French Toast Attack!

One of my favorite restaurants in GR has always been Electric Cheetah. Since going vegan however, I've found a lot of their dishes I have to pass on since they contain cheese & other dairy. I haven't been to EC in a while, but my in-laws were in town this weekend and wanted to hit up EC for brunch.

Auggie in the Cheetah Chair

I was reminded how much I love their "Donkey Kong Toast"...and their Ze Fronch Toast...basically,  french toast in general. And we all know traditional french toast is not vegan friendly. Hey, that sounds like a challenge to me!

I did a little googling and miraculously had all ingredients on hand (including over-ripe bananas!) to recreate the Donkey Kong Toast. It is french toast using banana nut bread. Brilliant! I topped it off with sliced strawberries (I used up all the bananas) and chopped walnuts. Yummy!

Banana Bread
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2c brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
~ 4 ripe bananas (I only had 2.5 and this still worked out)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. In a small bowl, combine milk and apple cider vinegar, set aside for a few minutes
2. In a larger bowl, mix flower, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt & cinammon
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, along with the vanilla and the bananas. Mix until combined, but do not overwork the batter
4. Pour into a greased loaf pan and cook for 45-60 minutes (check every 5 minutes or so to prevent burning)

Allow banana bread to cool completely (I used the refrigerator, I was impatient). Slice into 8 pieces


French Toast Batter
3/4c almond milk
1/4 c flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 tsp cornstarch

Cooking up the french toast!

1. Combine all ingredients in a shallow container.
2. Heat 1 tbsp of earth balance (non-dairy butter) in a large pan on medium heat
3. Dunk a slice of bread in the batter, making sure to cover all sides and let the milk soak in a bit. This will prevent your french toast from being dry
4. Put slice of bread in the pan and let cook about 1 minute each side (4 sides total). Repeat if you want your french toast a bit more done.

Note - because this is banana bread, it will look a little darker than normal. It still tastes great!

Great Any-day Brunch!

♥L

Things I Love Thursday: Teeccino!

If you are looking to cut back on caffeine (maybe because you are starting BB's Ultimate Reset!) there is a great caffeine-free alternative on the market. Teeccino is an herbal tea blend that is roasted and ground just like coffee. You can even brew it like coffee, or use the convienent individual-serving tea bags!

There are 18 flavors divided into two flavor lines - Mediterraenan and Maya. There are also 3 roasts - light, medium, and dark. My personal favs is the Maya Chocolate, because I don't like my coffee too sweet! With all the options avaialble, I am sure you can find one you love too!

Iced Chocolate Mint Coffee
1 c Maya Chocolate Teeccino, chilled over ice
1/2c chocolate almond milk
1 tsp mint extract

Have you tried Teccino? What is your favorite flavor?

Running in the Rain

Tomorrow starts the 21-day reset - I am so excited! Reading over the program, I think the hardest thing for me will be no caffeine for 21 days. I am not totally dependent on coffee to wake me up in the morning or to give me energy, but I am one of those people that truly enjoys the flavor of coffee. So, today I thought, heck I will treat myself to one last frappuccino before the reset begins. In order to enjoy my treat sans guilt I decided to go run in a small little park/shopping area we have near where I live. I figured I would run for about 20 mins, pick up a frappuccino during Starbucks Happy Hour (I'm cheap!) and then enjoy while I finished up some homework.

Unfortunately while I was driving to the park, it started to rain. I can't stand running in the rain...the puddles annoy me, I feel like I'm going to slip, and I had no running jacket with me. Most days I would just wait on better weather. This frappuccino meant a lot to me though (ok maybe I am addicted!) so you gotta do what you gotta do!

A ray of sunshine in the rain :)

Cheers to one last drink before the Reset & here's to a successfull program!