Oven Baked French Toast

I found this recipe on Pinterest and haven't been able to trace it back to its roots. That being said, I used the basis of the recipe and then completely changed it to my liking, so really I just got the idea from someone else, not the recipe.

This oven baked french toast does require prep the night before so be prepared to be thinking about the dish for an entire 12 hours at least. Since last night all I thought about was "If I put it in the oven at 4:30 we can eat by 5:15...but if I put it in at 4:15 we can eat it at 5." Seriously, it looks that good.

What you'll need:
1 loaf (or more if you do not like using the heels of bread)
4 large eggs
1.5c milk
cinnamon/sugar mix
1c brown sugar
1/2 butter
1tea vanilla

*Cut the crust off every piece of bread, set aside
*Melt the butter in a small bowl, in the microwave, and then add the brown sugar ..Mix well
*Meanwhile whisk together the vanilla, eggs and milk, set aside
*Pour the brown sugar mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish, spread around so that the mixture is covering the bottom of the dish
*Layer the dish with 1 layer of bread
*Spoon over about 1/2 or a little less of the egg mixture over the bread, trying to cover all of the dry spots.
*Layer the rest of the bread in the dish
*Spoon over the rest of the egg mixture on to the top, be sure all dry spots are covered.
*Sprinkle cinnamon & sugar liberally over the top of the bread
*Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill overnight in the refrigerator.

*Preheat the oven to 350F
*Uncover the dish, and recover with foil -
*Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes
*Uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes

You can serve these with warm maple syrup if you wish however I think they are sweet enough with the brown sugar mixture. When serving flip over on the plate so that the brown sugar is on top. Mmm mmm delish! Hope you enjoy!

Until next time..
Lady Bea

Grilled BBQ Pork Loin

It's that time of year folks! I love the smell of anything cooking on the grill, something about it just smells so amazing. Tonight I was going to make pork loin in the oven, but the grill on the back porch just kept staring at me and wanting me to use it. So, I did. This pork is so juicy, so tender, so divine...you have got to try it.

What you'll need:

2-3 pound pork loin
garlic powder
salt/pepper
your favorite BBQ sauce

That's all! Oh and a grill, that helps for the grilled part!

Season your pork on all sides with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

On a folded in half piece of foil, place pork loin on foil and BBQ the top with a brush. You will flip every 15 minutes and brush on more sauce. The key here is not to slather the pork in sauce. The sauce is complimentary and not the main flavor. Do this for 1.5 hours or until the pork reaches 160-170F

Viola! The best grilled pork loin ever!

Veggie Brownies...

Yep, you heard..or read rather, that correctly. Veggie brownies. Can't get the little ones to eat their veggies? I bet they will devour these brownies, and they won't even know they are eating wholesome fresh fruits and vegetables.

What you will need:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup coarsely chopped semi sweet chocolate
2 eggs
2 tea vanilla
1/2c sugar
3 cups raw baby spinach
1 -1/2c fresh blueberries
1/2 tea lemon juice
1/4c plus 2Tb flour
1/4c rolled oats, processed in a food processor or blender
1Tb unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tea salt

• Preheat Oven to 350F
• Spray the bottom only (not the sides) of your 9x13inch or 9x9inch brownie pan
• Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double broiler (No worries if you don't have one - you can use a microwave with stirring every 15 seconds until the chocolate and butter are melted.)
• Remove from heat and let cool a bit (5 minutes is plenty) 
• In the meantime, put together the spinach, blueberries, lemon juice and 1Tb of water in a puree machine and puree until very smooth.
• In a large mixing bowl mix together the eggs, vanilla, sugar, 1/2 c of the puree mixture, mix well and then add in the chocolate mixture
• In a separate large bowl combine the flour, cocoa, oats and salt
• Add to the wet mixture and mix together until well blended
• Bake at 350F for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Allow the brownies to cool completely before serving. As an option you can top with a dusting of powdered sugar, or sprinkles, I used a drizzle of caramel.

I hope your children love these brownies (Mine did!) and that you love that they are actually eating fruit and veggies with their snack!

He even asked for seconds!

For the remainder of the puree' - You can freeze it in an airtight container or separate it 1/2c portions in zip-lock baggies for up for 3 months.

Red Wine Glazed Pork Chops

Okay, I adore Italian cooking. A-D-O-R-E. My family, well they like the pasta, but not the strong tastes of oregano, thyme, cilantro etc. like me. However, sometimes I make a heavily Italian inspired dish and they love it, they probably could eat it every day just like me...in my dreams haha.

For this dish I decided to go full on Italian with heavy spices and jazzed it up with red wine. I thought these pork chops where fantastic, and the family agreed.

