Crock Pot Blueberry Cream Cheese Bread Pudding

This recipe is my take on Blueberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast with much less of the hassle.  It can be made the night before and cooked on Low for 8-9 hours in your Crock Pot, if you prefer. I like to get up real early to make it so it's ready when the rest of the family finally wakes up!

Note: This image was taken about halfway thru the cooking process.
It cooked for another 2 hours, browned more around the edges,
and rose substantially before
being finished.

Ingredients:

10-15 Slices of Bread (Use 15 or so if your bread is thin or a small sandwich loaf, use 10 or so if your bread is  thick & hearty!)

4 Eggs

1 3/4 cups Milk

1/3 cup Maple Syrup

4-8oz Cream Cheese (use 4oz if you LIKE cream cheese, 8oz if you LOVE it!)

1/2 cup Blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Cinnamon Sugar

Method:

Cut bread slices into large pieces or cubes. 

Layer the bottom of your Crock Pot with half of the cut bread. 

Cut the cream cheese into cubes and add to Crock Pot evenly distributing it over the bread.

Add 1/4 cup of the blueberries.

Sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar. 

Top with your remaining bread and blueberries

In a large bowl whisk together Eggs, Milk & Syrup.

Pour the Egg Mixture evenly over the bread mixture in your Crock Pot.

Sprinkle again with Cinnamon Sugar.

Cover & Cook on High for 4-5 hours, until the Bread Pudding rises (poofs) up nice and high in your Crock Pot and the edges are brown.

Not Yo' Mama's Ratatouille

Not Yo' Mama's Ratatouille

Thanks to one wonderful Veggie Growing Neighbor, I had some fresh Zucchini to make this with. Eggplant and I are not friendly, so you will see none in this recipe. If you would like to add it in, substitute half of the Summer Squash and Zucchini for one large Eggplant. 

I like to freeze half of this recipe so the portion is large. Feel free to cut all ingredients in half for a smaller result.

Ingredients

1 Super Large Zucchini (there are 2 pictured but I only used the smaller one)

2 Summer Squash

1 Large Onion

2 Bell peppers (I used Red and Yellow :)

4 Vine Ripe Tomatoes

2 Cloves of Garlic 

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Dash of Salt

Double Dash Pepper

Method

Chop Onion and Peppers. Finely chop Garlic. Cut Squash and Zucchini (and Eggplant fi you are using one) into bite size pieces. There are two options for cooking this dish. They are a Crock pot* or a Dutch Oven**. If you do not have either a large saucepan with a cover will work. Follow the Dutch Oven** directions but be sure to keep your heat low and stir more frequently. 

*To cook in crock pot:

Add oil, salt and pepper to pot. Add in vegetables after cutting. Allow to cook on low for hours until vegetables are tender. (Keep covered in between stirs)

**To cook in Dutch Oven

Add oil, salt and pepper to Dutch Oven. Add in vegetables after cutting. Allow to cook on a low heat for about an hour until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. (Keep covered in between stirs)

You may enjoy this as a main dish with crispy bread and a side salad. It's delicious as a side for grilled chicken. It works great on top of your favorite pasta or rice, too. 

Another idea is to whip up a batch of my Sour Milk = French Crepes (minus the Vanilla so they're nice and savory) and fill with the Ratatouille. YUM!

Muesli Cookies

This recipe is adapted from Betty Crocker's Granola Cookie recipe. I'm not a big fan of granola personally and don't usually have any. But I do like a Blueberry Muesli from Trader Joe's that I keep in stock. So I added some coconut and raisins to the muesli and used that instead of granola. Sometimes I like to add chopped walnuts, too.  These cookies are hearty and chewy with chocolate chips, no less! If you're the type that can't decide between Oatmeal or Chocolate Chip- these are the cookies for you! 

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Butter-softened

1/4 Cup Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup White Sugar

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Tsp Vanilla

1 Egg

1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 Cup White Flour

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/4 Tsp Baking Powder

1/4 Tsp Salt

2 Cups Muesli Mix (see Below)

1/2-1 cup Chocolate Chips

1/2 Cup Walnuts (optional)

Muesli Mix

1 Cup Muesli 

1/4 Cup Oatmeal

1/4 Cup Raisins

1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut

Method

Mix flours, soda, powder & salt. Set Aside.

Mix Muesli Mix (see below). Set Aside.

Cream Butter, PB, and sugars until blended. Add Vanilla and Egg and mix until blended. Slowly stir in flour mixture. Add in Muesli Mix and chocolate chips.

