Sunday Yummies

I've been cooking from scratch a lot more since we are in our new place and I have all of my kitchen tools (plus some new ones from the wedding!), and reading tons of books about food (Michael Pollan, Barbara Kingsolver, Alice Waters and many more). All day Saturday I baked and cooked (more on that in another post), and since I have a complete inability to exactly follow a recipe I decided to blog what I make and any modifications so I can keep track of what we liked and didn't like. At the grocery yesterday, there were Challah buns on the day-old bread rack, so I made Challah french toast with a berry sauce for breakfast.
Here's the recipe:
3 Challah buns, sliced vertically
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used whole)
1-2 tsp vanilla
dash or two cinnamon
dash or two nutmeg
1 Tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 500
Mix together the eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar with a whisk or fork.
Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan liberally with non-stick spray.
Dip the bread into the egg mixture, then lay on the pan.
Cook for 4 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook another 4 minutes on the other side.
Serve with Berry Sauce.

Berry Sauce
8 oz frozen berry mixture
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp sugar or sugar substitute (I use Splenda)
1/3 cup water

Mix all of the above ingredients in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir to mix well, then cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often.
Serve over French toast.

*Mine got a little thick, so I left it on the burner but turned off the heat and added 1/4 cup of Almond milk to it and mixed well. It thinned out and added some creaminess.


On another note, it took me a long time to figure out how to make everything come out at the same time, so here is what I did this morning:

1. Slice challah bread
2. make egg mixture for french toast. Preheat oven.
3. Start berries in saucepan.
4. Spray baking sheet and dip bread in egg mixture and put onto baking sheet.
5. Realize I didn't make enough egg mixture and make more.
6. Realize I didn't make any coffee and I need some. Start the water boiling for french press coffee (which I have yet to master) and put 3 Tbsp coffee, 1/2 tsp cocoa powder, dash of cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp salt into french press.
7. Put french toast in oven, set timer for 4 minutes.
8. Stir berry mixture, add almond milk due to thickness. Put berry mixture into gravy boat for easy pouring.
9. Timer beeps for first side of french toast, water is beginning to boil for coffee. I add water to the french press and flip the french toast. Put toast back in oven for 4 minutes (same amount of time coffee must mingle before pushing down on press).
10. Timer beeps again. I push the plunger on the coffee, then take the toast out of the oven.
10. Pour water into french press.
11. Breakfast is served! :)