You will need:
6-8 bone in, Pork chops
Red Cooking Wine
Olive Oil 
1 clove of Garlic

Spices you will need:
Thyme
Parsley
Cilantro
Oregano
Salt/Pepper

Heat up a large skillet on medium heat- with the clove of garlic, coarsely chopped and 1tea of olive oil. Heat up for about 2 minutes. Add in 1/2cup red wine - BE CAREFUL, THE WINE CAN AND WILL FLAME UP AND POP. I removed the pan from the stove to add the wine. ADD SLOWLY. Simmer for about 5 minutes, the wine will reduce. The smell is amazing.

In a small bowl mix 1/4 cup olive oil, 1tea of each thyme, parsley, cilantro and oregano and then 1/2t each salt and pepper. This mixture will serve as a rub for your pork.

Slather the chops with the mixture on both sides with the mixture, and add two at a time into the pan and cook for 6-7 minutes, turn over and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or until done. Adjust cooking times for your stove.

I served this dish with rice.

Until Next time....
Lady Bea

Homemade Pizza

There is nothing more satisfying than making your own pizza and the kids yelling "Hey! This is better than delivery!"...you know in the back of my head...I thought "Yeah and 10 times cheaper too!"
This is a recipe that your older kids can help with, and the younger ones can help with the toppings. They will think that this is SO fun! Kid and Mother approved!

You will need:
1 1/2 c warm water
1 package (2 1/4tea) active dry yeast
3 1/2c bread flour, you can also use all purpose flour but your dough won't be as crisp
2 Tbsp olive oil
2t salt
1tea sugar

For the toppings:
Pepporoni
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Pizza sauce
and whatever other toppings your family likes

Making the dough:

1 - In a large bowl add warm water, sprinkle in the yeast (Do not dump the yeast, it will clump) and let the yeast sit for 5 minutes to dissolve. After the 5 minutes stir completely to ensure that the yeast and water are mixed.

2- Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar into the bowl. Mix the dough until it forms into a round ball, at this point - remove the dough ball and knead for 10 minutes on a clean floured surface. If the dough seems too wet, add a sprinkle of flour, if the dough seems too dry add a few drops at a time of water.

3-Coat the inside of a large bowl with olive oil and  return the dough ball back to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave sit in a warm room until the dough doubles in size. This can take about 2 hours. This part is essential to the process.

 Preparing the pizza:

1- Preheat the oven to 450F
2- Remove the plastic wrap from the bowl and punch the dough down, so that it deflates a little, seperate the dough into two balls, place into two seperate bowls and let sit for about 10 minutes
3- Prepare your toppings in the meantime note: You will not want to load up these pizzas with toppings, just add enough that you're happy with it, and leave it be. The dough will not get crisp with many toppings
4- Working one ball of dough at a time, flatten and move outwards creating a circle pizza shape with the dough. Any holes made can be pinched back together. When the dough is flattened and rounded pinch up the edges for a crust

5- Brush the top of the dough very lightly with olive oil, then using your fingers make dents along the entire surface of the dough. This prevents big bubbles in your pizzas
6- Repeat with the second ball of dough
7- Use 1/3 cup pizza sauce and spread around on pizza - about 1 inch from outer edge of dough works well. Add cheese, and desired toppings.
8- For best results, sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza stone and cook the pizza on that, otherwise you can use cornmeal on a pizza pan as well.

9- Cook each pizza by itself in a 450F oven for 10-15 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown

Makes 2 10-12 inch pizzas


SO GOOD!

Chicken Scallopine With Mozzerella and Basil

This dish is so ridiculously good, and worth the effort to make. It is quite the process but it is so good. The only thing I would change is that I would make more of it! 

What you will need :

Chicken Breasts - I used 3, but adjust for your family

1/4 (Or more hehe) White Cooking Wine (Found by the vinegar, very affordable)

Mozzarella cheese - I use fresh

Basil - Dried

Large Can of peeled whole tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped

3 TB Olive Oil

Toothpicks - A must! 

Salt/Pepper 

1. Butterfly the chicken breasts and pound them to about 1 inch thick. You can also purchase thinly cut chicken breasts however I find that these have holes in them and its hard to wrap them sometimes. 
2. Spinkle with salt and pepper, 1tea of basil, and a cube of mozzarella cheese - about 2 inches by 1 inch. 
3. Roll up the chicken and secure with one or two toothpicks, you want the chicken wrapped tight
4. Warm the olive oil in a skillet and add the chopped garlic into the oil, allow the garlic to heat, moving the garlic around frequently, until the garlic becomes fragrant - about 4 minutes
5. Add in the chicken and brown on all sides, do not worry that the chicken is not done at this point. You want to cook the chicken for about 3 minutes on each side
6. Remove the chicken from the skillet and discard the garlic cloves
7. Add the wine to the skillet (Leave the chicken aside for a moment) and simmer the wine for about 2 minutes while scraping any bits on the skillet around. Then, let simmer stirring occasionally for about 3 more minutes.
8. Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, 1/2t pepper, and 1/2t salt into a blender and blend until smooth. Add the tomato mixture to the reduced wine, simmer for an additional 5 minutes to let all the flavors combine
9. Add the chicken to the pan, and simmer for about 10 minutes, turn over and let simmer for an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until thoroughly cooked
10. Don't forget to remove the toothpicks before serving! 

