Eggnog French Toast

Today I’m lucky enough to have a snow day! Woohoo! I love snow days now that I don’t have to make them up. We got out early yesterday and are home today. Snow days are so fun to be unproductive and drink hot chocolate all day. Since today feels like a weekend day, I wanted to share with you a brunchy food I made for Christmas Eve breakfast.

To me, eggnog is like spiced up melted vanilla ice cream. I don’t believe people who say they don’t like it. I believe they would like it if they just tried it (I seriously assume they haven’t tried it or maybe not tried it in their adult years). It isn’t something I go around drinking non-stop during the holidays but a sip or two is de-light-ful…just about a 1/4 cup is plenty now and then. I drizzled just a touch into my coffee one morning and was swooning. #genius

The Three Bite Rule - Eggnog French Toast

Those 2-3 sip glasses of eggnog means there’s probably a lot left. Here’s what to do with it: Eggnog Baked French Toast. Ooooo so good! I’d also make eggnog pancakes or eggnog oatmeal. Maybe an eggnog glaze for cinnamon rolls? Love these thoughts! I whipped up this eggnog baked french toast for Christmas Eve breakfast. Mr. J and I hosted Christmas Eve dinner so this such a fun breakfast to make the day feel like a holiday before anyone even arrived to celebrate.

I learned at a young age that this is the good stuff and it only happens once a year so get the real deal. Go get some and make this so you aren’t singing the winter-time blues.
The Three Bite Rule - Eggnog French Toast

Ingredients:

1/2 loaf of crusty bread (like ciabatta or stale french bread), cut into cubes
1 cup eggnog
1 egg
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or a dash each nutmeg, cinnamon, all-spice)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.
Whip up eggnog, egg, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla in a large bowl.
The Three Bite Rule - Eggnog French Toast
Add in the cubed bread and stir well.
The Three Bite Rule - Eggnog French Toast
Spray ramekins or a baking dish with non-stick spray before spooning the bread into the baking dish(s).
Pour any remaining liquid from the bottom of the bowl over the top of the filled baking dish(s).
The Three Bite Rule - Eggnog French Toast
Bake covered for 30 minutes.
Uncover, and bake for another 10 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - Eggnog French Toast

Voila! It was so good. There was that slight hint of wintryness to it but it very mild flavored. I loved it and would have loved an eggnog glaze over the top too. Maybe less eggnog-crazed people would think this was enough flavor.

Baked French Toast is the way to go. It is sooo much easier. A big one people could slice into would be good but individual ones are just so fun.  It saved me from having too much with leftovers. There are enough leftovers during the holidays. This one was just enough. I love the crunchy pieces from the top so I made sure they toasted up.
The Three Bite Rule - Eggnog French Toast
More eggnog leftover? Try eggnog cocoa! Or it would be prettttty amazing in a milkshake or smoothie! Now I wish I had some left! I can’t imagine buying more. I’d have to have a lot of plans for it. Plus I think the nutritionists at work would be horrified and pop out from the grocery dairy cooler. I’m pretty sure it’s a rule you can only buy one per year.

What I Ate: Apple Cider Oatmeal

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

I was thinking about what could make my oatmeal better. I wanted to amp up the flavor big time. I opened up the fridge and what to my wander eyes did appear, but some apple cider! Normally I stir in some pumpkin butter from a never. ending. jar. This time I figured a different liquid could add some spice to my oatmeal.

Then I’m enjoying my apple cidery oatmeal and browsing through some blogs when I have a total deja vu moment! That very same morning I see that How Sweet It Is wrote about Baked Eggnog Oatmeal. No way! Yes way! It looked amazing. It made me want to put on jammies crawling back into bed to lounge and watch SVU marathons all morning.

Anywho, back to the oatmeal. I literally just replaced the water with apple cider. It would be even better with some chopped up apples, almonds, Craisins or whatever floats your boat.
The Three Bite Rule - Apple Cider Oatmeal
I loved it. I know apple cider is almost out of season, but if they’re still sellin’ it then I’m still buyin’ it, even though it is December.

The Three Bite Rule - Apple Cider Oatmeal
I made a ton and couldn’t finish it. I forgot how filling and how much oatmeal expands. Maybe next time I’ll start with less oatmeal. The flavor was big time, especially for the morning, but you could definitely do 75% cider and 25% water if it was too strong.

Make this for a quick weekend breakfast before you do lots of holiday things. I’m seeing the POPS at Symphony Hall tonight and can’t wait! It might snow a little bit again so that would make for an ideal gift-wrapping-day on Sunday after a holiday party and volunteering on Saturday.

