Peaceful Easter 2015...

I trust everyone had a lovely Easter weekend. Mine was relaxed and uneventful. The week of Easter I came down suddenly with a horrible flu that had me in bed for three days. It took me quite by surprise since I’m rarely sick and haven’t had the flu since I was about 12 years old. In the past ten years I’ve only vomited twice, once due to excess of alcohol, and once due to nervousness, and so it took me some time to recover. Though I was mostly better by the time Easter came around I chose to stay home rather then celebrate with my husband’s family. I felt I needed a little more recovery time and so I enjoyed the afternoon reading in the sun, and made a nice, but small dinner for the two of us to enjoy when he returned from his family’s party.

You know how much I love to go ‘all-out’ for holidays but since I’d been sick - and my appetite hadn’t returned at all yet - I wasn’t in the mood for preparing a grand dinner. Instead I pulled out my copy of “Vegan Holiday Kitchen” by Nava Atlas and chose a few simple dishes to make for dinner.

Moroccan Vegetable Soup

The first thing that caught my eye in the book was the Moroccan Vegetable Soup with Matzo Balls  Technically it’s from the Passover Chapter not the Easter Chapter but close enough I reasoned, and besides what better food to eat after being sick then a warm comforting bowl of soup? This particular soup contained leeks, potatoes, carrot, celery, turnip, tomatoes, cumin, turmeric, dill, parsley, and of course matzo balls which I made separately. The soup was also suppose to have mushrooms but for some reason the thought of mushrooms turned my stomach, and so I left them out.

Matzo Balls 

Moroccan Vegetable Soup with Matzo Balls 

I really enjoyed this soup and it was so easy to prepare. I loved the combination of flavors and it was a really hearty meal, but If I’m being honest I like Nava’s traditional Matzo Ball Soup better. I made that last year for Passover and it went over like gangbusters.

Moroccan Flavored Tofu with Apricots and Olives 

Quinoa 

For our main meal I made the Moroccan-Flavored Tofu with Apricots and Olives from the Rosh Hashanah Chapter. Since I made Moroccan soup I thought I’d keep the North African theme, and besides this sounded so good. Tofu with olives and apricots, I loved the idea of a sweet, salty, tart dish. The dish uses pre-baked marinated tofu, and so I picked up some Italian-style Baked Tofu from the store. Under normal circumstances I probably would have just baked my own tofu but since I was still recovering I was happy for the short-cut in prep time. In addition to green olives and apricots the dish also had onion, green onion, garlic, broth, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, lemon juice, agave, slivered almonds and parsley. Nava suggests in the book to serve this over Quinoa which I did. Just a simple pot of boiled quinoa seasoned with salt, pepper, and parsley. Man was this dish fantastic, I can easily see making this regularly.

Moroccan Flavored Tofu over Quinoa
with Moroccan Carrots 

For a side dish I went with the simple Moroccan Carrots also from the Passover Chapter. These were super simple saute carrots cooked in oil, garlic, lemon, parsley, chives, salt and pepper. I left off the sliced almonds, but loved the touch of lemon zest added to this dish. These carrots were beyond perfect, I only wish I’d had a bigger appetite so I could have eaten more.

Moroccan Carrots 

For dessert I actually picked a recipe from the Easter Chapter and went with the very simple - but super delicious - Strawberry Snack Cake. This is basically a vanilla cake with a strawberry topping. You make the topping by cooking strawberries with sugar and water and cornstarch until it’s thick then pour it over the cake. Unfortunately my topping didn’t want to stay put and it kind of dripped and spread out all over the plate but the cake was nonetheless delicious. I especially loved the idea of it because it was light and fluffy, the perfect dessert for an early Spring day.

Strawberry Snack Cake 

So that was our Easter. Perfectly peaceful and though I didn’t eat much, what I did eat I enjoyed. It was my first real meal for the entire week, as I’d previously only been able to keep down some watermelon and toast.

I hope everyone else had a great holiday and if you haven’t tried out any recipes from “Vegan Holiday Kitchen” you should give it a look, so far everything I’ve made out of this book has been fantastic!

American Thanksgiving Brunch 2014...

