Baked with Love

Fresh Fruit Crumble

In a recent attempt to make my family healthier, I have been purchasing more fresh fruit and trying inventive ways to get it into their bodies.  Apples and cuties are a staple in our diets, but I have been attempting to branch out.  A while back I purchased a large container of Blueberries from Raleys on a special $5 Monday deal.  My kids were NOT excited to eat those fresh blueberries as a tasty little snack as I had hoped.  One twin even commented that they were a "weird little fruit" and so I stuffed them into the freezer before they went bad and decided I would eventually find a use for them.
Like an internet supermom I searched the web over for various uses.  I am sure there are plenty of moms out there with the same problem.  Wanting our families to be healthy but happy at the same time can sometimes be a challenge in this fast food world.  Last time I checked Chicken Nuggets from the Golden arches didn't exactly rank up there in the health department as much as they're a kid friendly favorite.
Often times, when I am scouring the internet, I am kicked back to the wonderful site AllRecipes. I think a lot of people find little gems here, but I really hit the jackpot when looking for blueberry goodies.  Who doesn't LOVE the idea of anything that begins with the word Overnight???

  I am not really a breakfast eater (I know it is "the most important meal of the day"). I do not care for eggs, I don't eat syrup really, and I just find cooking in the morning to be an overwhelming task when I have so many other things to do in the day.  But when I found this recipe, Overnight Blueberry French Toast, my family did not let up until I agreed to make it.  It was an appealing idea to me because of the "overnight" but little did I know, it was more work than I thought.
I must admit that this recipe wasn't diffucult, as much as time consuming.  I read all of the reviews on the bottom, I suggest you do as well there's some great tips, and I surged forth in creating this meal.  Now as I stated before, this meal was an Overnight journey, meaning all the preparation is done the night before you are actually going to eat it (I find these kinds of recipes are best for Christmas when you have less time the day of) and the cooking is left up to your oven in the morning while you relax enjoying your Starbucks.

I simply cream cheesed my french bread, tossed in those fresh blueberries (even though they were still frozen), mixed up the eggs, got it all situated into a baking dish and threw it in the fridge.  When morning came, I popped that bad boy in the fridge, made the suggested fresh blueberry syrup while it baked and listened to my family buzz about the glorious smells that were coming from the kitchen.  Those "weird little fruits" weren't so strange anymore!!!
The finished product, well lets just say it turned out better than I could have ever imagined and I actually ate breakfast, and enjoyed it, eggs and all.

Cookie Monster

I imagine there are a lot of people out there in the world in similar situations as myself.   I have a large family, two hard working adults and 5 rambunctious children.  We do not have a lot of luxuries, and we attempt to live a simple life that affords us the little things we have.  As I have stated before (I think) we love food.  Baking, cooking and eating are things that we enjoy together as a family.  I know that over eating can lead to obesity, but I do not mean to say that we are out of control in our eating habits. Rather we cook dinner together and warm our home on blustery days with baked goods that warm the soul.  I must admit though, when November hits, our home becomes a baking frenzy.  I think a very large portion of our Christmas fund is poured into the kitchen.

Cookies, banana bread, brittle, pretty much any concotion that sounds delicious are things that come out of our cozy kitchen.  Because I bake so much at Christmas time, we generally give more than half of it away as gifts.  Everybody loves snickerdoodles, devil bites and chocolate espresso cookies!!! 

Rarely though, in the spring or summer, do I fire up the oven because it is so hot (we do not use AC) and we are more in the mood for ice cream and iced tea.  Today is a rare occasion.  The weather has decided that it is more like winter outside (even dumping snow in the mountains now in May) and I wanted a little something to warm our home.  Of course because it is 5 months after the winter, Christmas season, my baking supplies are diminished to some bakers chocolate, half a bag of chocolate chips, a cup of flour and a lonely little cup of brown sugar.  What on earth can you possibly make with any of that??

Like many other days, I take to the internet and search eggless, dairy free, and quick recipes.  And much like other wonderful moments of discovery I come across this wonderful blog Authentic Simplicity.  Anne Simpson  (also on Pinterest) gave me the key to quick, easy, scrumptious chocolate chip cookies that just happen to be vegan.

No eggs, no dairy and veagn.  I imagine this may not sound like the most enjoyable recipe for a lot of people, but I am telling you, in a pinch, in a time when you don't have money but you're craving something sweet, or your baking cabinet is depleated, these Chocolate Chip Cookies are going to rock your world. The most simple cookies I think I have ever made really.  I made a few adjustments (I am not vegan) but they still seemed to come out just as tasty as any TollHouse cookie I have ever baked (maybe it was the chocolates).  And I must interject, they came out fluffy, soft and moist, all things that I struggle with in other recipes.  I have been advised by my wise Aunts and Mother that it is due to the elevation but I don't buy it.  I don't think TollHouse was ever the way for me to go.  I was meant for something more exciting, more daring and maybe a little more healthy.