French Toast Casserole

I hosted an Open House at my home recently and had some cubed Multi-grain Beer Bread left over.  My family doesn't like it as much as the original, so I wanted to repurpose it. I don't like to waste good beer bread!!  We also had some left over dinner rolls so I thought what the heck, I will throw those in too. 

So, usually with French Toast Casserole you soak it overnight. That is awesome if you are able to plan ahead, but I am an on the fly kinda gal, so I needed something I could make this morning. I thought what the heck. 

I ended up with 7 cups of cubed bread so that is what this recipe is based on. I basically used 1 egg per cup of bread cubes. Heaven forbid if you have any left over so if you want to make this, you might have to hide some. :). Instead of the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg, try a cup of Vanilla Bean Chai Drink Mix. I used regular brown sugar in this since I didn't have any stevia brown sugar. I always say, use what you have!

Here is the resulting recipe. 

Ingredients:

6-7 cups of cubed Multi-grain Beer Bread

6-7 eggs, one egg per cup of bread cubes

3 1/2 c of milk

1 c of sugar or stevia crystals (my choice)

1 tsp of vanilla

1/4 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg

1 tsp of salt or salt substitute (my choice)

1 c of brown sugar (my choice) or stevia brown sugar

2 Tbsp Vanilla Bean Chai Drink Mix

1/2 c Powdered Sugar

Preheat your oven to 425. 

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, add the milk, vanilla, spices sugar and salt. Mix until combined. (This would be amazing with pecans too but my hubby isn't a fan of them so I didn't put them in)

Spray a 13x9 baking dish with non stick cooking spray. Add the cubed bread and arrange in an even layer.

Pour the egg mixture over the top of the bread. Press the bread until all the bread is soaked with the egg mixture. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the casserole is set (not jiggly).

While the casserole is baking mix together the Vanilla Bean Chai Drink Mix and the powdered sugar. 

When the casserole comes out of the oven, sprinkle the sugar mixture over the casserole while it is still hot. You can do this individually as I had to do since my people don't like powdered sugar on french toast. Crazy right?!?

Serve immediately with or without maple syrup. 

Bayou Bourbon Pork Tenderloin Medallions

I am loving this new grill!!  Tonight is Bayou Bourbon Pork Tenderloin Medallions. We bought the pork tenderloin on sale and yum, yum, yum!  I thought I loved Bayou Bourbon before but holy cow!!

I cut the tenderloins, there were 2 in the package, into 2" medallions. I sprinkles them with Seasoned Salt, of course, and then put them on my hot grill. I let them hang out for 10 minutes and then turned them over. I glazed them while they were hanging out on the other side for another 8 minutes or so, turned them over and then glazed them on the other side. 

We served them with a baked potato and veggie!  Talk about a healthy meal!  Cheap too!!!

Gardening

I started my seeds for the garden today. I am so excited. My garden was great last year and we are fresh and well into the fall. I just love these greenhouse seed starters. I planted even more seeds this year and trying some new veggies. We will see how they do!  

I planted:

4 types of tomato: cherry, beefsteak, early girl and Rutgers select

Colorful bell peppers

Jalapeño peppers

Carrots

Onion

Radish

Lettuce

Spinach

Then herbs:

Basil

Dill

Parsley

Oregano

Cilantro

Chives

Then, when it gets warmer, we are going to plant pumpkins (Orange and white), cucumber, zucchini and watermelon. 

Oh and I also planted some Zinnia seeds for in front of the house. 

I just love to watch things grow and am looking forward to summer!!!

Baby Shower Party Today

My son and his wife are expecting a baby boy in just over a month. We offered to host the shower here at our house and of course all of the food was Tastefully Simple. Of course!!  The one recipe that was the bigges hit was the Lemonberry Krispie Rice Treats. The theme was Monsters Inc., so this was the perfect choice. I added some blue food coloring to them and with the berries in the mix, they looked like Sully's fur!  Here's the recipe and a few photos of the food. 

Ingredients: 

Tastefully Simple Lemonberry Cheeseball Mix

3 Tbsp Butter

1 package of Marshmallows

6 cups crispy rice cereal

Grease a 13x9 baking pan. Melt the butter in a large sauce pan, add the marshmallows and cheeseball mix. Stir constantly until melted. Turn flame down to low and add in cereal. Mix until all cereal is coated with marshmallow. Immediately pour out onto baking sheet and press flat with greased hands. 

Let cool and cut into bars. Enjoy!