Breakfast Time!

When the girls were little I was privileged to be apart of a wonderful group called Mothers Of Preschoolers aka, MOPS.

At MOPS I made life long friendships and one of those is with my friend, Cyndi Parra. Every meeting two of the tables were responsible for bringing breakfast items and one of these mornings my sweet friend Cyndi brought in a scrumptious casserole called French Vanilla Baked French Toast. It was so yummy...

Yesterday I mistakenly defrosted the loaf of Texas Toast which forced me to get on the ball & make some french toast which is the whole reason I bought that loaf of bread to begin with.

So...I got out my MOPS cookbook, looked up her recipe and got to making!

I didn't have any French Vanilla coffee creamer so I made some myself with a minor adjustment. I'll include that recipe next.

Cyndi's French Vanilla Baked French Toast

1 loaf French Bread (Texas Toast)
1 (16 oz) French Vanilla Coffee Creamer
7 eggs, divided
cinnamon & sugar


Prepare a 9x13 pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl scramble 2 of the eggs & the whole bottle of coffee creamer. Tear the bread into bite size pieces & dip each piece into the creamer mixture. Arrange pieces in your prepared pan. Once you've used up all the creamer mixture, scramble up the remaining 5 eggs in the empty bowl. Pour them evenly over the pieces of bread. Sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar. Bake in a 350* oven for 30 minutes. Serve with or without syrup.

(If you like, you can prepare this the night before you need it. Remember, if you're using a glass pan or a stoneware baker, just pop it in, THEN turn on the oven & let the pan preheat with the oven; this will keep it from breaking. Just add 10 minutes to the cooking time!)

Enjoy!

If you're like me & do not keep flavored coffee creamer on hand here's a quick fix that's just as good but does not include all the crazy ingredients like, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL or DIPOTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES. What in Sam hill is all that stuff??? Geesh...

Here's my take on it and you can make it any flavor you want! Instead of making Vanilla flavored for the baked french toast I used MAPLE flavoring (with a hint of vanilla) and it was yummy!

So without further ado, here's my recipe:

Vanilla Coffee Creamer

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
28oz whole milk
2 Tbs. pure vanilla (or 1 1/2 Tbs MAPLE flavoring & 1/2 Tbs. vanilla)

In a large bowl pour the can of sweet milk. Be sure & scrape the can good of all that yumminess but DO NOT throw it away. After it's all in the big bowl add the flavoring; mix well. Now get that empty sweet milk can & fill it up with milk, add to bowl & repeat one more time; that should give you 28 ounces. Mix well with a wire whisk & serve with coffee or in a recipe like the one above. Keep refrigerated.

This recipes yields 4 cups of creamer. (you'll need 2 cups for the baked french toast)

Military BRATS

April is the month of the military child. Here are some funny insights to the fun, sometimes crazy & adventurous life our kids (and us) lead.

Enjoy!
You know you are a military brat if you . . .
. . . are amazed at people who have never left their hometown or have lived in the same place for more than 3 years.
. . . answer the question "where are you from" with "I'm kinda from all over the place."
. . . are able to imitate others' speech patterns easily.
. . . always wish you were back at the last place you were stationed even 20 years later.
. . . are initially confused when asked where you are from, and answer "I was born in TX but we moved here from CA and before that we lived in FL."
. . . can call up actual memories of a country while you're in geography class.
. . . cannot speak the language of the country in which you were born.
. . . can still convert foreign currency in your head.
. . can talk to anyone and everyone from anywhere and everywhere.
. . . find that everywhere you go, you see someone you went to school with.
. . . are brought to tears by military music.
. . . know the words and tune to military march songs.
. . . meet another military brat sometime somewhere and are instantly bonded.
. . . can identify ranks and duty stations by the stickers on a car's bumper or windshield.
. . . conceal your father's rank because once people find out he has stars they'll never treat you the same.
. . knew the rank and name of the kid next door's father before meeting the kid next door.
. . . remember that every room you've ever had was stark white and you couldn't put nail holes in the walls.
. . . . didn't save things so you wouldn't go over the weight allowance of the next move.
. . . had your introductory speech prepared and memorized for your first day at a new school.
. . . feel more at home on a military base than in town even though you've been a civilian for 26 years.
. . hear the sound of freedom when military aircraft fly by, while civilians complain about the noise.
. . . had classes interrupted by the roar of an entire wing of jets taking off in pairs
. . . feared turning 21 because they would take your ID card away.
. . . at age 22 are trying to find someone in the military to marry so you can get a new I.D. card.
. . . don't feel quite right seeing military personnel younger than you.
. . . enjoy seeing guys in fatigues on city streets because it makes you feel "at home".
. . get nostalgic when seeing O.D. Green or Navy Dungarees.
. . . feel more comfortable living near a military base and get bummed-out when a base gets closed.
. . . get the itch to move every 3-4 years and forever feel like the outsider in the civilian world.
. . . give someone a break because they are in the military.
. . . are going to a grocery store but call it the commissary.
…you go into culture shock upon returning to the States.
. . . graduated from a high school that you only attended for a year.
. . . had a supply of C-Rations or MRE’s that you traded with your friends.
. . . had Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners in a mess hall.
. . . had a job delivering the Stars and Stripes.
. . . thought it was normal to have the newspaper editorial staff's names include their military ranks.
. . . have been asked just where in New York APO is.
. . . have to explain that being born in Germany does not make you German.
. . . have USAA as your insurance company.
. . . keep bumping into people all over the world who know friends that you haven't seen in years.
. . . have siblings who were born in various foreign lands or U.S. states.
. . . panic when you can't find your ID or passport.
. . . put your hand over your heart at 5 p.m. knowing the flag was coming down. . . somewhere.
. . . feel the need to stand up and recite the national anthem at the start of movies.
. . . remember being able to watch the Super Bowl or World Series live on TV at 2 am.
. . . start a major portion of your conversations with "when I was in. . .
. . . thought all pens had "US Government" printed on them.

