Pumpkin French Toast and Skinnygirl Sangria - Brunch Day Ozzified

Made an Ozzified and simplified version of Carla Hall’s Pumpkin French Toast with the Apple Cider Syrup and washed it down with an Ozzified version of Daphne’s cocktail for brunch on Sunday.  Both were great hits and far less calories than the ones shown on The Chew last Friday.

If it seems odd that I was able to Ozzify something Daphne Oz made, it isn’t. I made only a couple of tweaks but saved a huge amount of calories. Organic blueberries, organic peach chunks, organic strawberries, organic grapes, and melon chunks (they’re peeled so organic is unnecessary, IMHO) were frozen in some fruit juice for half of the guests & the rest were frozen in Crystal Light for the people who were calorie counting. Daphne had used peach puree with sugar – my fruit cubes had no added sugar and maintained their inulin-rich fiber because they weren’t pureed.

I used sparkling mineral water because it has extra calcium – a bonus we learned on today’s The Chew because calcium when consumed with inulin is great for your bones. I also used Bethenny Frankel’s SkinnyGirl White Sangria for the alcohol – it only has 26.4 calories per ounce which is lower than most other sangrias. Some drank it with the sparking water and some drank it with only the sangria.

It came as no surprise that Carla’s Pumpkin French Toast and Apple Cider Syrup was in need of a major Ozzification to be served in my home.  

I simplified & Ozzified making the syrup by 

• reducing organic apple cider with blue agave nectar and a little cornstarch
• Using Omega 3 buttery spread instead of butter 

Spicing pecans looked like too much bother, so all I did was throw in some rough chopped walnuts (I didn’t have any pecans) into the syrup just before it was finished reducing. Not only was it easier, but it saved a lot of calories as well.

I made the pumpkin mixture the night before and soaked the bread in it overnight as Carla suggested, but I used 

• vanilla coconut milk instead of milk
• vanilla soy creamer instead of cream
• whole grain bread instead of challah
• nonstick spray instead of butter for the griddle 
• omitted the sugar and vanilla because there was already sugar and vanilla in the coconut milk and soy creamer. 

Even with all these Ozzifications, the bread souffled into a light and delicious treat tasting just like Carla said it would - like a pumpkin doughnut.