Shortcut French Toast

French toast is a breakfast item our family enjoys, but, if there's a way to keep from having to stand over the stove babysitting the multiple batches of French toast cooking, then I'm all for it! I doctored up this simple French toast recipe that eliminates this hassle, and, while it's nothing gourmet it does fill the growling tummies at our house! This is how we usually make it now:

photo copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies


French Toast Casserole



6-8 slices whole wheat bread OR 10-12 slices white bread

4-5 eggs

1/2 c milk

1 T sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

1 T vanilla



Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Break bread into pieces and place in a greased 8"x8" pan.

In a mixing bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients.

Pour mixture over bread.

Stir together with a rubber spatula, then lightly press the top down with the back of the spatula. Cover with foil.

Bake 18-20 minutes, then remove foil and bake, uncovered, another 5-7 minutes.

Insert a toothpick in the middle of casserole. If toothpick comes out clean it is ready.

Cool slightly, then slice into bars.

You can sprinkle powdered sugar on top, serve with syrup, maple syrup or honey.

In the picture above, I was feeling creative and made a glaze out of powdered sugar, a splash of vanilla and a tiny bit of milk and drizzled it over the top.

Now, that's a satisfying breakfast sure to stop the gastric growls...at least for awhile!

Copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

Unique Use for Your Crockpot

When you think of crockpots, you might think of using them to make one-pot meals, simmering something yummy all day long while you work, and dinner's ready in the evening. Crockpots are great for that, but here's another use: make yogurt! One quart of yogurt at our local grocery store costs almost 3 dollars. You can make a whole lot more yogurt so easily in the crockpot for a lot less money than to buy it already made! That's important if you enjoy making smoothies and such, like I shared with you in my last post! Besides, yogurt is full of good bacteria so essential for intestinal health, and even in preventing illness!

Here's how easy it is to make yogurt in a crockpot:

1/4 c storebought, plain yogurt OR 1/2 c homemade yogurt

8 c whole milk

photo copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

Pour milk in crockpot, put on lid, turn crockpot to low.

Leave for 2 1/5 hours.

Turn off crockpot, leave cover on. Let sit for 3 hours.

Take one to two cups of the warm milk and place in a mixing bowl. Mix in the storebought OR homemade yogurt.

Pour this mixture into the crockpot and stir into the rest of the milk.

Put lid on crockpot, fold and put a heavy towl over crockpot to insulate (leave crockpot off). Let sit overnight.

photo copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

Place yogurt into containers and store in the refrigerator. Keeps about 2 weeks.

photo copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

The consistency of homemade yogurt is typically a bit thinner than storebought. If you continue to make yogurt from your other batches of homemade yogurt and you find it is becoming too thin, then purchase some plain yogurt from the store for your next batch. In the batch I just made, there was a lot of liquidy whey separated out. You may wish to carefully scoop out the yogurt around the whey for thicker yogurt, but I'd rather keep the nutrition from the whey and have thinner yogurt!

Copyright 2008 Feeding Growling Tummies

Smooth, Cold, and Full of YUM! Smoothies!

Looking for a filling and nutritious snack? A frequent bedtime snack we have here at our house is a smoothie. We've tried a number of flavors, but, by far our favorite is good ol' strawberry!

The children think it's extra special when I serve the smoothies in a "fancy" glass! I think it's true that food presentation adds a lot to taste experience!

Our smoothies tend to be almost the consistency of soft-served ice cream--it is freezing cold and creamy!


Here's my recipe for a strawberry smoothie:


2 cups plain yogurt

1 c frozen strawberries

1 t vanilla

12 drops liquid stevia extract (a natural herbal sweetener--you could use honey or sugar instead), or to taste


Place all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and let sit for a couple minutes to ever-so-slightly thaw the strawberries. With a hand blender, blend the ingredients until smooth and creamy. Serve! (This makes a good breakfast too!)


The fruit you use, and amounts, can be altered. We also like banana smoothies, peach smoothies, blueberry smoothies, and mango smoothies...or a mixture of fruits!


You'll notice I sweeten our smoothies with stevia, a natural herbal sweetener. Whenever I can get away with it, I try to substitute sugar and artificial sweeteners with natural sweeteners like stevia and honey. It is so much better for your health than refined sugar and chemical, artificial sweeteners.

Do YOU have a favorite smoothie flavor? What about a unique add-in to a smoothie? Variety is the spice of life and love to hear about it so we can try it!


Copyright 2008 Nourishing Growling Tummies

Do You Have Growling Tummies At Your House?

If you're like me, the words, "Mom, I'm hungry!" are heard frequently at your house! Life is busy, and I would love to run to the pantry, grab a bag of chips and let the munchkins munch away! But, pre-packaged convenience foods aren't so healthy (they're sometimes even detrimental to health and waistlines), and they definately aren't cheap!So, I put on my thinking cap, did a little research, and found there are some easy ways to feed your family a healthy diet and long the way discovered some quick, healthy recipes to satisfy hungry appetites! Feeding Growling Tummies was created to share those ideas with you! So, step into my kitchen and learn along with me some great ideas for silencing the gastric growls at your house!