Meatless Mondays: Chocolate and Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Happy Valentine's Day! In honor of the occasion, I decided to make my Meatless Monday a breakfast-themed one, and do a super-decadent french toast sandwich for you. I got this one from Ellie Krieger, so it only seems super-decadent! In fact, it is actually a kinda nutritious breakfast! The thing that makes it indulgent is the inclusion of chocolate, but of course a bit of chocolate in the morning never hurt anybody as long as there was some fresh fruit and whole grains accompanying it!

This is a stuffed french toast recipe. Only three ingredients are required for the inside of the sandwich: ricotta cheese, fresh strawberries, and chocolate chips. You assemble your sandwiches, dip them in an egg/milk mixture seasoned with vanilla and ground cinnamon, and fry them up on your griddle as you would with traditional french toast. I did make some swaps for this; I used a combination of 2% milk and water as opposed to skim milk, and I substituted one egg white for a whole egg. I also added in the cinnamon; we're big fans!

These french toast sandwiches were surefire hits over the weekend! It truly felt like we were eating dessert for breakfast, which was just fine with me on a special occasion. I paired the sandwiches with some breakfast sausage (turkey for the boys, meatless links for me!) and it really made a nice meal that kept us good and full all morning long. I couldn't believe this recipe came from a healthy cookbook, but that's Ellie for you. She's always surprising me with how good healthy food can taste! Anyway, I think this would make a fantastic Valentine's Day treat, whether for breakfast, lunch, or a really yummy, sweet dinner. I hope you have a great day!

Chocolate and Strawberry Stuffed French Toast
adapted from Ellie Krieger
makes 4 sandwiches

Ingredients
3/4 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup water
2 large eggs
1 large egg white
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup low-fat ricotta cheese
8 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread (Ellie removed her crusts; I did not)
4 oz. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 Tbsp. bittersweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray
2 tsp. confectioners' sugar

Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, water, eggs, egg white, vanilla, and cinnamon. Set aside.

2. Spread 1 Tbsp. of the ricotta cheese on 4 of the bread slices. Top each with about 6 slices of strawberry and 1/2 Tbsp. of the chocolate chips. Cover each with another piece of bread to form sandwiches.

3. Spray a large nonstick skillet or griddle with cooking spray and preheat over medium heat. Carefully dip each of the sandwiches into the egg mixture (I learned the hard way that you should not dip the whole slice of bread into the egg; that makes the sandwich soggy on the inside. Rather, you want to dip the lower half of a bread slice, carefully flip the sandwich, and then dip the lower half of the other bread slice). Place each sandwich on the skillet or griddle and cook until the outside is golden brown. The center should be warm and the chocolate should be melted. Ellie says 3-4 minutes per side should do it, but mine were on the griddle more like 6-7 minutes per side.

4. Transfer sandwiches to serving dishes. Top with extra strawberries, if desired, and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

This weekend's Baked Sunday Mornings assignment was the Red Velvet Whoopie Pies in Baked Explorations. This selection couldn't have come at a better time; I always associate red velvet with Valentine's Day, and I haven't made a whoopie pie in a while. I go through withdrawal, people! So it was definitely time for me to whip up a batch. I adore red velvet, and I've made the Baked version of red velvet cake (well, cupcakes!) before, so I was eager to experience their spin on the red velvet whoopie.



Last Valentine's Day, I made a red velvet whoopie that I saw in Food Network Magazine, and they were pretty divine. Of course, back then I was still a pretty lazy blogger and never got around to posting about those. It's funny how things can change in a year, huh? Anyway, I wondered how these would compare to the FN Magazine version, since I really didn't think I could improve upon those when I made them. But being the huge fan of the Baked boys that I am, I was pretty sure they would come through for me.

Of course, I was not disappointed! These red velvet whoopies are delicate, yet sturdy. Just slightly crisp on the outside, but perfectly tender on the inside. The filling is just perfect, even when you use lower-fat cream cheese! It tasted every bit as decadent as the full-fat version. The pairing of the outer cookies and the inner filling is just heaven. I do have to apologize for not using the recommended walnuts to roll the sides of the whoopies in. I just thought they would be great without nuts, and didn't bother with them. Maybe next time, though. As is, these pies were wonderfully rich and sweet, and to me they were the most wonderful treat I could think of to indulge in for Valentine's Day. My husband will be taking the rest in to work tomorrow; we just have to share the love!

So, another Baked recipe, another rousing success! To see what the other Baked Sunday Morning cooks thought of these little gems, simply check out the blog's main site, here.

That's Some Drunk Pasta!

There seems to be no greater happiness to me right now than to make something nutritious and tasty, and have one (or both!) of my kids gobble it up and love it. So I have been on something of a baking kick. I made muffins over the weekend, and much to my delight, Evan couldn't get enough of them! I'll have to make them again and post about them. Today, I decided to finally put the last of a box of clementines we've had to good use, and make more muffins.



Evan adored the muffins. Xander wouldn't even try them. They were Clementine Poppy Seed Muffins, which I thought was an intriguing and clever use of the clementine. They weren't something I would make every day, or crave in the middle of the night, but they were nice, solid muffins with a crunchy-ish top and a tender inside.



But enough about muffins. For our Valentine's Day dinner, Andy and I decided to try out a recipe for Drunken Tuscan Pasta, by Rachael Ray. Now, my feelings about Rachael are quite mixed. I have loved her, and I have hated her. At this point, I think the conflict I feel is due to the fact that while she annoys me, I can't help but like a good amount of her recipes. What can I say? She's the TV cook that first inspired me to drag my lazy butt into the kitchen and start making myself useful. I guess I kind of owe her.

This pasta dish was incredibly easy to make, pretty healthy (if you overlook the fact that the pasta was actually boiled in a combination of red wine and water), and delicious. That made it a winner for us! Don't worry, we didn't feed the kids this drunken pasta. I felt too weird giving them something cooked in that much wine. But Andy and I really enjoyed it, and we would definitely make it again. Here's the recipe.



Drunken Tuscan Pasta
Adapted from Rachael Ray
4 servings

Ingredients
1 (750 ml) bottle of red wine (such as Chianti)
coarse salt
1 lb. bucatini pasta
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 lb. deli-sliced pancetta
3 portabella mushroom caps, thinly sliced
3 sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
red pepper flakes (a couple pinches)
4-5 cups chopped kale (you could use swiss chard, spinach, or escarole)
black pepper
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Directions
1. Pour the whole bottle of wine into a large pasta pot; fill the rest of the way with water, set it on the stove to boil, add salt when boiling, and then add pasta. Cook pasta to al dente; reserve at least a cup of pasta water before draining.
2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, then chopped pancetta. Brown pieces until crispy and golden brown, then reserve on a paper towel-lined plate.
3. Add mushrooms to the same skillet. Season with the rosemary and then cook for 6-8 minutes, until deeply golden. Push mushrooms to the side, and add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for another minute, then toss mushrooms with garlic mixture.
4. Add chopped greens to the pan, season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and wilt them down. Once the greens have wilted, add the reserved pasta liquid, 1/3 cup at a time, and cook to reduce a little.
5. Add well-drained pasta to the skillet. Add pancetta back to the pan, along with a handful of the parmigiano-reggiano cheese, and toss the pasta for a minute to allow it to absorb liquid. Add more liquid if necessary. Serve with more cheese on the side.