Stuffed French Toast

I was requested by my wife to make stuffed french toast for dinner one night, and only because it's so delicious I had to say yes. So with a quick visit to the Internet I pulled up an old recipe from, yup you guessed it, Guy Fieri. I'm not sure when exactly he had featured this recipe or when I saw the actual episode, but I knew it was one I wanted to try. I made one small change to the recipe and used whole wheat bread, which worked out quite well.

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 (2-inch) thick slices bread (I used regular whole wheat bread with no problem)
2 bananas, very thinly sliced
1 cup strawberries, very thinly sliced
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Maple syrup

Directions
Combine milk, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla in a shallow bowl. Set aside

For assembly, spread a thin layer of the cream cheese onto 1 side of the bread slices. Top half the slices with the fruit.
 Place another piece of bread on top, cream cheese side down, creating a sandwich.

Preheat a griddle to 30 degrees F. Lightly brush with the butter.

Give the milk mixture a quick stir, and dip the sandwiches into the batter, coating all sides.

Place on the griddle. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, then turn on the edges and cook to brown evenly.

To serve, slice sandwiches in half on the diagonal and transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup.

Citurs & Salsa Roast Pork

It's starting to get pretty cold around here and with the sun setting so early I want recipes that have me indoors cooking instead of running in and out tending the food on the grill.  I found this recipe from Cambell's that is loaded with flavor. I used some one inch thick pork chops as I was only cooking for two, which still leaves plenty of left overs. I served with with mashed potato's and whole kernel corn.

Ingredients
1 jar (11 ounces) Pace Chunky Salsa
1 cans (11 ounces) Mandarin orange segments, drained
2 (1 pound each) pork tenderloins
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions
Heat the oven to 425º F. Stir the salsa and oranges in a small bowl

Place the pork into a 3-quart shallow baking pan. Rub the pork with the oil. Pour the salsa mixture over the pork.

Bake for 35 minutes or until the pork is cooked through. Remove the pork from the pan and let stand for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the cilantro and serve with the lime.

Fruit Smoothies

Smoothies are a wonderful summer time treat and a great way to sneak in some veggies with your little ones. This is another one of those foods that appeals to our naughty tastes, but it can be so good for you. If you need a quick and simple breakfast, or maybe even a healthy post workout snack, just add a scoop of whey protein and you good to go. In fact, when I make these for my little girl I like to throw in some frozen veggie purees. I like to keep my simple and follow the measurements on the back of the Market Pantry Frozen Fruit packages. But don’t be afraid to experiment; who knows what fun flavors you can come up with.

-1 cup Market Pantry frozen fruit
-1/2 cup yogurt (any yogurt will do, don’t be afraid to add a flavored one if you like)
-1/2 cup fruit juice (I will substitute this with whole milk for my little one, just to be sure she’s getting something more)

1. Combine all ingredients in blender container, cover
2. Blend until smooth, stirring if necessary.