let's talk breakfast

I'm back from vacation, it was lovely, after all of the time that went into testing and perfecting a carrot cake my boyfriend requested ice cream cake, I surprised even myself when I pulled off a home made 5 layer ice cream cake, that recipe will come eventually, it needs some fine tuning still. I'm going to post my breakfast recipes separately so they are easier to search, I hope you enjoy!

Breakfast is hands down my favorite meal, I love it anytime of day, and I love visiting places like Chicago where brunch is served well into the afternoon. My early vegan days I pretty much gave up on breakfast, I thought I had to settle on oatmeal and fruit for the rest of my vegan days, but then I started doing some research and was relieved to find out how many options there really are, and to create a few of my own. Now I can enjoy oatmeal and fresh fruit instead of resenting it! Brekfast for the boyfriend and I is usually a feast including hashbrowns, tofu scramble, and biscuits and gravy. Isa Chnadra's tofu scramble is perfect as it is so I won't post a recipe.

Whatever you're making for breakfast always start with your potatoes, they take ages to properly cook.

Vegan Hash Browns (you can easily make breakfast potatoes instead, just chop instead of shred)

3 medium sized potatoes (this serves 2 if you have more use more)

1 tbsp earth balance

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Scrub your potatoes clean and toss them in the oven, no need to wrap them in foil or anything, this just jump starts the cooking process. Usually while my potatoes are in the oven I prep the other elements of breakfast. let your potatoes bake for at least 10 minutes and anywhere to 30 minutes, just don't let them get too soft. Pull them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes, while they are cooling heat a well seasoned skillet over medium heat, add the butter and oil so that they can heat up as well. Use a cheese grater to shred your potatoes.

Add the shredded potatoes to the hot skillet and top with the chili powder, seasoning salt, and pepper, spread the potatoes into an even layer and don't touch them for the first 7 minutes, this is the secret to crunchy delicious potatoes. After the 7 minutes go by use a spatula to flip them over so that the uncooked pieces are on the skillet and the crunchy pieces are facing up, then let them sit for another 7 minutes. If you like your has browns crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle you can continue to cook them this way until they are hot all the way through, but if you like uniform crispiness you can mix them all up so the middle can crisp too. Serve with salsa!