French Toast Casserole

1 Loaf thick bread cubed (french bread)

Put half into a 9 x 13 inch pan

8oz Cream cheese, chilled cubed

Put on top of bread in pan

Put the rest of the bread on top

Mix together:

12 Eggs

2 cups Milk

1/2 Syrup

Cinnamon to taste

Pour over bread and cream cheese (if it seems dry add more eggs and milk)

Refrigerate over night

Bake at 375* for 45min or until done. Serve with syrup.

Spicy Honey Mustard Pork Roast

Ingredients
3 pounds pork roast
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Score 1/2 inch slits in your roast and place in baking dish.
Combine honey, mustard, pepper, thyme, and salt in small bowl; mix until well blended. Brush mixture over roast, working well into slit
Bake roast in preheated oven for one hour. Remove roast from oven and flip in pan. Brush remaining honey sauce over roast. Return to oven and continue baking for 45 minutes to an hour or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F (75 degrees C). let stand for 15 minutes before slicing.

*** When I make this I sear the meat in a cast iron skillet with salt and olive oil. I then slit the meat and brush on the honey mustard sauce. I then place it in the crock pot on low heat w/ a litle water in the bottom. I flip the roast half way through and brush the other side. I cook until tender but not falling apart (6-8 hours)

From allrecipes.com

Granny's Black Bean Soup

P’s version of Granny’s Black Bean Soup

2 cups dry black beans or 1lb bag

7-8 cups water, chicken stock or a combination of the two

1/8 tsp baking soda

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp cayenne

1 ham bone

salt and pepper

Sort beans and soak overnight in a pan of warm water.  Drain off soaking water and rinse beans.  Add beans, baking soda and water or stock to a dutch oven.  Baking soda helps the beans stay black.  Simmer beans until soft.  Don’t add salt until beans are already tender.  If you add it too early the beans will be tough.

While beans are cooking , chop vegetables into very small pieces and sauté in olive oil until golden.  Add vegetables to dutch oven along with bay leaves, salt, pepper and ham bone.  Cook over medium heat for about 2 hours.  Add more water and skim foam if needed.

When the beans are cooked and soft, remove ham and bay leaves.  Set aside ham to cool.  Puree a few cups of the beans in the food processor or use your immersion blender to blend up the soup a little if you want.

Cut the meat off the ham bone and chop into small pieces.  Add chopped ham to the soup.  Season to taste.  This makes a lot of soup.  I usually freeze half of it.

Serve soup with sour cream or yogurt, chopped cucumbers, grated cheese, chopped avocado, tortilla chips, lime, cilantro etc.

Coconut-Lime-Avocado Smoothie

from Elysa Valentino

 

Try this one in your blender: (A regular blender works fine for this one)

2/3 cup coconut milk or juice/meat of a Thai coconut
1 avocado
1/2 cucumber
1 handful spinach
2 tsp. stevia (or sweetener)
Juice of 1 lime or lemon
Ice/water to thin

Blend thoroughly for a refreshing glass of yum!

Hot Fudge Sauce

Tonya Robinson's Recipe:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cocoa powder
1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Melt butter and wisk in cocoa until smooth. Poor in milk and whisk over medium heat until warm. It will thicken as it cools. I like to make it ahead of time and put it in the fridge. I just heat it up in microwave in 30 second intervals.

Good over ice cream or to dip things into. 

Teriyaki Sauce

We made a really good homemade Teriyaki Sauce today.  It was the best I've ever had.  Much better than any store bought flavor/mix and it was super easy.

Chicken
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cloves mashed garlic or 2 teaspoons minced garlic (we used 2 teaspoons garlic powder) 

I threw everything in the crock pot before church on low.  We didn't eat right after church so it cooked for about 6 hours. 

I think it would be good to shred the chicken and add some veggies to make rice bowls.  Maybe next time.

Sunday Chicken Dinner

(The original recipe from Jamie Oliver is called Tray Baked Chicken but we call it Sunday Dinner)

FIRST:
Brine 4 chicken breasts or about a dozen chicken tenders in a ziploc bag in the fridge for at least 2 hours in the following:

1 QT water
2 TBSP kosher salt
1/3 C honey
3 cloves crushed garlic
Sage leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh sage (I have used fresh rosemary when I haven't had sage)
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
juice and zest of 1 lemon

SECOND:
2 slices of bacon chopped
3 large sweet potatoes scrubbed and thinly sliced
4 large potatoes scrubbed and thinly sliced
1 large onion peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
2 springs fresh sage leaves shredded
olive oil
kosher salt and pepper
1 1/2 C chicken broth
1 C cream
1 C grated parmesan cheese
1/4 C butter

Preheat oven at 350.

Drain brine from chicken and pat chicken dry with paper towels.  Let chicken come to room temperature while veggies are baking.
In large roasting pan or casserole dish, toss bacon, veggies, garlic, sage and pinch of salt & pepper with olive oil.
Pour in broth and cook for 30 minutes.
Remove pan from oven.  Pour in cream and sprinkle with parmesan.
Add chicken, dotting with pats of butter on each piece.
Cook for 25-30 minutes (depending on the size of chicken breasts) until chicken juice runs clear. You can check this by poking the largest piece of chicken with a knife.