In the Kitchen: Baked French Toast

 

Once in a while I realize we have an abundance of bread in the house.  With three kids and a husband who eat sandwiches each week this this doesn’t happen often, but when it does, I know just how to use it up!

Baked French Toast!

Reasons I bake my French toast vs. making it the traditional way.

1.        I suck at making French toast.

2.       Everyone’s food is hot at the same time this way.

That’s it, those are my lame reasons. 

Now I’m sure I don’t need a disclaimer here, but if you’re wondering, this is NOT a Trim Healthy Mama meal, but it is one that my family loves, and that I delight in serving for brunch or breakfast when we have company for those meals.

It warms the soul, fills the belly, and leaves everyone smiling.  You’ve gotta keep some recipes like that in with your arsenal of kitchen tricks.  It’s in the housewife’s rule book.  Sorry I can’t remember the page number, but  I’m sure it’s in there.   

 I compiled this recipe a few years ago, after trying a few others and not quite finding “the one”.  Since we’ve been eating healthier and cut way back on our sugar, I’ve found this Baked French Toast to almost be too sweet.  BUT be warned, if you try to cut almost all of the brown sugar out and serve it to your honest friends who eat a typical American diet on the daily, you’ll quickly realize you need to put the sugar BACK in when serving to company.  Alright, you’ve been warned- nothing more I can do for you but tell you to just enjoy this.  You can eat healthy again in 3 hours, deal?

It’s good y’all.  I promise you!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

First you melt the butter and brown sugar.

 

 

Cook it low & slow, so it doesn't burn, and because it makes the clean up easier

It'll begin to look like this. 

 

Spread that mixture in a 9x13 pan & add a layer of bread over it.

 

 

Mix up your milk, eggs and vanilla.

 

Get it good and soupy like. 

 

Pour part of that over the first layer of bread.

 

Add another layer of bread.

Pour the rest of the milk/egg/vanilla mixture on the top of it all.

Layering is the trick here.

 

Cover the top of your pan with foil.

 

 

 Bake it for 45 minutes!

(remove the foil for about the last 15 minutes, to help it brown up a bit).

 

Here are some things you can do while you wait for this yummy goodness to cook: 

Unload the dishwasher

Or commission a kid to do it. :)



Kindly ask that same kid to get the dishes ready.

Stare at the oven about a hundred times.  Glance more often as the aroma fills the house and you wonder if the eggs are still raw, or if you could just snatch one tiny little bite.

Admire your kids coloring so well together.  Then gently scold the youngest for laying on the table, and the oldest for sitting in a booster seat! haha.

When it’s time to dish up, flip each piece of French toast upside down on the plates.  It looks more impressive that way.  Enjoy!

 

The condensed version- AKA- The part where you can highlight and click “print selection” on without all the mumbo jumbo.

 

 

The condensed version- AKA- The part where you can highlight and click “print selection” on without all the mumbo jumbo.

A Slightly Better Wife’s Baked French Toast.

·         1 Stick Butter

·         1 C. Brown Sugar

·         about 12 pieces of bread

·         4 Eggs

·         1 ½ C. Milk

·         1 splash of vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Melt and mix the Butter and Brown Sugar together. 

Spread that mixture into the bottom of a 9x13.

Put a layer of bread over that.

Mix Eggs, Milk and Vanilla together.  Pour half of that over the first layer of bread.

Add another layer of bread.

Pour the remaining mixture over the second layer of bread.

Cover the pan with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  (30 covered, last 15 uncovered).

Remember to flip each piece upside down to serve it.  Enjoy!

 

 

The Cars Are Taking Over! #boymomprobs

The Tooth Fairy left 5 new Hot Wheels cars here this week.
This rekindled The Ball Player's love of toy cars. So he brought them ALL upstairs to play with today.

I don't know if this collage of pictures better illustrates how boys play vs. how girls play, or first born vs.middle child.  Either way, they did have a lot of fun together while the baby napped.

Side note:   With the special Thirty One ran last month we ordered a few red junior duffle bags for "organizing", well concealing, some of our toys.  I think the boy will be quite pleased when those arrive and he no longer needs to use this hot pink large utility tote! ;)  I'll be happy to have my favorite grocery tote back!

If you're curious, the final count was 157 cars! & I'm sure there are some more in the baby's room, but I'm not letting anyone go in there to check while she's sleeping.

I have actually been asked why I still buy these when he has so many already.  The answer is, it's something we already own, so there's no problem finding a place for it when a new one comes in the house.  He knows right where to put them.

Also he loves them, and I'm sure one day he will play with these same cars with his children, just as his dad plays with him.  And yes, some of these cars are almost 30 yrs old. 
Hot Wheels and Matchbox never go out of style. 
#boymomma

An "Ooops, The Tooth Fairy Forgot" Letter

So yesterday I posted this picture on my Instagram:

 

I was practicing with my new camera when we noticed through the lens that The Ball Player had lost a tooth! Literally… lost it.  He had told me in the morning that he dreamt he lost a tooth, but he didn’t know he really did!  The big kids went searching for it in his room and can you believe they actually found it?! 

The excitement was so real!  He was on cloud nine all.day.long.

He wrote a letter, even sounding out the tough words, working hard, because he was so proud, and so ready to be done with this wiggly tooth that was stealing the joy out of each meal.  Everything he ate had to be chewed carefully and in a certain spot so it wouldn’t irritate it. 

 Then you know what happened this morning?  My oldest daughter quietly whispered to me "Mom, I think you forgot something".