  

Recipes From Around the World

So, with the summer months coming rapidly upon us and the kids getting out of school. I've come up with some educational fun things for the kids to do. One of the things I have come up with is Recipes Around the World. I am very excited about this project with the kids! Every week, minus a busy week here and there, I will make a recipe from a foreign part of the world. During the week I will have the kids research, yes research in the summer months, about the country. At dinner, when we are eating our new ethnic meal, they can report to Jim and I some interesting facts about where ever our dinner inspired from. I think this is going to be awesome! I am even thinking about getting a map to mark off where we have "eaten". I was also thinking about letting them make different place mats for dinner to go with the theme of the meal.

I just had to write this down, have you ever done anything like this with your kids? What did you do? Did they enjoy it?

I was thinking about doing dishes inspired from Mexican, American, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, French, British, German, and Australian cultures. I am very excited about this adventure as I will learn a lot of new thinks as well.

Lady Bea

Baked Penne Pasta

Such a simple, quick alternative to spaghetti. My kids LOVE spaghetti, but it gets so old. So I whipped up some baked penne pasta...kids loved it, and I loved it...win win. I know your family will love this dish, and it is so customizable. Next time I will be adding sausage or hamburger to it.

What you will need:
1 12oz Box Penne Pasta
1 jar spaghetti sauce - your choice
3 large pinches freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups Italian cheese blend (You can use provolone or mozzarella too)

While we are boiling our pasta and building our dish, go ahead and prep that oven at 350f

*Boil the pasta per directions for al dente pasta on the box. For penne it is about 8-10 minutes.

*Butter the bottom of a 9x13 inch glass baking pan (you can use a dark non-stick pan as well)

*When the pasta is done, strain and pour into baking dish, and mix with spaghetti sauce. 

*Sprinkle in Parmesan cheese and 1 cup of Italian cheese blend, toss well

*Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the pasta

*Bake for 30 minutes in the oven

Let this dish cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving as this is a very hot dish. Serve with garlic bread, and enjoy!

Until Next Time..

Lady Bea

Cinnamon Banana French Toast

This super sweet concoction is sure to have your kids begging for more. I whipped these up for lunch today for Jim and I and I am sure he’ll be asking for it over and over again.  Even looking at this delicious meal will have you salivating.

What you’ll need:

Thick Cut Bread – Texas Toast Style

3 Eggs slightly beaten

2Tbl heavy cream

1tea vanilla extract

Cinnamon

Brown sugar

Butter

1 large banana

Beat together lightly the cream and eggs, and dip each slice of bread covering each side. Fry as you would regular French toast, in butter, sprinkling cinnamon over the toast after the first flip.

When finished, put on a plate and set aside, this next part will be done before your toast knows it’s done frying.

In the hot pan, add in 2tbl (one large spoonful), vanilla, 1Tb brown sugar, and sliced up banana. Glaze the bananas until they are soft and the liquid ingredients are thick and dark.

Pour over French Toast and add a SMALL amount of syrup if you wish, don’t add much your topping is sweet enough =)

Until Next Time...

Lady Bea

Italian Roasted Potatoes

I don't know about you but I HAVE to have side dishes with my meals. This being said, I do get tired of the same ole mashed potatoes or rice. I decided to take some of the potatoes I had and make roasted potatoes and see how they turned out. Let me tell you what, these are so simple yet so amazing! I will make these over and over again, and my family agrees.

Go ahead and preheat that oven to 400f while we are working!

What you'll need:

This recipe is very customizable but I used 6 medium potatoes for my family. Use however many you need to feed your family. 

Olive Oil

Parsley 

Italian Seasoning

Salt and Pepper

and that's all!

Wash your potatoes, peel them and cut them into about 1 inch squares...doesn't have to be perfect. 

1/4 cup olive oil over the potatoes and mix until the potatoes are coated. 

Spinkle 1Tb Italian seasoning, 1tea parsley and add salt and pepper and mix well

On a foil lined baking sheet cook for 40 minutes. 

Done! So worth the 40 minutes to make a side too! I promise you'll love these! 

Until Next Time...

