French toast casserole for two

My kid put a loaf of bread in the wrong cupboard, so I thought I should buy more last Thursday on my way home from my last day of work. Saturday I was looking somewhere else, and found a rogue loaf of bread. Now I had 2.5 loaves of bread. So I thought about what all I could make, trolled Pinterest, and found several French toast casserole recipes that used regular sandwich bread instead of Texas toast, French, challah, etc. but there are only two of us, so I wanted something smaller. So I tinkered with my favorite parts of what I found, cut everything in half, and came up with this. 

French Toast Casserole

6 slices sandwich bread
2T butter
3 eggs
1/2 c milk
2 T sugar
2 drops doTerra Wild orange oil
¾ t vanilla
½ t cinnamon
⅛ t salt
2 t cinnamon sugar, divided

Melt butter in 8.5 x 6.5 pan in 400° oven and remove. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

Mix eggs, milk, sugar, orange oil, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.

Cut 2 slices of bread in half. Place 2 whole slices and 2 half slices of bread in pan. Drizzle ½ cup of egg mixture slowly over bread, allowing it to soak in, paying attention to crusty edges. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place remaining bread on top, and drizzle remaining egg mixture over. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Tilt pan gently to allow any pooled egg to soak in. Let rest on counter 10 min. 

Bake in 400° oven until egg is set and casserole is puffed, about 20 min. Let cool 10 min before serving.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I made my favorite Beef and Guinness Stew for dinner. But I made it in my instant pot instead of my crock pot. No night-before prep. No remembering to turn it on before leaving for work at 5:30am. Perfect. I could cut it with my spoon.

Beef and Guinness Stew

2.5-3 lb boneless chuck roast, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
1 onion chopped
1 T chopped garlic
8oz baby carrots
1/4 t dry thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bottle Guinness Stout
1 can beef broth
Thickener (you can make a cornstarch slurry. I used instant potato flakes)

Colcannon (mashed potatoes with cooked kale mixed in)

Set instant pot to medium sauté and brown meat cubes in batches. Remove to a plate or large bowl.

Add onions to pot and cook til translucent. As garlic, stir for a minute, and add carrots, thyme, salt, pepper and Guinness. Bring to a simmer for a minute. Add beef and juices back to pot, and add beef broth.

Turn pot off and put lid on. Set to seal, then set manual for 35 minutes, with 15-20 min NPR. Remove lid. Stir potato flakes in a few tablespoons at a time, letting sit a minute to hydrate before adding more.

Serve on or with colcannon or regular mashed potatoes.
🍀

Penne with Cajun Parmesan Cream Sauce

We had a ham dinner and ukelele concert fundraiser at church last night, and we got some of the left over ham. So I made this instant pot pasta dish, which doesn’t need ham, but is yummy with it. You can also you chicken. It is reminiscent of a dish I had at Hof’s Hut in Long Beach CA growing up.

Penne with Cajun Parmesan Cream Sauce

1 lb penne (or mini penne)
4.5 c water
1 12oz can evaporated milk
1/2 c half and half
1/4 c smoked paprika
1/2 t each garlic powder, dry thyme, and dry oregano
Cayenne/red pepper flakes/Old Bay/salt/pepper to taste
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 c diced ham or cooked chicken, optional

Put penne and water in instant pot. Putnon lid, set to seal, and set on manual for 0 minutes. When timer is up, let NPR for 15 min, then QPR remaining pressure and remove lid.

Pour in evaporated milk and stir pasta well. Let rest a couple minutes while adding spices, then stir well. Add half and half and Parmesan and stir, then add meat if using. Serve with parm sprinkled on top, and a little paprika/cayenne/Old Bay for color.