Croissant French Toast and "The Change"

Not only are we seeing a change of seasons around here...I am also seeing "changes".  I'm sure that may be sharing too much information (TMI) with all of you, but there is much humor in all of it...or at least I'm trying to convince myself anyway.

It started with just a little bit of perspiration on my forehead.  It was however 97 degrees out, so I just chalked it up to really hot weather.  Then the 2:00 am insomniatic wake up call that lasts until 4 am (every night) as I spin around over and over like a Costco Rotisserie Chicken. Followed up with the massive headaches and the laugh/cry/laugh/cry (all in one hour) episodes....add those clues all up and a "change" is a coming!  It's life, it's inevitable and there is nothing that can be done about it except a lot of electric fans, patience and a careful family ( I actually feel really bad for them).

How it feels when my hot flash and night sweats hit...

pure spontaneous combustion at any given moment!
(There's truly no other way to describe it...a picture is worth a thousand words)

(Photo courtesy of Iron Man 3)

I have a ceiling fan blowing on me at night and another large box fan in the window and yet...it's still not enough during "sleep".  My husband is now up to three blankets on him at night, as I won't be satisfied until I wake up with icicles on my eyelashes.  However by the phenomenon and marvels of modern space technology, I discovered a cooling pillow case that was worth every penny!  It actually stays at a comfortable chilled temperature all night long. This miracle fiber that some amazing genious invented (whom I am thoroughly convinced deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for it) is better than sticking my head in any ice bath before I lay me down to sleep.

On those nights that I spend more time sweating than sleeping, I wake up really cranky and hangry! (remember I am burning about 2300 calories a night during my "rotisserie spinning").  I recently treated myself to Croissant French Toast to cheer me up and which made me very happy (as well as my daughter who loves my French Toast...and mom making her breakfast).

There's no secret recipe or ingredients...instead of using your normal bread routine, just cut up mini croissants horizontally...dip and saute away.  Serve with maple sausage links and your favorite eggs (you know, to balance out that buttered slice of Heaven!) and if a little Prosecco accidentally ends up in your orange juice, I won't tell anyone.  Stay "cool" ladies!

One Year Ago: One Pot Cajun Shrimp Pasta

Two Years Ago: Pear Cake

Three Years Ago: Lemon Spaghetti with Jumbo Shrimp

Four Years Ago: A Comfort Food Morning

Monterrey Tapenade Chicken and My Torture

During last weekend's extended holiday time off, I went into refrigerator mode.  Refrigerator mode is when there is so much Tupperware, Pyrex and Corning Ware, that you can no longer see the sides or back of refrigerator due to all the leftovers.  It was time to toss or get creative and re-purpose for some breakfast, lunch and dinner options.

It is inevitable when this happens, every pot, spatula, scraper, skillet, and whisk come out...which means many dirty dishes and the kitchen looks like I just finished making Thanksgiving dinner for thirty people!

It was on this day of course, that the dishwasher decides to break down...and I'm not talking about my husband the dishwasher.  I'm referring to the one that my world revolves around.  I could not get one of the special or standard cycles to work.  It revved up...and then stops...and then I go into mass hysteria looking at my piles of dirty dishes that I just conjured up.

You see if the washer and dryer break, no problem...you just load all your dirty laundry in the car, head to your nearest, safest, laundromat and three hours later you come home with beautiful, clean and warm clothes. However, when the dishwasher breaks...you have nowhere to take all your ingredient induced dishes....nowhere!!!

So, after (a bottle of Pinot Noir) a bottle of Ajax grapefruit scented dish washing liquid, 108 degree scalding hot water, 7 dish drying towels and 3 beach towels (for staging the clean, wet, dishes on deck waiting to be dried), we are now at our 6th sink load of hand washing dishes.  This Monday, the dish washer repair man will be at my house...I may even hug and kiss him.  Until then...paper plates, plastic forks and bbq outdoors!

In my creative leftover efforts, I came across a recipe for Monterrey Chicken.  Monterrey Chicken, typically has a Mexican seasoning ingredient flair and always...always includes cilantro.  If anyone wanted to kidnap me and torture me, they would feed me cilantro!  I could be on a deserted island and if the only thing that kept me alive was cilantro...I'm sorry to say, I would miss you all terribly, as that would be my demise.

Even though my husband thinks I am just being picky, I am not the only one that feels so strongly about the subject this way either...my sister-in-law (who is a fellow Pisces) also concurs with me, as does The Barefoot Contessa.  So there you have it...I am in good company and authoritative on this!

Thankfully I changed it up the recipe and gave it an Italian spin with my leftover tomatoes, olive oil and green olive tapenade that I had in one of the floundering Tupperware bowls.


Monterrey Tapenade Chicken

1/2 cup canola oil
2 Tbl apple cider vinegar
2 Tbl water
2 Tbl chicken grilling seasoning (like Lawry's)
2 Tbl Dijon mustard
2 Tbl brown sugar
2 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced in half horizontally
6 slices, applewood smoked bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
1 Roma tomato, diced
1 cup green olive tapenade

For the chicken, whisk together the canola oil, apple cider vinegar, water, chicken grilling seasoning, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.  Add marinade to a large plastic sealable bag.  Add the chicken breasts.  Toss to coat and refrigerate for 30 minutes (up to 8 hours).

In a separate small bowl, toss the cooked bacon crumbles and shredded cheese.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

In another small bowl, combine the diced tomatoes and green olive tapenade.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Heat a grill pan or grill over medium.  Brush pan with non-stick spray.  Remove chicken from marinade, letting excess drip off.  Discard marinade.  Cook chicken covered until the thickest part of chicken registers 165 degrees with a meat thermometer.  (Approximately 5 minutes per side).

Top chicken with bacon-cheese mixture, cover and cook until cheese is melted, 1 minute more.

Serve with tomato and green olive tapenade topping.

One Year Ago: One Pot Cajun Shrimp Pasta
Two Years Ago: Eggplant, Green Olive and Provolone Pizza
Three Years Ago: Lemon Spaghetti with Jumbo Shrimp
Four Years Ago: Hot Chili Mamma Salsa

Thank goodness I had for forethought to use parchment paper....no dirty baking sheets!!