By Barbara Zagata

Much as I love to be in the kitchen, when the weather gets warm I’d much rather be outdoors, but even when it’s warm and sunny I crave old-fashioned comfort food. Frozen French toast just doesn’t do it for me and that breakfast cereal that imitates little Barbie-sized French toast is adorable but that just doesn’t do it for me either. When it comes to comfort food, you just gotta have the real thing, otherwise you’ll just keep eating and eating until you find it. These days, it’s getting pretty hard to find it, unless you make it yourself.

The problem with French toast of course is that if you want to feed a family you’re going to be standing at the stove for a half an hour, unless you’ve got one of those nice big griddles that holds 8 slices at a time. But there is an alternative!

The best French toast I’ve ever had gets baked in the oven! How sweet is that? No flipping, no burning…and sweet? The maple syrup and brown sugar are baked right in! It gets even better—this recipe gets made the day before so you can just chill on your morning off!

Another amazing time saver in the morning—frittatas, like Italian quiche, only without the crust. You simply mix eggs with cheese and veggies, some bacon if you like, and you bake it. Add a little side salad and you can enjoy the leftovers for lunch later. Frittatas can be enjoyed at room temperature too.

When people actually cooked at home a lot more than they do today, they didn’t have 100′s of exotic recipes that used 3 tablespoons of some crazy condiment kids won’t eat anyway. Recipes like fritttatas and French toast were designed for practicality—they’re highly economical because they use things up…old bread, roasted asparagus, cheese.

Oddly enough this highly economical, practical food was comforting to more than your bank account. The flavor of high quality ingredients like eggs from the farmers market and real butter satisfies more than our taste buds. Our brains can distinguish real sugar from something synthetic. If we don’t get it, we’ll keep trying. That’s one of the reasons for over eating. Real cinnamon has a positive effect on blood sugar levels. Natural flavoring only satisfies someone’s bottom line.

Food designed for profit just doesn’t have what it takes to truly give you what you came to the table for. Home cooking doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming when you learn the basics. You’ll eat less if you eat higher quality because real food doesn’t just please our taste buds, it deeply nourishes our souls.

For tried and true recipe ideas check out “Wow! Look Who’s Cooking” by executive chef Barbara Zagata of Santa Barbara Soul Food. This compact collection of just 12 recipes represents the best of the best. Barbara cooked with children for over 6 years before compiling this collection. These are the recipes most requested by kids and adults alike and you can down load it right now because it’s an e-Book! Start cooking tonight!
http://www.sbsoulfood.com

While there check out the video for my favorite French Toast! The recipe comes in pdf form when you order “Wow! Look Who’s Cooking!” Just a little bonus gift from me…

Barbara Zagata is the chef and proprietor of Santa Barbara Soul Food, Inc., originally an organic catering company based on teamwork and earth friendly values. She began teaching children how to cook when asked to volunteer at her son’s alternative school. Since then, Barbara founded Camp Cucina, “a culinary crash course for teens,” as well as other programs designed to bring families together through inspiring food choices that empower the individual while creating a sense of community.

Article Source: Barbara Zagata == Cooking Short Cuts From a Pro – This French Toast Never Gets Flipped and Never Burns

Categories : Cooking