Stuffed French Toast

We eat breakfast for dinner about once a week...it's quick & easy, plus I'm not a morning person...so this is the one chance the kids have for real breakfast food :) They L O V E stuffed french toast & it is so easy to make variations, that we have never had it the same way twice. Here is the strawberry version...

1 loaf french bread, thinly sliced

1 container frozen strawberries (I used pre-sliced)

1 bar cream cheese, softened

2 Tb. strawberry jam

4 eggs

cinnamon

2 tsp. sugar

a splash of vanilla

milk

1. Mix together cream cheese & strawberry jam, set aside.

2. In a small sauce pan heat frozen strawberries...if you have the unsweetened kind, add sugar to taste. After heated through simmer until ready to top french toast.

3. Spread a small amount of the cream cheese mixture onto a slice of the french bread, top with another to make a sandwich. Repeat with remaining french bread.

4. Mix eggs, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla until well mixed (mixing the cinnamon in before adding the milk keeps it from floating to the top). Add a splash of milk and mix to make a french toast batter.

5. Dip sandwiches into egg mixture and onto a preheated, greased griddle. Cook on each side until golden brown.

6. Top with the warm strawberries and a dusting of powdered sugar if you like.

Now for the variations...go back to the basics...start with:

sliced french bread

cream cheese

french toast batter ingredients

& add for...

Apple or Peach

* Stir 1 tsp. cinnamon & 1 TB brown sugar into cream cheese.

*Saute 3 or 4 peeled, thinly sliced apples or peaches, in about 1 Tb. butter. Add 1 tsp. cinnamon and 2 tablespoons brown sugar (to taste). Cook until soft.

* Spread cream cheese mixture onto bread & layer with cooked apples & top with second slice of bread.

***

Orange

*add to cream cheese zest of two oranges, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 2 tsp. sugar & a little orange juice.

*you can make an orange syrup..but I warn you it is very sweet :)

in a small saucepan heat together 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water, heat until boiling & sugar is completely dissolved (simple syrup). Add orange segments (look here to learn how to segment an orange)from your zested oranges, and zest and segments from an addition orange. Add a little cinnamon & heat until the oranges begin to fall apart...you can mash them up a little if you like.

Enjoy!