My Favorite French Toast – Panettone French Toast

Posted on January 8, 2013 by jewelsathome

I don’t spend that much time in the kitchen, so if you find a recipe here on Jewels’ blog, you be assured it will be easy to make. I love French toast, and this is my favorite way to make it come out perfectly delicious every time!

The secret is to use Italian panettone bread. Its rich, sweet flavor is the perfect starting point for French toast. Here’s the easy recipe that will serve 6:

One panettone loaf – this time around, I actually found a loaf with chocolate chips!
1 cup yogurt
6 eggs, beaten
Butter for pan frying

To prepare the French toast,

slice the panettone bread into 1″ thick slices. You can do this the night before and let the bread dry out a bit.
heat the pan to medium-high and melt butter
beat the eggs and beat in the yogurt
dip the slices of breast into the yogurt-egg mix
pan fry on both sides until lightly brown

Bon appetit!

Jewels

Hot Chocolate Mixes in a Jar

Posted on December 18, 2012 by jewelsathome

For our teacher gifts this year, I made a variety of gifts in a jar. I’ll share the rest soon, but the hot chocolate mixes were the most popular, so let’s start there.

I made three different mixes:

double chocolate hot cocoa
peppermint hot cocoa
mocha hot cocoa

Here are the recipes. I made them a little less sweet than other recipes out there – they’re still plenty decadent, don’t worry, and I did not put in powdered milk, since many people have a preference for alternative milks like soy milk, rice milk, or almond milk. I made some in almond butter jars , which hold 1.5 cups each, and some in pasta sauce jars, which hold about 2.5 cups. I used the same recipe but added marshmallows in the larger jars. For each recipe, layer the ingredients for a festive look. To finish off the jars, I printed some labels with ingredients and instructions and them stuck them on decorative papers and finished off the gift with a ribbon.

Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa Recipe

3/4cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips (the mini chocolate chips will melt more easily)
optional: 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows

Peppermint Hot Cocoa Recipe

I enjoy a hint of peppermint in my hot chocolate, but I didn’t want this recipe to be too strong. These Ghiaradelli peppermint bark chocolates made the perfect addition.

3/4cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips (the mini chocolate chips will melt more easily)
3 Ghiaradelli peppermint bark chocolates, chopped
optional: 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows

Mocha Hot Cocoa Recipe

3/4cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips (the mini chocolate chips will melt more easily)
2 servings instant coffee powder (I used decaffeinated)
optional: 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows

Instructions:

These are the same for all the recipes.

For the mixes without marshmallows: “Mix ingredients thoroughly. Add 1/4 cup mix to 1 cup of hot milk. Stir and enjoy.”

For the mixes with marshmallows: “Mix ingredients thoroughly. Add 1/3 cup mix to 1 cup of hot milk. Stir and enjoy.”

I will warn you that these gifts are very heavy! I walked around school this afternoon with baby J in the Ergo carrier on my back and a tray of 15 glass jars. Truly ’tis better to give than to receive!

It was worth it, though. I hope our teachers enjoy their gifts. Hot chocolate by the fire is just the best! Trust me, I’m speaking from experience.

“Jewels”

Recipe for Homemade “Whole Foods” Chunky Granola

Posted on September 27, 2012 by jewelsathome

I love this granola from Whole Foods. It’s very chunky and nutty and tastes delicious with yogurt and fruit or on its own. There are only a couple of problems with this love affair that have led me to try making our own version… 1) this little container costs $7 and we can go through it in a couple of days; and 2) the walnuts were my favorite part, and they’ve taken them out! Steve would probably add a third reason, which is that I used to steal all the walnuts out of the granola anyway (I also leave all the cashews in the mixed nuts, so he ends up with just cashews, but I digress…) In any case, I’m very happy to have figured out how easy it is to make this granola economically at home with extra walnuts to (theoretically) leave enough for everyone else.

Here is the ingredient list. It was probably a bit ridiculous to try to recreate the granola from this list, since it has the basic ingredients of virtually every granola, but I thought I would give it a try. I don’t usually do a lot in the kitchen, but I was feeling inspired by the granola recipe from My Modern Asian Family, which I have tasted… and yum!

To get a starting point for the ingredient portions and technique, I looked at this chunky granola recipe from Thyme2Cook and played around with it. Here’s our current version, and I’m very happy with the results. I am finding the copycat recipe just as addictive as the inspiration, which may or may not be a good thing!

Jewels’ Chunky Nutty Granola

In a large bowl, mix together

4 cups rolled oats
2 cups walnuts
1 cup almonds (I used whole almonds but will try a 1/2 cup slivered almonds next time, since some of the kids didn’t like the big chunks)
1 cup sunflower seeds

Chunky Nutty Granola recipe from Jewels at Home.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In a separate microwavable bowl or in a saucepan (I used a glass measuring cup), mix

1/2 cup of canola oil
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Heat the second mixture in the microwave for about 40 seconds or on the stovetop until warmed through, and stir in, mixing until smooth

1/2 c whole wheat flour (or rice flour, for gluten-free)

Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a big spoon until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and wet.

Chunky Nutty Granola recipe from Jewels at Home. Whole Foods recipe copycat.

Coat the dry ingredients with the wet mixture.

Spread on a large lightly greased cookie sheet.

Bake for 25 minutes at 325 F. Stir.
Bake another 25 minutes at 225 F. Turn off oven and leave granola in for one hour.
Take it out, let cool, and store in an airtight container.