Overnight Blueberry (or Strawberry) French Toast

mmm mmm good. The original recipe calls for blueberries, but I use strawberries instead because I'm not a fan of the antioxidant packed blueberry. Oh well.

Ok, so this is Meals 'N Deals. Where does the deal come in? Well, hmmm I had to think about this one because I really wanted to share it, but ya know, I wanted to stick with the Meals 'N Deals idea. This isn't just a recipe blog right? We're more over here at Meals 'N Deals. So, I thought, and truly, this meal cost me about $6 for the whole crew -- which was 6 adults and 2 kids this morning.

Bread -- on sale, but you could even make it (which would be so yummy and hearty in this)
Eggs -- dozen eggs were about $2
Cream cheese -- ok, this was more expensive...$2.56
Strawberries -- on sale in bulk...I'd say it was, oh, maybe about $2.
Other ingredients -- I have on hand
Total: Ok, maybe more like $8. Not super cheap, but for a special occassion, which it is this weekend...feeding so many hungry adults, I thought it was good. My father-in-law liked it so much he kept calling it dessert for breakfast. That was nice to hear.


Makes 8-10 servings

12 slices day old bread
8 oz pkg. cream cheese
1 c. fresh or frozen strawberries
12 eggs
2 c. milk
1 t. vanilla
1/3 c. maple syrup or honey (I use honey)

Sauce:
1 c. white sugar
1 c. water
1 c. strawberries
1 T. butter

Cut bread into 1 inch cubes. Place half into a greased baking dish (9x13). Cut cream cheese into small pieces and place over bread. Top with strawberries (now the recipe says 1c. but I usually take a handful of cleaned and cut up strawberries and sprinkle it over to my heart's content) and remining bread crumbs. Beat eggs in large bowl; add milk, vanilla, and honey (or syrup). Mix well; pour over bread crubes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Next morning (Good Morning by the way!) remove from the refrigerator 1/2 hour before baking. Preheat oven to 350. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 25-30 minutos or until center is set and is golden in color.

Prepare the sauce in a saucepan by combining the sugar and cornstarch. Add water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly and boil for 3-4 minutes. Stir in strawberries and reduce heat; cook for 10 minutes or until strawberries start to fall apart a bit (if you are using blueberries, the blueberries will begin to pop). Stir in the butter and pour over the french toast.

I just doubled the sauce and am saving the left overs. I'm going to make some flapjacks for the girls this week and will use the remainder of the sauce as the syrup. mmmmm

Pot Pie

Another one from my mom. She just trows this together so it was hard to get exact amounts. This is comfort food to me. And just to gross you all out, I like to put a little ketchup on top when I eat it (you should see the look Brent gives me).

1 can chicken, turkey or beef chunks
½ onion, diced
3 diced potatoes
4 carrots, diced
1 can of corn or peas (I like both)
Salt to taste

Put all ingredients except peas and corn in a saucepan and add a little water and cook until vegetables are almost tender. Add peas and corn.

Sauce:
¼ c. butter, melted
¼ - ½ c. flour
1 ½ -2 c. milk.

Put all in a blender and when smooth add to vegetable mixture and stir until smooth and thickened. Pour into a casserole dish or 9x13 oblong pan and carefully put crust on top.

Crust:
1 ½ c. flour
½ t salt
½ c. shortening
4-5 T water

Make dough and roll out. Place on top of casserole and prick several areas with a fork. Bake until crust is browned at 375.

Rakott Krumpli

Hey all. Has this blog died? I think so. But, I'm going to give this a try anyway, because last night (not to toot my own horn), I made the best dinner. That's right. And I'm going to share it with you here.

Presenting a Hungarian classic -- what I think of as comfort food for the Hungarians. I read somewhere that you can rarely order this in a restaurant...that it's an at-home classic. Well, I didn't hit too many restaurants when I lived in Hungary, so I wouldn't know. BUT, I do think it's yummy and filing, and relatively inexpensive to make. My recipe is what I learned from a Hungarian, so there's no real written down recipe. You know those kind of recipes. So, no exact science to it, but it's pretty easy anyway.


Hungarian Rakott Krumpli

7-8 Potatoes
10 Eggs
16 - 20 oz. sour cream
Vegeta or other seasonings
Some milk
Cheese
Oil
Kolbasz (sausage. whatever you like. This time I used turkey sausage and pepperoni to add a bit of spice)

Ok...here goes it. Boil the potatoes in their skin. In the meantime, boil your eggs to make them good and hard-boiled. When the potatoes are done, let them cool so you can handle them. Now, you're going to peel the potatoes, but if they are still a bit warm, the skin just peels off by rubbing your fingers along it. Slice the potatoes long way.

When eggs are done, let them cool, and peel them as well. Slice them long ways.

Cut up your sausage to however thickness you'd like.

In a separate bowl, mix your sour cream with some milk to thin it out a bit. I add my seasoning with my sour cream concoction. I use Vegeta because I have it, but any kind of seasonings here will compliment the dish...seasoning salt, parsley, oregano...play around with it.

Now, time to layer. Put a layer of potatoes on the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Next, layer some of the hard-boiled egg. (I like a lot of eggs). Then a layer of sausage. Once I have those basic layers down, I put little dollops of the seasoned sour cream mixture over the top. And who doesn't love cheese? So sprinkle a bit of that on top too...but just a bit because it'll be really rich if you do. You don't even need to add cheese. It's still good and less expensive. Then do the layers again. I usually end up with about 3 layers, but it's a pretty full casserole dish. When I'm all done, I sprinkle a bit of paprika (optional) and some more seasoning and put a tiny bit of oil over top. The oil could probably be omitted, but living in Hungary where many of them eat pure oil (practically!), I guess it's just habit.

I usually put tin foil over top and bake at 350-400 for about 40 minutes. Yummy yummy. Serve with some kind of veggie side dish and some fresh baked bread. mmmm Enjoy your Hungarian experience.

The cost of this meal is relatively inexpensive. The bulk of it is potatoes and eggs...cheaper items. The sausage, depending on what you buy, will definitely add more to the cost ~ but it's a pretty dense and filling meal. We had it for dinner last night and have 1/2 the casserole dish left. Definitely a 2 meal dinner.

Jo etvagyat! (or if you prefer...Bon Appetit!)

Weekly Menu (J)

Fri. - Pizza
Sat. - Zuppa Toscana soup and bread bowls
Sun. - Glorified Crockpot Porkchops, Rice Pilaf and Sauteed Zucchini
Mon. - Taco Salad
Tues. - Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli over rice
(Just cooked chicken and broccoli in teriyaki sauce)
Wed. - Pasta, Salad, Garlic Bread
Thurs. - Dorito Casserole