BREAKFAST ON A BUDGET

RECIPES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE MARTHA STEWART ONLY SMARTER AND BETTER.

VANILLA FRENCH TOAST

Today you get a two-in-one blog but that's only because both of these recipes are so simple and easy to make that it didn't seem to make sense putting them both on their own separate post. The first one, Vanilla French Toast, is only called that because you add vanilla to the eggs and milk before you whisk them together to make the french toast. Just a note here to those of you who wonder where French toast came from. The answer is: I don't know but I don't think it came from France. I spent some time there in my earlier years and I don't ever remember seeing a single breakfast of French toast the entire time I was there. Most French people don't even have breakfast or, if they do, it's something as simple as a croissant and some cafe au lait. It may have been invented by some enterprising French Canadian, but I doubt it. There is really nothing French about it, but it's good and it's easy to make and relatively cheap, to boot, so let's not worry about the French part. Here's how you do it:

1 C. milk, cream or half and half--whichever you prefer

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

dash salt

2 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. cinnamon and sugar, mixed together

1/3 C. real maple syrup

2 sliced bananas

2-4 slices dry bread slices

1. Mix the milk or cream, the eggs and the vanilla together until they are completely frothy and yellow.

2. On a hot griddle, melt 1 tbsp. of butter. Dredge the bread slices in the egg mixture. Cook on one side. Melt the other tbsp. of butter and flip the bread over to cook on the other side.

3. When it's done, sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the top, slice some bananas over the toast and pour syrup on. Serves 2-3. Enjoy!

BISCUITS AND GRAVY WITHOUT THE BISCUITS

Some mornings you really want to make biscuits and gravy but you just don't want to go to all the trouble of making biscuits and you don't happen to have the refrigerated kind in a can on hand. Here's the next best thing and it's rather ingenious if I do say so myself. Here's how you make it:

1/3 lb. sausage

2 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. salt

2 C. milk, cream or half and half

2 slices toast

1. Cook the sausage over medium high heat. When all the pink is gone, drain off the fat and return it to the pan.

2. Add the flour and stir in well.

3. Add the milk or cream and keep stirring until it thickens up.

4. I like to use fat-free half and half because you get the feeling you're being healthy even if you really aren't.

5. Keep stirring and meanwhile make some toast.

6. Now take out the toast, find a big ring from a canning jar lid and use it to cut out rounds from the toast.

7. Now pile the sausage mixture on the rounds, one at a time. You can pile up as many as you want depending on how much sausage you decide to cook and how many people you are feeding.

Serve it with fruit or scrambled eggs or both--whatever sounds good to you. Serves 1-2. Enjoy!