Potato Skins

Daiya Cheese again is amazing

Sweet potato black bean burrito

1/2 red bell pepper
2 pre-cooked sweet corn cobbs
1 small onion chopped
1/2 can black beans
1 sweet potato cut into thin half moons
1 glove garlic minced
1 tablespoon minced jalapeno
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons cilantro
1/2 teaspoon cumin
dash of red pepper flake
sale and pepper to taste
whole wheat tortillas for wrapping.

In a pan heat the oil and cook the potatoes first for about 7 minutes

Then add the rest of the ingredients and cook until veggies are tender

Roll into tortilla and eat.

I just realized I haven't eaten meat in two days... I might be able to be a week day vegan, and only eat meat on the weekends not just 4 days a week.

Lemon Cheese Cake!

Okay its not vegan but it is lactose free. I got the recipe out of a book called 200 best Lactose-Free recipes by Jan Main.

Preheat oven to 350

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Filling:

2 packages silken tofu
4 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Prepare crust: in a small bowl stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, oil, cinnamon. Press into the bottom of the pan forming a crust. Make sure to work the crust 1 inch up the spring form pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

2 Prepare the filling by draining the water from the tofu using a sieve. In a food possessor beat together drained tofu, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, flour, vanilla, and salt until smooth.

3 In a clean bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form. Fold into the lemon batter. Turn into prepared crust.

4 Bake for 60 t0 65 minutes or until almost firm in the center. let cool before cutting into wedges to serve. (I baked using a steam bath like normal cheese cake because I didn't want it to crack on top, even tofu pies crack)

Right now I am waiting for the cheese cake to cool, I have yet to try the cake.... but the batter tasted really good, and not supper tofu tasting.

Daiya Strombolies!

I used the pizza dough from earlier in the blog. I divided the dough in half and let both rise in a greased bowl. I then took one of the balls and cut it in half and rolled each half into a 10 by 8 rectangle. Then I filled with with some marinara sauce, basil, spinach, and DAIYA CHEESE. Vegan cheese that melts like gooey mozzarella.

I let the dough sit for about 10 minutes then I baked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. It tasted really good even for having a ton of spinach in it.

Kabobs

You know what doesn't have dairy in it? Beef and veggies. This is also a great way to make a little meat go along way. I used a pound of Rib eye, I wanted to use sirloin, but they only had 2-3 pound steaks which was expensive. I did get lucky though, bell peppers were on sale only $1 for yellow, orange, and red. Unheard of where I live.

I just seasoned the meat and veggies with garlic salt, and pepper but the real flavor came from the peppers and onions. So Yummy.

VEGETARIAN CHILI

This was the best chili I have ever had, meat or not.



INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon oil

1 clove garlic

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 Yukon Gold potato chopped in 1/2 inch pieces

1 sweet potato chopped in 1/2 inch pieces

1 can diced tomatoes

2 cups frozen corn

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained

1 can red black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flake

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

A dash of dried oregano

1 can tomato sauce (Then fill can with water and empty in pot)

1 can tomato paste

Salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:
1. Rinse and divide the fresh vegetables. Chop the veggies into small pieces.

2. In a large skillet, saute the garlic, bell pepper, celery, and onion in hot oil until they are almost soft. I add just a little salt in the saute to make sure the veggies are well seasoned.

3. While one is stirring the vegetables in the skillet, the other needs to be opening the cans of beans and sauces. Drain and rinse all the beans.

4. In a large pot, mix together the chopped, cooked vegetables with the can of diced tomatoes,corn, beans, tomato sauce, can of water, tomato paste, cilantro, bay leaf, and spices. Save some of the chopped onion to use as topping.

5. Cover and cook on the low heat setting about one hour. I like to let chili simmer for hours because the longer it sits the better it tastes. But the flavors should be well mingled after an hour or so.

I have amended this recipe from one I found online, in hopes to recreate the Delicious vegan chili they make at Evos, which is a healthy fast food place in St. Pete Florida that offers really great fast food options for people who want to eat well for a good price and it tastes amazing. I added the potato because I have seen it in chili recipes before and have been unsure about adding it in, but I am experimenting with this recipe so I though why not add my favorite Yukon gold potato, and my newly discovered sweet potato. Well new to me, I had no idea they could be used in savory applications.

