Strawberry-Rhubarb Stuffed French Toast

Have you ever had a dish that you've made and told yourself, "I'm just going to have one bite," and then the next thing you know you are licking the plate and your dish has disappeared????

That happened to me when I made my very first stuffed french toast!

I made the fruit compote the day before and decided to just "try" the recipe out to it's entirety before serving it in the morning and boom! Gone. I blinked and the entire dish was gone. I must have blacked out and eaten this french toast because all I remember telling myself was that I was "just going to have one bite." Whoops! 

The Strawberry-Rhubarb compote is so good alone, you could just use it for toast, english muffins, pancakes, etc. But spread it between two slices of french toast and top with powdered sugar and vanilla yogurt....it becomes the best french toast ever!

To go along with our mouth-watering breakfast of stuffed french toast perfection, did I forget to mention it's BERRY WEEK with the Theme Weavers!!!!

I've joined together again with my very favorite ladies in the blogsphere to bring you everything BERRIES! What a perfect theme with all the fresh produce and berries at the Farmers' Market.

Here's the line-up of all the berry-tastic recipes we've created for you...

Monday: Comfortably Domestic-Fresh Strawberry Pie / La Petite Pancake-Berry Sangria

Tuesday: Inside NanaBread’s Head-Annie’s Blackberry Cake / From My Sweet Heart-Summer Berry Terrine with Mascarpone Whipped Cream

Wednesday: Climbing Grier Mountain-Vanilla Gelato with Peach-Blueberry Compote & Honey Whipped Cream / Tenaciously Yours-Strawberry Smash

Thursday: Country Cleaver-Berry Sorbet Bellini / The Girly Girl Cooks-Strawberry-Rhubarb Stuffed French Toast / The Grommom-A Lightened-Up Berry Crisp

Friday: Buffy and George-Black Raspberry & Cherry Pie with a Gluten-Free Crust / My Kvetchin’ Kitchen-Berry Earl Grey Cocktail

Saturday: Munchin’ in the Mitten-Cherry Clafoutis / Decadent Philistines Save the World-Raspberry Marshmallows

Fantastic, right?!?!? Such a great collection of berry recipes to pick from!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Stuffed French Toast
{4 Servings}

-2 cups hulled and chopped Strawberries
-1/2 cup chopped Rhubarb
-1/3 cup Sugar
-1/2 tsp Orange Zest
-1 tsp Vanilla Extract
-8 slices Bread
-4 large Eggs
-1/3 cup Milk
-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
-1/8 tsp Ground Cinnamon
-1 tbsp Butter
-1/4 cup Vanilla Yogurt
-Powdered Sugar (for serving)

Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote:
In a medium saucepan combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, orange zest and vanilla extract. Cook over medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes until the mixture becomes broken down and thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.

French Toast:
Heat a griddle over medium heat and grease with tablespoon of butter. In a large shallow dish such as a pie plate, whisk to combine the eggs, milk, vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Dip the bread slices in the egg mixture and turn to coat on both sides. Add the eggy bread mixtures to the griddle and cook 1-2 minutes per side. Once all 8 slices have been cook, transfer to plate.

Assembly of the Stuffed French Toast:
Spread 1 tablespoon of Strawberry-Rhubarb Spread onto 4 slices of french toast. Top with remaining 4 french toasts and cut in half on the diagonal. Serve with a tablespoon dollop of vanilla yogurt and excess fruit spread. Sprinkle stuffed french toast with powdered sugar. ENJOY!

Recipe Inspired By: Food Network Magazine

Sorry I haven't been posting for a while...but I was busy GETTING MARRIED! Woo! Dusty and I are back from our fabulous wedding and settling into our daily routine, but now as husband and wife. I love it! Wedding pictures will be on the blog as soon as I get them :)

Lemon Poppy Seed Donut Holes

I'm obsessed with my Babycakes Cake Pop Maker! Baked treats in only 4 minutes without turning on the oven....I'm all over that!

The heat has been so unbearable this week, I've been cooking on the grill for 75% of my meals and refuse to turn on the oven unless it's absolutely necessary. Luckily the hospital Dusty works for had a spare air conditioner, so our house went from a sauna to meat locker instantly on Wednesday. I love it! I am eternally grateful that they had a spare and are letting us borrow it for the summer.

These lemon poppy seed donut holes are a fun twist on one of my favorite muffins! Usually I can't eat a whole muffin (too much sweetness), so these donut holes are the absolute perfect size. Grab a couple of these donut holes with an iced mocha, and you are good to go for a fun quick breakfast!

Lemon Poppy Seed Donut Holes

{2 Dozen Donut Holes}

-4 tbsp softened Butter

-1/2 cup Sugar

-1 Egg

-2 tsp Lemon Zest

-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

-3/4 cup Flour

-1/2 tsp Baking Powder

-1/4 tsp Baking Soda

-1/8 tsp Salt

-3 tbsp Milk

-1 tsp Poppy Seeds

-3 tbsp Lemon Juice, divided

-1 cup Powdered Sugar

Plug in your cake pop maker and preheat so that the light glows when "ready".

Beat together the softened butter and 1/2 cup sugar until light and fluffy with a mixer/stand mixer over medium speed. Add in the egg, lemon zest and vanilla extract and beat to combine.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl combine 3 tbsp milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice. While the mixer is going on medium speed, alternately blend in the flour mixture and the milk/lemon in thirds, ending with the milk. Add the poppy seeds to the batter and fold to combine with a spatula. 

