Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

I'm not sure where I came up with the idea to to stuff french toast, but it is amazing. I have a friend that wanted to know how I did it, so I decided to have her over one morning and make it for my boyfriend and my friends. 

There have been comments on my use of store brand items. I am not particular on staple items. I believe they are all the same. I decided for this meal, I would add fresh fruits. This meal is a little high maintenance but not terrible for someone who truly loves to cook. 

French bread is necessary to be able to stuff properly. Slice bread into about 1-1 1/2" slices. Cut a pocket in the middle of each slice. Do not cut completely though the bread. 

Mix a 16 oz container of whipped cream cheese (softened) and 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. This will be the creamy, yummy filling that will make your stuffing. 

Stuff each slice with an abundant amount of your filling. Gently squeeze each piece together. 

Mix two cans of evaporated milk, 2 eggs, and 1 cup of powdered sugar. Dip each slice of stuffed bread to thoroughly soak each slice. They will be slightly hard to handle, so be careful. 

Lightly spray your griddle with oil. Cook on medium until golden brown. Flip as needed. Make sure to cook until completely done throughout. The stuffing with caramelize once it hits the heat. It is pretty amazing! 

Serve with selected toppings. Today, I offered butter, powdered sugar, peaches and strawberries. 

Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

1 loaf of french bread

2 cans evaporated milk

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 eggs

1 16 ounce tub of whipped cream cheese

Slice bread about 1-1/2 inches thick. Slice a pocket in the middle of each slice. Mix cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Stuff each slice with cream cheese mixture. Mix milk, eggs, and 1 cup powdered sugar together. Dip each slice into mixture. Cook on a griddle at medium heat flipping occasionally until golden brown. Serve with butter, powdered sugar, and/or toppings of your choice. 

Yields: 12-15 slices

Smothered and Covered Homemade Taquitos

SMOTHERED AND COVERED

TAQUITOS

Be prepared to spend some time in the kitchen. This recipe makes 120+ servings. It is time consuming but well worth it. Great for sharing with others, snacks for the kids, and easy on the go lunches. The taquitos can be eaten cold or hot by themselves. 

Taquitos

5 lbs. lean hamburger meat

2 T. garlic salt

1 T. oregano

1 T. cumin

1 T. salt

1 T. pepper

3 lbs. Velveeta--note: the knock off brands actually work best

8 oz. grated cheese of your choice (I prefer cheddar)

120 corn tortillas

Brown and drain hamburger meat. Mix seasonings with meat. Return to heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add cheeses and heat until cheese is thoroughly melted. Spread meat mixture onto a cookie sheet. I have a deep one that I use and then cut each strip in half. Otherwise you will probably need more than one sheet. Normally at this time you would refrigerate for about 6 hours, but I am an impatient person, so I put the mixture in the freezer while I fry the tortillas. 

You will want to fry your tortillas in oil until they reach a firm but moldable texture. 

Take meat mixture out of freezer. Slice 1/4" slices. In my cookie sheet, I can get 3 taquitos out of one slice and then I cut that in half long ways. Roll meat into tortilla. Place on greased cookie sheet. Cook some for now to smother and cover and save rest for later. Freeze on cookie sheet and then put in freezer bags for later. I cook mine in the over at 400 degrees until crispy brown, but they can be deep fried as well if you choose. 

I kinda cheat on the smother and cover part since the taquito process takes so long. 

Chili:

1 16 oz. can of chili with or without beans (I prefer without)

1 can of Rotel (again I prefer hot so I use the one with habaneros) 

Puree Rotel. Add to chili and heat. 

I can make good queso, but I cheat on this part too with taquitos. Might be a good plan to make them when I have some leftover queso...Hmmm I just buy a jar of queso in the chips section.

Any toppings can be added at this point. Salsa, queso, chili, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, avocados, guacamole, or sour cream. Do it up like you want or just eat em plain. 

Not Your Ordinary Pasta Salad

My (healthy) sister challenged me to make a meal with no meat, no cheese, and no eggs. So I came up with this, and it came out really well. Of course, everyone knows I like, almost "need" spicy. 

NOT YOUR ORDINARY PASTA SALAD

8 oz. wide egg noodles

1 bag frozen corn

1 cup cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)

1 green bell pepper (diced)

1 Serrano pepper (diced and seeded)

2 T. Sriracha

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

2 avocados

1/4 cup Italian dressing

Put noodles on to boil. Saute bell pepper, Serrano, Sriracha, and crushed red pepper. When noodles are almost ready, add corn. Drain. Add pepper mixture and Italian dressing to noodles. Top with tomatoes and avocados. 

Mexican Meatloaf

I guess this is kinda a cross between Mexican meatloaf and a Mexican casserole. I planned on making meatloaf for dinner; which I have two recipes that use often. My roommate wanted me to add Rotel it, so I started thinking about what to add to it. Here's what I came up with. 

Mexican Meatloaf

2 lbs. hamburger meat (lean)

1 can of Rotel

1 can tomato sauce

1 cup shredded cheese

1 egg

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1 T. minced onions (soaked in water)

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 cup crumbled corn chips

Mix all ingredients together. Cook on 425 for 45 minutes to an hour. Drain any excess grease. (if any) Top with shredded cheese. Serve with corn chips. 

Cabbage Soup

I was looking for a cabbage recipe after New Year's since cabbage was on sale so cheap. As usual, I tweaked it to my own liking. 

