Overnight Blueberry French Toast

This was such a great weekend for us!  We had our really good friends come in town for a visit.  Whenever they come in to town, I know that it is going to be a weekend full of really late nights, movies, {we saw Les Mis and it was incredible} girl talk while the guys play some Call of Duty, and good times!  This is why I LOVE overnight breakfasts!  If you have not experienced an overnight breakfast casserole, this is the one to try!  I was able to throw it together before we went to bed, and pull it out in the morning and have a delicious breakfast ready for all of us!  I sure do love my peaches and cream french toast but I think this one became my favorite!  It is heavenly with the blueberry topping and the bits of cream cheese throughout.  Serve it up with some real whipped cream and you are sure to have a crowd pleaser!

Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 3 stars

Review: I kept the recipe the same.  I did use canned blueberries in the topping and it worked out great!  We will definitely be making this again!  I got this recipe from my girl over at High Heels and Grills.

Ingredients:

12 slices day old Texas Toast, cut into 1 inch cubes (or a loaf of french bread, when I lived in NC they didn't have Texas toast!)

2 cubes of 8 oz cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 cup blueberries (I used 1/2 fresh and 1/2 canned)

2 cups milk

12 eggs beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup maple syrup

Topping:

1 cup white sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 cup water

1 cup blueberries (I used canned)

1 Tbsp salted butter

1. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish and place half of the bread cubes in the bottom.

2. Place cream cheese cubes and spread 1 cup blueberries with the remaining bread cubes on top.

3.  In large bowl mix the eggs, milk, vanilla and syrup.  Pour evenly over the top of the bread mixture.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

5.  Cover the mixture with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil from the top and cook for another 25-30 minutes until center is firm.

6. For topping, in medium saucepan mix the cornstarch, sugar, and water and bring to a boil.  Cook mixture for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

7.  Mix in remaining cup of blueberries.  If you use canned blueberries just let it simmer for a few minutes.  If you use fresh blueberries simmer for about 10 minutes until they burst.

8.  Stir in the butter and pour over the french toast.  Enjoy!!

Twix Brownies

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This is one of those recipes that you know is going to be good even before you make it.  I mean seriously.  A cookie along the bottom, brownie in the center, and caramel layer and chocolate on top?  These were amazing!  When I found the recipe I saw comments that the cookie layer on the bottom wasn't hard enough.  Well I thought everything about these brownies were perfect.  I feel like brownies are supposed to be nice and chewy.  The cookie bottom was still hard to resemble a twix but not too hard taking away from the brownie.  These take a little bit to prepare but are totally worth that first bite!

Ingredients:
Crust Layer:
1 (12.8 oz.) package of Simply Sandies Shortbread Cookies
6 Tablespoons Butter

Brownie Layer:
1 box of 9x13 brownie mix
Ingredients on the brownie mix box (Usually eggs, oil, and water)
1/4 cup hot fudge topping

Caramel Layer
1 (14 oz.) bag of caramels
2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Chocolate Topping:
1 (11.5 oz) Bag milk chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons Butter
1/4 cup heavy cream

1. Grease the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  I would highly suggest lining the pan with parchment paper.  This made it very easy to lift out of the pan and cut the brownies.  
2. Put the cookies into a food processor until very fine.  In a medium bowl melt the butter.  Add the cookies to this and mix until moist.  Press into the bottom of the 9x13 pan.
3. Prepare the brownie mix as directed on the box but also add in the 1/4 cup of fudge topping.  Spread on top of cookie.  Cook the brownie mix as directed and let it cool completely.
4.  Melt cream and caramels together over medium low heat on the stove until caramels are melted and creamy.  Pour this evenly on top of the cooled brownies.  Let cool until set.  You can speed up the process by placing the brownies in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  
5. Lastly, melt the chocolate, butter and heavy cream together and pour over the caramel layer.  Let this cool.  Serve and enjoy.  
Recipe from: Jasey's Crazy Daisy

Monterey Chicken

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I love when you are cruising Pinterest and you see recipes that say, "This will change your life!!" or "You will fall on the floor dead because this tastes so amazing!" or "SHUT THE FRONT DOOR this OMG chicken is OMG!!" Or this recipe said, "This recipe came from Chili's itself!  I asked the manager and this is what he told me!"  These make me laugh!  And I can't promise that these things will happen when you eat this chicken, but this chicken was so delicious that we couldn't get enough.  Even after we were stuffed full of this amazing chicken, me and the hubby split the last one!  And I am not sure if this tastes like Chili's, but it makes me want to order it next time it was good.  The sauce that it marinates in is SO good... and then topped with Applewood Smoked bacon and smothered in cheese... OMG THIS CHICKEN WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!  Haha just kidding.  But you should definitely give this recipe a try!  

Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 3 stars
Things that I changed: I forgot to add the barbecue sauce!  That would have taken to a whole different level.  Still so amazing though!!
Things that I would do differently next time: This chicken can be grilled or baked.  Since it is snowing right now, I baked it.  I can't wait to wrap this in bacon and grill it this summer!
Will I make it again?  Yes!  This recipe made me want to invite friends and family over just so they could experience this too!