I also really wanted to try this recipe because Mike and I have been trying to eat vegan or vegetarian every other night or as much as possible. Its really hard to give up meat all together even though I know its better for people to eat less meat and its a hell of a lot better for the environment. It also keeps me in my skinny jeans. And my oven is broken so I could not make the veggie pizzas I made in an earlier post http://anondairylife.blogspot.com/2010/04/pizza-night.html

Eat the rainbow

If I have learned anything from my nutrition classes and reading, is that we don't get enough orange in our diets. One of the main reasons their is not a lot of orange foods for Americans to eat other than carrots. Let face it carrots are the cheapest and most abundant orange veggie. Cantaloupe is delicious but is really only good in season so like 2 months of the year, orange bell peppers are at time 2-3 times more expensive than the green bell peppers, and mangoes are quite the challenge to prepare. I have always looked at the sweet potato as one of those horribly sweet gloopy items at the end of the table on Thanksgiving. That was until I went to the North Star restaurant and had a wonderful vegan breakfast burrito with black beans onions bell papers and yes... sweet potatoes. Thats right the sweet potato is out of the marshmallows and brown sugar and into the salt, pepper, and onions. I don't want to say mind blowing, but it has really opened my eyes to the sweet potato and all it has to offer. So I give you....

Rosemary Potatoes and Asparagus

2 large Yukon Gold Potatoes (peeled)
1 even larger sweet potato (peeled)
1/2 lb of asparagus (woody bottom pieces removed by bending the spear and letting it snap off, discard bottom.)
8-10 pearl onions
1 sprig of rosemary
2 gloves minced garlic
salt and cracked pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Oil to toss veggies in 1/2 cup divided maybe more

Chop the potatoes into 1 in sized bites, combine with prepared asparagus, pearl onions, and coat in oil.



Sprinkle with salt, pepper, rosemary, and Italian seasoning. Add garlic and mix seasonings over veggies with your hands. I like to do this in a 9x13in pan that I use to bake the veggies in. When well coated remove asparagus to be added back to pan 30 minutes later. Asparagus only need 8 minutes to bake while the potatoes need 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Blackberry Cobbler!

Thats right folks summer is here. That means blackberries, and blackberries mean cobbler. Oh how I love cobbler of any kind.

Blackberry Cobbler recipe from

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/blackberry-cobbler/97b86fd2-7588-497b-866d-8a1bd8b2e491?WT.mc_id=paid_search_200100_636117&WT.srch=1&esrc=11151

2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) blackberries (do not use blueberries)
1 cup sugar
1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (lactose free milk)
1/2 cup butter, melted (Vegan butter)

1. In medium bowl, stir together blackberries and sugar. Let stand about 20 minutes or until fruit syrup forms. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. In large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and milk. Stir in melted butter until blended. Spread in ungreased 8-inch square pan. Spoon blackberry mixture over batter.

3. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until dough rises and is golden.

Vegan Cheese that actually is like cheese.

I know they all claim to be "just like real cheese" and it never is. I have been wanting to try this new Daiya Vegan Cheese, but its really hard to get your hands on. I have thought about ordering it online for like $20, but that is more then I want to spend if I end up not eating it because most vegan cheeses are really disappointing. But after a long wait a Whole Foods store in my city has finally started carrying the stuff. Weird that they all do not. I am sure they all will soon. And Daiya Vegan Cheese is getting their products in restaurants and pizza places. I can't wait to eat pizza with friends again.

I am telling you right now Daiya Vegan Cheese is the best vegan cheese I have ever had. It makes me wonder if they are trying to get by with sneaking in real cheese just to see if the vegans will notice. I didn't get sick so it must be true, a really good alternative to cheese. Cheese my love I have missed you and now I no longer have to go without you.

I made whole wheat bagel pizzas with those new thin bagels the have come out with, Marinara sauce, basil, and the Daiya Vegan Cheese Italian style. It was almost as good as a bagel bite. It was a really great margarita style pizza though.

Pancakes!

I do work a lot of Saturdays, but when I don't have to work in the morning I really love making pancakes for me and Mike. They taste great, are cheap to make, and take about as long as it would take to drive to Perkins. Yes it would be fatser to buy one of those pre-made just add water mixes, but they have powdered milk in them so they are not an option.

2 cups All Purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups of non dairy or lactose free milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

Sift together dry ingredient, then stir in wet ingredients. Cook on hot greased griddle until golden brown and yummy.

South West Salad

I work at a very well known restaurant... and lets just say our salads are really good looking and tasting, but the calories are insanely high. And I am always tempted to eat one, but all of our salad dressings have dairy in them. So I took a bit of inspiration from what I can't eat and made it something I can eat.

First step was to find a salad dressing that went with my south west salad theme. The one that follows worked out really well. It did take a little time to make, but it was really good. I will definitely make this salad again. Even take it to work to snack on.


