Pumpkin French Toast Bake

I have a coworker who every year around the holidays brings in homemade goodies for everyone in the office. Pumpkin loaves, cookies, strudels, etc., she spends countless hours on the weekends slaving away to make individualized bags of homemade goodness for everyone.

Normally, I am alllll about home baked goods. If I'm ever bringing anything to work or to a party, homemade is the way to go.

But unfortunately this coworker makes the worst stuff ever. Last year I threw out an entire loaf of pumpkin bread because it wasn't even edible. This year's cookies had such a bad taste, it was with a heavy heart I trashed them the second I got home. When it comes to desserts...I'm really not picky. But this girl....she just baffles me every time. She needs new recipes, or something.

Anyway, last year she gave me a baked pumpkin loaf, along with a jar of the dry ingredients with instructions on what to add to make my own loaf (this is the same loaf I had to throw out). I finally made it this past Thanksgiving because I was tired of looking at it in my pantry. I knew it was going to be bad. The whole time I was making it, I could just tell. And I was right. It came out better than hers did (seriously, I think she baked it in the oven for 5 minutes, then pulled it out and all the raw ingredients congealed together...) but there are 10,000 better pumpkin recipes out there and eating this didn't interest me. So I wrapped it up and put in the freezer until I could figure out what to do with it. Bring it to a party? no...I'd be too embarrassed. Give it as a gift to someone I don't know/like? no...I couldn't even do that.

So this weekend, I thawed it out, cut it up into little pieces and made, if I do say so myself, an amazing French Toast bake with it. I dare say this loaf has been salvaged! Now I didn't have to throw out perfectly decent food AND I have breakfast for the week. Win win.

I followed this recipe for Baked French Toast Bake from Mormon Mavens in the Kitchen, found on pinterest. This recipe was great with the pumpkin bread and I'm sure would be equally amazing with just about any other bread. 

I was very busy in the kitchen this weekend making this french toast as well as: 

English Muffin Bread from One Good Thing

Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese Cassserole from SkinnyTaste

Buffalo Chicken Orzo Soup from The Improper Chef

and 

Single Serving Chocolate Chip Cookies from No. 2 Pencil  which I made last night so we wouldn't have a whole batch of cookies lying around this week. 

Every single thing was a hit, and I'll post more about them soon!