Cabbage Soup

1 lb. ground beef

2 T. Cavendars (Greek seasoning) (original recipe calls for Paprika)

1 small onion-diced

2 carrots-sliced

4 cloves of garlic-minced

1 can of Rotel-of course I used the Habanero flavored (original recipe calls for tomato sauce)

2 beef bouillon cubes

1/2 head of cabbage-thinly sliced

1/2 C. of lettuce

salt and pepper to season. 

Thinly slice cabbage, add beef cubes, and cover with water. Boil cabbage until slightly soft. 

While waiting on cabbage to cook, brown hamburger with onions, carrots, and garlic. Drain off any excess grease. Then add the Rotel. Simmer. Cabbage water may need to be reduced before adding rest of the ingredients. Add rice and cook until rice is soft. 

Variation:

I had some things I needed to get out of the frig. I added approximately 2 cans of black eyed peas with jalapenos. I think this really made the dish great. Since I needed rice, I just added some leftover broccoli and rice casserole for the rice. 

Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Tenderloin

This is so easy, but amazingly, mouth-watering good. I have had it cooked on the grill and slow cooked in the oven. I can't decide which way is better. However, since I do not currently own a grill; oven it is. 

Only 3 ingredients, plus some seasoning. 

I use the cheaper bacon because it is easier to manipulate around the tenderloin. 

The tenderloin is usually already split down the middle, lengthwise; if not, just split it. Layer bacon underneath the tenderloin in the dish. 

Quarter the cream cheese and stuff in between the two pieces of meat. (Optional but good: Slather the outside of the tenderloin with cream cheese as well before wrapping in bacon) Season meat as desired. (I used pepper, garlic salt, and chipotle) Wrap bacon tightly around meat. 

Cover in foil. Bake in over on 250 for 7-8 hours. Baste occasionally with the excess juices. 

Slice and Serve

Spanish Rice and Papas (Mexican Potatoes)

These are two of my favorite Mexican food side dishes. 

PAPAS (Mexican Potatoes)

This is a great change from the normal side dish. Lots of flavor. 

Dice and boil potatoes (cover with water) with a cube of chicken bouillon. 

Saute bell peppers, jalapenos, and garlic in butter. Drain potatoes and add rest of ingredients. Cook on simmer until cheese is melted. 

Papas (Mexican Potatoes)

3 lbs. potatoes-diced

1 cube chicken bouillon

3 oz. cream cheese

1/2 C. heavy cream

10 oz. Velveeta

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. garlic

1/4 C. sour cream

8 oz. Bueno frozen green chili (I prefer Autumn Roast, but that might a bit hot for some)

1/2 C. bell peppers-diced

Dice and boil potatoes with chicken bouillon cube. Cover with water. Drain. Saute bell peppers, jalapenos, and garlic in butter. Add all ingredients to potatoes. Cook on simmer until cheese is melted. 

**This recipe is adapted from a well known restaurant, and my friend told me mine were even better than their's. 

SPANISH RICE

I cheat on this one because this is the best packaged Spanish rice I've ever found. I just spice it up a little bit. 

Spanish Rice

1 package Fiesta Sides Spanish Rice

1 can of Rotel (I prefer the one with Habaneros)

1 bell pepper-diced

Cook rice as directed on package. Saute diced bell pepper in butter. Add Rotel and pepper to rice. Stir. I like to add black olives as well; it just depends on my crowd. Serve

Avocado Chicken Enchildas

A couple of months ago, my friend, Jennifer, and I were going to hang out for the day. We decided we would make it day of cooking. We weren't sure what cuisine we wanted to try so I decided to look on Pinterest for something new to cook. I found this recipe and tweaked it to my own liking. 

Dice onions and Serrano pepper. (Serranos are hot, but more can be added if you appreciate the fiery flavor)Saute with garlic and butter. Add flour and stir for 1-2 minutes. 

While onions and peppers are sauteing, boil chicken in chicken broth. Take breasts out and shred cooked chicken. Reduce leftover broth water to 1 cup. 

Add chicken back to broth. 

Add sauteed veges. 

Add cumin, salt, pepper, cilantro, salsa verde, sour cream and cream of chicken soup. Bring to a boil. 

Fry corn tortillas until just slightly stiff. (The original recipe called for flour tortillas; which we tried, but we like the corn better) Place 2 T. of mixture on tortilla, add avocado slices and cheese. Roll and place in pan seam side down. 

Cover with remaining sauce and cheese. Bake at 425 until cheese is melted. 

 Cover with your choice of toppings. More avocados, sour cream, or salsa. For this meal we skipped the beans and served it with Spanish Rice and "Abeleos" Papas. 


Avocado Chicken Enchiladas

1 T. butter
1 Serrano Pepper-minced
2 cloves of garlic (I use jarred, since I haven't felt confident enough to cook with fresh yet)
1 T. flour
2 cubes chicken bouillon
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
1//4 tsp. pepper
1 cube cilantro (or 1/4 cup fresh)
1 C Salsa Verde
1/2 C sour cream
3 chicken breasts
1 small onion-diced
8 oz. shredded cheese
3 large avocados-chopped
12-15 corn tortillas

 Saute onion, pepper, and garlic in butter. Boil chicken breasts with chicken and cilantro bouillon. Add enough water to cover breasts. When onions, pepper, and garlic are slightly translucent, add flour and stir for 1-2 minutes. When breasts are cooked, remove from water and shred chicken. Reduce broth water to 1 cup. Add shredded chicken back to the broth. Add rest of the ingredients, stir and bring to a boil. 
Fry corn tortillas until slightly stiff. Add 2 T. of chicken mixture to tortilla. Top with avocados and cheese. Roll and place in pan seam side down. Once pan is full, top with the rest of the sauce. Cover in cheese. Heat in oven on 450 until cheese is melted. Top as desired.