Our son & his friends April 2007. This was his farewell party at NAS Lemoore, CA.

Sunday Visit

My cousin, Brooke, and her sweet little family came to visit us Sunday evening. So of course that meant we needed something yummy for supper time!

On the menu:
Grilled porkchops
Au gratin potatoes
French sliced green beans
Strawberry cake

Believe it or not, I've never made au gratin potatoes before. I found a recipe that looked simple enough & it gave me a chance to use my new food processor for slicing & grating. I knew I liked my food processor but now I seriously LOVE it.

Here's the recipe & picture of the potatoes. They got rave reviews from all so I thought I'd share it here.

Ingredients
8 russet potatoes, sliced thin
1 onion, sliced into rings
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 + 2 tablespoons butter
1/4 + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
4 cups shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese
2 tsp. garlic powder
Paprika

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 baker.

2.Layer 1/2 of the potatoes into bottom of the prepared casserole dish.Sprinkle generously with salt & pepper. Top with the onion slices, and add the remaining potatoes. Season with salt and pepper generously again.

3.In a medium-size saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Mix in the flour, salt, garlic powder and stir constantly with a whisk for one minute. Stir in milk and heavy cream. Cook until mixture has thickened. Stir in cheese all at once, and continue stirring until melted, about 30 to 60 seconds. Pour cheese over the potatoes, sprinkle with paprika and cover the dish with aluminum foil.

4.Bake for 1 hour 25 minutes covered; remove foil & bake for 5 more minutes.

Next recipe is one my hair stylist told me a customer brought by to him and thought I'd like it. I didn't love it but the family did.

Ingredients:

1 Strawberry box cake (ingredients to make it according to package directions)
1 can of strawberry pie filling
1 can strawberry frosting
1 container whipped topping

Directions:

1. Prepare cake according to package directions for a 9x13 cake. Let cake cool. (I forgot to take a picture of the cake. So here's one of the box mix.)

2. Spread pie filling on top of completely cooled cake.

3. Mix the can of strawberry flavored frosting & tub of whipped topping together.

4. Spread frosting gently & evenly using a small spreader.

5. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Wordless Wednesday....

Motherhood...

"You are blessed with an amazing gift of motherhood. With homeschooling as a bonus. Your reward may not be a paycheck at the end of the week, nor is it a gold medal at the end of the race. It is so much more! The fruits of your labor will be eternal". ~ Jenn

Lauren, Chloe, Cecelia & Isaiah showing off the ribbons they won last year at Field Day for Homeschoolers.

Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers

Today I had the privilege to read the most wonderful book to my daughter Chloe. It was called, Miss Lady Bird's Wildflowers: How a First Lady Changed America.

The story tells of Lady Bird's childhood, how she got her name from her nanny, the loss of her mother, the sweet friend she found in her Aunt Effie who came to live with her & Papa after mother's death. Dearest Aunt Effie is responsible for "sowing the seed" of love for wildflowers in Lady Bird. It follows her to college, courtship, marriage, becoming First Lady & how she helped to beautify our highways by eliminating billboards and seeding wildflowers.

The real bonus in the book is the chart of wildflowers on the last page, and then to have your child find them on the pages, as they are woven thoughout the splendid illustrations. More fun to be had in the illustrations is all the wildlife hidden in woods. I think that was Chloe's favorite part.

I have to admit I got teary-eyed reading this book to her. (Thank God my tender hearted Chloe was thoughtful enough to get up right away and get her mommy a tissue, I love that girl!) The wonderful description of my beloved Texas hill country was so vivid & made me so "homesick" to be there, especially right now, after all....it's BLUEBONNET TIME and I know the trails are smelling sweet.

1, 2, 3 Cake

My wonderful friend Kathy McCullough told me about this quick & easy way to use my old bananas. I make it often now.

Here goes:

1 yellow box cake
2 eggs
3 bananas (I use up to 5 bananas, gives it more flavor)

Then to finish it off with complete yumminess here is my icing recipe:

1 c. butter (2 sticks) room temperture
3 c. powder sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2-3 TBS. heavy whipping cream

Cream butter & sugar together on low for a couple of minutes to blend then on high to mix well.
Add vanilla & 2 TBS. heavy cream; mix for 2 minutes. Test it for spreading consistency before adding another TBS of cream.