What to Do with all those leftovers

You have a ton of leftovers in your fridge. I know you do. From unused egg whites to yolks to cream cheese to strawberries. You can take all of those leftovers and use them for a yummy snack. Or if you are making something (like the lava cakes, see post here) where you will have leftover egg whites, or egg yolks (depending on what you make, egg yolks will be leftover from something like an angel food cake), then don't throw them out, that's such a waste. Use them later. Store them in a cup or some other storing item, cover it and place it in the fridge. I recommend not leaving the stuff there for too long, it might go bad, but if you leave it there for a day or two and then use it to make the next yummy treat, it will be completely fine to use.

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I'm allergic to the pesticides used on a lot of fruits when they are grown. So I can't really eat strawberries unless they have been processes in some way to release the pesticides, such as crushed or in jam etc. But, strawberries happen to be my favorite fruit, so I still like to buy them and munch on them. To keep them from going bad, because I can't eat too many at a time, I like to wash them take off the top and the center, cut them up and then crush them, mash them and such. I then add so sugar, continue crushing, place them in a plastic container and then they go off to the freezer. It makes a really yummy frozen treat especially during the summer, but I take a super long time to eat them so I try to find as many ways to get rid of them. Today, I thought of one way.


I was "stumbling" on FireFox (Stumbleupon), and I had come across a really interesting recipe. (You can find that recipe here.) It was of stuffed french toast. That got me thinking about the other day when I was watching Rachel Ray on TV and she was making baked french toast (recipe here). I was thinking how I should combine the french toast cup with the stuffing. Of course, that seemed like a good idea at the time, unfortunately we all have those at one point or another.

I certainly wanted to make the french toast because I had leftover egg whites that I needed to use, from making my lava cakes the other day. I then also had those strawberries that I wanted to finally use at some point. Unfortunately making the baked french toast cups was out of the question because I don't have a regular sized muffin tin, but a mini muffin tin and it just doesn't work as well with it. So, instead of making the baked cups, I made regular French toast. I used the stuffing idea and just made it a topping instead and then added a little extra garnish.


What you'll need:

• Bread, use thicker bread (try for slices that are about an inch thick, it holds together better when cooked)
• any leftover egg whites, egg yolks etc.
• milk
• cinnamon
• depending on how many leftover egg whites/yolks, extra eggs
• butter
• cream cheese
• strawberries (I used the frozen, crushed ones)

Utensils you'll need:

• frying pan
• fork or whisk
• spatula for flipping the toast
• spoon
• bowl

What you will be doing:

1. Prepare your egg wash. French toast is made by dipping bread into an egg wash and then fryed. Take your bowl and throw in your egg whites/yolks. Depending on how many you put in or if you put in just one (so just whites or just yolks) then add another whole egg or two (depending on how much toast you want to make). Then pour in the milk, about half a cup to a cup or milk. I like to eyeball it just because I've made French toast so much that I don't really find it necessary to measure anything exactly. Sprinkle in about 2 tsp. of cinnamon, or more depending on your taste preference. Using a fork/whisk, whisk the eggs, milk and cinnamon mixture until everything is fully incorporated.
2. Heat up your frying pan. Place about half a tbsp. of butter onto your pan and put it on the stove and allow to heat up on medium heat (if the heat is too high, your toast will cook on the outside too quickly and won't cook the inside fast enough and leaving it on longer would cause the risk of burning it). Allow the butter to melt and spread it over the bottom of the pan.
3. Dip your bread into the egg wash. Dip only how much bread you can fry at a time, you don't want it to be sitting in the egg wash and soaking in it until it falls apart when you go and fry it. Place it on the heated pan and fry the toast. I'd say about 3-4 min on each side, but once again I eyeball it and I just keep flipping the toast until it is a nice golden brown color on each side and the bread isn't too "floppy".
4. Remove the bread from frying pan. When the bread has finished frying, place your French toast onto a plate. Now time to make your spread. See first picture after it says "what you will be doing."
5. Making the spread/topping. Take about half a package of cream cheese and place into a bowl. Then take your crushed frozen strawberries and mash them until it is easier to take a few tsp. out. I'd say if you filled a 1/4 cup with the frozen mashed strawberries, then you would throw that into the cream cheese. Then mix, mix, mix with your spoon. When it has all been mixed well of to your desires, taste it. I added a little powdered sugar for it to be a little sweeter but it really is up to your taste preference. See second picture after "what you will be doing."
6. Plop the cream cheese mixture onto the French toast. Well, more like spread it nicely, if you are going for presentation. You are done. I added on top, as a bit more of a garnish, some more of the frozen strawberries for a nice look, but it's up to you really how you decorate it. Now that you are done all that is left to do is:
7. Enjoy.

I definitely wish I could have made it as French toast cups, maybe next time, but this treat was definitely really delicious and super easy to make. It's also a good way to get rid of unwanted leftovers in the fridge. And what is so great about it is that you don't even have to use leftovers, and you should have all the ingredients at home already, so less of a shopping trip.

Enjoy your French toast. Keep eating sweetly! :)