stuffed french toast

i had only ever tried stuffed french toast once before, at IHOP, and when i saw that "family fresh cooking" had posted a recipe for it, i wasted no time in buying strawberries and making it for dinner. i started from her recipe, but modified it to include ingredients i had (wasn't gonna go buy stevia drops or coconut oil just for this, if you know what i mean). mine is slightly less healthy, and higher in sugar than hers. but i had so much fun being creative with it (not follow a recipe exactly?!? ack! out of my comfort zone, and SO GOOD for me), so i had to share it. 

first, i got the sauce started by boiling 2 cups fresh strawberries and 2 tablespoons water for a few minutes, until they softened (and started looking like a compote). i added a tiny amount of sugar, because these aren't Okui's strawberries, and the ones in the store are just never as sweet. then pureed it in the blender.

meanwhile, i took however much cream cheese i had in the fridge (2-4 oz? seriously, this not measuring is so good for my soul!) and added some powdered sugar (about 2 tablespoons?) to sweeten it a bit. then, i spread it on whole wheat bread, and topped it with sliced strawberries. next, i put the whole sandwich together and dipped both sides of the bread in my french toast mix (i used 4 eggs, 1 cup milk, 2 tablespoons sugar; in the family fresh recipe she just uses egg whites - this would be the healthier option, but i wanted to try it successfully first, and then see what it would be okay without) and fried it on the stove. once both sides were cooked, i topped it with the strawberry sauce (which was still pretty tart, but yummy!). mmm...

there was way too much egg mixture left over, and i couldn't bear to throw that all away, so i scrambled it up (i added 2 extra eggs first, so it wouldn't be mostly milk)! who knew? sweet scrambled eggs?! topped with coconut, they were so delicious!

 there was a little left of everything afterwards, so i had leftovers today, substituting a flatbread instead, and topping the french toast with coconut this time! yum. not something to eat every day, but a delicious, nutritious treat that my whole family loved!

quinoa

i had heard my friends talk about quinoa for a couple years, but had never tried it until rutabegor'z a couple weeks ago. and i loved it! so when we saw it grocery shopping this week, we bought a bag, and i immediately cooked some up according to the instructions on the bag. it came out a little bitter, but while it was cooking, i'd been researching possible recipes with quinoa online. it was "too late" for most of them, since the ingredients were supposed to be added before the boiling part... so i made it up. i didn't want to try to add just salt to the already-cooked quinoa, but i wanted it a little salty, so i added some soy sauce. better. how about a little sweet? i've always loved the salty/sweet combination. so i drizzled on some honey. chopped up some dried fruit & nut mix we had in the cupboard and stirred it all together. served it warm on top of thinly sliced apple and a bed of spinach (balsamic vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper for dressing). it was SO GOOD. i wanted to eat it every day. and my husband is left wondering where his wife went (salad? you want salad?? ok!!). i think i just enjoyed it so much because i got to be creative. and it worked - it was yummy (sometimes "creative" doesn't turn out so well with food ;)

 that wasn't really a "recipe", per se. if you want actual measurements, let me know, and i'll approximate for you ;)

joey's version: i kept everything separate, and cooked the spinach. surprisingly, he ate some of everything - and even said "I LIKE quinoa!" winner in my book!