Spicy Bacon Brittle

To make the Candied Bacon:

1/2 lb Thick Cut Applewood Smoked Bacon
1 c dark brown sugar
2 TB Turbinado sugar [or sugar in the raw]
1 TB J&D's Bacon Rub [or J&D's Bacon Salt or cayenne pepper and salt}

Preheat oven to 350.
Line a sheet pan with foil, top with a baking rack.
Mix sugar and spices on a large plate.
Pat each bacon strip into the sugar mixture, on each side. Really smush it on in there, get each strip coated completely.
Lay strips on the baking rack, bake 20-30 minutes until just crisp, but not burnt. Bacon will crisp more as it cools.
Remove bacon strips from rack as soon as they are cool enough to handle, or they will stick to rack as they harden.

Chop each piece of bacon by slicing long-ways into 3 thin strips, then short-ways to create lots of little squares, about 1/4" wide.

• Make sure you have all your ingredients measured and laid out before you start the candy. When the sugar mixture comes to temperature, it needs to be finished very quickly, it will start to harden immediately after coming off the heat.

For the candy:

1 cup brown sugar [use leftovers from the candied bacon]
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter [about 4oz or 1/2c]
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp J&D's Bacon Rub
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 lb chopped, candied bacon [see above]
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Line a small baking sheet with parchment.
In a large saucepan [be sure you use a large pan, it will double and triple as it boils], combine the sugar, water, butter and corn syrup and bring to a boil.
Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is light brown and registers 300° on a candy thermometer, 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the bacon and baking soda. The mixture will bubble.
Immediately scrape the brittle onto the baking sheet.
Using the back of a large spoon (oil it lightly if it sticks), spread the brittle into a thin, even layer.
Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Break the brittle into large shards.

recipes altered from: About Food and Food and Wine

Smoked Sausage and Onion Stuffed Chicken Breast

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

The Stuffing

1/2 an onion, chopped sauteed with a kielbasa smoked sausage piece about the size of your hand, chopped small. 
1 c bread crumbs
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
1 tsp Trader Joe's 21 seasoning (or other all-purpose mixed seasoning)
1/2 tsp (or about two quick shakes) cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 cup water


Sautee onion and sausage together in a medium/hot pan till onion is nicely browned and sausage has those crispy dark bits on the sides, about 5 minutes. 





In a small bowl, mix together onion mixture, bread crumbs, seasoning and melted butter. If necessary, add water, a little bit at a time, until mixture comes together enough that you can squeeze a ball in your hand. If it gets too 'goopy', add a little more bread crumbs and try again. 

The Rolls

2 whole chicken breasts or 4 halves
Pound chicken out thinly. You can use a mallet or a hammer. I like my heavy Chinese cleaver for the job. 

To assemble:
Lay a piece of thinly pounded chicken onto your cutting board. Grab a small handful of stuffing and squeeze it into a ball (or enough to make a ball that sits in the middle of your chicken, see picture below).
Roll firmly, from end to end (I tend to roll Right to Left, but it's not a science). Repeat until you've used up all your chicken.
Optionally, you can secure the rolls with a toothpick. But if you roll them tightly enough and handle gently, you really don't need them. 

The Breading
Now you're gonna need two bowls...

In one bowl:
1 cup panko
1 tsp (or a pinch) of salt

In the other bowl:
2 eggs, whisked together

This is where you multi-task. You don't want to bread your chicken until you're putting it right into the hot pan. This way, your breading doesn't get soggy. Also use one hand for Wet ingredients and one for Dry. That way you don't get HULK HANDS. If you don't know what I'm talking about it... you'll see for yourself if you do it wrong. 
So get your pan going, about medium/high heat. Pour in about a tablespoon of oil and I also like to put in a tablespoon of butter (yum).
Assembly line - with one hand, carefully place the chicken rolls into the egg and roll gently to cover.
With the other hand, roll the chicken into the panko until its completely covered.
Drop the chicken into the hot pan, Seam Side Down! This way, your seam will sear together and you don't have to worry about your rolls falling apart (See? Told you you don't need toothpicks). 
Repeat with each piece.


Cook them until the crust on the outside gets a nice brown color, about 5 minutes per side. You aren't fully cooking the chicken yet, just getting some color and sealing your seams.

