No More Monkeys Jumpin on the Bread

I have caught my little monkeys making mischief on the top bunk several more times since my last post. We need to take some serious precautions to keep the littlest monkey out of that room! What do you do when you can't be cooking dinner AND watching kids at the same time?!!

Although, I have to take one teeny minute to brag on that little one, AVH. He put a pair of shorts on all by himself today for the first time! We have been working on dressing skills and he has understood the concept for a while now. (I haven't been up-tight about teaching this skill 'cause I'm sure he'll eventually get it - I mean I know he won't be twenty and still needing me to pull his shirt over his head, right?) Anytime he would find someone's clothes of ANY kind laying around he would pick up the item and wrap it around his neck. He knew it was to be worn and he did his best to put it on. But just in the last couple of weeks he has gotten much closer with the pants . . . sit down . . .one foot in at a time . . . stand up ... and then pull them up. Well, he walked into the family room tonight with AAH's soccer shorts mostly pulled up - that big padded bum in a diaper was the only hurdle getting it all up around his waist. It is sometimes silly the things we cheer about at our house.

Now, speaking of monkeys - I have a friend who asked me for my recipe for Monkey Bread recently. It had been about 9 years ago that she ate some with me in my little apartment in Tucson. She said she's always remembered it as being one of the best versions she's tasted and she mis-placed her copy of the recipe. She was having a craving and needed me to send it to her again. I was surprised that she remembered it from that long ago, but it is pretty tasty stuff.


Since it was on my mind I decided that Monkey Bread would make the perfect General Conference breakfast. Good home cookin' and Conference are two things that are inseparable in my book. My family would agree but they would also say it is like torture having to wait for something yummy to come out of the oven. I have to admit we devoured the whole thing before the first session of Conference was over. You just can't stop yourself from plucking off a little piece here and there - before you know it, you've eaten the whole thing!! Beware!!!!!


Monkey Bread

3 cans buttermilk biscuits
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2/3 C white sugar
1 stick butter
1 C packed brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt pan well and set aside. Mix the white sugar and the cinnamon together in a plastic bag. Cut the biscuits into quarters and shake in the cinnamon and sugar mixture to coat. Put the dough evenly into the bundt pan. Melt the butter and the brown sugar together in a small pan on the stove and bring just to a boil. Drizzle the mixture over the biscuits. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until cooked through. Turn out onto a plate and enjoy!

Notes: Kitchen shears work perfectly for cutting the biscuits up. And I always kind of dig down a litle to check the dough in the middle and make sure it's cooked - don't worry about making it ugly, you're going to flip it over!

Honey Honey!!

(The title is for you Chaiya!)

I think it's kind of fun when you eat something glorious at a restaurant and try to re-create it at home. Sometimes it turns out pretty close and sometimes it doesn't. It really helps when the waitress doesn't hold back telling you what the main ingredients are in the dish - thanks Marge!


Last weekend I had the most yummy french toast for breakfast in Sedona. I have been dreaming about it since then and so I attempted to make something similar for dinner last night (we love breakfast for dinner). Oh Honey. It was good - and it was just about spot on the french toast I had last week. You know it's a good sign when your husband and kids are making little moans of joy with each tasty bite. Success!

Here is my heavenly version of:

Banana Oat Stuffed French Toast

1 loaf Texas Toast
3 C Honey Bunches of Oats cereal (almond)
4 Eggs
1/2 C milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. sugar
8 oz. light cream cheese, soft
1 banana
lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1-2 Tbsp. maple syrup, plus more for topping

Mash the banana with a fork on a plate. Mix in a couple of dashes of lemon juice for freshness and color, the cinnamon, and maple syrup. In a bowl combine the banana mixture with the softened cream cheese. This will look a little thin. (I added a little bit of powdered sugar at this stage to sweeten it up a little more so my kids wouldn't complain about the cream cheese - this is not necessary though. I have to say my trick worked and my boys devoured it!!!)