Scoop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie pan and bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies just start to brown on the edges.

Makes 3-4 dozen cookies.

Leftover Corned Beef & Cabbage Pie (Bubble & Squeak Pie)

Bubble & Squeak Pie

I developed this recipe to make use of my St. Patrick's Day Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner leftovers. I didn't have a lot left and wanted to try something fun. You could use the leftovers from any boiled dinner.

Ingredients

Crust:

1Pie Crust (I cheated and used one from the store, it was a busy day!)

Filling:

Leftover Potatoes, Carrots, Turnips, Onion, Cabbage and Corned Beef (about 3 cups total after it's cut up)

Sauce for Filling:

1Tbsp Butter

1Tbsp Flour

1/3 cup Milk

1/4 tsp Parmesan Cheese

1 squirt each of Yellow & Spicy Brown Mustard

Topping:

1/4 cup Breadcrumbs

1/4 tsp Garlic powder

1 tsp Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 400º

Line an ungreased 9 inch pie plate with the Pie Crust. Cut Leftover Veggies into bite size pieces and cube Beef.  Mix together in a large bowl and set aside.

In a small sauce pan melt Butter over a medium heat. Add Flour and stir until bubbling. Slowly whisk in Milk and bring to a boil. Sauce will be ready when it's thickened to a creamy consistency. Remove from heat and whisk in Cheese and Mustards. Fold sauce into leftover Veggie and Meat Mix. Lightly press Mix into your prepared pie plate. Set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together all ingredients remaining for Topping and sprinkle over the top of the pie to evenly cover the Mix.

Cover with a sheet of foil with a 1 inch hole punched in center and Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10-15 more minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then slice and serve.

Like the warmth of the sun 

And the light of the day, 

May the luck of the Irish 

help you bake this pie today.

Poor Man's French Toast

I didn't coin the name for this dish but it's been in my Mom's family for years. She had six brothers and sisters and they didn't have very much money. This was a great breakfast for them and cheaper than the real thing. 

It doesn't resemble true French Toast but ….it is Toast and we are French ;)

Poor Man's French Toast

(1 serving)

2 slices of your favorite bread (I used whole wheat)

2 tbsp Peanut Butter ( I like mine chunky!! Yum)

2-3 tbsp Maple Syrup

Toast bread

While toasting, pour syrup into a small dish for dipping

Spread peanut butter on bread and cut into thirds

Dip toast slices in syrup and enjoy!  :D

Sour Milk = Crepes

Did your milk just go sour? Don't throw it away! (Unless it's so old it's curdled! yuck! Then definitely throw it out!)It's great for making crepes- French pancakes. It's a great way to use up that old milk and the crepes come out tasting great! I always use my Mom's favorite recipe when I make crepes. I think it's from an old edition of Betty Crocker.

French Crepes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

2 cups Milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla


Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and whisk together.
Heat a round frying pan or round griddle to a low-medium heat. Butter pan generously (butter will gently bubble if your temperature is right).
Drop 1/3 cup (for small pans use 1/4 cup or 3 tbsp) of crepe mix into  your heated pan and swirl pan to spread the mix evenly.
Allow crepe to set then flip.
Remove from pan and fill with your favorite jam or spread, roll and drizzle with maple syrup.

Notes: Crepes cook quickly -no more than a minute or so for each side. Remember to butter your pan again between crepes.

Makes around 12 crepes.

Goat Cheese Bagel Pizzas

I have an obsession for the pizza topping combination of Goat cheese, garlic & sun-dried tomato with a pesto sauce. I've had it at restaurants. I've made my own at home. But my favorite version is homemade on Asiago cheese bagels that I buy from a local shop in my city. The cheese bagels really tie the pizza together ;)

Goat Cheese Bagel Pizzas

2 Bagels cut in half ( I used Asiago Cheese )

1 clove of Garlic (2 if you're a Garlic lover like me )-minced, crushed,or pressed

8 leaves of Fresh Basil-finely chopped

2 tbsp of Olive oil (or your preference, I used ordinary vegetable oil and some oil from the sun-dried tomatoes )

2 tbsp of Sun-dried Tomatoes -chopped up

1tsp Parmesan Cheese

1 5oz package of Chevre Goat Cheese

Preheat oven to 450º

Mix together Garlic, Basil, Oil, Tomatoes and Parm. Cheese.

Spread evenly on bagels.

Break apart or cut up Goat cheese and crumble on bagels.

Cook @ 450º for 8-10 minutes or until cheese and bagels edges become golden brown.