What I Ate: Pumpkin Smoothie

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

I almost wanted to call this pumpkin pie smoothie, but it is seriously much healthier for you. It only tastes like dessert. It is perfect for fall flavors. I freeze the bananas for smoothies to make it frostier and thicker, but a regular banana would be fine, just not a chilly.
The Three Bite Rule - Pumpkin Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 banana (preferably frozen)
6 oz vanilla Greek yogurt
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 tbs pumpkin butter (optional)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or make your own: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice)

Directions:

Add banana, yogurt, pumpkin, pumpkin butter, and pumpkin pie spice in a blender.
The Three Bite Rule - Pumpkin Smoothie
Blend and enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Pumpkin Smoothie
This is so good and tastes like dessert. The pumpkin butter amped up the pumpkin flavor even more, but could definitely be omitted. I use it in oatmeal, on toast, or mixed into yogurt during all-things-pumpkin season.
The Three Bite Rule - Pumpkin Smoothie

  • this recipe – yogurt + ice cream = dessert
  • this recipe + blend with ice + dark rum + rim the glass with graham cracker = cocktail

Does pumpkin-season end after Thanksgiving? What do you think?

What I Ate: Almond Joy Yogurt Parfait

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

I was thinking about how much I love coconut and wondering how to make a smoothie out of it. Then I decided I’d just dump stuff on my yogurt. When I dump more than one topping onto yogurt it makes it a parfait. “Dump stuff” is so classy, but hey, parfait is suuuuper classy. It makes breakfast fancy! Right? Right!

The Three Bite Rule - Almond Joy Smoothie

Coconut yogurt is the best. I shared my love for it here during a smoothie coconut almond milk. More and more brands are adding coconut to their Greek yogurt repertoire. Love it.

Ingredients:

coconut yogurt (or vanilla)
1/3 cup coconut
1/4 cup almonds (not salted, slivers are good too)
(optional: mini chocolate chips)

Directions:

Put a small skillet on over medium-low heat.
Tranfer the yogurt into a bowl (you need more room than a yogurt cup).
The Three Bite Rule - Almond Joy Smoothie
Add coconut to the dry skillet. Stir regularly as it lightly browns. Watch it to ensure it doesn’t burn.
The Three Bite Rule - Almond Joy Smoothie
Chop the almonds (and toast if desired)
Add the toasted coconut to the yogurt over the top and add the almonds around the edge.
almondjoy_bowl_590_390
It is so good. Toasted coconut makes me want a samoa girl scout cookie. I didn’t roast the almonds but that would be so amazing here. I seriously made this on a weekday for bfast. Toasting the coconut takes 5 minutes and is absolutely worth it. Some chocolate chips would make this legit Almond Joy but it was bfast so I decided not to go crazy.

Aren’t these guys so cute? They’re regular supporters and they felt like their cute mugs should be on the blog more often. Say hi to Windsor!
IMG_3238
Miss Bailee says hello too.
IMG_3237

Pumpkin Bread French Toast

Happy Pumpkin Week! The next few days are going to be PUMPKIN filled featuring some of my pumpkin favs. I hope this pumpkin breakfast makes for a happier Monday. The first few days after daylight savings are always weird. I felt old when I realized that I used to like daylight savings to get more to Saturday night. Now it makes for a longer Sunday.

I’ve shared quickie pumpkin muffins last year. Spice Cake + pumpkin = easy muffins. I believe Weight Watchers suggests this because there’s no eggs, and no oil. I drop in cinnamon chips. I made that into bread using some leftovers into french toast. Craisins or walnuts would be so good in here.
The Three Bite Rule - Pumpkin Bread French Toast

Ingredients:

pumpkin bread (2 slices per person)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Head griddle to medium heat.
Mix up eggs, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla into a shallow dish.
Dunk pumpkin bread into the liquid mix on both sides.
The Three Bite Rule - Pumpkin Bread French Toast
Cook on the griddle for 3 minutes on each side, flipping once.
The Three Bite Rule - Pumpkin Bread French Toast
Serve with butter and syrup.
The Three Bite Rule - Pumpkin Bread French Toast
I loved this. It was also a really seasonal bfast made of some pumpkin bread that was getting stale. This idea came to me at a local diner which uses banana bread for french toast. This would work with any sweet bread! How great would lemon poppyseed be? Or blueberry pound cake? Yum! It would be easy for a crowd all chopped up as french toast – bread pudding.

Make this for Thanksgiving breakfast. Stay tuned for more pumpkin recipes this week!