Ahh Sundays..lazy lazy Sundays.  On this particular Sunday the only people home were my brother and myself. Naturally we both slept in and then inquired about our hunger once we arose.  I love hearty meals in the morning (or in this case early afternoon) and Sundays usually call for Brunch.  I decided I wanted to have a little fun in the kitchen so I made mint-chocolate chip pancakes and tofu scramble with peppers and onions.  Adding cheese to it made it yellow so it looked just like scrambled eggs. You don’t even miss the taste of real eggs. For the pancakes, syrup isn’t even required as the chocolate chips give it enough sweetness…

Mint-Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- 2 cup pancake mix
- 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips
- water

We had a large bag of Krusteez Pancake mix so I just used that. In a bowl add pancake mix and water and stir until you get a nice thick batter. If it’s too thick keep adding water, if it’s too thin then add more mix. Some people like to add chocolate chips while one side of the pancake is cooking, but I like to throw it in the batter. The decision though is up to you. Add chocolate chips to batter.

Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. When the pan is nice and hot, ladle batter onto pan. Heat until batter has set and turned a nice golden butter color. Flip over to cook other side. Remove from heat and plate. Repeat process until all batter is used up.

Tofu Scramble
- 1 large block extra firm tofu
- 1/4 cup red peppers diced
- 1/4 cup green peppers diced
- 1/4 cup yellow peppers diced
- 1/4 cup onions diced
- 1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese – optional (soy cheese)
- salt and pepper to taste
- avocado slices (optional)

Heat a pan on medium-high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Remove block of tofu from water. There’s no need to dry the tofu because you’ll want it to be soft enough to break down. The water will evaporate as it cooks. Using a spatula, break tofu block up into chunks. Once you have a bunch of chunks, using the flat side of the spatula, press down on chunks to slightly flatten and break up to achieve a crumbly “scrambled” texture. Add peppers, onions, salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes until veggies are tender. Turn heat down to low. Add cheese straight onto tofu in the pan. With your spatula fold into tofu & veggies with the cheese. The cheese will melt within the hot tofu and give it a yellow color. One all cheese is melted remove from heat and plate. Add avocado slices on top.

I had an entire loaf of banana bread and no one around to eat it. Rather than just simply eat it slice by slice I wanted to try something different.  I had a craving for french toast so I figured why not try it with the banana bread? I made it a bit healthier than traditional french toast by not dipping it in egg but rather using soymilk and flour and topping it with fresh berry compote as opposed to syrup. If you’re not familiar with compote, think of it almost like a fruit stew; a bit chunky but still liquidy. I guarantee it’s just as good if not better than traditional french toast

Banana Bread (Note: I had already made this bread myself but you can also purchase from the store if you’d like — if you buy from the store skip down to the french toast instructions)

- 3-4 ripe bananas smashed (you know when it’s ripe when the outer peel is completely or nearly all brown)
- 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup melted butter (or unsalted margarine)
- 3/4 cup sugar (raw sugar or sugar substitute)
- 1 egg (egg substitute)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- dash of salt

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a mixer (or you can do by hand with a spatula/wooden spoon in a bowl) mix butter and mashed bananas. Add the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Then add all the dry ingredients: baking soda, salt and flour. Mix all ingredients together. Butter or spray non-stick spray to your load pan. Place in oven and bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until the bread passes the toothpick test. Then remove from oven and allow to cool. Remove from bread from pan and slice.

French Toast-ing
- 1 cup plain soy milk (or you can use vanilla)
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- unsalted margarine

Heat a pan on medium-high heat. Melt some unsalted margarine in the pan. In a shallow dish add soy milk, flour and cinnamon. Gently whisk to incorporate flour into milk. Dip each slice of banana bread in soy milk mixture. Place each slice on buttered pan. Cook until golden brown and then flip over to other side. If you need to add more margarine continue to do so. Once both sides are golden brown remove from pan and plate

Mixed Berry Compote
- 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/4 cup fresh raspberries
- 1/4 cup fresh strawberries with the tops cut off and quartered
- 1/4 cup sugar (raw sugar/sugar substitute)
- 2 tbsp water

heat a small sauce pot on medium-high heat. Add berries and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Add water and sugar and allow sugar to full absorb in the liquid. Cook for 2-3 more minutes to allow to thicken. Remove from heat an allow to cool for 1-2 minutes. Ladle immediately after on top of banana bread french toast & enjoy!