Nut Butter & Banana French Toast

   April 1st!!!
   Today is April Fool's Day, but today also marks the beginning of Autism Awareness Month! 
   I have been woefully negligent of my blog lately....my life is suddenly very busy! I always like to keep busy, and that often included working away at the blog, but lately I've been for realz busy, and haven't had any time to sit and blog! Thumbs down emoji.
   Anyway, I really, really, really plan/hope to at least get some autism posts up every Thursday of this month (Thursdays are/were my usual day to chat and share about raising a boy with autism), because I want to keep making more and more people aware of autism and what it is, what it looks like & how to 'handle' it.
   Anyway, I'm way off base from french toast right now! 
   French toast! A delicious meal idea made better by turning it into a "monte carlo" type french toast. A monte carlo is when you make a meat and cheese sandwich (with mayo and mustard), then dip it into an egg and milk mixture, and fry it until it's golden and delightful. This breakfast version has nut butter and banana made into a sandwich, dipped in an egg and milk mixture, then fried with a sprinkle of cinnamon, then you eat it with syrup, as you would any french toast!  

Banana & Nut Butter French Toast

Ingredients:

• 2 slices of bread (we've used 'regular' bread, sprouted grain breads, and gluten free breads, all work well)
• Nut butter (any kind!)
• Banana, one will do, but you really only need 1/2-3/4 (I've also made this with thiny sliced apple too, and that is mmm mmm good!)
• 1 egg
• 1-2 Tbsp milk
• Cinnamon
• Grease for the pan

Method:

1. Heat pan/griddle on medium heat
2. Assemble your sandwich by putting your nut butter on both pieces of bread, then slices your banana and arranging them onto one of the pieces. Then slap the other piece of bread on top-obviously you want the nut butter facing in to the banana. I'm not sure I had to say that...but just in case....
3. Now, whisk your egg and milk in a bowl that you can fit the sandwich into (it doesn't have to fit completely, but enough room to move the sandwich around and get it well coated)
4. Place the prepared sandwich into the egg and milk mixture, being sure to flip the sandwich and get all of the bread soaked. When we use sprouted grain bread, it helps to prick the sandwich with a fork to get it to absorb the egg & milk mixture better
5. Add some grease (butter or coconut oil taste the nicest) to the warmed pan and allow it to melt
6. Carefully take the soaked sandwich out of the egg/milk mixture (depending on the bread you used it can get soggy and hard to lift out) and place onto the hot griddle
7. Sprinkle some cinnamon onto the side of the sandwich facing up, and leave the sandwich to fry and get nice and golden
8. Flip the sandwich once the first side is looking good (just lift a corner to check), and sprinkle this new side with some cinnamon
9. If your sandwich looks nice and toasty, but the nut butter hasn't melted to your liking, just place a lid on the pan, and turn off the heat. Let the sandwich sit and melt for a minute or two
10. Put your deee-lish masterpiece onto a place and drizzle (or drown!) with syrup!
11. Hazaa! 

   So, as I mentioned in the ingredients list, this super-filling monte carlo style french toast can be adapted a few ways. We've used peanut butter, cashew butter, & almond butter. We've also used sprouted grain bread, 'regular' bread, and gluten free bread. And one of my favourite variations is to use thinly sliced apples in place of the banana. So good. 
   I have, incidentally, never made an actual monte carlo sandwich, but perhaps I will some time. It seems like it would be very yummy! 
   Alright, well, that's it!