Raisin Bread Baked French Toast.

This easy baked french toast recipe was adapted from a Whole Foods Market recipe for Baked Panettone French Toast.  I prepared it for Christmas Eve Morning, when I knew I'd be busy with last minute preparations, and still wanted to sit down to a hot, filling breakfast.  This recipe was a snap to prep the night before, and in less than an hour, went from fridge to table in the morning.  It was exactly what I needed for Christmas Eve Morning and will be a great go-to breakfast for feeding a crowd of hungry swimmers after morning practice!

• 6 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted and divided
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp water
• 2 large apples (Granny Smith or Braeburn work well), peeled, cored, & thinly sliced
• ½ cup dried cranberries or raisins
• 6 thick slices Raisin Bread, cut in half
• 4 eggs
• 1.5 cups milk
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Melt 4 Tbsp butter (or margarine) and mix with brown sugar and water.  Spread in the bottom of 9x13 baking pan and set aside.  Saute apple slices in remaining 2 Tbsp butter for 6-8 minutes, or until soft.  Arrange apples on top of brown sugar mixture in pan and sprinkle cranberries evenly on apples.  Lay bread slices on top of fruit.  Set aside to allow apples to cool slightly.  Mix eggs, milk, and cinnamon together. Pour over bread in pan. Cover and chill overnight.  In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 40 minutes, or until toast is browned and egg mixture has set. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Mom's Baked Chicken Breasts.

This is less of a recipe and more of a preparation.  A really. easy. preparation.  It's one of those things I cook when I get home late and just. need. to. eat.  32 seconds of prep, 30 minutes of cooking. Really. Easy. Preparation.


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray cooking pan with olive oil cooking spray.  Rinse chicken breasts, pat dry and place in pan.


Dot each breast with up to 1/2 tsp margarine, cut in two to three pieces.  Season liberally with your choice of dried seasoning: paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper, parsley, oregano.  Any combination will be just fine.


Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with an equally easy-to-prepare side dish or two.

Chicken with Lemon & Capers.

Mmmmm.  This is a no-fuss recipe that produces a  main dish that looks and tastes good!  Flavors were described as "intense," "bold," and "savory."  The dish could be prepared with fresh or frozen chicken breasts, depending on what you have available, and regular capers can easily substitute for the salted capers. I used frozen chicken breasts because they were in my freezer and I have this jar of amazing salted capers that I keep finding ways to use.  Serve with fresh bread or a simple pasta and a green salad.

• 6 boneless chicken breasts
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• Italian seasoning
• 3-4 green onions, chopped
• 2-3 basil leaves, chopped
• 1 Tbsp salted capers, chopped
• 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 9 x 13 baking pan with foil.  Place chicken breasts in lined pan. Drizzle olive oil over chicken. Generously season with salt & pepper and Italian seasoning.  Bake for 30 minutes.  While chicken is in the oven, prep remaining ingredients.  Slice lemon so there is one slice for each chicken breast and leave the remaining end of lemon as one piece (you will squeeze the juice from this later).  Cut each lemon slice in half.  After chicken has baked for 30 minutes, squeeze juice from uncut lemon over chicken.  Sprinkle onions, basil, and capers evenly across chicken. Place two half-slices of lemon on each chicken breast, and return pan to oven. Bake 20 more minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

Note: Baking times are based on frozen chicken breasts; reduce baking time for fresh or thawed pieces.