Homemade Croutons

For one of my New Year's Resolutions, I vowed to eat smarter and spend smarter this year.  As a result, I've been trying to eat more salads to keep trim but be more resourceful with toppings, which leads me to make yummy homemade croutons!!!  These are great because the ingredients are easy to find but also easily substitutable with others if you don't have them.

Here's an easy, step-by-step recipe:

What you'll need:

• Plain sandwich bread (I use 2 slices.)
• PAM (or any light oil, preferably one that can be sprayed)
• Garlic powder
• A toaster oven
• Foil
• Toaster pan/tray

Steps:

1. Cover the pan with foil to avoid messy situations later.  Makes for a quick clean up!

2.  Break down the bread in however large pieces you want and put the pieces on the foil-covered pan.  You can even leave the bread whole to have garlic bread!





3.  Use the Pam and lightly spray all the pieces.  This will give the bread some crisp later.

4.  Sprinkle the garlic powder on the bread.  What's great about making your own croutons is that you can control how much oil and garlic you want on them!

5.  Pop the pan in the toaster oven to toast until they are brown. (Approximately 3 minutes.)

6.  Turn all the pieces over.

7. Repeat steps 2 and 3: spray with Pam and sprinkle with garlic.

8.  Put the pan back in the toaster to toast, but because the oven is already hot, make sure that you put it in for a shorter time than before, just until they start browning.  (Approximately 1.5 minutes.)


9.  VOILA! :)  Croutons.

Seeing Red

One of my favorite colors is red because it adds a pop of color to everything.  Here begins my color series... :)  Enjoy!

Lanvin for H&M necklace -- so dramatic! :)

The sands of time

Sales!!!  Gotta love them.

Testing lipstick colors isn't easy, guys

So tempted to turn the wheel

Mmm... hot sauce.

Valentine's displays are up!

Winter (Break) Wind Down

My month-long break has finally come to a close, but not before visiting the mall, shopping around Costco, discovering the joys of MultiGrain Cheerios, having fun in snow and hanging out with a long-time friend.

 

Neapolitan ice cream + MultiGrain Cheerios = ice cream cone in a bowl.

Bubble Tea! :)

At Eggspecation again... :)

A Food Story

One wintry day...

... I trekked up to a far-away land called

BALTIMORE!  Charm City!  Home of...

Walking along, I smelled delicious aromas of toast and brunch, leading me to a lovely little place called

How delightful!  I only just saw it on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  What great timing!  The wait was long, so they sent us to a nearby coffee shop, Java-Roo, to enjoy coffee on them!

They even had menus lying around for our perusal.

A while later, my friend and I sauntered over to the cafe and were eventually seated:

Heavenly?  Oh I'm sure... :)

The decor was, as Mariah Carey would say, "festive"

Hash browns... yuuum.

The delicious Maryland Crab Potato Stack

But the main attraction was...

My famous stack o' toast

... the delicious Cap'n Crunch encrusted French Toast with whipped cream, fresh fruits, and sausage.


A few close-ups:

Full and satisfied, we happily headed home...

... with leftovers to boot! :D


Bye bye Baltimore! Hasta luego!  A bientôt!

*Note: This trip was definitely planned.  Couldn't resist visiting! :)