In a shallow dish, beat the eggs and add the milk, vanilla, and sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Crush the cereal in a Zip Loc bag with a rolling pin and pour into another shallow dish.


Heat a skillet or electric griddle to medium high heat. Spread some of the banana cream cheese mixture on a piece of Texas Toast. Top with another slice of bread. Repeat until all of your "sandwiches" are made. Grease your pan with butter. Dip each sandwich into the egg mixture on both sides and then into the crushed cereal. Place in the hot pan and cook on both sides until golden brown. Place on a cookie sheet (I used my Silpat). Bake 6-8 more minutes at 350 degrees to finish cooking.

Cut in triangles and serve with hot maple syrup, extra banana and vanilla yogurt (keep reading).


When my plate came out at the restaurant the chef had sliced another banana in thirds on an angle and stood them on end clustered in the corner and drizzled it with vanilla yogurt. It looked like a little drenched banana tree - very cute. I did this for my kids too and they loved it. I loved it too - it was so tasty to eat the banana and yogurt with a bite of french toast. In the picture I left off the yogurt so you could see the banana garnish better.

Notes: All of the amounts in this recipe are approximate - I wasn't measuring as I went unfortunately. So, you can add things and change it up to your taste. Warning: these are very filling. Bon Appetite!

Conference Breakfast

I always look forward to making something yummy for breakfast during Conference weekend. This time I opted for Blueberry Baked Oatmeal. I have made a similar recipe before, but the blueberries added a lot of good flavor and some moisture to the recipe this time. Baked oatmeal isn't your typical oatmeal - it is drier - but still good. It is a cross between eating a bowl of oatmeal and eating an oatmeal cake - but it's not that sweet.

Here is the original recipe. I actually cut it in half for my family. Next time I would put twice as many blueberries in it and mix them throughout instead of just putting them on the bottom. Slicing some fresh or frozen peaches in it would be great too. You could try it with quick oats vs. regular oats. And how about sprinkling some sugar on top to let it caramelize a little. You could substitute apples for berries and toss in some coarsely chopped pecans. Hmmm, I guess I will have to come up with a reason to make this again and experiment a little more.


Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

2 C frozen blueberries
2 Tb. fresh lemon juice, divided
6 1/2 C regular oats (or 1 - 18 oz. container)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 C firmly packed brown sugar
1 C unsweetened applesauce
1 Tb. cinnamon
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 C water
1 C milk
1/4 C melted butter

Toss 2 cups of blueberries in 1 Tb. lemon juice. Spread evenly on the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Combine eggs, brown sugar, applesauce, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, water, milk and butter. Add the remaining Tb. of lemon juice and then the oats. Pour over the blueberries. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, uncover and bake 20 min. more or until golden brown and set. You can eat this with milk or vanilla yogurt like museli. Serves 8-10

Notes: When I halved this recipe I used 2 eggs and baked it for 20 minutes covered and then 15 uncovered.

What to do with all those eggs!

We don't have a lot of hard boiled eggs sitting around our house waiting to be eaten because my kids decided to roll them down the stairs while I was showering yesterday morning. Yes - there were shells and yolks everywhere and today I found a yolk mark high on the wall where I'm sure it was thrown. (I do love, love, love my kids but they are boys - what can I say?!)

So, we did have just enough left to make some Easter Breakfast Quesadillas this morning. This idea just came to me - they aren't fancy but they tasted good. Give 'em a try if you have eggs coming out your ears and you've had enough egg salad.


Easter Breakfast Quesadillas

small flour tortillas
several hard boiled eggs, sliced
bacon, sausage, or ham
cheddar cheese
anything else you want to add - salsa, grilled green peppers and onion, etc.

On a flour tortilla sprinkle some cheese, layer sliced egg on top. Top with the meat of your choice and any other additions you would like. Top with more cheese and a second tortilla. Place on a hot griddle or frying pan and cook until the cheese is melted and the tortilla starts to crisp and brown. Cut into wedges and serve with salsa. It's a kid pleaser!