Strawberry & Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

     Well I am back at it again...trying to eat healthier!  Not that I ever try to eat unhealthy, but I love to cook and bake, and I can especially get myself into trouble when it comes to baking!  I mean just take a look at my pinterest boards.  For the Superbowl party we went to, I made peanut butter cheesecake brownies with Reese's on top!  I think everyone loved and hated me at the same time.  But I was thankful that I could make them and only eat one instead of the whole pan!  Oh, and I should mention that I also made a fresh fruit platter with a fat free fruit dip!  I guess you could say they sort of balanced each other out?!  Anyways, back to eating healthy.  I have been doing so good, but I have sort of gotten myself into a rut of eating the same things every day, since I know they are good for me and taste good.  But, it can be boring at times.  So I broke out an old weight watchers cookbook and found this recipe.  It didn't take much time at all to make and it was pretty darn good!

2 tbsp. light cream cheese
4 slices low calorie bread (like Sara Lee 45 Calories and Delightful 100% Whole Wheat)
2 tbsp. strawberry jam or fruit spread
1 egg
2 egg whites
3 tbsp. skim milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

     Spread a tablespoon of cream cheese onto each of the two slices of bread.  Spread a tablespoon of strawberry jam onto each of the remaining two slices of bread.  Put the slices of bread with jam on top of the cream cheese slices to make fruit and cheese sandwiches.  Cut each sandwich in half diagonally.
     In a wide bowl or pie plate, whisk together the egg and egg whites.  Whisk in the milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
     Spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray and set over medium high heat.  Add the sandwiches to the egg mixture and let soak.  When pan is hot, place sandwiches on the skillet and let cook until browned.  It should only take about 2-3 minutes per side.  Top french toast with fresh strawberries and enjoy!  There isn't even a need for any syrup!

Nutritional information per serving: 263 calories, 6 grams of fat, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 15 grams of protein, 7 grams of fiber.  6 WW points+

Nicole's Banana Bars

    Some of you may have noticed I have posted anything new in awhile.  We recently moved into a new apartment, and needless to say most of my kitchen was packed away in boxes.  Thank goodness for frozen pizzas and spaghetti during that time!  But I must admit I am super excited about eating homemade food again, even if it does mean more dishes!  So in celebration of having everything clean and organized in my new kitchen, I decided to make a mess with these banana bars.  This recipe is another that I "borrowed" from my mom  because it is so delicious.  I am always taking all sorts of goodies to school to share with the other teachers in my lunch, but one of the teachers I work with gets upset because she can't eat much of it.  She gets  really severe headaches from chocolate and all sorts of other things, so for her birthday I took these banana bars into school for her (and the rest of us) to enjoy during lunch!

Base:
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup Crisco
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2½ cups flour
1 tsp. of baking soda
½ tsp. salt
3 cups quick oats (the recipe says you can use old-fashioned oats too, but I don't think it tastes as good)

Filling:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2-3 ripe bananas, sliced
2 tbsp. Crisco
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt

     Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a 13 x 11 baking pan.  Combine the brown sugar, 1 cup Crisco, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Beat at medium speed until well blended.  Stir in flour, baking soda, salt.  Mix in the oats.  Pour 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan, reserving the other 1/3 for the topping.  Press mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.
     For the filling, combine the condensed milk, bananas, and 2 tbsp. Crisco in medium saucepan.  Cook and stir constantly over low heat until mixture thickens and resembles banana pudding.  Remove from heat, stir in sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Spread over base.  Sprinkle reserved oat mixture over the top of the filling.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool.  Refrigerate.  Makes about 24 bars.

Crockpot Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

     I had never made oatmeal in the crockpot before, but when I found this recipe from The Yummy Life I decided to give it a try.  It hardly required any work, like all good crockpot recipes.  In the evening before heading to bed I stuck all the ingredients in the crockpot and when I woke up in the morning, voila!

2 apples, peeled and chopped in ½ inch pieces
1½ cups milk
1½ cups water
1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1½ tbsp. butter, cut into 5 small pieces
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. ground flax seed (optional)
¼ tsp. salt
raisins

     Coat the crockpot very generously with cooking spray.  Add all ingredients to the crockpot except the raisins.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Makes about 5 servings.
     If you have leftover you can refrigerate and reheat later.  To reheat, add about 1/3 cup of milk to a bowl of oatmeal and reheat for 2 minutes, stirring after the first minute.