The Breakfast Table

As I said before my husband had to work on Thanksgiving, and so we celebrated with a huge holiday meal Wednesday night instead. Thursday however I decided to get up early and make an epic Brunch for him so he’d be nice and full for work. Since we’d just had a huge meal the night before I didn’t want to go overboard, so I picked four dishes to satiate us Thursday mid-morning.

Chicken-Fried Seitan Steak

White Sausage Gravy

Our main was the Chicken Fried Seitan Steak and White Sausage Gravy from Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman’s book “Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites.” Despite owning this book for a number of years now I have never made this recipe, and the reason being - on my very first ever trip to Chicago, back when my husband and I were dating, we went out for Breakfast. I had never eaten, nor in fact heard of ‘Chicken-Fried Steak’ and so I ordered it. I took about 2 bites and wanted to throw up, I thought it was the most disgusting thing I had ever eaten in my life. Literally everything about it was bad right down to the gravy it was smothered in. I hated it, and didn’t understand how people could love it so much. After I went vegan I avoided vegan versions of this popular breakfast food, and then one day earlier this year out of curiosity I ordered it at The Chicago Diner and fell in love. Vegan Chicken-Fried Steak is the bomb! So, since I liked the vegan version so much, I decided to try my hand at making it at home. As par usual Celine and Joni do not disappoint with this recipe. It does however require some advanced prep. The seitan steaks only take 30 minutes to boil but if you’re in a time crunch make them a day ahead. Frying them up is easy as pie and they’re coated in a flour, corn cereal mixture that is so good! The gravy is simple, vegetable broth, butter, flour, and chunks of seitan ss you would expect, but the surprise is that this gravy has vegan sour cream in it! What? I know, it sounded crazy to me too, but trust me when I say this gravy actually turned out really well, it was buttery, and velvety and smothered the steaks in perfection.

Grandma Jo's Tater Tot Surprise 

To accompany our Chicken-Fried Steak I decided to make Grandma Jo’s Tater Tot Surprise, also out of “Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites.” Basically this is a tater tot breakfast casserole, and I was really taking a chance on this one. It sounded like something I’d never eat - vegan or otherwise - but boy was I wrong. This was the first of our leftovers to disappear, it was THAT good. In addition to tots, this casserole also has vegan sour cream, vegan butter, vegan cheddar cheese, green onions, and vegan cream of mushroom soup. Though there is a recipe for mushroom soup provided in the book I just used the leftover mushroom soup I had from making the Broccoli Casserole the night before. After you combine all of that, you top it with crushed cornflakes and bake, and I know it sounds weird, but trust, trust, trust me on this one. If you own Hearty Vegan Meals and haven’t made this yet, get thee to the kitchen ASAP!

Sweet Potato Biscuits 

Biscuit Gravy

Next up I made the Sweet Potato Biscuits with Gravy from Jenny Engel & Heather Goldberg’s book “Sprok-Fed” I’ve actually had my eye on these for a while but never get the chance to actually make them. I’m glad I made time for it this time around because these were delicious. They did not have an overwhelming sweet potato flavor but they did have a lovely orange color and they were so super moist. Very delicious biscuits, and they came together super quick. The gravy was equally delicious and also really fast and easy to make. It’s your typical vegan milk-based biscuit gravy that has sausage. I used Tofurky Italian Sausages in it because that’s all I had and I think the combination worked pretty well. These were so good I know I’ll be making them again.

Cinnamon Orange Rolls 

To top it off I made the Cinnamon Orange Rolls from Julie Hasson’s book “Vegan Diner” this is another recipe I’ve had my eye on for a while but cinnamon buns are just not something I make regularly. It’s not that I find them difficult to make - in fact these were so easy! - it’s just that I hate waiting for dough to rise, so usually anything that requires yeast as an ingredient makes me stay away, or drag my feet. I know it doesn’t make any sense because it doesn’t require any extra work, just waiting time, but for some reason it’s just one of those things I rarely feel inspired to do. I should definitely make cinnamon buns more often though because these were superb. The orange flavor was subtle, yet strong enough to let you know it’s there. I love that the dough had orange zest in it, and then the glaze has orange juice. The filling is just your basic brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. These were definitely a hit and they went fast! Actually, we don’t have a single one left!

