Good Morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I can't complain! We relaxed on Friday, went to a graduation party on Saturday (that's 2 weeks in a row!), and then FINALLY bought a new grill on Sunday. We were well overdue...
We got to see Jeff's niece, Maya on Saturday. Is there anything cuter?
We also stopped by Leon's in Decatur. It's such a great place. We grabbed a beer and the bacon appetizer, which is really just bacon and peanut butter for dipping :)
I know I've mentioned a few times that my favorite time to cook is on the weekend mornings. This Saturday was such a beautiful day, and I had these babies waiting for me when I woke up...
I just love it when strawberries are so cheap at the store. This 32oz container was $2.50! I had seen a recipe from the Pioneer Woman that uses strawberries in stuffed french toast, so I decided to try it out. Boy, did it turn out good.
To start, you need a loaf of italian bread, sliced into 2 inch pieces. I use my fingers to measure the slices.
Next, make a slit into each slice. Don't go all the way through, but definitely get pretty close.
Now for the filling. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 block of cream cheese with 3 tbs of your favorite jam. The recipe originally called for strawberry, but I was out and used apricot instead. 
Next, finely slice your strawberries. Spread a few tablespoons of the cream cheese inside the bread, then top with a few strawberries.
Once you have stuffed all the bread, you can make your egg batter. I used 1 egg and 1/2 cup skim milk, and stirred in 1/2 tbs of cinnamon. 
Ok, now you can put the bread into the batter and fry them up!
I cooked mine in some butter in my cast iron skillet. 3-4 minutes on each side is all it takes! You can top it with some powdered sugar and almonds if you wanna be fancy. I was feeling pretty fancy on Saturday I guess!
Check out that filling! Yum! You've gotta try this for a weekend brunch sometime....so good.
STUFFED FRENCH TOAST
Adapted from Tasty Kitchen and Pioneer Woman, original recipe here
- 1 loaf French Bread
- 3 Tablespoons Any Flavor Fruit Spread (You Can Also Use Jelly, Jam, Or Fresh Fruit)
- ½ packages Cream Cheese (4 Oz), At Room Temperature
- 2 whole Eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
- ½ cups Skim Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 5-6 sliced strawberries
Heat skillet or electric griddle to 325 to 350 degrees.
Cut french bread into 2-3 inch wide slices. Then, with a paring knife, go back and cut halfway into each slice, in the center, creating a ‘pocket’ that your fruit mixture can be stuffed into.
In a bowl, place the room temperature cream cheese and three tablespoons of fruit spread of your choice. (I used all organic blueberry spread in the picture.) Combine well.
In a separate bowl, break 2 eggs; add cinnamon and milk and combine well.
Now, take fruit mixture and stuff into the ‘pockets’ of your french bread slices. Place on a baking sheet.
When done stuffing each piece of bread, completely coat each piece in egg mixture. Make sure all sides are covered. Do all pieces before starting to fry.
Put 2 tbsp (you can use less!) of butter into a hot skillet and melt completely. Add all of the bread to the skillet and cook roughly about 3-6 minutes on each side, until it reaches a nice golden brown. You want to make sure the cream cheese mixture heats through.
When done cooking, serve immediately with butter and syrup.
June 7, 2012 
I added basil, but if you aren't a HUGE fan, don't do it - we just had a ton leftover from the Farmers Market. I originally wanted rhubarb and strawberries, but sadly, Whole Paycheck Foods was out. Mango was the closest thing to tart rhubarb that was fresh that day.