Carefully scoop them out of your pan with a couple of forks or a spatula. Place them into an oven safe dish and bake about 25-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through. You can poke in a thermometer to see if they are about 165 degrees inside, OR, just slice into one - it should be totally white, with no pink. 

Take them out of the dish and place on a cutting board. Let rest/cool for 5-10 minutes, then slice them (diagonally, if you wanna be fancy). 

Serve with corn on the cobb and green beans, or what have you.

Tip: Bake your corn, still in its husk, on the oven rack while the chicken is cooking. They should both be done about the same time. To check corn, peel the husk back and squeeze one of the kernels, if its soft, its done, if its crunchy let it cook a bit longer.

Roasted Banana, Pineapple, and Brown Rice Muffins with Fresh Ginger Streusel

Well that's literally and figuratively a mouthful. These muffins are dense but soft, with a lovely chewiness from the rice, sweetness from the pineapple and a pop of spice from the ginger struesel.

Roasted Bananas:

3 or more Bananas

1 foil covered sheet pan

Heat oven to 375, F. Place bananas on foil covered pan (foil makes for easy cleanup!). Roast for 12-15 minutes until blackened all over and starting to bubble out juice. Let cool before handling.
Snip off the top with a pair of scissors and squeeze from the end like toothpaste.

For the Streusel:

1c flour
1/4c butter
2 TB freshly grated ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Mix everything together until the flour is all incorporated. It should look sandy and clumpy. Drop onto tops of muffins before baking, about 1 tablespoon per muffin.

For the Muffins:

1.5 c self-rising flour
3 TB Korean Alday nut tea mix (or 1/2 tsp salt)
3 Roasted Bananas
3/4 c white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/3 c butter, melted
2 TB sour cream

Solid Garnish:
1 8oz can pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 c brown rice (cooked)

Stir dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat wet ingredients together. Stir dry into wet ingredients until combined. Fold in solid garnish. Fill muffins most of the way full. Top with struesel. 

Bake at 375, F, for 25-30 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

Freezer Meals: Teriyaki Baked Chicken

Freezer cooking 101: Buy meat in bulk, portion into bags with marinades and freeze.

You can fit 3-4 chicken leg/thigh combos in 1 gallon size ziplock bag, depending on how big the chicken is (or how good you are at Tetris). Probably 4-6 chicken breasts, easily. Whatever you use, you can fit a lot into a gallon size bag. Pour over the marinade and freeze until ready to use.

/\ My freezer looks like this /\

Thaw in the 'fridge for about a day (if you use a lot of chicken, it may take longer to thaw). You can, in a pinch, use a microwave on defrost setting. Just be careful not to actually cook the chicken in the process!

To bake: Place chicken into foil lined pan (for easy cleanup! teriyaki tends to get sticky), dump marinade over top. Optionally pour over a can of pineapple.
Bake at 375 F, for about an hour, until chicken is done and skin is nicely brown and crispy.


You know chicken is done when it starts coming off the bone like this ->

Serve over brown or white rice, with a bit of kimchi or spicy pickle on the side.

Tips:

• In the morning, dump everything into a slow cooker and set to low. Ready by dinner, in about 8 hours.
• Serve with fried rice or chow mein.

When life gives you Bud Light...

When life gives you an excess of nasty beer nobody wants to drink... make pizza crust. 

You don't even need yeast.The beer in this recipe gives a yeasty flavor and the carbonation makes the crust light and soft.
From start to finish, you could have a freshly made pizza in about 30 minutes. Plus get rid of that beer that's laying around. Win win. 

Step 1
Place 2 cups of self-rising flour, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp. of salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir in 2 tbsp. of olive oil and 6 oz. of beer. Stir until the dough forms into a ball. Add additional flour if needed.

Step 2
Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease a baking pan with olive oil. Spread the dough to 1/2-inch thickness and place it in the oven.

Step 3
Bake the dough for five to 10 minutes or until a crust has formed on the top. Remove the crust from the oven and cover it with sauce and your favorite toppings. Return the dish to the oven and bake it until the edges are brown and the cheese is melted, 15 to 20 more minutes.

Tips:
Make this with whatever beer you like to drink or have on hand.
Add 1 tablespoon of your favorite spices to the crust with the flour. Garlic powder, onion powder, basil and oregano are a good combo.