My Over-flowing Plate. I had a Cinnamon Roll too but there
wasn't room on this plate, so I had it on a small plate that I forgot
to Photograph

So that was our lovely Thanksgiving Day Brunch, and it was so good that we were talking about making Thanksgiving Brunch a regular thing. We did it last year and it was awesome, we did it this year and it was awesome again, you gotta love new traditions.

Retro-Strawberry Pie without Whip

Lastly I also made the Retro-Strawberry Pie from Dynise Balcavage’s book “Pies and Tarts with Heart” Originally I made this to take to my husband’s aunts house Thursday afternoon, but in the end I changed my mind and decided to leave it at home for just my husband and I. We had some Thursday and Friday and it was so good. Super easy too. The filling is just strawberries, salt, cornstarch, water, sugar and agar. You cook that up and pour it into a vanilla cookie crust, although I skipped the cookie crust. I had purchased a pack of 2 pre-made pie crusts since the Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie recipe just said to use a store-bought crust. Originally I was going to disregard this and make my own as usual, but in the end I had so much work to do that I decided to take a short cut. I’m sure home-made crusts on both pies would have been better but sometimes you gotta cut corners. So I used a regular crust, and I think it actually tasted good in a regular crust. The flaky buttery crust was a nice compliment to the sweet filling. The recipe states to top the pie with vegan whip cream, and there are recipes for making your own at home - which I normally do, but once again I was lazy, and besides that I just had to try the new So Delicious Coco-Whip. Which is basically the most amazing thing ever. Vegan cool whip guys! Since it just appeared in my local grocery I thought that this was the perfect time to give it a try, and it did not disappoint but I’ll save a full review for another post. In any case, the pie was fantastic, I’ve always much preferred fruit pies to any other kind.

Retro-Strawberry Pie with Whip and Garnish 

So that’s it for holiday madness until the end of December, until then I’ll probably be eating pretty clean, green juice, green smoothies, limited sweets, salads, etc... Once again I hope you all had a lovely holiday.

Sensational Spring Citrus Smoothie...

If you’re living just about anywhere in North America right now, and you’re anything like me you’re probably wondering when this dreaded winter is going to come to it’s end. I mean I like winter alright - in moderation, but all these crazy snowstorms and the bone-chilling cold has got me longing for Spring like never before. Today it’s in the mid-40's which to some is still pretty cold, but to me it’s like paradise, the sun is shining, there’s no wind, it’s actually warm enough to walk outside without a parka - light jacket may be required however - and I’m beginning to feel like Spring is finally on it’s way. I know I’m ready for it, and my body is ready for it, and so are my tastebuds.

Something a lot of people don’t know about me is that I absolutely love grapefruit, and the reason why people don’t know this, is because despite my great love of this beautiful citrus I don’t really talk about it very much. Over the past couple of months I’ve been buying huge bags of ruby red grapefruits and normally I juice them along with oranges, lemons and ginger. Well, this morning I was definitely craving a mix of that sort but was too lazy to get out the juicer. So instead I whipped up this super simple, and deliciously citrusy smoothie to keep the smile on my face and remind myself that spring is only a few more weeks away. So buck up, and enjoy some citrus until it gets here.

Sensational Spring Citrus Smoothie 

1 Large Red Grapefruit, peeled, pith and seeds removed.
Small handful of Fresh or Frozen Raspberries
6 Fresh or Frozen Strawberries
½ Large or 1 Small banana
5 Frozen Peach Slices
3/4 C Orange Juice
½ C Water
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

- Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend for 60-90 seconds until completely smooth. For a thinner consistency add a little more water if desired.

Chocolate Berry Superfood Smoothie...

I love all kinds of smoothies but there are three kinds that I enjoy more frequently then others. One is the obligatory green smoothie, the second is a berry combo smoothie, and the third is the chocolate protein nut butter smoothie. I tend to drink green smoothies more often in the summer, a lot of berry smoothies in the winter and the chocolate nut butter combo is a wild card. I’ll take it whenever, wherever. Lately however I’ve been enjoying this third variety more often. It seems to be my new ‘go-to’ smoothie on working days, the added protein from the protein powder and nut butter, plus the cacao and the maca keep me energized long into the day.