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Honey
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
3 Tablespoons Worchestershire Sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 
1 cup shredded monterey Jack Cheese
8 slices apple-smoked bacon
8 tablespoons barbecue sauce

1. Mix the honey, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and salt together.  I cut my chicken breasts in half making them tenders.  Marinate your chicken breasts in this sauce for at least an hour but can be marinated overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  I poured a little of the sauce along the bottom of the pan and placed the chicken on top.  I covered with aluminum foil and cooked for about 30 minutes.  Make sure center is no longer pink and juices run clear.
3. While chicken is cooking, fry up the bacon and set aside.
4.  When chicken is cooked, spread with barbecue sauce (I can't believe I forgot the BBQ sauce!), top with bacon and cheese.  Broil until cheese is bubbly.  Enjoy!!

Cheeseburger Soup

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I hope that you all had a fantastic holiday!  Mine was great except for the fact me and the hubby came down with really bad head colds!  I had something completely different planned for dinner and the only thing that sounded good was soup.  Plus it was snowing all day.  Perfect soup day.  This soup was so delicious!  It is an award winning soup and it is excellent.  I loved the cheesy flavor and I loved that it was different than other soups that we had tried.  It became an instant favorite and it made a lot so I am excited to have leftovers!

Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 3 stars
Things that I changed:  I added 16 onces of Velveeta cheese.  Since it makes such a big batch it was the perfect amount of cheeseiness.  I also added about 1 pound of ground beef.
Things that I would do differently next time: Nothing
Will I make it again?  Yes

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef (use 1 pound)
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
4 tablespoons butter, divided
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups of Velveeta processed cheese cubed (I used 16 ounce)
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream

1.  Brown the ground beef in 3 quart saucepan.  Drain and set aside.
2. In the same saucepan add 1 T butter and add onion, shredded carrots, parsley flakes, basil and celery.  Saute until tender.
3.  Add the broth, potatoes and beef and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
4.  In small skillet melt remaining butter (3 T) and add the flour.  Cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly.  Add to the soup and bring to a boil.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to low.
5. Stir in the cheese, milk, salt and pepper.  Cook and stir until cheese melts.  Remove from heat and blend in sour cream.  
Yield 8 servings
Recipe Adapted from: Taste from Home

This post is sponsored by best health magazine

Eggnog Meltaways

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My picky 5 year old is obsessed with eggnog.  Everytime we go to the store he has to buy eggnog.  What is up with that?  I had all of the ingredients on hand to make these and they were easy to whip up a batch.  I love how these cookies meltaway in your mouth and have a subtle eggnog taste.  They were delicious!

Rating: 3 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars
Things that I changed:  I added 1/4 t cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg to the flour mixture for added spice.
Things that I would do differently next time:  Nothing
Will I make them again?  Yes

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup eggnog
1 cup powdered sugar for rolling the cookies

1. Mix together the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar.  Beat in the eggnog.
3. Add the flour mixture gradually until well combines.  Cover and refrigerate for an hour or until the dough is firm.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place on the baking sheet about 1 inch apart.
6. Bake 12-14 minutes.  Remove to a wire rack and cool for about 5 minutes and then roll them in powdered sugar.  Makes about 3 dozen.

Slow Cooker Asian Pulled Pork

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This meal is going to go down in history as one of my favorite meals ever.  This was so delicious I couldn't get enough of it.  My family loved it just as much and my little 9 year old kept sneaking some from the crockpot.  The flavor of the sauce was amazing and the pork just pulled apart because it was so tender.  Definitely one that we will be making again and again!

Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars

Things that I changed:  I doubled sauce that gets dumped in at the end.

Things that I would do differently next time: I am going to try it with chicken too!

Will I make it again?  Yes

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds of pork roast 

1 cup water

1/2 tsp Shirley J Chicken bouillon or 1 tsp chicken bouillon granules

1 onion, cut into large chunky slices

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp Oyster Sauce

1. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray and place the pork on the bottom.  Pour the water and bouillon.  Place onions around the roast.  Cover and cook on low 7-10 hours.  The pork should be tender and easy to shred.

3. When pork is finished drain the juices and discard onions.  Shred the meat.

4.  Combine soy sauce, Worchestershire, garllic, brown sugar and oyster sauce.  Pour over the meat and stir.

5.  Let it cook for another 30 minutes so that the flavors are blended.

6. Serve over hot rice or ramen noodles.

Recipe from: 365 days of Slow Cooking

White Chocolate Cashew Fudge

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I have never made fudge before.  Why you ask?  I don't like fudge.  I have said before that I used to hate chocolate.  I have grown to like some of it, but I usually don't like chocolate by itself.  So fudge has just never appealed to me.  I prefer white chocolate over milk chocolate any day!  So when I found this white chocolate fudge recipe AND it had cashews on the top.... this is my kind of fudge!!  Making fudge was a lot easier than expected and I loved that it made a lot so that I can give it away for gifts.  It was delicious!  All of my favorite things in one fudgy yummy place!

