Puffed French Toast

Being in our new home has brought my creativity back out of hiding. Either that or I'm bored with all my current recipes. Probably more the latter than the former. Anyway here are two fabulous new ones.

The first I got from Our Best Bites it's called Puffed French Toast. Gotta give credit where credit is due. They call it a once a year recipe and I agree. You look forward to it all year (I'm thinking it will make a great General Conference breakfast) but if you eat it more than once or twice a year you'll be able to watch your butt grow bigger. It was sooooo good. This is definitely a keeper. Next time I will half the recipe though. My toddlers don't eat that much and DA and I don't need to eat all that is leftover.

Puffed French Toast

2 eggs
2 ½ Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. milk
1 c. flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
12 slices Texas style toast, cut in half diagonally

Directions

In a large skillet or frying pan, heat about 1/4" of vegetable oil (not olive oil) over medium heat. In a shallow bowl or pie plate, whisk together eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk, flour, and baking powder. Test oil heat by flicking some water into the frying pan. If it pops, reduce the heat. If hardly anything happens, turn up the heat. If it sizzles, it's just right.

Take each 1/2 slice of bread and soak it both sides in the milk/egg/flour mixture. If you leave it in too long, it will get soggy, but you want to make sure enough of the egg mixture has soaked into the bread. Gently shake to remove excess batter and place in hot oil. Cook until puffed, golden brown, and a nice, crispy crust has formed on each side (probably 3-5 minutes per side; you really need to babysit them and make sure they're cooking correctly) and then remove from oil and drain on a paper towel. While cooking remaining French toast, keep cooked pieces warm in an oven set to the lowest temperature it will go.

When ready to serve, roll each piece in cinnamon sugar. I personally thought the cinnamon sugar made it too sweet, but DA loved it. So did the kids. I think I would rather have powdered sugar.

Top with your favorite version of maple syrup.

Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan

4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon water

1 1/4 cups Panko bread crumbs (seasoned with Italian seasoning)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving

Unsalted butter

Directions

Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin. (If you use cutlets then you can skip this step)
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Serve with spaghetti and top both with Prego traditional spaghetti sauce.
Hope you enjoy both recipes!

PF Changs Frozen dinner

I saw these in the freezer section and thought I would try them out. I don't get there anymore because who in their right mind would take 3 kids, 5 and under, out to dinner unless they have to?

Anyway, they were super fast to make and they even tasted great. The only drawback was the portion sizes. The package said they were for two people, but those two people better have really small appetites! I'm glad I had bought two packages for us to have for dinner.

Ribbon Retreat Giveaway

If you want to have a chance at winning a gift certificate to the Ribbon Retreat, the head over to Crap I've Made (hover over the title for the link) and enter her giveaway!

I've got my fingers crossed. I've got two little girls who need bows for their hair!

Baby SL's Birth Story

SL’s Birth Story

As I approached the end of my pregnancy with you, Dr. L and I decided that March 25^th would be a good day to have you. I would be 39 weeks pregnant at that point and by the time that date arrived I was more than ready! I had high blood pressure on and off, my sciatic nerve made it hard to walk and my feet were super swollen.

The night before we had you, we packed up our family and went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house to spend the night since they lived closer to the hospital. On the morning of March 25^th Daddy and I got up early and were at the hospital by 7:30. I got checked in and signed endless forms. By 8:00 and was in my hospital gown all ready to get things started. Dr. L came and checked me. I was still only dilated to 1+ (had been there for an entire month) and 80% effaced. Dr. L broke my water and officially stared my labor. Not much happened for a while. The nurses came and got my pitocin started and I had maybe one contraction. At 9:30 the nurses came back and upped the pitocin since nothing was happening. At 10:00 they came back and upped it again. After that I finally started having contractions.

By 10:05 I finally had contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart. Now they started to get stronger as well. By 10:30 the nurse checked me and I was only at a 3. I was pretty disappointed and decided I was ready for an epidural. While I waited for the anesthesiologist to come the nurse showed Daddy how to apply counter pressure during contractions to help ease their intensity. Daddy did a great job helping me!

At 11:20 the anesthesiologist showed up for my epidural. Yay! I was more than ready for him. But, I didn’t get relief as soon as I hoped. First he noticed my potassium was really low. When your potassium is low you are at risk for heart arrhythmias and heart attacks so he was concerned. He also decided he wouldn’t do the epidural until he knew what my platelet count was. So we waited and waited and waited on the lab to find out what my platelet count was. While we were waiting they checked me again and I was at a 5. I spent the next 30 minutes sitting Indian style and laboring while the anesthesiologist prepped me and chatted with Daddy. Finally we got my count back (normal) and we proceeded with the epidural.

Once again (as with your sister A’s birth) the epidural didn’t work right and I hit transition as soon as the epidural was finished. I could feel everything on my left side and my right side was barely numb. We rolled me onto my left to try and get the medicine to work over there and that was awful! I stayed that way for about 10 minutes while the nurse went and found the anesthesiologist again. He came back (12:00 by now) and gave me some stronger drugs. Still no relief. So he decided it was time for the spinal block. So once again I was sitting Indian style while contracting non-stop. He gave me the block and I instantly started to feel better. As soon as they got me laid back down (12:15) they checked me again and I was at a 9.

Dr. L came into the room around 12:40 and 6 pushes later you were born. It was 12:46pm. You were 7 lbs and 5 oz. and 19 ¾ long. You were so beautiful and angry! You were crying and crying but calmed down as soon as you heard my voice. We love you!