The only problem is that I get board pretty quickly when forced to eat the same thing all the time. So Monday I was craving a smoothie, something chocolate and creamy like my typical pre-work smoothie but the idea of the same old same old just had me feeling blah. I thought about making a berry smoothie as I have a lot of delicious berries newly on hand but that just sounded so plain. After a few moments spent pondering my dilemma in my kitchen something dawned on me. “Who ever said you can’t combine a berry smoothie with a chocolate nut butter smoothie?” No one that I know of anyway and so that’s exactly what I did.

It may sound weird to you to combine berries with chocolate and peanut butter but I assure you it’s quite delicious - mind blowing really - and while the color leaves a little something to be desired the taste is phenomenal. And really, that’s all that matters isn’t it?

Chocolate Berry Superfood Smoothie 

1 Scoop Sun Warrior Chocolate Protein Powder
1 3.5oz pack frozen acai berry puree
6-8 frozen strawberries
1 Banana
1 tsp Lucuma Powder
1 tsp Maca Powder
1 Tbsp Hemp Seeds
1 Tbsp Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Butter
3/4 C Unsweetened Almond Milk
4 Ice Cubes

- Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend on high for 60-90 seconds until smooth and all the ice is crushed.

Enjoy before or after an energizing workout, or on days you have to go to work!

*** Note - You can use any kind of peanut butter or protein powder you like, but I find the Sun Warrior Protein Powder has a superior taste. As for Earth Balance's Coconut Peanut Butter, I highly recommend this. Not only is it freaking delicious but adds another flavor note to the overall smoothie. More about this peanut butter in a review post to come.***

Acai Berry Breakfast Bowl...

I’ve been in love with the idea of an Acai breakfast bowl ever since I tried my first one at a Choice Health Bar in Lahaina, Maui a couple of years ago. It became a favorite breakfast for me while I was in Maui. There was nothing better then waking up to the sun, walking on the beach listening to the waves roar and then going into town for a delicious and filling yet totally nutritious breakfast. Every time I ate one of those Acai bowls in Maui I felt like I was eating energy, like I was eating power. It’s such a great way to fuel your day, and eating a rainbow of fruity filled goodness for breakfast just puts you in an immediately positive mood.

When I came back to Chicago however there were no Acai bowls to be found in any of my local haunts and so I gradually began to forget about the awesome power of acai in the morning. It wasn’t until I returned home to Vancouver this past month that I was once again reunited with my love of the acai bowl. My husband and I were in North Vancouver doing some touristy stuff since we’d been able to snag some free time away from family drama. Since we were out there I wanted to take him to a cool, raw, vegan, smoothie bar I’d discovered last year. Lo and behold when we arrived at the tiny busting smoothie bar they had a sign for their own version of an Acai breakfast bowl. - More about that bowl in particular and the smoothie bar in a review post - promise. - Needless to say I was desperate to order it for breakfast, and once that acai touched my tongue you could consider my love rekindled.

Why it had never occurred to me to make my own acai breakfast bowls upon returning home from Maui I will never know, but after having one again in Vancouver I knew I wouldn’t be able to live without it again. The following recipe is my take on an acai breakfast bowl, and it’s one of the very first things I made once we were back in Chicago. The cool thing about an Acai bowl is that they’re pretty versatile, you can load them up however you like, and add in what you want. I remember Choice Health Bar in Maui had more then just one version of the bowl listed in their breakfast menu - some of them quite elaborate - but for my take I wanted something simple, refreshing and delicious.

This bowl wins on all points, you simply must make it. Think of it as a smoothie you can chew, and prepare to be amazed!

Acai Berry Breakfast Bowl 

1/4 C Frozen Blueberries
6 Frozen Strawberries (8 if berries are small)
1 3.5oz pack of Frozen Acai Berry Puree
1/3 C Acai Berry Juice
3 Ice Cubes
1 ½ tsp Agave Nectar
1/4 C Granola
1 Tbsp Hemp Seeds
2 tsp Ground Flaxseed
2 tsp Chia Seeds
1 Sliced Banana
Handful of Fresh Blueberries

- Combine frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries, acai berry puree, acai berry juice, agave nectar, chia seeds, flaxseed, and ice cubes in a high speed blender. Blend on high until the mixture is smooth and completely pureed. You can add a couple more ice cubes for a thicker consistency if you like.

- Pour the mixture into a bowl. Then top with your favorite organic vegan granola - I used a vanilla strawberry blend - hemp seeds, the sliced banana and fresh blueberries.

