Slow Cooker French Toast Casserole

So I've noticed this recipe a lot, and I have always been wanting to try it, but for whatever reason, I never had any of the ingredients. Well I ended up having a loaf of bread in the pantry, and since this recipe takes 9 slices, it was an excellent choice. This is an excellent item for Sunday morning brunch. Get up, put everything in the slow cooker, go work out, and then come back for some delicious (and healthy) food! Thanks Skinny Ms.!

Yields: 9 Servings | 1 Serving: 2 Triangles | Calories: 227 | Total Fat: 7 g | Saturated Fat: 1 g | Trans Fat: 0 g | Previous Points: 4 | Points Plus: 6 |Cholesterol: 9 mg | Sodium: 187 mg | Total Carbohydrate: 34 g | Dietary Fiber: 4 g | Sugars: 19 g | Protein: 9 g

Ingredients

• 2 whole eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups 1% milk, (almond or soy will also work)
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract|
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 9 Slices whole grain bread
• FILLING:
• 3 cups finely diced uncooked apple pieces (Honey Crisp or Gala are both great in this recipe)
• 3 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup diced raw pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Add the first 6 ingredients to a medium mixing bowl, whisk to combine. Lightly spray the inside of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

Add all the filling ingredients in a small mixing bowl and stir to coat apple pieces, set aside.

Cut bread slices into triangles (that's in half, just triangle shaped). Place one layer of bread (6 triangles) on the bottom of the slow cooker, add ¼ of the filling and repeat until there are 3 layers of bread. Add the remaining filling to the top.

Pour egg mixture over bread. Cover and cook on high 2 to 2-1/2 or low 4 hours, or until bread has soaked up the liquid.

3 Bananas (diced) can be substituted for apples.

Note: Drizzle with 100% pure maple syrup if desired.

This is a good candidate for putting it in the fridge and warming it up the next day for breakfast. Unfortunately though, the way that the recipe is designed, the egg mixture goes on the top of the bread, creating a trickle down effect, so some parts are soggier than others, and for me, I am NOT A FAN of mushy textures like flan and things like that, so there were parts of the casserole that I didn't enjoy that much. But overall, the meal was delicious. Great flavors!

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

I've made this several times, and it's GREAT! Quick, easy, and if you can get the tilapia on sale, then this becomes a cheap meal. Just add steamed veggies and black beans.

Minutes to Prepare: 5

Minutes to Cook: 10

Number of Servings: 4

Ingredients

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 
2 tablespoons butter, softened 
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons reduced-fat mayonnaise 
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
1/8 teaspoon dried basil 
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper 
1/8 teaspoon onion powder 
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1 pound tilapia fillets

Tips

Serve with broccoli and brown rice.

Directions

Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.

In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.

Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to overcook the fish.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 4
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 177.1

• Total Fat: 10.5 g
• Cholesterol: 63.4 mg
• Sodium: 232.6 mg
• Total Carbs: 1.2 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
• Protein: 19.6 g

Healthy Coleslaw

Here is a quick and easy recipes from a member on sparkrecipes.com for healthy coleslaw. This was easy to make, and it is a great way to provide something healthy for all those BBQs you will get invited to over the summer. The key to this recipe is to give enough time IN THE FRIDGE. It is sooooooo much better cold. So if you have a function in the afternoon, make this side dish before you go out and do your morning exercise. It will be perfect by the afternoon.

Ready Pac Coleslaw (or shredded cabbage/carrots) - 7.5 cups
Low Fat Mayo - 3 tbsp
Apple Cider Vinegar - 3 tbsp
Sweet Mustard - 2 tsp
Splenda - 2 packets
Salt - few dashes

Optional: Raisins  - I think this is a weird option. Who eats raisins in their coleslaw?? I think for the sweetness, just reduce the amount of vinegar.

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayo, apple cider vinegar, sweet mustard, salt and Splenda. Add two cups of the coleslaw (or cabbage/carrots), and toss thoroughly. Keep adding small amounts of the coleslaw to the mix, making sure to toss thoroughly, until everything is mixed together. Refrigerate for 3+ hours before eating for best taste. Optional - for added sweetness, sprinkle raisins on top.

