I love this quote:

‎"Celebrate Failure! If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing badly!We can always learn to do it better. Failure often means we are taking the necessary risks to grow, stretch, and serve. It just matters that we try! We don't always have to win and do well at everything."


Wendy Olrich - Time Out For Women
 

P.S. I finally finished posting all the New York pictures on the last post. Sorry it took so long!