Enjoy immediately, sitting somewhere where you can enjoy the sun!

*** NOTE - If you need this recipe to be gluten-free make sure you purchase and use a gluten-free granola ***

Strawberry Sunshine Beet Blast...

Everyone wants to start the New Year off right. We sit down and make goals and game-plans and say we’re not going to do this and this thing today but we will do this and that thing instead. January is always full of positive energy and good intentions, but making those good intentions stick can sometimes be a little bit difficult for people. It’s part of why I don’t make resolutions - aside from the obvious, that if you want to change your life the best time to do it is now in the moment rather then wait for some arbitrary date. - Making resolutions almost sets people up for failure. For a lot of people it’s too much pressure, and when they don’t quite make their resolution the disappointment is too big, and too overwhelming. I prefer goal setting, and I set goals for myself all the time not just in January. Goal setting for me is more long-term, and sometimes the goals I set for myself are life-long. Goals are something I work towards and depending on the goal it doesn’t really matter how close I am to achieving it because every stride towards it is a stride in the right direction, and that alone is enough to fill me with happiness and positive energy.

I would say that whenever you’re making goals or resolutions less is more. Meaning, instead of making big sweeping declarations, start small. Your goals have to be realistic and manageable, and most importantly you have to know why you’re setting them in the first place. If you don’t truly want what it is you’re setting your goal for, you will never achieve it. If you say to yourself that you’re going to give up coffee, but inside you’re already looking ahead to when you might have your next cup - be it a week, a month what have you - then you’re not there yet. You’re not ready, and it’s not going to work. Instead of saying “I’m not going to have coffee again” say to yourself “I’m not going to have coffee today.” Work with that, and then move onto the next day and say the same thing. Don’t think too far ahead, and don’t think too hard about it. Make it simple, take it a day at a time, and that’s true of any goal not just giving up coffee or some other bad habit.

Of course if you are planning on leaving some bad habits behind for the New Year it’s always a good idea to replace them with a good habit. Replacing a bad habit with a good one makes the transition easier on you, and it makes you more likely to accomplish your goal if you feel like you’re getting something in return. I know for myself the most important thing in making sure I achieve my goals is starting the day out right. I know that sounds weird but if I start my day out right by getting up early, exercising, and enjoying a nutritious breakfast I find I’m overall happier and more productive throughout the day. If I sleep in, don’t exercise, and either don’t eat, or just eat whatever I’ve got lying around without putting my thought into it I’m much more likely to be lethargic, lazy, disagreeable, and spend the day wasting time. So that’s one of my biggest goals for this year, something I’ve been working on the past few days and I’m really feeling great about it.

As I said for me part of starting the day off right is about getting adequate - as well as delicious - nutrition in the mornings. I’m a total smoothie fanatic, as some of you probably already know, but after my summer holidays I kind of fell off of the smoothie wagon and wasn’t drinking them with as much regularity. Or I was drinking protein smoothies instead rather then fresh fruit and vegetable smoothies. This week I really wanted to make sure I got back on track as far as the smoothies go and so I came up with this delicious concoction yesterday. For some reason I’ve really been dreaming about beets, and what better way to utilize their amazing power, and their unique flavor? It may sound weird to you but I assure you it’s delicious and revitalizing, just give it a try! The color alone is brilliant!

Strawberry Sunshine Beet Blast 

½ of a Large Beet or 1 Small Beet peeled and chopped
2 C Frozen Strawberries
Thumb Sized Piece of Ginger
1 C Unsweetened Almond Milk
1/4 C Orange Juice
2 Collard Green Stems
1 Tbsp Flaxseed

- Place all ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend on high for 60-90 seconds until completely smooth. Pour into a glass and enjoy!

*** Note - If you feel it needs a little extra sweetness feel free to add in a tsp or two of agave. Or a pinch of pure green Stevia.***

Vegan Mofo #21 - Jenny & Heather’s Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast...

Vegan Mofo #21 - Jenny & Heather’s Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

The Book - Spork-Fed
The Author - Jenny Engel & Heather Goldberg
The Recipe - Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast
Page # 166-168
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - Roughly 40 minutes

Today I bring you a final, delicious breakfast sandwich. Though the word sandwich may not appear anywhere in the recipe title, the recipe itself is essentially some stuff stuffed between two pieces of bread, which is enough to qualify it for my Mofo sandwich theme.