For the salad I combined baby Romain lettuce with 1/4 cup of corn, 1/4 cup of black beans, and 1/4 cup of black bean salsa. Then I ate it with some crushed up corn chips. Then I drizzled on some of the Lime Chipotle Vinaigrette.

http://www.bigoven.com/163428-Lime-Chipotle-Vinaigrette-recipe.html

Lime Chipotle Vinaigrette

Ingredients

* 2 each chipotle chile canned in adobo
* 3 tablespoons cilantro
* 1 teaspoon garlic
* 1/2 cup red onion roasted
* 1/2 cup Rose's Lime Juice
* 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
* 5 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1/16 cup black pepper
* 1/16 cup salt
* 1 cup olive oil blend Arrezzio Olive oil B




Preparation

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Source: "Moab Brewery"Yield: "2 cup

Hibachi Steak Night!

I am using the ideas from the Sandra Lee recipe from food network. www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sandra-lee/hibachi-steak-recipe/index.html


Now I used
4 small zucchinis
6 small carrots
1 yellow squash
2 small to medium white onions
1/2 a package of baby Bella mushrooms.

And a little more than a pound of sirloin steak.

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
* 1 zucchini, thinly sliced
* 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
* 1 (8-ounce) package sliced mushrooms
* 1 1/2 pounds top round steak
* 1 pound egg roll wrappers
* 1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
* 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
* 1 teaspoon cornstarch
* 2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Put a large skillet over medium-high heat and add half of the oil. When the oil is hot, add the vegetables and stir-fry until the vegetables are almost done, about 5 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, heat a second skillet over high heat and add the remaining oil.

Cut the steak into small cubes, and stir-fry until browned on all sides, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Separate the egg roll wrappers into 2 piles. Roll each pile up into a log. Slice the log into thin strips about 1/4-inch thick and separate them into individual noodles. Put half of the noodles into the boiling water and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and add to a serving bowl or platter. (Reserve the remaining noodles for the Online Round 2 Recipe, Japanese Noodle Bowl.)

In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and cornstarch and set aside.

Add the steak, along with any accumulated juices, to the pan with the vegetables. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the vegetables and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the butter. (Reserve 2 cups for the Online Round 2 Recipe, Japanese Noodle Bowl).


I also tried my hand at making that amazing soup they serve before your meal at a Japanese steak house. I used the following recipe


So the steak was the most amazing part of the meal! The veggies I still haven't perfected, squash still alludes me. It still turned out good enough for me to make it instead of going to the steak house. I think next time I am gonna cut way down on the veggies and use half the meat because it made a lot of food, even for left overs.

With the soup and all the ingredient this meal came in at 20 dollars but I bought a whole bag of onions and green onions I will be using for other recipes, I also bough beef flavored bullion that I didn't have but will use for other things. This will also feed 4 people not just the one if I went out to eat it. So sorry dude I don't need you anymore.

Cinnamon Rolls!

So I am not a big fan of the Pillsbury canned cinnamon rolls, but they are so quick and easy so I make them for Mike and eat one or two. But everything has changed now. I bought some frozen bread dough thinking I would make a loaf of bread some time, but I haven't used them instead I have been making my own bread from scratch but last night I thawed out the dough, and this morning I rolled them out into thin squares and brushed them with 1/2 stick of melted butter ( I don't use real butter). Then I mixed 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 2 table spoons of butter and sprinkled over the dough, and then sprinkled 1/4 cup of chopped pecans over the dough. Then I rolled the dough into logs, sliced them in 1 inch pieces and placed them into a greased pan and I let them rise 30 minutes, and then I baked them in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Then I made an icing with powdered sugar, vanilla, and a dash of cinnamon mixed with a few drops of water. I have eaten three so far... 2 frozen loafs make 30 cinnamon rolls.

Cupcakes

I made the cupcakes from a mix and made some chocolate icing. And then, and then I got out my piping bag.

Meatballs

1/2 lb beef
3/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 egg
salt, black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons Italian seasoning.

Have your boyfriend mix all the ingredient together so you don't have to get your hands dirty. Form into balls and bake in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes or until perfect. You can also brown the meatballs in a pan before baking. I plan to eat these tonight after work. 2nd shift makes it so hard to have dinner at a normal time when you work through dinner and can't grab a snack until 11pm. I have some left over ciabatta bread and pasta to make these meatballs a real meal.

Beef Stuffed Shells

Imagine the taste of meat balls stuffed into a shell. I make 1/2 a box of shell noodles and let them cool. Then I fry 1/2 lb of beef with 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 2 tablespoons water, 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, black pepper. Then I scoop the mixture into the shells and layer them in a baking dish with marinara sauce and soy cheese. Then I baked it for 30 minutes. It tastes a lot better than it looks. But I love taking pictures of food.

