French Toast Casserole

This is a way to get all the flavor of French toast without standing at the stove!

Recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 5 cups bread cubes (I used a loaf of french bread from the bakery at grocery store)
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking pan. 
• Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes
• Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.

Teacup Bird Feeder

This year for Mother's Day, I "craft-lifted" (to steal craft ideas) for a teacup bird feeder gift idea from my friend Andrea's blog. She has some great ideas and recipes!


My Mother-in-law has a beautiful backyard and is always feeding the birdies, so when I saw this teacup bird feeder I immediately thought of her.

Tools Needed:

• Teacup & saucer (I didn't find any cute cups at goodwill so I went to a antique shop)
• Teaspoon
• Sandpaper
• Goop (found at most hardware stores)
• 1/2 pipe to hammer into the ground as a stand
• 3/4 inch to 1/2 inch fitting (the 3/4 inch side glues to cup, 1/2 inch side screws into pipe)

Step 1 - Sand cup & saucer, apply Goop to bottom of cup and adhere to saucer. Apply Goop to spoon and adhere to saucer Let the adhesive cure for 24 hours.

Step 2 - After Goop has cured, sand the bottom of the saucer and the top of the fitting. Apply Goop to fitting and adhere to saucer. Let adhesive cure for 24 hours.


Now your ready to gift your teacup!! I filled mine with bird seed that I wrapped in tulle. I also attached a tag that I tried to copy from a teabag. 


All that is left to do, is to hammer the rod into the ground and screw on the teacup!


Enjoy!

Monster Cookies

Warning - this is a Paula Deen recipe so get your butter out!


This cookie has it all! It has peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, raisins and M&M's. Their moist, chewy and crunchy all at the same time. 


The recipe makes a little over 3 dozen. I found that if I scooped them larger than 2 tbls they tended to break. 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup raisins, optional 
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips 
• 1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candies 
• 1 stick butter, softened 
• 1-12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 1-1/4 cup packed light brown sugar 
• 3 eggs 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda 
• 4-1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks.

Enjoy Y'all!