Blueberry Lemon Loaf

     When I woke up this morning I was craving something less boring than an English muffin and so I walked over to Sprouts (my favorite grocery store!) to grab a container of yogurt, which was the only thing I didn't have on hand for this recipe.  Or so I thought, until I realized that I needed more lemons for the glaze and had to walk back or to the grocery store for an extra lemon while the bread was in the oven!  This recipe comes from Sweet Pea's Kitchen.  I'm not really sure if it is meant to be a breakfast or a dessert, but I am sure that it is meant to be eaten!  Before trying it, I wasn't so sure about the lemon with blueberries, but it tastes good together.  If you don't want all of the glaze and syrup, I think the loaf would be just fine on its own.  The picture below looks pretty tasty to me!

Loaf Ingredients:
1½ cups + 1 tbsp. of flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
½ tsp. vanilla extract
½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups fresh blueberries (if using frozen, make sure to thaw them in advance)

Syrup Ingredients:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar

Glaze Ingredients:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

     Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease 9 x 5 bread pan.
     In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla, and oil.  Gradually whisk the dry ingredients in with yogurt mixture.  Using the empty bowl from the dry ingredients, add the blueberries and tablespoon of flour and mix together.  Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.  Pour batter into pan and bake for 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
     While the loaf is cooling, make the lemon syrup in a small pan over medium heat.  Stir toegether the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.  Continue cooking for about 3 more minutes after sugar is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat and set aside.
     Using a wooden skewer (or a toothpick or fork), poke holes in the top of the loaf.  Brush the syrup over top of the loaf, allowing it to soak in before adding more syrup.
     Before making the lemon glaze, make sure that the loaf is completely cooled.  In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice.  Pour the lemon glaze over top of the loaf and let it harden before serving, about 15 minutes.

Before adding any of the syrup or glaze.

PB & Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

     My sister had found this recipe on pinterest (where else?) and recommended I try it.  The original recipe comes from Annie's Eats, but my genius sister told me that she added bananas to it.  After just making appleanna bread, I had a few extra ripe bananas so I decided to make these this morning.  My husband was eating the batter (raw eggs and all) before I could even get them in the muffin pan.  Suffice it to say the recipe is a keeper.

2¼ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2/3 cup of brown sugar
6 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
½ cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
¾ cup chocolate chips

     Preheat the oven to 375°.  Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.  In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar.  In a separate mixing bowl, mix the butter, peanut butter, eggs, and milk.  Gradually add in the dry mixture, mixing until smooth.  Add the bananas.  With a spoon, gently stir in the chocolate chips.
     Spoon batter into the muffin tips, making sure to fill each cup to the very top.  This is important because it will ensure the tops of the muffins are dome like.  (Note: Even filling to the very top, I had a bit too much batter, so if you have an extra muffin pan you may want to line a few extra cups.  Or just let your husband eat the remaining batter raw!)  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.  Makes about 15 muffins.

Myrtle Orloff's Appleanna Bread

     I love banana bread, but "appleanna" bread is even more delicious!  This is a recipe that I stole from my mom's collection.  I'm not really sure who Myrtle Orloff is, but one this is for sure...this woman can bake!

½ cup shortening, plus 1 tbsp.
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
2 very ripe bananas
2 cups apples, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp. vanilla extract

     Preheat oven to 350º.  Grease and flour a 9 inch loaf pan with the 1 tbsp. of shortening.  Cream together shortening and sugar until light; add eggs.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt then beat together with the shortening mixture.  Stir in the mashed bananas, apples, and vanilla extract.  Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about an hour, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Make Ahead Smoothies

     I have become accustomed to eating breakfast in the car on the way to work in the morning.  Even cereal! I eat it out of a plastic cup at the stoplights!! Anything that is quick and portable is a good breakfast for the weekdays!  So when I saw The Tidy Nest's blog about make ahead smoothies I was interested!

vanilla yogurt

fresh or frozen strawberries (or any fruit - I want to try kiwis and bananas too!)

¾ cup milk

honey

     Spoon the vanilla yogurt into an ice cube tray.  Place in the freezer for a few hours until solid.  

     Place 2 yogurt cubes and about 4 strawberries in each plastic sandwich bag.  Place all of the sandwich bags into a gallon size freezer bag.

     When you are ready to make a smoothie, simply remove one sandwich bag from the freezer and dump into a blender (I used the magic bullet single cup blender).  Add the milk and a spoonful of honey and mix until smooth.  Enjoy!