Father's Day Caramel Pecan French Toast

Father's Day is this Sunday! Do you need an easy, delicious brunch idea for dad?  This french toast is awesome and will be sure to wow your dad/husband/anyone.  Both my dad and my husband love sweets and this recipe gets nothing but praise from them.  It is basically your regular old french toast with some pecans, powdered sugar and warm caramel sauce thrown on top. You can also butter the toast if you dare!  For the caramel sauce I just use the microwaveable Breyer's caramel sauce that is intended for ice cream. Super easy and so yummy. Of course if you are feeling super ambitious feel free to make some caramel sauce from le scratch. That is not happening over here. My no fail secret for the best french toast is to use good bread.  Do not go with that cheap white bread nonsense. Instead, go to a bakery or the bakery section of your grocer and buy the crusty, fresh, expensive (not really, it is like $3.75) bread. Get a nice sized loaf and if you ever find a pecan loaf buy that. You can thank me later. Happy Father's Day to all you awesome dad dudes out there. You all rock!!

Food | Blueberry Coconut Energy Balls

Do you ever experience the afternoon slumps?  Is it just me because I have two kids, one who I am nursing still?  Well, these easy-to-make balls will help you get out of any energy crisis.  My husband went to seminary in Vancouver, B.C. and he refers to these as "Vancouver Balls," insisting they taste just like Vancouver.  That is a compliment, right?  So, the husband claims to like them, Eugene (our son) loves them and I need them. 

To make: Throw a large handful of each of the dry ingredients plus 2 tablespoons of honey into your food processor.  Pulse the mixture until a clumpy mass forms.  Roll the mass into bite-sized balls.  Brush each ball with honey and roll them in sweetened or unsweetened coconut (the honey helps the coconut to stick).  These will keep in Tupperware in your fridge/freezer for a good while and are awesome to have on hand for after a workout, to put in the diaper bag or to snack on whenever.  Enjoy!

You can make these with any dried fruit or nuts that you have on hand- I even use raisins to add some fiber to the diet.  You can also add your preferred nut butter to them or add flax/crispy cereal/anything else in your cupboard you want to get rid of to the recipe!!  Just be sure to add more honey if the mixture will not form into a clump.  I would love to hear your ideas on what to add into the recipe.  

Recipe: Restaurant Soup In Your Home

 

I highly recommend dropping everything to make this rich, velvety soup.  It is very simple to make, but I guarantee the taste of it will blow you away!  I used vegetables I had in my fridge/from my garden, but feel free to change up the recipe to whatever vegetables you have on hand.  Now go, get cooking! You have friends who need impressing!

 

 RECIPE:

 

Garlic Infused Olive Oil

3 Small Tomatoes

5 Carrots

1 Small Green Pepper

1 Sweet Vidalia Onion

Herbs

Seasonings

Butter (optional)

Cream (optional)

Freshly Grated Parmesan (optional) 

Water

 

1. Heat a generous amount of garlic infused oil on medium heat in a Le Creuset pot or a sturdy kettle. Basically, you want enough oil to cover the entire surface of your pot. If you don't have garlic oil on hand you can add some chopped garlic to the oil, just make sure it doesn't get very brown or it will turn bitter. Add some fresh or dried herbs to the oil until aromatic.

2. While the oil is heating dice all your vegetables.

3. Add the onion/pepper/carrot mixture.  Add salt/pepper/seasonings of your choice. Sauté until onions are translucent + brown. Add a dab of butter to mixture. Add tomatoes. Sauté all ingredients for a good 5 minutes. 

4. Add enough water to cover all the vegetables + let simmer until all vegetables are soft.  Approximately 15 minutes. Then remove from heat + let cool a bit.

5. Add soup mixture to a blender. CAUTION, mixture is still hot so don't cover the blender completely.  Either use towel to cover the blender or just set the top loosely over blender so you don't get sprayed.  Puree until well blended. Add a bit of water as needed to get a runny applesauce consistency. Also, add more seasoning if needed.

