Lighter French Toast Casserole

I finally got a new iPhone.  

Remember in this post, when I told you I still had the First Generation iPhone?  I have had it for the past 5 1/2 years or so and it still worked like a charm, but we had to revamp our plan, so I upgraded. 

I can FINALLY send and receive picture text messages and that Face-Time thing is way cool.  The internet is so much faster and I love that the camera has a flash.  What about how you can "say" your text message and it will type it for you.  Love it.  I no longer have to get the message "This iPhone is not compatible with this app" when I try to download an app.

I even surprised "The Mr." with one too.  He just had a really old regular phone and couldn't even get on the internet or anything, so he's loving it.

Does anyone have any favorite "food related" apps?

Since I was up all night playing with my new phone, I needed something amazing for breakfast.

This baked french toast turned out INCREDIBLE.  I didn't even miss all of the cream and butter that is usually in this type of thing.  Of course, I had to add a little streusel topping, but I kept the butter to a minimum.  It gave this creamy casserole a perfect crunchy topping and I thought it was perfect.  I made half a batch and divided it between two mini casserole dishes.  Both of us ended up having a little leftover, so I think you could get three servings from half a batch.  

Lighter French Toast Casserole

(Printable Recipe) or (Printable with Picture)

12 oz. low-calorie bread, cut into cubes
3 c. skim milk (I used 1%)
6 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
maple syrup, for serving

Streusel Topping (Opt.)
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1/4 c. pecans, chopped
1 1/2 Tbl. butter, cold

Place cubed bread into a lightly greased 9x13-inch casserole dish.  In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, egg whites, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.  Pour the mixture evenly over the bread.  Make sure every last piece of bread gets coated in the liquid.  For the streusel: combine flour, brown sugar and chopped pecans in a small bowl.  Add the butter and using your clean fingers, work the butter into the ingredients until crumbly.  Sprinkle evenly over casserole.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove plastic wrap and bake casserole for 45-60 minutes.  It will be puffed up and golden and barely jiggly in the middle.  Slice and serve with warmed maple syrup.  Serves: 6-8

Note: This casserole puffs up a lot while baking, but it shrinks once removed from the oven.  

Jenn's Notes:  I made 1/2 a batch and used leftover ciabatta rolls (I know they probably aren't low-fat).  Three of my sandwich-size ciabatta rolls weighed 6 ounces. Bobby adds pecans to his casserole, but does not add a streusel topping.  I love streusel topping and I think it made this casserole amazing, but it will obviously add more calories, so it's up to you if you want to add it.   

slightly adapted from: Bobby Deen