Banana and Wheat Germ Muffins

Combine all of the following in a large bowl and set aside.

1 1/2 cups AP Flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup wheat germ

Now combine in a medium bowl

2 large eggs
1/3 cup of canola oil
1/2 cup milk (soy or lactose free)
1 1/2 cups mushed very ripe bananas (I used two)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well and then pour the liquid bowl over the dry bowl and combine. Then fill 1 muffin cups 3/4 of the way full. And bake at 400 degrees (my oven runs too hot so I did 350) for 20 to 25 minutes.

This is one of the few recipes that I make that really does make 12 good size muffins and not 10 good ones and 2 tiny ones. I also added a few things like my dehydrated banana slices that taste of like eating fresh banana bread





And I have some walnuts in the freezer I need to eat before they go bad so I chopped up a big handful and sprinkled them on top of the muffins before baking. I left some with out nuts to compare.


Right now they are all cooling in the window, but I'm hoping they taste great. I will be sure to let you know.

Irish Cheese Cakes

I made these with my niece for her multi cultural night at school. And they were amazing! Almost enough to knock the lil girl down and keep them for myself! But I would never do that I'm a nice aunt.

The cheese cakes:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
rind and juice of 1/2 a lemon (zest)
2 eggs, beaten
8 tablespoons self-rising flour
8 oz pie crust
8 table spoons raspberry preserves
1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until fluffy. Beat in the eggs a little at a time.

Sift the flour and add to the butter mixture.

Push the pie crust into 12 cupcake tins. Spoon in the preserves and fill 3/4 full of batter. Bake until brown about 25 minutes.

Let cook and ice with powder sugar and lemon juice mixed together to make a yummy lemon icing.



The recipe for the pie crust I got from
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_pie_crust/
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
* 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 4 to 8 Tbsp ice water
Cut the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and place in the freezer for 15 minutes to an hour (the longer the better) so that they become thoroughly chilled.

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.

Pierogies

The filling I made from 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, and boiled them with 2 smashed cloves of garlic and salt. This gave them a hint of garlic. Then I smashed the potatoes with some salt pepper and butter. Needless to say the filling was amazing. The dough was from a recipe.. they would make great dumplings but I couldn't get them thin enough so the pierogies weren't what I expected. Mike said they were just like all the other pierogies he has had, then he ate 6 of them.

Pizza night!

So I am on this make my own food kick, and when it comes to pizza its more of a necessity because of the no cheese thing. But I was buying par-baked pizza crusts from the store for as much as $5 for me and Mike. Turns out its super cheap and easy to make your own. I think my 5lbs of bread flour was about $3.50 and everything else you normally have in the pantry. The olive oil is the real pricey part of this recipe and its only 3 table spoons, not bad at all. Now the first time I made this I used all white bread flour but it really is better with a little wheat flour. I used the recipe off recipezaar. Here is the link http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Pizza-Dough-and-Sauce-1005. I do not use the sauce recipe.

Ingredients
Pizza Dough

* 3/4 tablespoon yeast
* 1 1/2 cups warm water
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 3 tablespoons oil
* 4 cups flour (we prefer half white, half wheat)

In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water (I add a pinch of sugar) and allow to set until it begins to foam, about 5 minutes.

Stir in salt, oil and half of flour. Gradually add remaining flour, mixing well.

Knead 8-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl and let rise until double (1/2-1 hour) Punch down and let rise again until double. Punch down and divide. Pat out on two pizza pans.

Top with pizza sauce & toppings. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

This dough turns out great, if you want more flavor let rise for 30 minutes. Then let it have a slow 2nd rise in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours. Then you can dress up the pizza any way you like it. Tonight I made an everything pizza with vegetarian Italian sausage, black olives, mushrooms, green bell peppers and soy mozzarella cheese.

Ciabatta

Okay I just started venturing into the world of bread making and today I tried Ciabatta. I looked on youtube to see how to make it and this was the best video on there http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX_6l2bmvQI&feature=fvw. The guy is really funny and it helped a lot, because its more of a goop than a dough.

The time for a whole loaf is about 35 minutes but I made a small loaf and some rolls so mine was like 20 minutes for a loaf and 12 minutes for the rolls. They are full of flavor but do not taste like the ciabatta I bought at the store, but I did give them 20 hours not the 18. Watch the vidoe its reall helpful. I am just glad my first try ended up edible for one and Mike has eaten 5 rolls so I guess they are more than okay.