Rating: 4 stars Difficulty of Recipe: 3 stars

Things that I changed:  Kept the recipe the same.

Things that I would do differently next time: Nothing

Will I make it again?  Yes

Ingredients:

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 can evaporated milk

2 cubes butter (2 sticks, 1/2 cup each)

2 12 oz bags White Chocolate Chips

7 oz jar marshmallow cream

2 tsp vanilla

6-9 oz salted cashews

1.  Start by putting the bags of white chocolate chips, marshmallow cream, vanilla, and 1 cube of butter in a mixing bowl  I used my kitchen aid and it made the process nice and easy.

2. In a saucepan compine the butter, sugar and evaporated milk.  Bring to a boil on medium high heat and let it boil for 10 minutes.  I kept stirring mine occasionally with a wire whisk.

3. Pour hot syrup over your chocolate chips, marshmallow cream, butter, and vanilla and whip in your mixing bowl until it is fully incorporated.

4.  Pour this into a buttered 9x13.  I also lined mine with parchment paper so that it would come out easily.

5. Press and evenly spread the cashews on top making sure they are secure so they won't come out when it is flipped upside down.  Place in fridge for a few hours to set.

6.  Once you are ready to cut, you can run the bottom of the pan under hot water to help release the fudge in the pan.  Flip over on a parchment paper and cut them into squares.

Recipe from: Iheartnaptime

Asiago Dip

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I love asiago cheese.  It all started in high school when me and my bff would get an asiago cheese bagel every morning at Einstein Bagels.  I knew I would love this dip.  I took it to a family Christmas party and it was a HUGE hit.  I couldn't get enough and everyone else couldn't get enough.  This recipe was made with lighter ingredients to make it a little better for you.  This will definitely be my go to dip recipe for any get together party!

Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars

Things that I changed:  Nothing

Things that I would do differently next time: Nothing

Will I make it again?  Yes

Ingredients:

1 cup light mayo

1 bunch thin sliced green onions

2/3 cup grated Asiago Cheese

5-6 artichoke hearts diced

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes (not oil packed)

1 8 oz carton low fat sour cream

1 T grated Parmesan

2 t fresh minced garlic

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all of your ingredients together and put into a pie plate or shallow baking dish.

3. Sprinkle the top with a little bit of Asiago Cheese.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

5. Serve with bruschetta or crackers.  Enjoy!

Recipe from: Garnish with Lemon

Cookies and Cream Hot Chocolate

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The only thing that I look forward to in the winter time is being snuggled up with my family sipping on some hot chocolate.  I really hate the cold!  So we are always making some hot chocolate around our house.  This is one of our favorite hot chocolate recipes that I make.  There is something about cookies and cream that I am obsessed with.  The tiny cookies that are ground up in this make this hot chocolate amazing!  And then served up with some fresh whip cream and crushed oreos on top....  I think I am going to make some right now!

Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 1 star

Ingredients:
2 cups milk (I have also used 1 cup milk and 1 cup heavy cream)
1/2 cup hot chocolate powder
4-5 oreos
whipping cream
crushed oreos for topping

1. Warm up milk and on the stove over medium low heat.  Be careful not to let it boil.
2. Add the hot chocolate powder.  I have used both regular hot chocolate and candy cane hot chocolate powder.  The candy cane hot chocolate powder tastes like mint cookies and cream.  Both are delicious!
2. Grind the oreos up very finely in a food processor or blender.
3. Add the oreos to the warm milk.
4. Serve with whip cream topping and oreos crushed on the top.

This recipe was featured in Delightful December over at Naptime Creations.

Christmas Cheer Giveaway!

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Happy Holidays!

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Snow Kiss Cookies

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When I was growing up, we had a neighbor every year bring us a plate of cookies.  These cookies were always on the plate.  They have always been one of my favorites!  There is just something about the walnut in them and how they are rolled in powdered sugar that I absolutely love!  I love cookies like these because they are so great for a cookie exchange, or even for yourself!  I like that they are small and cute because then I feel better about eating 5!

Rating: 5 stars  Difficulty of Recipe: 2 stars
Things that I changed:  I didn't toast the walnuts... but I am going to try next time!
Things that I would do differently next time: Nothing
Will i make this again?  Yes

Ingredients:
2 oz Walnuts
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup Flour
Powdered Sugar for coating your cookies

1.  Cream butter, sugar, vanilla and salt together in bowl.  You have the option of toasting your walnuts until golden brown, but let them cool.
2.  Place the walnuts in a food processor or blender and crush until fine.  Add this mixture to the butter, sugar, and salt.  
3.  Add the flour slowly to the mixture and mix until combined.
4.  Wrap the dough in seran wrap and put it in the fridge for 1-2 hours to chill.
5.  After chilled, preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Drop the dough by small scoops onto parchment lined cookie sheets.  (I didn't line mine in parchment and they still turned out great.
6.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Take them out and let them cool on a cooling rack.  Once cooled, roll them in the powdered sugar.  Enjoy!
Recipe from The crafted Sparrow