PB&J Crunchy French Toast Sandwich

Again... like I've said before, I like Guy Fieri!  I was watching an episode a few days back and it was a fried foods special.  I thought, this one will be good to watch, but I should stay away from all the fried-goodness he's showing us.  HOWEVER - this morning, I just happen to have all the things to make one of the dishes and my boys were being good.  So then I thought, I'll make a 'special' peanut butter and jelly sandwich for them, for breakfast, since they absolutely love PB&J's!  I was unable to find Guy's original recipe from the show, but it wasn't too difficult, and I figured I could remember and wing my way through it.  So.... YUMMY.... here it is!! 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Crunch French Toast Sandwich

I crushed up 1/2 box of frosted flakes really well in my Ninja chopper.  Placed it in a large bowl.

Next I whisked together 1 1/2 C milk, 4 eggs (I'm making 4 sandwiches), cinnamon and vanilla extract.

Now it's time to make the sandwiches.... like normal.  My boys usually use grape jelly, but for this, I used strawberry preserves.  YUM!

Then.... just like french toast (sort of) I carefully dipped each sandwich into the milk/egg mixture then the frosted flakes mixture.  Making sure to gently press the cereal onto the sandwich, in hopes of them adhering.

Next melt a good sized blob of butter in a medium sized skillet.... about 1 - 2 Tbsp of butter.  Once melted and the skillet is super hot (but butter NOT burnt) put the sandwich in.  Try not to be a flipper.... or it'll just soak up the butter and not get crispy.  Let it sit for a bit... until slightly golden on the bottom.  Then flip and heat until golden brown on both sides.

 Once it's finished - I LIGHTLY salted the top of the sandwich and let it cool.  

I then cut it into small squares.

Once they were room temperature, we all sat down with our totally un-healthy sandwiches and glasses of milk..... and ENJOYED every bit of it!  

Each one of my boys asked if we could have it again tomorrow.... then again after.  I had to, sadly, tell them no.  There's no way we can eat this more than once every 6 months.... 

However, it was SUPER DELICIOUS!!  

SUPER, DUPER DELICIOUS!!!

Mango Chutney

I've got to do another shout out to this wonderful website for authentic Trinidadian food!!!  My oldest son had a school project where he had to pick a country & do a presentation.  They also had to have at least 100 servings of authentic food.... so of course that means the moms all had homework to do, as well.

Because of our close friend being from Trinidad and readily available for assistance on my son's project, he chose Trinidad.  (Sadly, a lot of people in his class has never even heard of it.  Oh, my.)  He did the work - I did the cooking.  I used the same website that I've mentioned before:  http://www.cookingwithria.com/p/meal-ideas.html

I made mango chutney, with the croissants as the pholourie and small servings of fig punch (banana/peanut butter).  Thankful for the punch, because I may have overdone the peppers in the chutney and it was a bit spicy!  However, many parents and kids came back for seconds, many teachers asked for the recipes and everyone seemed to enjoy the presentation as a whole!!  Yay!

Creamy Peanut Butter Topped Brownie

Well... Christopher loves, loves, loves brownies so I am continually trying to find new things to do with them.  Things to add, mix in, top with or things to just completely transform them all together.  Because..... Chris loves brownies and I love Chris.

And.... I love Peanut Butter!  So what could be better than combining brownies and peanut butter??  Yumm!   I looked around and found something similar on Pinterest.  I looked at that recipes and it called for Peanut Butter chips.  I'm not a fan, so I improvised and dabbled to make my own.  However, you want to try the other recipe, here's the link:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/brownies-with-peanut-butter-fudge-frosting/detail.aspx

However.... here's mine.  Mmm Mmm Mmm.

SO EASY:
1) Make your favorite brownie mix like normal.  (Yes, from a box.... why not?)

2) Mix together in a bowl: roughly 2 to 2 1/2 cups of your favorite peanut butter (Jif is awesome, for me!) a whole can of Sweetened Condensed Milk and a few Tbsp of milk.  Use a hand mixer or your arm will get tired very quickly... that peanut butter is thick!  Add in the milk a few Tbsp at a time until it's a nice, spreadable and wonderful creamy consistency.

3)  Once the brownies have cooled slightly, top with PB goo.  The brownies can be a little warm, but if it's too warm then the PB will just slide right off.... no good.

Slice & Eat!
Yummy!!  

Chris was very happy to get some brownies..... just make sure you have a nice glass of milk to drink with it.  You'll need it!!

Enjoy!