French Toast Bake

 

This is insanely delicious. I used to believe that there should be a law that does not allow you to mess with cinnamon rolls in a can. They come already seasoned. You pop the can open with a spoon or smash it against the side of the counter, because let's be real you can never pull the paper off and it pops. Kind of like the macaroni and cheese box that tells you to push that triangle at the top of the box in and pull back. If you have ever been able to do that successfully without using a knife or scissors please comment below. I have NEVER been able to do that and I used to go hard core on some macaroni and cheese after school. Give me some spiral with butter and a splash of milk mixed with that yummy powder. Call me gross if you want..That stuff was great!

I Digress.....

Oh and Trader Joe's Cinnamon Rolls....Yeah I can eat 3 in one sitting. It's madness! If you haven't tried them yet you are missing out on life. They need to be eaten at night, in front of the TV, in your pajamas or yoga pants. And you cannot feel guilty about eating them. Because moderation people...mod-er-a-tion.

Luckily you can use this recipe and also eat them in the morning because you need to buy two packs..Why?? Because you will hate your life if you just buy one. My Trader Joes is far. Like get in the car and drive 20 minutes far. At least that's far to me. 

Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls knock my socks off too, don't get me wrong. I will go hard with those too. But to me those are breakfast only Rolls. They both work so pick your poison favorite.

This French Toast bake adds the richness of butter, eggs, and milk to the mix. Then topped with the yummy frosting right when it comes out of the oven. 

I've tried this recipe with Trader Joe's Cinnamon Rolls and Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls. Trader Joe's are a bit bigger and have a more cinnamon taste. Either one will work. 

 French Toast Bake

1 can cinnamon rolls 

1/2 C. milk

1 egg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp. butter (I used Land O Lakes) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and put in an 8x8 Pyrex dish or whatever dish (similar size) you have with sides. Mix milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and egg together. Open can of cinnamon rolls and slice each roll into 8 individual pieces. Place all the pieces in the egg and milk mixture and stir to combine. Put into the 8x8 dish and bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until brown on top and done in the middle. Heat frosting that came in the cinnamon roll pack for a few seconds in the microwave. Pour over the French Toast. Serve warm. 

You can top with roasted pecans or walnuts and/or add some hot maple syrup if you really feel naughty. 

Enjoy!

Cajun Crab Tilapia

The best fish ever!!!! I totally made this up. I love when I get in the kitchen and just use my imagination. I got really lucky with this because honestly, I have had some major disasters! This tester turned out amazing. 

Cajun Crab Tilapia

4 tilapia filets

1 tbsp. Tony Chachere's Seasoning (any cajun seasoning will do)

1 tsp. olive oil

Cajun Dip*

Combine seasoning with olive oil and mix. After washing tilapia, dry off with paper towel so there is not water or moisture on them. Place fish in the pan you are baking in and rub the seasoning mixture all over the tilapia. Top each piece of fish with the cajun crab dip. You can go as heavy as you would like. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until tilapia flakes using a fork. 

*Cajun Dip

1/2 lb. imitation crab meat

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. sour cream

1tbsp. hot sauce

1/2 tbsp. Worchestershire sauce

1/2 tbsp. cajun seasoning

1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Cream/Mix all ingredients, except crab, together until smooth. Add crab meat and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for 3 hrs. so seasonings can set. 

Penny for your thoughts

My hubby wanted to go to the mall the other day so dragged him kindly asked him to go to JC Penney with me to check out their new home collection/store. I heard that they revamped their home section and I was not disappointed. It was beautiful in there. Though it was empty, I was glad I got a chance to go during this time so I could take pictures to put on this little blog.

Everything is crisp, white, and organized

Martha Stewart had her little mark in the store.

 There were a lot of really cool gadgets that cooks would love.

I love this measuring cup that goes all the way to 4 cups.

See how cute this is.

In case you are looking for some cute plates and napkins for decoration. This is the place to go.

LOL!

Here is a super cute recipe book/iPad holder.

This was amazing. These are individual cutting boards that are labeled for specific usage.

I really enjoyed this new area in JC Penney. I like their sleek style, the new gadgets, and how they are catering more to the average person who want to be a fabulous cook.....muah! 

I recently posted about this fab dress that I want at Banana Republic. Well we went in this weekend and it was on sale for $109 with 40% off. I have rewards and other coupons that I can use that will make this dress free. BUT.....I don't want to use them......I want to wait it out. Let's hope I don't regret it.

Pinterest Day!

I have a few recipes on Pinterest that I have been wanting to try. I thought it would be a good idea to make the recipes on Father's Day and invite everyone over. The menu was:

Uncle Foxx's BBQ Chicken Wings

 

Rosemary Grilled Chicken

Crack Potatoes 

(says pinterest)

 

Salad with a yummy Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette

 

Broccoli

Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies

This was an amazing meal and everyone loved it. There were a few adjustments that I would make to some of the pinterest recipes

1. Crack Potatoes- I would only add 1 envelope of the ranch dressing/dip to the potatoes. They were really salty and with the bacon and cheese there is really no need to add a lot of seasoning. 

2. Blueberry Cheesecake Cookies- Be sure that you refrigerate the dough. It comes out sort of like cake mix and it definitely needs to be refrigerated to harden a little. Once I put a few on the pan to bake I immediately put the dough back in the fridge. When mixing I added unsalted butter instead of margarine and I made sure that I creamed the butter and cream cheese very well before adding any other ingredients. 

3. Garlic- I ran out of garlic so I had to use garlic salt instead. Everything turned out ok but I didn't add any salt to the recipes that called for it.  Has anyone else noticed that the price of garlic is rising?

Happy Eating!

Making A Birthday Cake Tiff Style

I decided to make a cake!!

I have no idea where my sister-in-law found this cake...I think she found it on pinterest???

My sister-in-law Brenda wanted a cake for my niece Kylie's "2" birthday party. Kylie loves Dora and since I love cooking I decided to make one for her. My first impression was to just pay someone to make it so I decided to ask a good friend at my work that makes cakes part time. She knows that I have been wanting to learn to make cakes like this so she invited me to come to her house on our off day, which happened to be the day before the birthday, and make the cake for the party.  I had no prep time and did not practice. This was the first time I ever made a cake to this extreme. It took us 6 hours total....and the cakes were already baked and ready to get icing. Yes it took us 6 hours to icing and decorate a cake. It was soooo worth it!

First you have to trim the sides of the rough edges and cut off the top to make it flat.

Next you prep your icing. We used gels to color the buttercream icing. You can buy buttercream by the gallons from Sam's Club.

Next  you pipe the colored icing onto the sides of the cake.

Icing the top as well

Then center it out with a scraper.

Use a roller to smooth the edges and sides while getting all the bubbles out. It gives it a much more smooth and polished look. Once this is done you have to let the cake and icing set for a few minutes. I started coloring the second icing, green. I also started prepping my fondant for the cut outs on the cake. My battery started going dead on my camera and I forgot my charger so the pics get a little scarce after this.

Place the layers and icing them the same way with the blush pink.

Here is yours truly trying to icing the top layers.

Once the cake is all rolled, icinged??,  and ready you have to let it set. This is when we got busy with the fondant.

Each of these fondants had to be mixed to get the exact pastel colors. I bought premade fondant from Michael's in neon colors and then added white fondant and color gels to get the colors we needed. I bought the Dora figurine from Target bakery. They sell them for $7. 

Here is the final product before I left to put it in my trunk. I was a nervous wreck. I kept thinking that it would fall apart or fall over but it traveled well. It did shift a little on the top but I was able to smooth it out.

Here is the final product. I added some stars in the background using fondant, icing, and some wires.