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!