Place the donut batter in a pastry bag or ziploc bag with the corner clipped and fill each reservoir with approximately 1 tbsp of batter. Close the cake pop maker and bake for 4 minutes until the toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the donut holes to cool slightly. 


In a medium bowl, combine a cup of powdered sugar with 2 tbsp of lemon juice. Whisk until smooth. Roll the donut holes in the glaze to coat. Enjoy!

Recipe Inspired & Adapted By: Babycakes Cake Pop Instruction Manual & Recipes

Homemade Iced Mochas

Helloooo heat wave!

Dang. Is it hot or what???? Dusty and I don't have any air conditioning in our new house, so we are finding any way to stay cool to survive the heat. One of my new favorite ways to beat the heat is with Homemade Iced Mochas.

If you know me, you know that I absolutely hate drinking hot coffee. I just can't do it. Hot coffee and beer are just two drinks I can't do...I know! How did I make it through college?!? 

One thing that I can do is iced and blended coffee. Perhaps its all the sugar, cream, chocolate and ice mixed with the cold coffee??? Hmmm. I wonder if that's why I like it? :)

It's very important when making iced coffee to not use freshly brewed hot coffee. The hot coffee will melt the ice cubes and you will have a cup of watered down disappointment. Iced coffee takes some planning and patience. I brewed about 4 cups of coffee with my Keurig in the morning and chilled it in the fridge for 4-6 hours before even attempting iced mochas. If I had really planned ahead, I could have made the coffee and chilled it over night. I poured my coffee in a large mason jar with a lid and this allows me to keep coffee available for whenever I get the hankering for a cool caffeinated drink.

These Iced Mochas are liquid gold and save you so much money when compared to buying them at the coffee shop. Usually a 16 ounce iced mocha or blended coffee costs around $4-5...ca-ching! I bought all of my supplies for under $15 and I will probably be able to make 24 iced mochas, if not more!

Homemade Iced Mochas
{2 Servings}

-1 cup fresh brewed coffee, chilled
-2/3 cup Chocolate Milk
-2 tsp Chocolate Syrup
-1 tsp Brown Sugar
-Ice Cubes

In a large mason jar combine all the ingredients, except the ice cubes. Place the lid on the jar and shake until blended and frothy. You can also combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until combined/frothy if you don't have a mason jar. Pour the mochas over two glasses filled with ice and enjoy!

Recipe Inspired & Adapted By: Paula Deen/Food Network

White Chocolate Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

I feel like I need to pinch myself...I can't believe in less than 2 weeks Dusty and I will be getting married!

It's about damn time! I've only been waiting 2 years to marry the guy since he proposed to me back in August of 2011. Can it really have been that long ago since he liked it and put a ring on it? (sorry, I had couldn't help myself). I've actually wanted to marry Dusty for about 4 years. I knew he was the one for me right from the beginning. So I guess I can wait another 2 weeks if I have to...it's well worth the wait! I love that man.

I got asked the other day if I was going to start acting like bridezilla yet. Apparently being calm, relaxed and excited about the wedding is freaking some people out. It's actually kinda freaking me out! This behavior of being relaxed for something so important is really out of character for me. Usually I'm the type of person who creates spreadsheets, lays awake all night panicking and freaking out. I suppose that is the benefit of having 2 years to plan a wedding...you get the "freaking out" part out of your system early in the planning and then you can just enjoy the rest of the engagement. Plus, I have the help of my mom, Dusty's mom Julie and his cousin Raquel. I don't know what I'd do without those ladies, especially during nursing school! Those three women have helped me out so much with planning this wedding, you have no idea!

It's crazy to think of all that has happened since Dusty proposed to me. I've completed 2 years of nursing school (only 1 more semester left!) where I have learned more about myself and people than I ever would have imagined. Dusty started and finished his masters program, graduated and immediately started his first job at the hospital in Chester. We left Billings and moved to a wonderful small town on the hi-line. Then we were crazy enough right before the wedding and right after our move to get a puppy, which has completely changed our lives forever, for the better. I love that pup so much!

I'm so happy with where my life is at right now. This wedding in 2 weeks and marrying Dusty is the cherry on top to our wonderful life together and the start of something even better.

White Chocolate Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

{2 Dozen Cookies}

-1 cup softened Butter

-1/2 cup Sugar + more for rolling

-1-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

-2-1/2 cups Flour

-1/4 cup Seedless Raspberry Jam

-4 ounces White Chocolate Chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in a mixer until fluffy and smooth. Slowly add in flour and mix until combined. The mixture will be crumbly, this is good! Using your hands, form the crumbly dough mixture into 1-inch sized balls by molding the dough between your hands. Roll the balls in granulated sugar and place the cookies on the baking sheet. Make shallow indentations in the centers using the end of a large wooden spoon.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are set, but not brown. Remove them from the oven and re-indent the centers. Fill each cookie with ½ tsp of seedless raspberry jam. Return the cookies to the oven to bake for 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Meanwhile, melt white chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted in microwave safe bowl. Then drizzle the white chocolate over the cookies in a zigzag pattern. ENJOY!

Recipe By: Julie Ahrens (Dusty's Mom)