Banana Nutella Stuffed French Toast

As you can probably tell, I have a thing for nutella. It's just so dang delicious! For you breakfast lovers out there, this is something you'll like. I had it for brunch today (since I woke up at 11:30). Last night I had a massive craving for one, so I had already decided then I'd make it this morning. French toast is quite simple to make, but also quite easy to mess up. If you're not stuffing it, then it's hard to mess up...unless you forget to flip it and end up burning it. However, when stuffing it, you have to make sure you dip it in the egg properly. Here's a tip: dip it far enough to where the surface of the egg mixture just barely skims the top of the bread, then flip it to get the other side soaked too. Aka, don't let the egg run into the middle of the two pieces of bread. Also, one egg is enough for 2 pieces of bread. Make sure the pan is on medium heat, or you'll end up scorching the toast too quickly. The bread only needs to be flipped once. You literally keep it on the heat for about a minute total, just enough to cook the egg and warm the nutella. So the secret ingredient I use in this is pure raw honey. I add it to the egg mixture and it brings out this wonderful taste to the final product. I ate this with a glass of OJ, and it totally jump-started my morning the right way.

What's in it:
-egg, sugar, honey, bread, bananas, nutella, powdered sugar (for garnish)

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Chipotle-Lime Egg White Omelette

 Let's get away from the dessert-y breakfast items. This here is an omelette. It's versatile, it's easy, it's filling. Need I say more? The omelette is the basic food item anyone should be able to make, regardless of your culinary skill, gender, or ethnicity. Yes, even boys can make them. I don't like using yolk...ever. A) That's like wayyy too much cholesterol, B) yolk somehow gives me acid reflux, C) I don't like yellow omelettes...they look fake. So I dump the yolk and use the whites only.

The key to getting delicious and fluffy omelettes is shown to the left. If your egg batter doesn't look like that, don't bother. You need all those bubbles on top because that means you've incorporated air into the batter. The more air = more fluff. Simple? Wonderful. To get to that consistency, you have to use a fork or a whisk (something that has holes and can let air through), and you gotta beat it for a couple minutes reaaaalllyyy quickly. It's all in the wrist. You shouldn't be using your elbow or arm. Anyhow, you're probably still weirded out by the lime. LIME IN EGGS? WHAT?! You heard right. The lime gives the eggs this amazingly, wondrous, and moist flavor; and it's the
                                                                                     perfect bed fellow for the sharp chipotle sting.

What's in it:
-egg whites, salt, cracked black pepper, powdered chipotle pepper, garlic powder, lime juice

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Chocolate-Cranberry Pancakes

 I woke up to an empty house and decided to drown my sorrows in something delicious. I loooove making pancakes because you can pretty much do anything you want with them. With these I added some dried cranberries and dark chocolate chips to the batter. Then topped it off with maple syrup, powdered sugar , and more cranberries for garnish. I love misshapen pancakes, because that adds character to them. I know, you're probably thinking "WHAT?? Nazia actually LIKES things that aren't straightened out and in order??" Believe it or not, it's true.

To get them to be realll fluffy and thick as shown in the picture to the left, I like to add milk. It binds the pancake together much better. Also, make sure the pan isn't too hot. It should be at max temp when you put the batter on, but immediately, turn the stove down to medium heat. And only flip ONCE. You can ruin pancakes easily by flipping too much. Oh, and NEVER press down on a pancake. You might as well eat a crepe.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Saadia was my inspiration for these, because she wanted me to re-create the ones from Starbucks. They're kind of difficult to get juuuuust right. It's hard to get the right amount of moisture in them, because the smallest error can cause them to become drier than anticipated. I've made them a couple times before, but they haven't been just perfect yet. The trick with these is to add the right kind of orange juice to the batter. It can't be pulpy or too bitter or too sweet. Simply Orange is a good one. DON'T try Minute Maid...that's too sour. Also, using dried cranberries versus fresh ones is better. Fresh cranberries tend to lose moisture when baked.    
I'll get these right one day.

What's in it:
-flour, baking powder, salt, butter, eggs, milk, orange zest, orange juice, dried cranberries, sugar

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