Blueberry Cheese French Toast Casserole

Now that we have a green light to eat well cooked eggs for number Six (and must continually keep them in her diet), I have begun to try different french toast & egg casseroles.

My MIL brought me a bunch of blueberries and unfortunately, my children are not all that fond of them plain. They don't mind blueberry muffins, but just don't try to feed them blueberries. Don't even put them in a fruit salad because they will be picked out.

I found this recipe some time ago (probably a good 10 years ago) in a local paper and stashed it away. Since I was making french bread for our supper last evening, I doubled the recipe and made two extra loaves. I left them out to stale last evening and made up the casserole late this morning as the recipe called for it to sit in the fridge overnight.

Blueberry Cheese French Toast Casserole

1-2 loaves of day old french bread, cubed
8 eggs
1 1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. real maple syrup
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
Cinnamon
1 1/2 c. blueberries, mixed with a bit of flour
8 oz. cream cheese

Grease a 9x13 pan. Add half of cubed bread on the bottom. Scatter blueberries over the top. Pinch pieces of cream cheese over the top and sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. Add remaining bread cubes on top.

In a small bowl combine eggs, milk, syrup & butter. Pour over the top of the bread mixture. Using a spatula, press down the bread to help soak up the liquid mixture. Cover with foil & place in refrigerator overnight.

Bake covered in 350 oven for about an hour.

Cook's Notes:
Ok, first off, I used foil pans sprayed with Pam.

I made two casseroles adding a bit of frozen raspberries & a few frozen chopped strawberries to the blueberries in one pan(probably closer to two cups) and straight blueberries in the other. The ones with the added raspberries & strawberries was definitely the better of the two.

I also used low fat cream cheese which probably does not "melt" as well as the full fat stuff. Once stirred around, it mixed in fine after cooking, but the casserole wasn't so pretty looking afterward.

This is NOT a sweet dish despite the addition of maple syrup. We all used a bit more syrup over the top.

It was NOT a big hit with the kids. Hubby loved it. I thought it was so-so. I may make it again for a brunch/breakfast, but I won't make it for dinner again. It was way too rich for an evening meal especially since we eat later as a rule.

Recipes & pictures from 5/3/2010

Whole Wheat French Bread

1 1/4 c. warm water
1 1/2 tsp. yeast
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. oil (I use canola)
approx. 3 c. whole wheat flour

Mix water, yeast & honey in mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook. Add oil. Add two cups flour plus salt. Continue to add remaining flour slowly until dough starts to come together and leaves the side of the mixing bowl. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until dough is no longer sticky and is elastic. Allow to rise covered in a well oiled bowl for 30-45 mins.

Punch dough down and remove from bowl. Cut into two equal pieces. Roll each piece into an approx. 10"x13" rectangle and roll tightly along the long end. Pinch the ends & seams together and place seam side down on a lightly oiled sheet pan (I use my silpats instead of oil). Cover & let rise for another 30 minutes. After rising make 3 large slits on top of bread with a sharp knife. Bake at 350 for 30-40 mins.

Obviously for my purposes last evening, I doubled the recipe & cut the dough into smaller pieces. Overall, I think the bread is good for grinders, but as you can see from the picture, I will need to make them wider next time.



This is my standard "meatball" recipe. I use it for anything "Italian" themed (sauce, grinders, etc.)
Turkey Meatballs (for grinders)

2 1/4 lbs. of lean ground turkey
1 c. panko soaked in 1/4 c. milk
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. salt*
1/2 tsp. pepper*
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese*
2 tsp. dried basil*
2 tsp. dried oregano*
2 Tbsp. minced onion*
1 tsp. minced garlic*
1/4 c. ketchup*
2 Tbsp. regular yellow mustard*
Few shakes of the Worcestershire bottle

Gently mix all ingredients into large bowl. Measure out 2-3 Tbsp.* sized meatballs on lightly sprayed sheet pans. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. Immediately add meatballs into your favorite marinara sauce and simmer for 15-20 mins.

* Unfortunately I am in the habit of not measuring. These are approx. measurements.



Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (No bake)

In large pan add:

1 stick of butter
1 3/4 c. sugar (you could probably do even less than this)
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. cocoa

Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Boil exactly one minute. Remove from heat and add:

1/2 c. chunky peanut butter
2 tsp. vanilla

Stir until peanut butter is totally melted. Then add in:

3 1/2 c. oats

Stir until oats are fully coated and then drop by teaspoonful onto wax paper and refrigerate.

These ended up being pretty good. The kids each had one after dinner and liked them. I liked them because they were done in less than 15 mins. and chilled while we ate our dinner. Good recipe to use when having your little ones help you in the kitchen, too.