Vanilla Yogurt French Toast

Because Zach's Pediatrics rotation this month doesn't required him to leave the house quite so alarmingly early in the morning as his surgery rotation, for which he had to pull out of the driveway at 5AM each day, I've recently acquired the convivial habit of fixing Zach a "proper" breakfast each morning when I arrive home from work.

As we chat in the kitchen and cherish the morning's imbricative moments in our otherwise opposite work schedules, Zach is typically used to the fact that I might become a wee bit dotty as the week progresses and the number of days I've gone without sleep increases, but this morning, arriving home at the completion of my usual weekly 3 to 4 days without sleep, I was even more incoherent than normal... I shuffled upstairs, changed out of my scrubs, perched on the edge of the bed to chat with Zach as I usually do before trotting back downstairs to start rattling pots and pans... except this time, I promptly fell asleep, perched precariously at the foot of our rather tall 4-poster bed. When Zach gently shook me awake a few minutes later, I proceeded to inform him "Darlin', the fridge is in your lunch."

I actually have no recollection of this event - Zach told me the story 2 hours later when he called the house to make sure I was still breathing, as my lack of coherency had apparently given him a bit of a scare... (it seems I also repeatedly asked him the day of the week, and then appeared recurrently confused by the answer... Even more alarmingly, Zach says I kept trying to climb out of bed, saying I was going to fix him breakfast, but without ever once opening my eyes...)

While I don't have a medical history of sleepwalking, I like to think that had I been allowed to sleep-cook breakfast, I would have managed to whip up a batch of healthful vanilla yogurt French toast without dropping a single slice of our favorite sprouted grain bread, but alas, for the safety of our house and our lives I was prevented from attempting... No worries, I shall simply fix this glorious, creamy, nutritious version of classic French toast for Zach tomorrow morning!

Vanilla Yogurt French Toast

4 egg whites, beaten

1 cup fat free plain yogurt

1/4 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp cinnamon

8 slices whole grain bread (our favorite for French toast is a sprouted grain bread, such as Ezekiel)

~ Whisk together the egg whites, yogurt, honey, vanilla, and cinnamon, and pour the mixture into a large shallow baking pan big enough to hold all 8 slices of bread.

~ Set the bread slices into the yogurt mixture in the pan, allow them to soak for a minutes, then flip them over and allow them to soak for 5 minutes, gently pressing them down into the yogurt.

~ Coat a large skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium high heat. Transfer 4 slices of bread to the skillet and toast until golden brown.

~ Flip the slices over, and quickly pour half the remaining yogurt sauce over the bread slices. When the second side has toasted golden brown as well, flip the toast over once more, briefly, just until the additional sauce has "set" and thickened a bit, thus allowing the egg whites to cook.

~ Repeat the procedure with the remaining 4 slices of bread and remaining half of the yogurt sauce.

~ Serve the French toast immediately, just as they are or with a dollop of whipped cream to be especially festive...