Breakfast-in-a-cup

Did you know you can bake most ceramic coffee cups? Rule of thumb, if they're dishwasher safe, they're probably oven safe too.

I love stuff-in-a-cup. You can make cookies,  cakes, mini - lasagnas.. All sorts of things. This is a technique I suggested to a friend who's overseas and doesn't have an oven- microwave works just as well.

For a quick breakfast all week, you can prepare these, minus the baking part, cover with plastic and keep them in the fridge for a couple of days in advance.

Anyhow, with this breakfast:

Layer toast, ham, cheese and egg in a cup.
Splash over about a tablespoon of milk or cream or half-and-half.
Bake at 350 for 15-20 min.

Drinky Drink: Strawberries and Creme

Hey, its Friday. Time for drinky-drinks!
This tastes like a strawberrys and cream popsicle with booze.

4 oz Amarula creme liqueur (or Bailey's works too)
1-2 tablespoons c macerated strawberries
1 large ice cube

To make the strawberries - chop about 4 berries into small pieces and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Cover and refrigerate about an hour or so, until it makes its own sauce.

Pour liqueur into small glass, spoon in berries and drop in ice.

Berries soak up the alcohol over time, sip slowly :)

Pumpkin and Apple Butters

I know it's about as far from fall as you can get. But with the seasons unable to make up their minds of late, going from hot to cold every few days, its good to have something warm every now and again.
A friend gave me some pumpkin she'd canned last fall and also some yummy home made apple sauce, so I decided to make a nice butter.
These are basically compound butters, which is a fancy way of saying its butter with flavorings mixed in.

So easy... even a caveman.. yeah.

Pumpkin Butter

1/2 c pumpkin puree
1/2 c sugar or honey
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 stick of butter, room temperature

In a pan, heat the pumpkin, sugar and spices on low heat for about 5 minutes, until everything is soft and combined. Let cool until its warm but not too hot to touch.
Stir in the softened butter.
Cover and keep refrigerated.


Apple Butter
The apple was already spiced so I just stirred in a stick of softened butter.
But you can make your own from a cinnamon-flavor applesauce:

1/2 c cinnamon apple sauce
1 stick softened butter

Stir together until combined. Cover and keep refrigerated.


There are all sorts of uses for flavored butters. Stir them into your morning oatmeal. Pour over ice cream. Stir it into cookie mix.
My favorite is simply spreading on toast:

Home Made Granola Protien Bars and Cinnamon Citrus Banana Chips

Make granola from cereal instead of buying all the ingredients individually. This box of granola cereal cost me about 3.50 and will yeild you about a dozen granola bars (or more if you cut them smaller). The same price might get you 4-6 bars in a box. This is pretty quick and easy, why not give it a try?
These are delicious and have all sorts of protein in them: whole grains, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds and more.

Home Made Granola Protein Bars

1 box  Post Great Grains cereal 

1 cup honey

2 tablespoons natural peanut butter

1 bar of dark chocolate , melted

Spread cereal thinly on a large cookie sheet, bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, until toasted. 

Put honey and peanut butter in a bowl and microwave 15 seconds or until warm enough to mix. 

Dump toasted cereal in a big bowl, mix in honey mixture until incorporated into all the cereal.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment and spread mixture into the pan. Cook at 350 for about 10 more minutes, then take it out and let cool for about 30 minutes. 

Cut, brush with melted chocolate (optional). 

Banana chips! SO CHEAP! SO YUMMY! I made about a cup of banana chips from one banana.

These guys are pretty expensive in the store, but cost practically nothing to make at home.

Lemon juice keeps them from getting brown and the cinnamon makes a great flavor with banana (leave it out if you dont like it though). 

From: Momables Recipe 

Cinnamon Citrus Banana Chips

1 Banana

1 tsp cinnamon

Small Pinch of salt

1-2 tablespoons Lemon Juice

Slice banana thinly, about 1/8", not thick, but not see-through-thin.

Lay out each piece on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Mix lemon juice, salt and cinnamon and brush on each banana slice. 

Bake in a 200 degree oven for 2 hours or until they're hard. Let cool and store in a container.

Slow-Cooker Black Bean Soup

This spring can't decide if it wants to be Spring or Winter. Last week it was 80 degrees and today its 40 with a chance of snow. Go home, Winter, you're drunk.
So its cold, time to bring back something nice and warm - soup! This is an easy, dump-and-go, slow-cooker recipe.


Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

1 15oz can black beans
2 c broth (i used turkey)
2/3 c uncooked rice
1 onion, sliced
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 chipotles in adobo, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp Goya Sazonador Total mixed seasoning

Dump everything in the pot and turn on low for 4 hours.
Eat this with crusty bread or tortilla chips.

Tip: 

• Use less chipotles if you want less heat. I'd say 1 is good for mild, 2 for medium, 3 for hot. 
• Use 1 cup of broth to make thicker, spoon into tortilla shells for quick taco dinner. Top with avocado and sour cream.
• Vegetable broth makes this 100% vegetarian. 
• Add 1 chicken breast. At the end of cooking, take the chicken out, shred it with two forks and stir meat back into pot. 
• Dump in a can of corn or 1 cup chopped carrots.

Bacon and Egg Thingies

Thanks to my facebook friends who posted this article, my fiance and I had a lovely brunch today.
You may have seen these Bacon and Egg Cups on pinterest or elsewise on the internet. If you havn't made them yet, here they are, super simple.
Note: I've seen these without the bread, but I prefer with the bread. It soaks up the juice from the bacon and the egg and keeps everything together in one piece. 



Step 1: Bread Disks
I cut these out using a baby food jar. I got two circles out of each slice of bread, then mushed up the scraps to cut with my jar too. It doesn't really matter what  it looks like, the bread is there for stability, so you can just you can just mush up pieces of bread to fit.
For 10 cups, I only used 2 slices of bread.






Step 2: Bacon
Wind bacon around the bread, along the wall of the cup. 1 slice of bacon per cup.
















Step 3: Egg and Season
Crack an egg in the middle of each bacon-cup, sprinkle on a dash of seasoning. I like to use Goya All Purpose seasoning. Garlic salt is great or just salt and pepper, whatever you like.

Step 4: Bake and Eat

Bake at 400 degrees (F) for about 20 minutes. 

 Variations:

• Add in veggies before you crack in the egg.
• Fry the bacon about 1/2 way before putting in the cups, for crispier bacon.

Cold Brew Iced Coffee - Simple.

Now that it's finally starting to get warm out, its time for iced coffee! I live on this stuff most of the year actually.

This stuff is wonderful for iced coffee because you don't get the bitterness of hot-brew, plus you don't have to use a lot of it so its super thrifty!

There's as many ways to make iced coffee as there are people who make it. This is my way. Its easy and it tastes amazing.

Once you dump everything into the container, it has to brew at least 8 hours. I leave mine over night. But if you make a large batch once a week, its quick to just throw together a glass of coffee when you want it. In that sense, it can be faster than waiting for coffee to brew in the pot. 

What you get is basically a concentrated coffee. Drinking it straight is a bit like sipping espresso. 

And did I mention it tastes amazing? It does.

Step one: 

Get a French Press. 

Believe me when I say I am not into useless, one-job, gadgets. Waste of money. Waste of space.

But the way I drink coffee, this thing actually has come in very handy. 

They are not expensive, probably less than you'll pay for a coffee pot. Definitely less than you'll pay for a week or two's worth of Starbucks.  

I paid $40 for this guy on Amazon. But that is really a lot, I kind of splurged on mine. Starbucks sells them for less than $20 and you can find them at other coffee shops as well as big stores like Target, Bed Bath & Beyond and even Walmart.

The point of a french press is that its a container with a mesh-lined plunger, so it separates liquid and whatever you are brewing easily. No electricity. No buttons or whistles. 

Step two: 

Dump in Coffee and Water. 

My press is 32 ounces, so I'll dump in about 1/2 pound of coffee (that's 1/2 of a bag) and fill it up the rest of the way with water. Put the lid on and leave it on the counter over night. 

In the morning, push the plunger down to separate the grounds and liquid. That liquid is glorious coffee concentrate. Strain that into another container and refrigerate. Probably keeps at least two weeks but mine never last more than a few days.
The great thing about cold brew is that it doesn't get stale after a few hours, like coffee brewed with hot water. 

Step three:

Brew 8+ hours, Make coffee.

Fill glass with ice.
Fill halfway with coffee.
Fill the rest of the way with half-and-half + a pump of flavor syrup. 

