Thursday's Thriftiness: French Toast Casserole

In any household, it's not good to waste food. When you have a child with food allergies, and you're making almost everything from scratch, you really don't want to throw away your hard work. To save homemade bread that starts to go stale, I put it in the freezer until I have enough for french bread casserole. My recipe is not precise so some readers may not like it. The goods news, though: it's a very forgiving recipe!

In a large bowl, beat about 6-9 eggs with about 1/2 to 3/4 cup milk. When I say beat, I mean mix it up until it evenly runs off your fork when you pull your fork out of the bowl. No glumping.

Sprinkle in a touch of cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and/or vanilla. Pull off pieces of bread and toss it into the bowl with the eggs. The mixture should be moist with enough egg mixture to be soaked up as the bowl sits in the refrigerator. If you don't have enough egg mixture, simply get out another bowl and make more! Pour it on top and toss to coat again. I have two bowls in the picture above because I needed to make more mixture! I probably used about 3/4 of a loaf of homemade bread after combining all the bread in my freezer.

Let it sit in the refrigerator, covered, for a few hours. Come and toss it every so often if you think about it. Preheat your oven to 400 with the rack in the upper middle. Grease your pan (the size will depend on how much mixture you made; the one above is 8x8). When I say grease, I mean slather! This recipe will stick. Also, don't get gutsy and  let the mixture sit in the greased pan in the refrigerator. It WILL stick to the pan when it comes out of the oven.

Serve with fruit salad, toasted nuts, and PURE maple syrup! My daughter likes to use a small ramekin as a dipping bowl for her syrup instead of pouring it on top of her serving. I think she uses a lot less syrup this way which is much easier on my pocketbook!

This recipe would be great at any meal of the day! You could easily serve it with eggs and/or bacon. It's far tastier than most breakfasts you'd buy in a restaurant, and it doesn't take very much time to throw together! Hope you like it as much as my family likes it!