3 1/2 cups of white
1/2 cup of wheat [ wheat flour]
1/4 teaspoon of yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups of warm water

Fried Rice Lunch

So Mike and I have tried really hard this month to only go to the store once every two weeks and only eat out once a week. Its been going well, except when my brother and his kids came over for pizza I had everything to make yummy pizza from scratch, but I realized they prob wouldn't want my vegan cheese, so I did have to run out and get some mozzarella and pepperoni.

Yesterday I saw a fried rice seasoning packet I bought months ago and I decided that I would try to make fried rice again (it doesn't always turn out good so I haven't made it in awhile). The only thing that is really important about fried rice is that you make the rice the day before and store it in the fridge. If you try to use fresh rice it will just get all mushy and paste like.

So yesterday I made 1 cup Brown Rice like the bag said, but I added 2 chicken bullion cubes for extra flavor. Then I stored it in the fridge.

So today I threw together:

1 Tbsp oil
1 cup brown rice
1 tsp soy sauce
4 drops of sesame seed oil (this stuff is strong be careful)
1 cup frozen peas and carrot mix
3 Tyson grilled pre-cooked frozen chicken breast
1/2 a packet of store bought fried rice seasoning.
1/4 cup green onion (I didn't have any so I used 6 frozen pearl onions and it did great on adding that yummy onion flavor)
4 cracks of black papper ( white pepper is better but again I didn't have any)

Heat Tyson chicken thro and set aside.
Add oil to the pan until hot (medium high heat) then add rice and onion and fry for a few minutes.
Combine soy sauce and sesame seed oil in a small dish then add to rice and stir.
Then add seasoning and stir for a few minnutes.
Then add the chicken from before and the carrots and peas.
Continue frying a few more minutes to let all the flavors comebine.
Then eat.

This turned out better than when I normally make it. On the table I added a little cracked black pepper and stired it all together.

The Potato Problem

So I was poking around the pantry today and I looked into my potatoes and realized that not only did I have a ton (there was a sale...) they were also starting to grow. I caught the little buggers just in time before they really got crazy or mushy. Now I'm not saying I can eat the 6lbs of potatoes in my pantry in one day but I'm gonna have to start eating them before they go bad. So for a snack before work I thought about how yummy hash browns are and how easy they have to be to make. And after giving it a try I will never go to IHOP or Perkins again to get my hash brown fix. They were so good and took like 10 minutes to make.


3 Tbsp canola oil
1 lb Russet baking potatoes, peeled and grated
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp of chopped red onion
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Mrs Dash Chipotle seasoning.


Heat 3 Tbsp of oil in a large frying pan on medium high heat.

While the pan is heating, squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the grated potatoes. It's easiest to do this with a potato ricer, using it much like you would a garlic press, except you don't force the potatoes through the ricer. You just press out the moisture. If you don't have a ricer, use tea towel to squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the grated potatoes.

Next when the oil is hot throw in the onions, mix for a few minutes then throw in the garlic (be careful not to burn the garlic). Wait till the room smells amazing! Like 2 minutes. then add the potatoes to the pan and spread out so they can get nice and brown. Season with salt and pepper. If you want more flavor add the Mrs. Dash.

Then flip the hash browns over (my flip didn't go well so I just cut them into small batches with the spatula). When nice and brown on both side flip out onto a plate and ready your ketchup!

French Toast!

It has been years since I have had french toast, and I think the last time I had it was in high school at Burger King.... I know pretty low standards for french toast. Today I thought I would try my main man Alton Browns recipe. I didn't use half and half just my lactose free milk. I thought that the toast was a little flat in flavor, but the texture was great. I might try to put some vanilla and cinnamon in the batter, and I may also swap the honey for maple syrup. Because we all know that I am gonna put the syrup on top of it anyway, so it can only add to the final flavor.

I would defiantly recommend this recipe to all of the 3 ppl who follow my blog. <3

Ingredients

• 1 cup half-and-half
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey, warmed in microwave for 20 seconds
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 (1/2-inch) slices day-old or stale country loaf, brioche or challah bread
• 4 tablespoons butter

Directions

In medium size mixing bowl, whisk together the half-and-half, eggs, honey, and salt. You may do this the night before. When ready to cook, pour custard mixture into a pie pan and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Dip bread into mixture, allow to soak for 30 seconds on each side, and then remove to a cooling rack that is sitting in a sheet pan, and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes.

Over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch nonstick saute pan. Place 2 slices of bread at a time into the pan and cook until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and place on rack in oven for 5 minutes. Repeat with all 8 slices. Serve immediately with maple syrup, whipped cream or fruit.