Variations: Treat it like you would espresso or make your favorite iced coffee beverages: 

Iced Caramel Macchiato:

One Pump caramel syrup + Drizzle Caramel Sauce + Fill glass with ice +  Fill 1/2 glass with coffee + Fill the rest of the way with milk or half-and-half + Top with caramel sauce.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee:
Fill glass with ice + Pour about 1 cup (8oz) coffee over top + stir in 1-2 tablespoons Sweetened Condensed Milk

Check out this easy Cinnamon Dulce Syrup from My Frugal Adventures. 

Deconstructed Sandwich Lunch

• Day-old German whole wheat baguette, toasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Mushrooms cooked in butter with salt and pepper.
• Greek olives, pitted and quartered.
• Fresh tomato, diced.
• A bit of fresh Parsley.

Spoon veggies onto bread and eat. A bit of swiss or mild cheese might be nice, too.

I have this idea that this is the rustic way people used to eat in the olden days. Now its Fancy, isnt that ironic? <3

Ribeye Stroganoff with Beer Sauce

Stroganov is a Russian dish of meat (typically beef) in a sour cream and mustard sauce. Here known as Stroganoff, it's now one of those Americanized dishes born  from our multi-cultured population.
My mom used to make stroganoff with ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, and egg noodles; so I have no idea how authentic this actually is (do Russians eat this?), these days. But its delicious!

This is my updated version, from scratch, with beer. I've seen lots of folk use wine in this, which is nice too. But I got beer in my 'fridge, and I think beer and steak are a great combo.

My Lovely Mise en Place.

Slice Steak.
Slice thinly, about 1/8" or so.

It's much easier to cut when the steak is cold. This one is mostly frozen, though right from the 'fridge works too, as cold meat is firmer than room-temperature meat. 
You still have to thaw it completely before cooking. 

Season with salt and sprinkle on about 1 tablespoon of the flour. Toss to coat.

Cook Rice.
I had about 1 1/4 cups of this lovely wild rice left over from Pork Chops I made earlier in the week. You can certainly feel free to use egg noodles or white rice or what-have-you.
Since I'm using leftovers, its a weird amount, so I just filled a small cup with the rice, and used that cup to measure the water into the rice cooker. Much easier than trying to do the math in your head.
The ratio of wild rice to water is 1:2 (so 1 small cup of rice, 2 small cups of water).
I also seasoned the rice with my favorite Goya all purpose seasoning (about two teaspoons ish).

Chop Garlic and Onions.
There are lots of fancy ways to cut that probably look nicer, but this is how I like to do it when nobody's looking. Slice long ways into strips, then turn the whole thing about 1/4 turn (so the strips face parallel to you), and chop end-to-end into little pieces.
Slice Mushrooms
Use whatever mushrooms you like for these. Baby Bellas and Cirimini are good choices. These are Button Mushrooms. Slice into little lovely mushroom pieces.
Saute. 
Add about 1 tablespoon of oil and saute meat and veggies in pan until meat is browned and onions are translucent. Remove mixture and put aside. Wipe out pan for the sauce, reduce heat to medium. 


Make the Sauce
Drop in 1-2 tablespoons of butter into pan. Let it sizzle and mostly melt, add in 2 tablespoons (or remaining) flour. Whisk constantly until flour dissolves into butter. 
Pour in about 1/4 bottle of beer. (Depending on the darkness of your beer, you can use more or less. Taste as you go. And Drink Up. Don't let that other 3/4 of the beer go to waste!)
Whisk to combine. Sauce should have a nice nutty brown colour at this point.
Whisk in sour cream until combined. Sauce should become beige. Add in spices and a touch of olive oil.

Stir meat and veggies into the sauce and serve over rice.

Tips: 

Save yourself some time/effort and throw halved or quartered frozen meatballs into the sauce, instead of using the steak.

Ribeye Stroganoff with Beer Sauce

YIELD: 4 servingsPREP TIME: 15 minutesCOOK TIME: 25 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes -ish

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 pounds of thinly sliced Steak {skirt, flank or ribeye to name a few}

4 tablespoons All Purpose Flour, divided

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 cup sliced Mushrooms

1/4 cup finely diced Yellow Onion

1 teaspoon chopped Fresh Garlic {about 2 small cloves}

2 tablespoons Butter

1/4 bottle of Beer

2 cups of chicken broth

1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard

3/4 cup Sour Cream

Salt and Black Pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups Wild Rice 

Chopped Fresh Parsley, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Slice up the frozen steak into thin strips. Toss it in a bowl with 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and 1 heaping tablespoon of all purpose flour. Set it off to the side so it comes up to room temperature.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot add in the steak strips and let them cook undisturbed for 5 minutes so a brown crust forms.

