Cheesecake and Kneader's Baked French Toast

So, remember THIS post? Well, not sure how I estimated that it would be a 3-year's supply but after making them last month for my brother's homecoming I'm all out and will be reordering more. I did give a couple of packages away but I used the rest of them. And this time I'm thinking of ordering 2 cases since shipping is about the same price.


This morning Kaleb and Ashton were excited to see a leprechaun had left them a bag of goodies by their doors and the footprints and gold coins he left behind. Ashton's convinced it's Halloween because he has a bag of candy. Last Saturday we had breakfast at Kneader's Bakery and Matt had the french toast which was really good. So I found THIS recipe online from Kneader's and thought I would try it.

(Picture from HERE)

Kneaders Over-Night French Toast
By: Kneader's Bakery

Ingredients:

1 loaf Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon Bread cut in 8 slices
8 eggs
3 c. milk
1 T. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1 T. vanilla
2 T. butter

Preparation:

Butter a glass baking dish generously (9" x 13"). Place the bread flat in the baking dish. Mix all remaining ingredients, reserving the butter and pour over the bread. Cut butter into pieces and dot over the top. Refrigerate over night or at least 1 hour. Bake 45 - 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Serves 8

Kneader's Carmel Syrup
1 c. Brown sugar
1 c. Creme (heavy whipping cream)
1 c. Light Karo Syrup
Blend together and heat on stovetop until sugar is smooth.
Serve warm.

I didn't buy their bread but I bought a loaf of french bread and cut it into 8 really thick slices, using the whole loaf. I didn't have time last night but next time I really want to try to make THIS bread to use. Since I didn't have cinnamon bread I sprinkled cinnamon and a little brown sugar on top after pouring the egg/milk mixture on the bread. Also, I forgot to get heavy whipping cream to use in the syrup so I substituted 3/4 c. milk and 2 T. butter and it looked and tasted almost exactly the same. I'm sure the cream would make it a little thicker than mine was.

After making this recipe I realized that this is one version of Kneader's french toast but this isn't how they make it at the bakery. The Chunky Cinnamon French Toast made at the bakery has your normal consistency along with a little crispy caramelization on the outside from cooking it on a grill/pan. To be honest I didn't like the consistency at all. It was like bread pudding and soggy bread is not my thing. Amazing flavors, especially the syrup but I couldn't get past the soggy bread and Matt didn't care for that part either. So next time I will half the egg/milk mixture and make it on the griddle or in a pan so that it resembles their french toast and I won't be attempting anymore over-night french toast recipes.

Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan

So easy but so yummy!

We like to roast broccoli in the oven with a little salt or garlic salt but I had never tried cauliflower. My grandma has a recipe for a cauliflower side dish that has a white sauce, cheese and bread crumbs on top that I love but it's time consuming to make. I can't tell you how much we LOVED this roasted cauliflower. Even the few pieces that didn't have parmesan cheese on them were amazing. It makes the cauliflower have a sweet roasted flavor. Matt and I couldn't stop snacking on what was left after dinner. We also tried THIS pasta with chicken instead of shrimp and mushrooms and it was good but to be honest I loved the cauliflower more.

Picture from here

Roasted Cauliflower

(serves 4 as side dish)

1 head of cauliflower
2 T olive oil
salt
grated parmesan


Preheat oven 375.

Cut cauliflower into little evenly-sized florets. Place on baking sheet and toss with olive oil and some salt. Roast for 15-20 minutes until tops are a little golden brown and florets are soft. Remove from oven and sprinkle with grated parmesan.

Pasta & Yummy Bean Dip

I feel like it's stupid to post recipes when most of the things I make are from other blogs that I could just link to. But I do like having all of the recipes I like in one place because it helps me plan out my meals. I didn't take any of my own pictures (they wouldn't look as pretty anyways) but at least I'm posting something to this neglected blog!

Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce
From: Pioneer Woman

(Picture from Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients:
* 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 2 Tablespoons Butter
* 1 whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced (I used dried)
* 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
* 2 cans (15 Ounce Each) Tomato Sauce Or Marinara Sauce
* Salt And Pepper, to taste
* Dash Of Sugar (more To Taste) (I had to use a little more than a dash since my tomato sauce was really acidic)
* 1 cup Heavy Cream
* Grated Parmesan Or Romano Cheese, To Taste
* Fresh Basil, Chopped (I used dried)
* 1-½ pound Fettuccine (I used Penne)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water.

Heat butter and oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and saute for a minute or so. Pour in tomato sauce and add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Stir and cook over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and stir in cream. Add cheese to taste, then check seasonings. Stir in pasta and chopped basil and serve immediately. (Thin with pasta water before adding basil if needed.)

I really enjoyed the flavor of this sauce and the best part is I have alot of tomato sauce from case lot sales since you can get it for a really good price so I'll be making this again. I also am going to try the PW Penne alla Betsy next week but it's really close to the same recipe as this but with the addition of shrimp and chicken broth.

Hot (and Healthy) White Bean Dip
From: Our Best Bites(Picture from Our Best Bites)

2 slices bacon (if you're like me you'll want to do extra)

4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 can cannellini beans, drained (Great Northern beans work too)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon crushed rosemary

Cook bacon in a small saucepan over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon; set aside. Add garlic to drippings in pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add broth and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes.

Combine bean mixture, onions, and remaining ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth. Spoon mixture into a bowl; stir in 1 tablespoon reserved bacon (or add to food processor and pulse a few times). At this point taste it and add more salt to taste, as well as hot sauce and lemon juice if desired. (I usually go heavy on both of those) Sprinkle dip with remaining bacon just before serving.

Serve with pita chips.

Storage: This works great to make ahead of time. Just store in the fridge and warm it up in the microwave before serving.

I loved this dip! I'm not usually a big fan of dips because they usually have stuff I don't like in them and they're not good for you but this was awesome. I have some precooked bacon from Costco so I used 4 slices cut up and I had to add about 1 T. butter since I didn't have any bacon grease. The butter also helped because I used a pinch of dried onions (since I didn't have green onions). I also didn't add hot sauce (don't have it) but I bet it would taste good with a little kick to it. I just put everything in the pan together to cook it, bacon and all. When I put everything in the food processor it was a little thick and wasn't mixing well so I added a little more chicken broth to it until it was the right consistency. I couldn't find Pita Chips so I ended up buying some whole wheat baked crackers and it was the perfect snack. Matt loved it too.