Pumpkin French Toast Bake

Pumpkin French Toast Bake

Ingredients

• 5 1/2 – 7 1/2 cups 1-inch bread cubes (depending on type of bread)*
• 7 large eggs
• 2 cups milk (any kind)*
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 cup pumpkin BUTTER (or 1/2 cup pumpkin puree)*
• 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar for topping
• nuts, like pecan or walnuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut any kind of bread into 1-inch cubes – I recommend a crusty, whole grain variety, but sandwich bread will work, too. Just use enough slice to fill a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish quite full.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, pumpkin butter and pie spice until well combined. Pour over bread and push down with a spoon or your hands until it’s all soaked and mostly covered. Cover with saran wrap or lid and refrigerate overnight.
3. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees, uncover and top with brown sugar, additional pumpkin pie spice and nuts (optional). Bake for 35-45 minutes or golden brown and no longer wet.
4. Serve immediately with maple syrup, honey or agave nectar. Store leftovers in the refrigerator covered for up to a couple days.

Notes

* For the bread cubes, just use as much bread as it takes to fill the bottom of your dish generously, plus up about 1 to 1.5 inches. If you’ve added too much to soak up the liquid, just remove some. And if it looks too wet, add some more bread.
* I HIGHLY recommend using pumpkin butter as it has a concentrated pumpkin flavor and is much sweeter than puree. But if using puree instead of butter, it’s important to compensate the flavor by adding a bit more puree, pumpkin pie spice, and a little agave nectar, brown sugar or maple syrup to the batter. Otherwise, it will lack that delicious fall, pumpkin flavor you’re going for.
* I used 2%, but use skim or low-fat for a lighter recipe. Alternatively, use non-dairy such as soy or almond.

Holy Yum Chicken Recipe

Holy Yum Chicken Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 - 2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken thighs (most of the fat cut and discarded)

1/2 cup Dijon mustard (must be Dijon mustard, no substitutes)

1/4 cup pure maple syrup (again, no substitutes. No fake Aunt Jemima stuff)

1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tbsp. cornstarch

2 tsp. fresh rosemary for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a 8x8" oven-proof pan with 2 layers of tin foil.
2. In small bowl, whisk together Dijon mustard, maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper.
3. Place the chicken thighs in the foil layered pan then pour the mixture on top of it. Turn the chicken around in the sauce to make sure it gets all coated.
4. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and let chicken sit for 5 minutes then transfer to a plate. Do NOT discard the liquid.
6. Immediately after plating chicken, whisk in the 1 tbsp. of cornstarch into the liquid in the pan. You'll create a nice, thick sauce to drizzle over your chicken. You need to do cornstarch mixing immediately because the liquid needs to be hot in order for it to thicken properly. If it's still not thickening after 1 tbsp., you can add a little more.
7. Sprinkle rosemary on top before serving.
8. Serve with rice or potatoes or vegetables.

Note: If you like things more tangy, I would add 2 tbsp. of rice wine vinegar instead of 1 tbsp. I did this the second time I made this and it was a nice tangy kick with the sweetness that subdued it. If you like things on the sweeter side, keep it to 1 tbsp. of rice wine vinegar. Regardless, taste the sauce after mixing it together and adjust to taste. 

Snowman Shooters

Snowman Shooters

• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1 pint of vanilla ice cream
• 1 Small &  1medium ice cream scoops
• 8-12 Mini chocolate chips (or peppercorns)
• 4-6 Small pieces of carrots, cut into tiny spears

In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, place the chocolate squares and microwave them for 35-40 seconds, just enough to soften.  Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the chocolate, then return to the microwave for 50-60 seconds.  Remove and stir until the chocolate is fully melted and a thick hot fudge sauce forms.

Spoon hot fudge sauce into the bottom of 4-5 small shooter glasses.  Using a medium-sized ice cream scoop, scoop some of the vanilla ice cream into a rounded ball and plop it carefully on top of the hot fudge sauce.  Use the small sized scoop to do the same, placing the second scoop on top of the first one to create the snowman’s head.

Gently press the carrot nose & chocolate chip eyes into the snowman’s head.  Return to the freezer and allow to freeze until ready to serve (to ensure your shot glasses don’t freeze & crack, I recommend making these just about 1 hour ahead of time).