French Toast with Nutella and Fruit

Sometimes you just want to go all out for breakfast — an “I’m not going to eat lunch” kind of breakfast. This was one of those times. French toast with Nutella and fruit topping. I would make this every morning if I could just forget about how bad it is for you. I really couldn’t fill this with more gluten, sugar, dairy, and fat if I tried. Okay, maybe if I tried.

If you can forget about a healthy egg white omelette for one day; indulge in this!

French Toast with Nutella and Fruit Topping
8 slices country potato bread
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 Tablespoons butter
2 bananas
Strawberries
Nutella
Powdered sugar
Whipped cream

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1. Combine cinnamon and sugar and whisk together in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, vanilla and whisk until combined.

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2. Dip bread in the mixture and fry slices in butter until golden brown.

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3. Cut up strawberries and place in a bowl with 2 Tablespoons of sugar to macerate.

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4. Get all of your toppings ready!

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5. Spread french toast with a generous portion of Nutella.

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6. Place bananas on top of the Nutella.

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7. Place strawberries on top of the bananas.

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8. Sprinkle it all with powdered sugar.

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9. Top it all off with homemade whipped cream.

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Newest Addition to the Family

This big beast, Tunabee Hufflepig AKA “Tuna”, is one of the many reasons blog posting was put on hiatus. We got her in January and she’s consumed virtually every spare minute since then. We are so completely and utterly obsessed with her.

Tuna is a 3’ish year old American Staffordshire Terrier rescued from Oakland Animal Services. She used to live near an apartment complex in Oakland and beg for scraps. The tenants tried to call the cops for someone to pick her up but they failed to catch her. One day she showed up at the apartment complex all beat up and bleeding with a few dog bite wounds on her legs and face. Animal Services picked her up, fixed her up, and put her up for adoption.

Jason and I showed up two days after she was spayed and instantly fell in love. She has the sweetest demeanor and really just wants to cuddle and get rubs. She loves treats, walks, protecting her home, stalking the neighborhood cat, and rough housing outside with our neighbor’s dog. I love her so much and I can’t imagine life before she entered our hearts.

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Homemade Sausage and Drop Biscuits

This is a comforting, quick and filling dish that can easily last with leftovers for the whole weekend!

Sausage Gravy
16 oz pork sausage
1/4 cup flour
2/ 1/2 cups milk
Salt and pepper

1. Cook sausage in large skillet over medium heat until browned. Remove and set aside.

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2. Add flour to the pan and lightly toast in grease leftover from the sausage.

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3. Gradually add milk and cook mixture until it thickens, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer. Add the sausage back to the gravy.

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Drop Biscuits
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup milk

1. Combine all dry ingredients and then add butter and milk. Drop 2 tablespoons worth onto a prepared baking pan. Cook at 450 degrees for 10 minutes until golden brown.

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Belated Anniversary Finds

Happy Belated Anniversary to us! It’s been a while since I updated, but today I was thinking about our our anniversary trip to the Sonoma Coast. It was a beautiful weekend with gorgeous scenery and a delicious end to the trip — on the way back to Oakland we went to a bread shop called Wild Flour Bakery. They had a backyard garden we walked through and the store itself smelled miraculous.

When we got to the register we decided to get a whole wheat loaf and a rosemary garlic loaf. This turned out to be a wise decision because it made our ride home smell like roasted garlic the whole way. We asked one of the employees where we could find a cheese shop in the area. He responded with “there is a cheese store down the street.” I mean, could it be more perfect?

Not half a mile down the road was Freestone Artisan Cheese. We were greeted by a beaming 13 year old boy who asked if we needed some help. We told him we wanted a soft cheese and a hard cheese and he walked us through different types they had in stock; cows milk, goats milk, aged, creamy, hard, salty, sweet. He was very impressive and seemed very passionate about cheese, so I obviously admired the little guy.

Check out the lovely spread we enjoyed when we got home!

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Shredded Pork Tacos with Pineapple Slaw

It has been a nutty past couple of weeks. I went back East for 10 days and travelled around four different states seeing friends and family. It was great to see everyone, but also quite exhausting. As soon as I got back to California, I went to Dreamforce. It’s a Salesforce conference in San Francisco that completely takes over the city. It’s a four day whirlwind of intensive training sessions, inspiring keynote speakers, Salesforce cheerleading, and concerts.

Needless to say, there hasn’t been much time for cooking. The next few posts are recipes I made before all of that running around. Looking through the pictures makes me want to eat this food all over again. When I made this recipe I was really craving tacos and this really hit the spot. I can’t believe how fantastic these came out. Jason said it’s one of the best tacos he’s ever had and I definitely agree. I also want to make this coconut rice with every meal because it is so flavorful and moist. Thank you Half Baked Harvest for this perfect taco recipe!

Shredded Pork Tacos with Pineapple Slaw and Coconut Rice

Shredded Pork
3 lb. pork shoulder, bone in
2 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup soy sauce
2/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2-3 Tablespoons hot pepper and garlic paste
Corn or flour tortillas
Sharp cheddar cheese
Avocado

Pineapple Slaw
3 Tablespoons greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons pineapple juice
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
Salt and pepper
2 cups shredded cabbage
1/3 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup fresh pineapple, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded + chopped

Coconut Rice
1 cup jasmine rice
1 cup light, canned coconut milk
3/4 cup coconut water
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons unsweetened flaked coconut
1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Combine pineapple juice, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, hot pepper paste and rice vinegar in 4-cup measuring cup. Whisk to combine.

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3. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the pork all over with salt and pepper. Sear pork on all sides until golden (about 2 minutes per side).

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4. Remove the whole pot from the heat and slowly pour in half of the marinade. Place a lid on the pot and place in the preheated oven. Roast the pork for 3-4 hours or until the pork is falling off the bone and shreds easily.

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5. Shred the pork and add the remaining marinade to taste (I used about 3/4 of the remaining liquid). Heat on the stove until warm throughout.

6. In a medium size pot, combine the coconut milk and coconut water. Bring to a low boil and then mix in the rice, salt, unsweetened coconut and coconut oil. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting possible and cook for 10 minutes.

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7. Remove rice from heat and let sit, covered, for 20 minutes. Then remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.

8. To make the slaw, combine the greek yogurt, rice vinegar, pineapple juice, brown sugar, orange zest, salt and pepper. Add the cabbage, green onions, cilantro, pineapple and jalapeño. Toss well.

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9. To assemble the fajitas, sprinkle a tortilla with cheese, add some rice, the pork and then the pineapple slaw. Sprinkle on the diced avocados.

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