Breakfast, Resolutions & Rationalization....Off to a great start! (French Toast Casserole)

My New Years resolution was to get this damn blog started already. The best part about that is that I can make french toast casserole instead of some healthy steamed egg white concoction. Because, really, you can't have 2 resolutions. It's the rule. I promise.

I won't post a ton of breakfast recipes. It's kind of wasted cooking time for those of you just trying to start making dinner most nights. And really, we are a cereal, eggs & toast, and if you're lucky, pancakes kind of family. But this takes 10 mins to prep, & you can do most of it the night before.

The story behind this recipe is that we had guests for dinner last night & had half a baguette & some cream cheese leftover from appetizers we made. And since the man of the house is not a fan of "crusty" bread (who is this person?), I thought I should find something to do with it. A quick google search & WAH-LA! This is a great illustration of how I cook. I found a recipe here, from the fabulous Paula Deen, and reworked it to fit the ingredients I had on hand & the size of our family. Hers might be better, feel free to try it! If you are missing one or more of the ingredients, feel free to leave a comment & I'll try to offer some suggestions. Best part of using Paula for inspiration? You get to feel good about the fact that yours is WAY lighter than hers, even if it is nowhere in the vicinity of light! I'm all about the the rationalization.

French Toast Casserole

• 1/2 loaf French bread (thin baguette style)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup milk (I used 1%)
• 4 oz cream cheese (I used half the tub of the whipped light cream cheese from TJs)
  
• 1 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/8 each of nutmeg & cinnamon)
  
• Dash salt
• Butter for pan
  
• Streusel Topping , recipe follows

Slice bread into 1 inch slices, place in buttered casserole dish (I used an 8 inch square pan). You should have one layer with a little overlap of slices. In a bowl combine, eggs, milk, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, spices & salt. Whisk until combined, but not frothy. Pour over bread making sure that every piece is saturated. Cover & leave in fridge over night. In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Press the bread down into the milk mixture to make sure that it has soaked up as much as possible. Make & spread streusel mixture on top & drizzle with with melted butter. Place in oven & bake for 45-50 minutes. There should be no liquid egg mixture left in the pan. You can serve with your favorite syrup, but really it's great without it!

***Quick note about Pumpkin Pie Spice. I use it in place of cinnamon &/or nutmeg in a lot of recipes. It has other yummy stuff in it (ginger, cardamon, lemon, etc) & it's easier than measuring multiple spices. Most of the time you can use cinn & nutmeg instead.***

Streusel Topping

• 4 tbsp butter (room temp)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 tsp each nutmeg & cinnamon)
  
• 2 tbsp melted butter

Combine all ingredients, EXCEPT melted butter, in a bowl. Use a fork to mash everything together into a crumbly texture. After spreading on top of casserole, drizzle with melted butter.

Bottom Line:
Prep time: 10 mins
Make ahead: night before
Cooking time: 45 mins
Servings: 4-5 (more if serving to little ones)