6. Strain soup through a cheesecloth.  This is what makes it SO velvety. YUM.

7. At this point I added some freshly grated Parmesan cheese + a bit of cream. I think this makes it go all the way up to an eleven.  I am not kidding this soup is fantastic.

8. Enjoy.

 

***NOTE: This recipe only makes 1 larger bowl of soup.  If you are making this for a bunch of people, I recommend using 5 large, ripe tomatoes, 1 pound of carrots, 2 large peppers of any color (mixed colors), 1 large sweet Vidalia onion & more of everything else, as needed. 

 

Recipe: Simple Quiche

 

I made this simple Quiche for my husband & I today.  It was quite quick & so delicious. 

 

Ingredients:

 

6 Eggs

1/4 Cup Cream

1/4 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Flour

1 Tsp. Salt

1 Tsp. Baking Powder

8 Oz. Sharp White Cheddar

Vegetables

Herbs

Salt & Pepper

Jiffy Pie Crust





Start by making the pie crust.  I used a box of the Jiffy brand pie crust- SO easy.  All you do is add cold water to the mix, stir, roll dough & place in your pie pan.  Next, in a bowl whisk the 6 eggs.  Add the cream & milk to your eggs.  In a separate bowl combine flour, salt & baking powder; stir.  Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture & whisk until all the lumps are gone.  Now comes the fun part.  Add an assortment of vegetables, cheeses, herbs & seasonings to the egg/flour mixture & combine well.  I used fresh basil from our garden, red pepper, onion, cheddar & Parmesan cheese.  I also added some fresh garlic, salt, pepper, dried parsley, red pepper flakes & dried Italian seasoning.  Once all the ingredients are incorporated, pour the mixture into your prepared pie crust.  I sprinkled the top of the mixture with some cheese & dried herbs.  



 

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Then reduce your oven temperature to 350 degrees & bake for another 35-40 minutes until the crust is brown & the Quiche is set (doesn't jiggle).  Let cool for 10 minutes, if you can wait. Enjoy!

 

An Artistic sort of week

My husband has been away (boo!) for work all week in rural western Kansas.  We're new here in town so I don't have many friends, but I did have a lot of free time to create & also to cook for one, me.  Today, I was inspired to make a collage, something I have been doing in my art studio lately.  What fun!  I had gone antiquing last week in Topeka at this fun shop: http://www.brickhouseantiqueshop.com/  & picked up some old postcards (from 1908!!!) & buttons along the way that I hoped to use in my work.  I love to explore thrift stores, flea markets & rummage sales with my art-making in mind.  I intentionally keep an eye out for random items I might be able to use. . .eventually!  I like to carry a bag of art/sewing supplies with me where ever I go so that I can work in random places when I have free time.  You never know where or when inspiration might strike. Here is my artistic process of my vintage finds implimented into a collage.  Enjoy!

First, I gathered some paper I enjoy & a flower I drew a long time ago with a watercolor scrap as the center.  Notice the picture postcard in the background- it is from the antique store.  If you look closely you can see the hand-written date; May 14, '08  & yes, that's 1908.  This is the collage in it's bare form.

Over the collage, quite accidentally, I laid this mesh fabric with the sewn antique buttons on it that make for some cute little tree flowers.  I found a mat I had laying around and cropped the image to my liking. 

It really turned out well & is a new favorite of mine.  I must go post this gem to my etsy site. xo

Here the framed finished product in my art studio!!  YAY!

SQUASH & SWEET POTATO SOUP

This was SO easy to make I wanted to share (and dogs love it, too!).  The soup literally took less than 10 minutes, no joke! 

Ingredients:

Sweet potato

Squash

Butter

Cream

Milk

S & P

Microwave a large sweet potato (after poking it with a fork to prevent exploding) for about 5 minutes or until soft.  Use leftover squash if you have it in your fridge (or cook one if you feel ambitious).  Scoop the sweet potato directly into a blender.  Add butter, cream & milk (or vegetable stock for a healthy version, if you prefer or are vegan).  Puree until smooth (adding more milk & cream if needed).  Warm on stove if need be & salt/pepper to taste.  I also added a smidge of fresh organic honey.  YUM!