Belgian Waffles with Strawberries and Whipped Cream

We bought a waffle maker! Best $20 we ever spent... although we are trying to ignore that this purchase may make has already made us fatter! The next variation we hope to try is fried chicken and waffles... ha!

I have so far experimented with 2 recipes, and liked this one the best. They were fluffy yet crisp. My favorite toppings are strawberries and whipped cream, so I sliced strawberries and whipped up some cream for the toppings. I also sprinkled sugar on top :)

I may try this recipe again with 1/2 butter and 1/2 vegetable oil. I think with some added butter flavor, they would be even more delicious!

Ingredients

3/4 c. flour
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. buttermilk (or regular milk if you don't have buttermilk on hand)
1/4 c. milk
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 egg, separated into yolk and white
1 1/2 t. sugar
3/4 t. vanilla

Instructions.

Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir in buttermilk, milk, oil, egg yolk, and vanilla. Whip egg white and sugar in a separate bowl. Fold into batter mixture. Pour onto waffle iron. With our waffle iron, 1/3 c. batter is needed for each square waffle and the waffles are ready after 5 minutes in the waffle iron.

Baked French Toast

A while back, I made baked french toast.

It's really easy to make and quite delicious! I adapted the recipe from Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Baked French Toast, and you could adapt it however you would like to, too. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 loaf crusty bread (old bread that is not yet moldy works great!)
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 T vanilla
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/8 t. salt
• 1/2 stick butter, cut into cold pieces

Method:

Spray a round pie pan with olive oil spray. Cut bread into cubes and spread in pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Pour over bread. Let soak for at least 15 minutes, up to overnight.

In another bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the butter pieces into the dry mixture until it looks like fine pebbles.

Sprinkle flour/butter mixture over the bread mixgture. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

Serve with fresh berries,

and REAL maple syrup :)

Biscuits and Gravy

Last year, my friend Lisa introduced me to homemade biscuits and gravy. This recipe is super easy and quick to make as well as extremely delicious. We don't have it all the time because it is not the healthiest breakfast choice, but we do enjoy it every once in a while!

I start by baking one can of buttermilk biscuits according to the package directions.

Then, I slice the sausage into patties (or buy patties already made) and cook them in a pan over medium-high heat until they are done. You can use whatever amount of sausage you would like. When I am making this for two, I use about 1/2 lb., but for 4 people you would want to make a whole pound of sausage - two patties per person is usually a good amount. A variation would be to crumble the sausage instead of making it into patties - either way would end up tasting great!

After the sausage is cooked, I add a tablespoon or so of SmartBalance to the pork fat that is left in the pan. I want to end up with about 2T of fat in the pan, so I add more or less than 1T of SB to get to that amount.

I then add 2T of flour, let it cook for about a minute, and then whisk it into the butter mixture.

I pour in about a cup of milk and whisk it all together.

Then I add salt and pepper,

and let it cook until it gets thick.

I add more milk if it needs to be thinned out a bit, and then we assemble our plates. To assemble, open up a biscuit, place a sausage patty on top, and pour on the gravy! If you made crumbled sausage, you could just stir it into the gravy before pouring it over the biscuits. Jamie and I like to eat the extra biscuits with honey, and we like to eat a big fruit salad on the side! Enjoy!

 

Banana Bread

This is a recipe for some easy and delicious banana bread!

Mix together:
1/3 c. melted butter
3-4 ripe bananas

Then add:
1 c. sugar (I use 1/2 c. sugar and 1/2 c. Splenda)
1 egg
1 t. vanilla

Sprinkle on:
1 t. baking soda
pinch of salt

Last, stir in:
1 1/2 c. flour

Put in a greased loaf pan, and bake at 325 degrees for about an hour.

This recipe makes one regular-sized loaf or two mini-loaves.