Vegan French Toast

I've never had true success with vegan french toast. Every recipe I tried I had issues keeping whatever I used as the egg replacer on the bread or cooking well enough. It just came out sloppy and wet. As I was figuring out what I wanted to do for Father's Day, I came across an Overnight Maple French Toast recipe. I had never heard of overnight french toast, and I thought this would be my perfect solution! No frying in the pan and getting annoyed that the flaxseeds won't stick or cook. I "veganized" this recipe, and it actually turned out pretty great. Even made it for extended family this weekend, and it was eaten quite quickly.

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 Tablespoon Earth Balance
1 loaf of french bread, cut into 1-inch slices
3 Tablespoons of ground flaxseed
9 Tablespoons of water
1 1/2 cups plain, unsweetened soy milk
1/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
fresh fruit, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
-Combine brown sugar, syrup and Earth Balance into a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil for one minute. Pour into a greased (I just use more Earth Balance) 9x13 baking dish. Place bread slices into dish (I can fit most if not all).
-Combine ground flaxseeds and water and blend until thick and creamy. This can take up to one to two minutes. I use a hand blender in a plastic 16 oz cup (I got it with the blender), and it works SO much better than anything else I've tried.
-Stir the soy milk, applesauce, vanilla and salt into flaxseed mixture. Pour evenly over bread.
-Cover and refrigerate overnight.
-Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake uncovered at 400 F for thirty minutes.
-Garnish with fruit, if you wish and eat! We served with rosemary hashbrowns and Gimme Lean patties (two breakfast faves for the veggie papa).

White Bean and Tomato Soup

We've got a cool, rainy day, and it looks like the weekend will be much the same. This White Bean and Tomato Soup comes from cucina nicolina, and it has become a standard in our kitchen. It comes together incredibly fast and with so few ingredients - most you may have stashed in your cupboard right now and the rest you can grab from your garden or the farmer's market.

If I'm going to be gone during the afternoon and will not have time to make dinner, I will throw this in the crock pot right after lunch. When going this route, I use kale instead of spinach, because it sits much better in the heat. When I am whipping this together and wanting to have it on the table in thirty minutes or less, I use beautiful fresh spinach.

Make a quick loaf of beer bread or Irish soda bread, if you're in the mood to turn on the oven. This summer, you may just want to have a wonderful fresh salad on the side. Enjoy!