After the time is up stir the steak strips and add in the sliced mushrooms, diced onions and chopped garlic. Stir and cook until the mushrooms and onions are soft. About 4 minutes.

Remove the beef and onion mixture to a clean bowl and set it off to the side.

Reduce the heat under the pan to medium and give it a chance to cool down before adding two tablespoons of butter. Once melted add in the 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour. Whisk until smooth and flour dissolves into butter, making a roux, for 2 minutes.

Pour in the beer and whisk in sour cream and mustard. Cook a few minutes until thickened. Add in the beef and mushroom mixture, season with salt and pepper, Goya seasoning and parsley. 

Heat through and serve over cooked rice.

Honey Mustard Chicken With Roasted Vegetables

This is so easy, you'll want to make this a staple meal.

Ingredients: 

• 4-6 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on) or chicken breast
• 4 small or 2 large potatoes into 1/2" chunks
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 4 large carrots, peeled, chop in half
• 1 bulb garlic, peeled (or 4 cloves if you want less garlic)
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 squirt of Sriracha (optional)

Mix honey and mustard (and sriracha) together in a bowl with a fork or whisk until just combined.
In a baking dish, layer veggies in the bottom.
Top with chicken.
Season with salt and pepper.
Pour honey mustard mixture over the top of each chicken piece.
Cover with foil
Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes
Uncover, (optional - mix up more honey/mustard/sriracha and brush it over the tops of the chicken) crank heat up to 425 and bake another 10 minutes or so until tops of chicken are browned and crispy.

Serve as is or, for a heartier meal, serve over brown rice or pilaf.

Cool Stuff

I'm going to start posting cool stuff here, like food-related tutorials or neat ideas. I'll put them on a handy link box on the left so you can go through them as you like.

 For today, here is a quick tutorial on easy chocolate cups. Cheers:)

French Toast Rolls

Here is a fancy way to serve French Toast. Treat it like you would regular French Toast, using what ever spices or toppings you normally would.

Use any kind of sandwich bread for this. I used a 12 grain bread, which has lovely nutty crunchy bits sprinkled through it. 

French Toast Rolls

Serves Two

Ingredients

4 slices of bread

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoons cinnamon sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

butter

1. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and spices.
2.  (Optionally, cut crusts off before rolling)
3. Roll out bread with a rolling pin or smooth sided cup until about 1/4 inch thick.
4. Spread bread slices with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar (optional).

1. Roll bread, starting at the long end, into a log shape. Repeat with each slice.
2. In a hot pan (medium heat), add 1 tablespoon or so of butter. Melt butter until it sizzles.
3. Dip bread in egg mixture.
4. Add in rolled bread to pan/butter, seam side down. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side. Serve warm.

Tips: 

Sprinkle toasted walnuts into filling
Spread jam or soft fruit as filling
Use cream cheese for filling

Sift powdered sugar over top

Enchilada Lasagna (or Lazy Man's Enchiladas)

I love making this, its so easy and quick. 

I use a square brownie pan. This serves four nicely, with sides, or two fat-kids (me and my hubs). You could easily double this recipe and use a 3-4 qt baking dish.

4 large flour tortillas, cut into quarters (or 6 small corn tortillas, cut in halves) 

2 cups (ish) leftover meat and veggies, chopped

I had leftover pork cooked with chiles and corn

1 large can Enchilada Sauce

Shredded 'Mexican' mixed cheese

Lay tortillas in the bottom of the pan, with points in the corners and rounded edges towards the center 

Sprinkle cheese over top to cover tortillas.

Layer on the chopped meat and veggies over the cheese.

Pour on Enchilada sauce to cover (this will be about 1/3 of the can)

Repeat layering until you've used up all the ingredients or filled the pan. 

Bake at 350 for about 45 min. I like to give the cheese a nice crust so I'll turn the broiler on for a few minutes or turn the heat up to 450 for the last stretch.