Celebrate Green Blog

I use miniature syrup pitchers so the boys don't go crazy pouring half a bottle of syrup on their plate and wasting a lot of it.

I used to buy frozen French toast sticks for my boys. They were easy to heat up, and the boys loved them. Then I started reading nutrition and ingredient labels. High fructose corn syrup and a host of unpronounceable ingredient names made me think twice about buying them (take a look at the ridiculously long ingredient list for Farm Rich French Toast Sticks). I stopped buying them. The boys still ask for them, though, so I decided to see if I could make my own.

Because I wanted nice thick sticks of bread, I made a basic loaf of white bread in my bread machine overnight. The house smelled so good when we woke up, and it was hard not to slice into the bread and just slather it with butter, but we refrained. When the bread cooled, I sliced it into the size that I wanted, and made an egg and milk mixture to dip them into. Then, I baked them in the oven. The boys and my husband really loved them.

I ended up with 28 French toast sticks that were quite thick and filling. The boys both think that 3 or 4 of them along with some fruit on the side would make a good breakfast. The sticks  freeze well and can be reheated in the microwave or a toaster oven. Like with any recipe you can make this organic by using organic ingredients. If you can’t afford all ingredients in their organic form, try to at least get the eggs and the milk organically (or buy from a trusted that farms sustainably).

Directions for Bread

Ingredients for bread machine bread (please follow the instructions for your specific bread machine). The recipe is the French Honey Bread from The Bread Machine Cookbook.

• 1 1/8 c water
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 c bread flour
• 2 tsp yeast

Directions for homemade French Toast Sticks (adapated from Food.com)

Ingredients

• Thick bread sliced into long thick slices about 1 inch in diameter (You don’t need to make your own. Any whole loaf of bread sliced thickly will work)
• 1/4 c melted butter
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 c milk
• 3/4 tsp vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick spray.
3. Mix butter, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, milk and vanilla in a large bowl.
4. Dip sliced bread into the egg mixture and then spread evenly on the cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the outsides are crisp.
6. Serve immediately or freeze. You can flash freeze the entire tray in the freezer and then place individually frozen sticks in a freezer proof container. That way they won’t stick together when you take them out of the freezer.