Yes it's been forever

but give me a break! Baby SL isn't into sleeping these days. I'm signing on to let you know about a super cute giveaway. Go here to check it out!.

Last belly picture

This was taken the night before I had SL. I'll be back soon to share photos and a birth story soon.

Yum....

Free ride beans. TJ thinks they taste really good! I love it when he mispronounces something and the name sticks. Forevermore I'll think of refried beans as little hitchhikers getting a free ride.

A little behind....

but here I am at 36 weeks. I'm 37 weeks now. Only two more to go until I'm induced.

Almost 32 weeks

I think baby girl is moving up and not really out?

27 Weeks

One more week and then I've made it to 3rd trimester. My blood pressure is still good, so yay me!

Merry Christmas

She's going to be the death of me!

Every time AM leaves my sight I find her standing on top of the counters. This little girl is so michevious I'm not sure she's going to make it to her 2nd birthday. I'm doing my best though to try and make it happen.

Just call us the sickies...

Mom - Still a bit of a cough, can mostly sleep if she has lots and lots of benadryl to help her sleep and breathe.

Dad (otherwise known as DA) - popped something in his back. Can hardly move and can't bend over at all. I'm putting on his socks and tying his shoes for him.

TJ - Fever and headache.

AM - Croupy, yucky sounding cough. Lots of tears involved.

Baby #3 - totally healthy and probably reaping the benefits (ie. antibodies) from mom being sick.

Debbie Downer

I really should just stick to recipes because I am such a downer at the moment.

When I'm pregnant I catch every stray germ that passes by my house. When I was pg with AM I had the stomach flu twice and 6 colds. So far this pg I have had the stomach flu once and I'm on my third cold. I've been coughing for 2 1/2 weeks and just as things have started to get better I'm getting a head cold. Aparently not being able to sleep at night for a week, then being awake from 1 am the night before and being hormonal isn't a good combo. I came apart at the seams this morning and DA had to come and work from home so I could take some heavy duty cold meds (ha! as if you can take anything really good when pregnant) and go to bed. Benadryl and I are good friend now. By the end of the week I bet we'll be best friends! It's taken all week to realize that it was a cold coming on and not that pregnancy induced stuffiness you hear about. (I never claimed to be smart!)

Anyway, I was given a blessing tonight that gave some comfort. TJ and AM sat on the couch the whole time with their arms folded. For AM it was quite the feat! She is the original wiggly worm.

Anyway, that is what we've been up to. Lots and lots of jammie days and hermit like behavior trying to get Mom better. Maybe someday it will actually work.

All Day Apple Butter

It seems all I am doing these days that is worth reporting is cooking. So here is my latest recipe.

I made this and it couldn't have been any easier. The more varieties you use the better it will taste. I used Braeburn, Fuji, Gala, Pink Ladies, and Granny Smith.
The original recipe can be found here. In my recipe below I adjusted the amounts of spices the original recipe called for.

All Day Apple Butter

5 ½ pounds apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
1 ½ cups sugar
1 – 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place apples in a slow cooker. Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt; pour over apples and mix well. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown, stirring occasionally (stir more frequently as it thickens to prevent sticking). Uncover and cook on low 1 hour longer. If desired, stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Cover and refrigerate or freeze.

Great new soup ... Beef Barley Soup

I was tired of all the normal soups I make so I went searching. I found this on recipezaar and it totally lived up to all the great reviews. We loved it.

Beef Barley Soup

1 lb stew meat

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

4 cups beef broth

4 cups chicken broth

3 cups water

2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 large carrot, diced

1 stalk celery, sliced thin

1 cup quick barley

1 (1 ounce) package au jus mix

Heat oil in large Dutch oven and cook stew meat until just barely cooked through. Drain fat from meat. Add onions and garlic. Cook for few minutes.

Add broth, water, and seasonings. Simmer for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours for beef to become tender. Add veggies and cook for another 15 minutes. Stir in au jus mix and add barley. Cook until barley is tender. (If it's the quick barley it'll take about 10-12 minutes.) Salt to taste and serve.

Really yummy... Blueberry Muffins

I had some fresh blueberries and was trying to find a way to use them. I read this blog Recipe for Disaster? every now and again and they had just posted a recipe for blueberry muffins. Just in the nick of time! I tried it and they were awesome! I'm going to try another recipe this weekend and I'll let you know which one I like better.


To Die For Blueberry Muffins

From: Jennie

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

TJ makes me laugh

Tonight TJ had DA and I giggling through his bedtime prayer. He is so sweet and earnest, yet the things he says! First off, you shouldn't be in any hurry. His prayers are VERY thorough and long. But tonight he was listing off his usual things and then added he was thankful for mom and her knitting, and that Dad could go to work and go golfing. But what really had us giggling was when he said he was thankful for waking up in the morning and putting on clean underwear.

I guess we all have our priorities!

Google Reader and stuff

Where have you been hiding? Or am I the one who has been hiding under a rock? I finally set it up and I can't tell you how awesome it is to click one link and see all the blogs that have been updated instead of clicking each.... and... every.... link.... I have saved in my favorites.

I'm in love!

Not much to update on us. AM is still stripping and has acquired rather amazing skills in duct tape removal.

TJ is loving soccer and I saw a lot of improvement at the last game. A few times he was actually ahead of the crowd near the ball instead of running around at the back of the herd.

DA is still playing golf but the cold weather is hampering that a bit.

And I'm still taking care of it all. Nothing much changes!