 

CRAPOLA!  How the heck did I forget about his tooth?????

Thankfully we’ve had some bad weather that worked in my favor this time around.  I said her pick up/deliveries were probably postponed due to weather.  I assured him we’d try again tonight and hope she’d stop! 

I’ll be straightforward here, I wanted to say she didn’t come because he puts up a stink about brushing his teeth.  Then I decided I’d let him have his excitement and save the dental hygiene talk for another day.  If you’re in the same boat as I was- please, choose to celebrate too, okay? 

On the way to a meeting tonight I swung into the local grocery store & picked up a few hot wheels cars he’s been wanting.  When I got home I did a quick search for an “oops, sorry” letter from the tooth fairy.  There are some great ones out there, people!

I started with this one from The Doodle Girl, and tweaked it to work for us.

 Just yesterday we were cracking up from a video our neighbor posted of her dog snoring; we replayed it probably 15 times over dinner.  And my kids are obsessed with apps, specifically Instagram and YouTube so the tweaks I used were perfect for him!

Here’s what my final product looked like.   Feel free to switch it up and use it however you’d like.  This mothering stuff is hard, no need to reinvent the wheel here.  Best of luck to you momma!

 

Hey Buddy,

My name is Fancy Francy, but some people call me Forgetful Francy.  I really don’t know why.  You see, it’s been so long since you lost a tooth, I just forgot which house you lived in by a little bit.  I am SO sorry!  I went into a house across the street, but there was a sleeping dog that snored so loud that I just started cracking up and forgot what I was doing.  LOL!- That means Laugh out Loud, and that’s just what I did! 

 I took a video of that dog to post on Fairygram (like Instagram, but JUST for us tooth fairies).  The notifications started coming in on my phone right away.  Every fairy that saw it, loved it!  I got so caught up reading the “likes” and “comments” that I lost track of time!  When I went to leave that house, it was getting close to my bed time.  I know my fairy godmother would be angry if I didn’t get to bed on time.  So just like that I took off for home! 

Lucky for YOU and me both, tonight I used the GPS app on my phone, not my Fairygram app.  The GPS lead me right here, to your home! 

Thank you for your note with the request to trade for something.  I’ve got just the thing for you! If you would like to accept my trade, please open the box this letter is attached to. 

 Ugh, okay this Fairy job is hard work.  If I don’t get the hang of it quick, I’m going to quit my job and start my own YouTube channel with all these great videos I’ve been taking.

Love,  Fancy {Forgetful} Francy

Clean Room, Clean Heart

 

I spent a chunk of the evening cleaning my oldest daughter's room.  It wasn't the worst I've seen, but it would not be deemed organized, by even the lowest of standards.

She had trouble giving up toys she had matured on from like little plastic dolls, and cheap happy meal toys.  There were papers she had drawn on, and little key chains that really had no significance other than she sort of liked them.

We bickered a little back and forth about what was worth keeping and what wasn't.

 

I'm happy to say it didn't take too terribly long before she and I were on the same page and working efficiently together. 

That first 15 minutes of sorting out what our goal was though, that was really tough!

 

Just as the rooms of our home get messy with use, so does our heart.

 

Before company comes I usually tidy up the house.  I'm sure most people do this. 

I don't put much worry into it, because I think there is something said for being real. But I do pick up the toys off the living room floor, or at least kick them all to one corner.

 

Isaiah 1:18The Message (MSG)

Let’s Argue This Out

^18-20 “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.”
    This is God’s Message:
“If your sins are blood-red,
    they’ll be snow-white.
If they’re red like crimson,
    they’ll be like wool.
If you’ll willingly obey,
    you’ll feast like kings.
But if you’re willful and stubborn,
    you’ll die like dogs.”
That’s right. God says so.

 

I have to remind myself that my heart needs that same attention.  We need to do a tidy of our heart regularly.  Especially as women, who are ordinarily more emotional and just feel more (whether it's happy, sad, joy, mad, etc), we need to get on the same page with God.  We need to be obedient to Him and set some goals if we want to be working efficiently for Him.

 

So in practical terms, what does that look like? 

It's different for each of us, but for me it's devoting time to read my bible or one of the many devotional books I have around here.  It's photographing my life, it's writing about it.  It's giving thanks to God and asking Him to show me where I can improve.   I didn't used to ask where I could improve, for two reasons. 
1. I didn't think I needed to improve on anything. 
2. I didn't want to know if I did!  Honestly, no one likes to be wrong! 

 

Once I humbled my heart and began asking God to show me my faults and give me a clean heart, I have been living much happier.  It's not easier.  I'm sorry to say it takes a tremendous amount of effort to live purposefully.  But it does bring me greater joy that I have only found by living for Him.

 

 Life is so much better when it's so richly filled with JOY. 

New Year, New You

I don't really do New Year's resolutions anymore. However if I did, one of them would be to get a decent pair of glasses I could actually wear in public, you know, if I had to.

Back when I bought this pair they were totally my style, alright I don't really know what my style is or ever was, but I just liked them better then, okay? 

First step is making an eye appt., cuz faux glasses won't cut it for my awful eye sight.

Second step is trying on a bazillion pairs of glasses and taking a million selfies. Or is it the other way around?

I'm a contacts girl, I only wear my glasses for about 3 minutes twice a day. 

There has to be some frames out there that will catch my eye. Haha. Get it? ;)

What do you look for in a pair of glasses? Do you wear them full-time, part-time, or stress you lucky enough to not need them at all?