Welcome to the breakfast unit! Breakfast is SUPER important. It has been proven that eating breakfast will help with creative thinking, hand eye coordination, attention, alertness, brain function, mood swings, and weight control. It ALSO can raise test scores and increase attendance in school-aged students.

The kids never believe me when I say that skipping breakfast can lead to weight gain. It’s TRUE. Recently I read that there are three, research based indicators of obesity.

1. Excess TV viewing.

2) Eating fast food 1 or more times per week.

3) SKIPPING BREAKFAST.

Also (and this is less “proven by research” and more a reflection of my own), breakfast is DELICIOUS. I eat typical “breakfast food” for probably 3 of my 5 meals every day. Yogurt, fruit, cereal, Kashi waffles, eggs, toast with Pb, ahhhh the possibilities are endless.

Today’s recipe is french toast, but not just any french toast. America’s Test Kitchen french toast!

With the creative, though odd, addition of flour, this french toast has a nice crisp outside. No soggy here! It has a great flavor, truly. My “testers” were in full agreement… this french toast is fab.

4 slices sandwich bread (preferably 100% whole wheat)

2 tbsp. butter

½ c. milk

½ lg. egg *

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

½ tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt

¼ c. flour

*One egg, beaten, measures at 1/4 c. or 4 tbsp. If you need half of an egg because you have halved a recipe, just crack an egg in a cup, beat with a fork, and measure out 2 tbsp. Half an egg!

 1.       Adjust an oven rack to middle of the oven. Heat to 200 degrees.

2.       Arrange the bread on a wire rack set on a baking sheet. Bake until slightly dry, about 15 minutes. French toast comes from the french dish, pain perdu, meaning “lost bread”. Stale bread (or bread that got lost!) is best for french toast, because it doesn’t get too soggy. That is why we place our bread in a low heat oven. We are just drying it out, not toasting it.

3.       While the bread is in the oven, melt 1 tbsp. of butter and whisk it together with the milk, egg, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.

4.       Slowly whisk in flour until smooth.

*Clearly, this was not “slowly”. The way to do this correctly is to sprinkle it on, bit by bit, whisking until it is smoothly incorporated.

*Hence why you can see the flour bits.

5.       Transfer 2 pieces of the bread from the oven into the batter and soak both sides, about 30 seconds per side. Meanwhile, melt 1 tbsp. butter in 12-inch non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat, swirling to coat the pan.

6.       Remove bread from the batter, allowing excess batter to drip back into dish. Lay in hot skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 and ½ minutes per side.

THIS is the golden brown you want before flipping. Sometimes kids will flip and remove prematurely. This is the browning you’re going for!

In the summer down the shore my mom always wants to make pancakes for breakfast when my whole fam. is in town. The thing is, if you eat pancakes before venturing onto the beach, you feel like there are pancake circles bulging out of your suit. We usually shut her down.

I was talking to her before first pd. today and saying that french toast could be a great compromise! Use some 45 calorie light bread (if calorie conscious) or some Ezekiel sprouted bread (if health conscious) as your base. Egg and skim milk add protein, and cinnamon has been proven to aid in digestion! Top with a dollop of greek yogurt, drizzle of pure maple syrup, and some sliced berries and you’ve got an AMAZING breakfast.

Every good breakfast should have a protein and a good carbohydrate. Fruit is a “simple” carbohydrate but a good choice nonetheless, while whole grain toast or oats are “complex” carbohydrates and an excellent choice as well.

EAT YOUR BREAKFAST. She’s BOSsy.