Now I’ll be honest with you, I’ve never been the biggest fan of French Toast. It’s not that I don’t like it exactly it’s just, well, I don’t know really. It’s just not my thing. It’s not something I ever crave or feel a desire to make. It’s not something I’d ever order out anywhere, nor is it something I’d ever beg anyone to make for me. However when I saw the picture of this stuffed French Toast when flipping through Spork-Fed I felt a sudden desire to give it a try. Maybe I was just craving strawberries, or maybe the promise of cream cheese lured me, I don’t know, but my husband is a huge fan of French Toast. Really he loves the stuff, so I thought at the very least I’d have someone else to help me eat it.

The recipe is very simple, you make a typical French Toast batter of flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, maple syrup, vanilla extract, almond extract, soy milk, and lemon zest. Then you make your filling in this case the filling is a mixture of finely diced strawberries, vegan cream cheese, cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice. Then you get your day old or crusty bread, slice it into really thick slices then slice each slice down the middle but not all the way through. Spoon your filling inside, dip the whole thing into the batter and fry up French Toast style. Serve it with a little extra maple syrup for dipping or any extra filling.

This is a really sweet, rich, and filling breakfast. Perfect for any sweet tooth or decadent breakfast lover. I quite liked it although I added more cinnamon, more strawberries, a little more vanilla and thought the lemon juice was unnecessary. Next time I think I would add a little vanilla non-dairy milk in it’s place. My husband really loved these which was a bit of a surprise to me since he never liked cream cheese, and doesn’t much care for the vegan cream cheese either. Yet he sat there and gobbled up two and a half of these mammoth stuffed toasts with relish.

This would be the perfect breakfast for one of those special romantic occasions, although I recommend you halve the recipe because it makes a lot and it is really filling, unless you’re extra hungry or you’re feeding a lot of people.

Vegan Mofo #18 -Lauren’s Stuffed Banana Berry French Toast...

Vegan Mofo #18 -Lauren’s Stuffed Banana Berry French Toast

The Book - "Vegan Yum Yum"
The Author - Lauren Ulm
The Recipe - Stuffed Banana Berry French Toast
Page # 28
Difficulty - Easy but time Consuming
Duration - Roughly 45 minutes total time

My husband loves French Toast, I on the other hand never cared much one way or the other for it. I guess I just didn’t get what was so great or delicious about frying bread and then drenching it in syrup. Over the years spent with my husband I’ve come around a little to French Toast, and I have to say I make a pretty mean batch of vanilla cinnamon French Toast, but I rarely ever make it. I guess I figure if I’m going to go to all the trouble of cooking something for breakfast I might as well make pancakes or waffles. However when I opened "Vegan Yum Yum" up to the breakfast section I saw her inspiring, mouth watering French Toast concoction and just knew I had to make it.

This recipe does take a bit of time, not to long mind you but it isn’t the kind of thing you can whip up in five minutes before going to work on Monday morning. This is the kind of decedent breakfast you make for you and your sweetie on a special occasion or when you both have the day off together. Trust me when I tell you that the time it takes and the dishes it uses are well worth it. This is one of the most delicious French Toast recipes I’ve ever made, just thinking about it gets me salivating!

What you do is take day old bread - I used French - slice it into super thick rounds, then stuff each round with a mixture of thinly sliced bananas, and berries. Brilliant! I love berries and bananas are always a great breakfast food! Then you very carefully fry your stuffed bread rounds and serve them drizzled with sweet strawberry sauce, powdered sugar, and maple syrup if you so desire. I can not stress enough just how fantastic this recipe is. The berries and banana pair perfectly with the strawberry sauce - which Ulm claims is optional but I think it’s pretty damn necessary and you’d be doing your tastebuds a great disservice by not making it - and the spiced, vanilla accented toast. Also this is a super filling breakfast so it’ll keep you going strong till lunch, or even dinner.

As far as alterations go I followed the recipe pretty exactly, just adding in a bit more cinnamon and I used unsweetened almond milk instead of soy just because that’s what I had on hand. So if you have a French Toast lover in your house I implore you to make this. Even if you - like me - think you don’t like French Toast, give this a try and you might just come around!