Makes five 1.5-cup servings.

Number of Servings: 5

Stuffed Vegetable Portobello Mushrooms w/ Maryland-Style Potatoes

For Meatless Monday yesterday, it was a serious "what veggies do I have in the fridge?" kind of meal. There are a lot of additional mix-ins you can do like tomatoes, red peppers and black beans.  This is what I came up with:

Mushrooms:

3 - Portobello mushroom caps

1/4 - zucchini, diced

1/4 - squash, diced

1/2 cup - broccoli, diced

2 tbls - onion, diced

5 - black olives

1 tsp - Dried basil

1 tsp - Paprika

1 oz - gruyere cheese

1/4 cup - Panko crumbs

2 tsp - olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. Cleaned out caps by removing caps and cleaning on black with a spoon. Place caps on a cookie sheet. Drizzle 1 tsp of olive oil on caps. Place in oven for 5 min. After 5 min, remove from oven, but keep the oven on. 

Warm up a pan. Placed all vegetables being used in a bowl. Drizzle remaining olive oil. Add basil and paprika. Mix ingredients. Add to hot pan and heat through for 5 min or until vegetables are soft. 

Remove vegetables from heat and put into same bowl used. Add cheese. Mix cheese in mixture. Scoop veggie mixture into caps. Evenly distribute panko crumbs on top of each cap. Place in oven for 5 min.  

Serve warm. 

Servings: 3

Calories: 104 per serving

For the potatoes, there wasn't really anything special. I used 2 potatoes. Cut them into chunks and stove cooked them. I added a tsp of olive oil and a whole lot of OLD BAY seasoning. That's what makes them Maryland style. I should post the Cauliflower soup I made. That was good. Maybe I should make that for dinner sometime this week. 

Sorry, I digressed. The whole meal came out to: 

	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Dinner
Generic - Portabella Mushroom, 1 med (85g)	20	4	0	3	10	1
Generic - Black Olives, Pitted - Small, 3 gr. (6 olives)	5	0	1	0	23	0
Squash - Zucchini, includes skin, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt, 0.33 cup, sliced	10	2	0	0	2	1
Broccoli - Raw, 0.25 cup, chopped	7	1	0	1	7	0
Cheese - Gruyere, 0.33 oz	39	0	3	3	31	0
Iam's - Panko Bread Crumbs, 1/12 cup	23	5	0	1	11	0
Generic - Oven Roasted Potato Wedges 113 g, 226 g	100	22	0	2	0	0
Add Food Quick Tools	204	34	4	10	84	2

Chicken Pot Pie Muffins

I heart this recipe!

It's healthy, cheap, fast, and delicious! The best 4 words for dinner.

Kitchen Tools:
Large bowl
Muffin tin
Spoon for mixing
Small pan

Time:
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min

Ingredients: 
Can of biscuits (MUST BE A SERVING of 10. I have found this at the 99 cent only store and I would check Food4Less/Savon or any type of discount store)
Cooked shredded chicken (You can boil 1 breast of chicken and shred or buy a can of shredded chicken
1 stalk of celery chopped
2 small carrots chopped
1/2 onion (You can do more or less. I love onions)
1/2 cup of cream of chicken
1 cup of shredded gouda cheese (If you cannot find gouda, use mozzarella or WW cheese)
Dash of red vinegar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray
Press biscuits into each hole by forming a cup. Spread the dough up the sides.
In a small pan, saute the vegetables with a dash of red vinegar for 5 minutes.
Mix saute vegetables with cheese, shredded chicken and cream of chicken.
Scoop a spoonful into each hole in muffin tin where you placed a biscuit. Make sure that they are even.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. You want the tops to be brown.
Pop the muffins out and they are ready to serve.

Per muffin:

Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar

120

11

5

8

374

1

So you could have 2 muffins and a side salad and have an awesome dinner.