Almond Vanilla French Toast

I am trying this new thing...cutting out dairy. Not completely because that would be impossible, but I am experimenting to see how it will make me feel over time. So, now I have almond vanilla milk in my fridge which is what lead me to Almond Vanilla French Toast. Yummy. This is a very simple recipe and it can be doubled or tripled with ease.

Ingredients 
3 large slices of sourdough bread (any bread will do, this is just what I had on hand)
2 eggs
1/4 cup almond vanilla milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
handful of sliced almonds

Preparation
Mix the cinnamon, brown sugar and almonds together in a shallow dish and set aside.

Make an egg wash in a bowl with the eggs, almond vanilla milk and the vanilla extract. Slice large pieces of bread in half.

Place a skillet on the stove at low-medium heat and melt the butter. Dip each slice of bread in the egg wash and then cover with the cinnamon/sugar/almond mixture. Place on the skillet with the melted butter, cook until one side is golden brown and then flip to cook the other side.

Top with some sliced almonds and maybe some powdered sugar too...enjoy.

Serves two.

What's for dinner? Well, what's in the pantry?

It was a typical, "what's for dinner?" kind of night and I wasn't in the mood for grocery shopping. The challenge: using the ingredients I already had in my pantry. A game that I don't play well. My inspiration was some chicken, mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce.

Naturally, that lead me to Chicken Parmesan! I made it on the fly and I didn't have to spend ten minutes looking up a recipe....it was so easy! Read and learn.

Recipe - Simple Chicken Parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

You need:
Egg & milk (for the egg wash)
Mozzarella cheese
Marinara Sauce
Chicken breasts

Make your Parmesan crust:
Bread crumbs
Italian seasonings (oregano, parsley etc...)
Minced garlic
Salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese

Now, follow the steps:
Flatten chicken breasts, dredge each one in the egg wash and then cover with your homemade Parmesan crust.
Brown the chicken in a hot skillet with olive oil for about 2-3 minutes.
Place the crusted-chicken in a "bake safe" dish (like a glass baking dish or pan).
Cover with mozzarella cheese and top with marinara sauce.
Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.


Voila! Serve over noodles and you are good to go (add some delicious garlic bread if you have it)!

For next time, I might try to add some red pepper flakes. My recipe needs something else but I am not sure what. Might need to have a chat with good ol' Giada, the Italian expert herself.

What would you add to this recipe?

Grilled Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Beautiful days in the Northwest always call for some outdoor grilling on the barbecue. On last night's menu were some good looking pork chops so I decided to find a quick and easy glaze to whip up that was light but had some good flavor. On allrecipes.com I found an easy brown sugar glaze that got excellent reviews. It had of course two of my favorite ingredients, brown sugar and ginger (but, who am I kidding? I have a lot of favorite ingredients!). Oh and we also cannot forget the 1/2 cup of apple juice, which was the selling point for me on this recipe. You can't go wrong with pork and apples.



I did not do much modifying to this recipe because I liked all the flavors, so I will just list the ingredients below:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed


• 1/2 cup apple juice


• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil


• 1 tablespoon soy sauce


• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger


• salt and pepper to taste


• 2 teaspoons cornstarch


• 1/2 cup water


• 6 boneless pork chops

All you have to do is combine the oil, soy sauce, juice, ginger and brown sugar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once you do this, mix the cornstarch and water in a separate blow and then add to the sauce slowly until you get your desired thickness. I just kept adding the cornstarch and water mix until my sauce had a consistency similar to maple syrup.

Of course while you are making the glaze, sample it a few times to make sure it has the flavor you want. I added a little more apple juice for flavor, but that was about it.

For a marinade, eliminate the cornstarch and water and just marinate the pork chops in the sauce for 30 min and then place on the grill. Yum!

Here is the full recipe and reviews at allrecipes.com - Grilled Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Enjoy!