Thursday, November 17, 2011

Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole

French Toast: 12 slices bread, any kind, 2 pkgs cream cheese, room temperature, 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen, 12 large eggs, 2 cups milk, 1/3 cup maple syrup.

Blueberry Sauce: 1 cup sugar, 2 T. cornstarch, 1 cup water, 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen, 1 T. butter (Make this the night before and refrigerate, warm up before serving). Stir together sugar and cornstarch in a medium sauce pan. Add water and stir until smooth. Stir well so cornstarch won't be clumpy. Heat to boiling and stir 2-3 minutes until thickened. Add 1 cup blueberries, simmer 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until blueberries start to burst. Don't let them all burst. Turn heat off the blueberry sauce and stir in 1 T. butter. Store in a plastic or glass container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with Pam. Cut or tear bread into cubes and arrange in the bottom of pan. Cut up cream cheese into 1 inch cubes. Drop cream cheese cubes over top of the bread. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the top. In a mixing bowl combine 12 large eggs, 2 cups milk, 1/3 cup maple syrup. Pour this mixture over the bread, cream cheese and blueberries. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take casserole out of frig. Place covered casserole in oven and bake for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 25 - 30 minutes more or until top is golden brown and the center is set.

While the casserole is baking, you can heat up the blueberry sauce on top of the oven or microwave until warm. Serve over top of casserole.

The credit for this recipe goes to "justapinch" which has some really great recipes.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Crustless Cranberry Pie

Pie filling: 1 cup flour, 1 cup Splenda, 1/2 cup sugar , 1/4 t. salt, 3 cups fresh cranberries (sliced in half), 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 2 eggs, 1 cup applesauce, 1 cup sliced & diced rhubarb 2 T. melted butter, 1/2 t. almond extract, 3/4 t. vanilla extract.

Topping: 2 T. melted butter, 1/4 cup Splenda (or sugar), 1/4 t. cinnamon, 1 t. vanilla extract, 3/4 cup quick oatmeal, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional).

Grease a 9" pie dish. Set aside. Slice cranberries in half and set aside in a bowl.
In a large mixing bowl mix flour, Splenda, sugar and salt together. In a small bowl beat eggs; mix in applesauce, and extracts. Pour mixture into bowl with flour mixture and stir to combine. Add sliced cranberries, rhubarb and walnuts and stir folding to combine. Empty evenly into the prepared pie dish.

In a small bowl mix melted butter with Splenda and cinnamon. Stir in oatmeal. Add chopped walnuts and stir until crumbly. Sprinkle over top of pie filling evenly. Place in preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 1 hour. Let rest on stove top about 30 minutes or more before serving. Serve warm. Refrigerate once cooled. Can serve chilled hours later or next day. Serve with Vanilla ice cream or Whipped cream.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Cottage Cheese Roast Meatless Loaf

"A Vegetarian Meatless Loaf" (I found this recipe recently and made some simple but good changes to it to the way I like.)

1 (16oz) package cottage cheese, 4 eggs, 2T. oil, 1 (10oz) envelope dry onion soup mix, 1 cup finely chopped walnuts, 2 cups Special K original cereal (or your favorite flakes cereal like Cornflakes).

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with Pam and set aside.
In a large bowl beat eggs, add cottage cheese, dry onion soup mix, oil and blend together. Add chopped walnuts and Special K cereal. Combine together and stir blending thoroughly so all the cereal is wet and coated. Empty into prepared loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let rest on stove top at least 15 minutes in the pan. Use a spatula to be sure loaf is loose and all sides and bottom are not sticking to pan before inverting onto a serving platter.

Loaf looks like a paler style meatloaf and tastes great! It is a wonderful choice in place of a meat dish. Makes a great cold meatloaf sandwich the next day. Enjoy!