Lady Bea

Bed Head "On the Rebound" Product Review

So I started a new venture into reviewing products for websites. The website I joined was BzzAgent.com. The site is a review site that sends out campaign samples and the user, in this case me, reviews the products and lets everyone know what they think about it. Definitely worth a look if you're into that sort of thing. I'll put the link at the bottom! The first campaign I was awarded was for BedHead products. I received these products free of charge from Bzzagent for purpose of review, and I am required to state that I have no connection with the company whatsoever.

In my kit I received 'On the Rebound' Curl Recall Cream, Recharge Conditioner and Elasticate Conditioner. Let's go over the pros and cons of each product.

Bed Head Curl Recall Cream-
This product has a great product description which made me very enthusiastic to try it. On the product it states "Reform rebellious curls into soft and defined ringlets. Our curl recall technology instantly reforms, ensuring they bring back into shape with just one scrunch." I was excited...curls that last all day? Well needless to say I wasn't disappointed when it didn't work. Not many things work in my hair which is slightly curly, slightly wavy..completely unruly.  However I did love how light the product was. It didn't leave any residue in my hair and it didn't feel like I left wax in my hair like some creams do. It was light and airy, I enjoyed wearing it for several hours before I lost my curls. I would recommend this product to someone with light thin curls, and not to someone with heavy thick hair like myself.

Recharge Conditioner-
This conditioner is amazing. Simple as that. My hair felt unbelievably soft and smelled so good. I have no negative comments about this conditioner as I loved it so much. I would recommend this product to anyone without oily hair, it kind of adds a shine which tells me there is some sort of oil or serum going on that might make someone with oily hair have extra oily hair with usage.

Elasticate Conditioner-
This conditioner claims to strengthen your hair. I used it once and didn't notice a difference. Although I am sure that the strengthening comes with time I probably wouldn't spend my money on it. It doesn't smell as good as the Recharge and I didn't notice a difference like I did immediately with the recharge. If you have tried this product and liked it, let me know!

https://www.bzzagent.com
=)

Until Next Time...
Lady Bea

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Photoshoot with Cyn!

There is nothing more breathtaking then getting that one shot you can't take your eyes off of. All you think is wow, I took that? And you remember why you got into the game in the first place. Every single time we shoot with Cyn, that's how I feel with at least 1 of her shots. She is a fantastic and very pliable model and will pretty much try anything no matter how weird it sounds. So, we shot Cyn yesterday and I have a new favorite shot in my portfolio....

We have several shoots coming up, so be on the lookout for more work. This image was shot with a Nikon D90 with a 24-105 lens, 7.1 Apeture, 1/125Shutter White balance measured on a grey card then set on flash, and 100 ISO with Paul Buff strobes. I edit in Lightroom then CS5.5

Until Next Time...

Lady Bea

Homemade Crock Pot Beef Stew

Don't you love when spring decides to come and such beautifully warm days and cool evenings? Ah perfect evenings for a warm bowl of beef stew. My recipe is SO simple and made in the crock pot so you get to smell the yumminess ALL day long. Mmm Mmm Mmm.

You will need :
2.5 Beef Stew Meat
3c Beef Stock Broth
1.5c Cranberry/Grape Juice
Carrots - About 3 medium carrots
Potatoes - About 4 medium
1 Medium to Large onion depending on your families taste
CornStarch
Flour
Brown Gravy Mix
Au Ju Mix


I cut my potatoes and carrots the night before because it was a long process. Dice the potatoes into cubes and cover them completely in water and in an airtight container in the fridge to ensure that they do not turn brown. Do the same with the carrots. (Of course you can do this all morning of as well)

In a separate container add your beef and 1/2c flour, 1tea salt, 1/2tea pepper, 1tea garlic powder and mix until all the beef is completely coated. Dice your onion small and mix into the beef.  Then pour in 1/2 of the container of beef stock and mix. Cover and place in refrigerator until the next morning.

Wake up! It's time to start dinner! Beef stew takes 7-10 hours to cook, so get an early start so you'll have the most tender beef you could ask for!

In the crock pot add in your Beef and onion mix, the rest of the beef stock, cranberry juice, carrots, potatoes and the following spices..

1Tb Parsley
1Tb Oregano
1/2Tb Thyme
1/2Tb Salt
1 package of brown gravy mix
1 package of Au Ju mix

And add in enough water to cover the stew just so it is barely covered.

Andddd that's it! For 5-6 hours anyways. Crank that crock up on high and cook all day...

1 hour before dinner time take out 1/2 c of the broth and add in 1.5Tb of Corn Starch, this will thicken the broth into gravy. If in 15 minutes it's not thick enough for your taste add another Tablespoon of corn starch, but chef beware...the sauce WILL thicken as it cools..don't add too much or you'll get a very floury taste to your stew.

Enjoy!!

Crock Pot Beef Stew