French Toast Casserole

Mr. Chevy

With the introduction of our newest family member, a little rescue pup named Chevy, finding time to make breakfast beyond cereal or toast are a thing of the past for the time being.  Meals that are quick and ready to go are just what I need since Chevy has all kinds of energy after resting all night.  Prior to our vegan gluten free transformation, we used to make a french toast bake with fruit and I had been thinking about trying a version that would work for our family.  So with this in mind, and wanting to make a real breakfast again, I set out in search of a comparable recipe.  My search wasn't turning much up that looked interesting and I was beginning to think another boring breakfast was on the horizon, but wait, here's an intriguing site called Kitchen Grrrls.  With hope, I clicked the link and viola, there is was, the recipe I was searching for.  My mouth started watering looking at their pictures and reading the recipe so I headed to the kitchen at 10:00pm to assemble the next morning's wonderfulness.  With a few tweaks of ingredients to fit my families needs, I put breakfast together in no time.  I even pre-washed the blueberries and mixed all the dry ingredients for the topping the night before, I'm not messing around with having to take my eyes off a 3 month old potty training chew happy puppy in the morning.

Chevy thinking he's
 tackling Mya

One of the tweaks I made was to use gluten free bread by Ener-G.  This is a firmer bread that I thought might hold up better since it needs to soak up lots of liquids.  I really wasn't sure how this would turn out using the GF bread, but with my and Kitchen Grrrls fingers crossed, I gave it a try.  The next morning, I whisked some water with the dry topping ingredients that were ready and waiting for me from the night before, spooned it on top and popped the entire casserole in the pre-heated oven.  Since now all I had to do was wait for the oven to do the work, I grabbed my cup of coffee and was entertained by Chevy and Mya playing for the next hour.

It was like a scene from a fairy tale, as the timer beeped, my beautiful princesses awoke, quite possibly from the amazing smells wafting from the kitchen.  It looked just as I hoped.  As much as it was torturing us, I allowed it to cool for about 15 minutes.  With the french toast finally on our plates, we drizzled some pure maple syrup on top, took our first bites and we were not disappointed!  It was so good, there was not a bite left on our plates.  I thoroughly enjoyed the recipe, but next time I might switch out the ground flax for ground chia seed just to see how it turns out, what can I say, I like to experiment!

French Toast Casserole

Ingredients:

1 loaf GF bread of choice, should have 12 pieces

3 c. nondairy milk

1/3 c. ground flax seed

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbsp. agave

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Middle layer:

1 banana, sliced thin

1/3 c. coconut sugar

1/3 c. chopped pecans (pumpkin seeds would work if you have a nut allergy)

2 Tbsp. quick cooking GF oats

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbsp. pure water

Topping:

2/3 c. coconut sugar

2/3 c. chopped pecans (again, pumpkin seeds if needed)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 c. quick cooking GF oats

1/4 c. pure water

20-40 organic blueberries (we like blueberries so we used 40)

Directions:
1.  Spray casserole dish and lay six pieces of bread in dish.
2.  Mix milk, flax, cinnamon, agave, vanilla and salt, set aside.
3.  Mix middle layer ingredients but not the banana.  Spoon a little bit of mixture on each piece of bread, then place banana pieces on top.
4.  Place the other six slices of bread on the middle mixture.
5.  Gently pour milk mixture over entire dish, making sure all pieces of bread got wet.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
6.  Wash and dry blueberries, place in closed container.
7.  Mix all dry topping ingredients, do not add water until morning.  Place in closed container.
8.  Go to bed :)
9.  In the morning, preheat oven to 350, add water to dry topping ingredients, spoon mixture on top of prepared bread, covering each top piece, sprinkle blueberries over top.
10.  Place in oven for 1 hour, you may need an extra 10 minutes depending on the bread used, check to
make sure the topping isn't burning.  Once done, remove from oven and allow casserole to sit 10-15 minutes.
11.  Serve with some warmed pure maple syrup and enjoy!

*Store left overs (if there are any) in foil in the fridge, place back in oven to reheat.

Pass It On!

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason and am often amazed at how connected people and events are.  I have been practicing yoga for almost 20 years and, about three years ago, my mom mentioned that a local yoga studio offered teacher training to become a certified yoga instructor.  I was instantly intrigued and signed up for the intense 11 month course.  200 hours, several tests, student teaching, numerous books and classes later, I was officially a yoga instructor.  What I walked away with was life changing, but the most incredible thing that occurred was having my eyes opened to the effects foods and drinks have on our body, mind, earth and other beings.  I have loved animals since I can remember so the compassion connection was a no brainer for me.  When hearing how influential foods and drinks are physically, what seemed like a normal and natural diet, now was so obviously inappropriate and unnecessary.

So, up until a few years ago, I was living in blissful ignorance, consuming the SAD diet (standard American diet).  Yes, I would eat fruits, veggies, nuts and grains, but everything was centered around animal flesh and fluids.  When I would have sweets, they were made with hydrogenated oils, butter and damaging sugars.  Let's not forget all the wonderful preservatives, chemicals and dyes that I also was exposing myself to.  It's no wonder why, at a young age, I was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple auto-immune disorders.  Once learning the truth, there was no way I could continue on my path of destruction.  I started researching and taking courses in plant based nutrition.  The more I learned, the more I felt in control of my life.  Gone were the days of not being able to use my hands or walk because the pain that was previously limiting me was disappearing.  Even more rewarding was the fact that at my doctors appointment to check my blood work, the doctor thought part of my record was missing since I hadn't been in for a visit in over two years.  I couldn't help but beam like a proud parent when I answered, "yes, that is correct, I haven't been here in that long."  As if things couldn't get better, a week later I was given the results that all of my blood work was normal, no protein, vitamin or mineral deficiencies.  Did I mention, while on a SAD diet, I had multiple deficiencies?

I cannot even begin to explain how grateful I am to those that have positively influenced me in helping to find the path that I am now on.  If these people were too afraid to go against the "norm" and not speak out against the SAD diet and animal cruelty, then I would still be living my blissfully ignorant life and still be struggling to get through my days without pain or medication.  For this very reason, I feel compelled to share information with others because most people also live in blissful ignorance.  My goal is not to seem pushy or judgmental, rather, quite the opposite.  I do not feel I am better than omnivores, I simply feel I am making smarter choices for my and my families life.  Although, the way we live may not be 100% fool proof from cancer or disease, if I know things can trigger certain problems, especially those that may seem to run in the family, then why wouldn't I take the necessary steps to help prevent them?  Giving my children and myself a better chance of leading a healthy life well into our senior years by eating a plant based diet can only be viewed as a good thing.  In my life, if I have positively influenced one person to make changes for better health then it is worth the many that I may irritate by my blogs or comments on Facebook and Twitter.  The message I hope to spread is when you learn something that creates positive change, don't be afraid to Pass It On!