Whole Wheat Waffle recipe and the search for a great waffle iron

Our waffle iron, a Mother's Day gift from many years ago, finally died. Unfortunately, the Teflon started to flake off into our waffles. This made me very sad, so we are on the search for a new waffle iron, a massive iron that can handle frequent use and many mouths to feed (We are a family of six now). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated in the comment section below.  This recipe also almost fits right in with our diet, "The Harcombe Diet" (except for the eggs, still working on that one).
Ingredients:
4 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry flour
2 TBSP Baking powder
2 tsp Sea Salt
4 eggs, separated
4 TBSP olive oil
4 TBSP Greek Yogurt
1 TBSP vanilla extract
4 Cups Skim Milk

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, blend together milk, oil, yogurt and egg yolks.

Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients, and blend. Beat the egg whites until stiff.

Fold gently into batter.

Bake in a hot waffle iron until brown or unlike us, if you are without a waffle iron, a frying pan works just as well.

Instead of syrup, I heat 2 cups frozen blueberries and 1/2 unsweetened applesauce in a saucepan to make a sauce to pour over waffles. Other ideas for waffle or even pancake toppings that my family loves are no sugar jam or jelly, flavored Greek yogurt, or organic maple syrup.

Healthy Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients:

4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
3 1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c. flavored Greek yogurt or 3/4 c. apple sauce
3 1/2 c. milk
4 TBSP baking powder
2 Tsp salt
6 eggs

Directions:

Blend whole wheat pastry flour and milk with beater for 4 minutes and then add all the other ingredients and blend 4 more minutes.

Let the batter sit for 2 minutes. Pour on hot griddle. Batter will keep in refrigerator for 1 week. May need to thin with a little milk.

Blueberry Corn Griddle Cakes

For a slow weekend morning with lots more time to make a special breakfast for the kids, we are enjoying griddle cakes. I guess the best way to describe this special breakfast is to compare it to pancakes except with cornmeal. A healthy alternative to the over processed and over sugared pancakes of our previous diet. I must admit that this recipe is not mine originally, but a recipe from my favorite vegan cook Christina Pirella, from "Christina Cooks". I tweaked her recipe a little bit, so notice any notes for changes.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I wonder how this would taste with corn flour substituted for those with gluten allergies?)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
generous pinch sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
grated zest of 1 orange (original recipe calls for zest of 1 lemon)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (Christina calls for brown rice vinegar, but currently not in my cupboards)
2 TBSP light olive oil
1 1/2 to 2 cups skim milk (Christina calls for 1-2 cups of vanilla soy milk)
1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries thawed and well drained (Christina calls for fresh blueberries, but right now out of season and very expensive)

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder.

Mix in lemon zest, rice vinegar, and 2 tablespoons oil. Slowly mix in milk to create a thin batter.  I like my batter thin rather than thick so I tend to add a little over 2 cups of milk.

This is after one cup of milk.

After 1 1/2 cups milk.

Zest of orange using a micro-planer.

The final step is to gently fold in the blueberries or your batter will turn blue. I did not drain the frozen blueberries, so as you can see from my photo, the batter is a little blue. Oh Well!

Lightly oil (with olive oil) a griddle or skillet and warm over medium heat. Spoon batter onto hot griddle to form 3 inch rounds and cook until golden. I like to use a soup ladle to scoop the batter into the pan.

Flip each pancake and cook until golden. Serve smothered in the applesauce/blueberry sauce or organic maple syrup. See recipe below for the sauce.

Sauce:
all natural applesauce 1-1/2 cup (I use homemade applesauce)
1 cup blueberries frozen
Cook over medium heat until heated through and saucy.

(Christina calls for Suzanne's Specialties Blueberry Rice Nectar, but of course this item is currently not available in my kitchen so I improvised with the above sauce.)

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes (Tripled)

 Love Saturday Mornings!

A Saturday morning is a great time to make a healthy breakfast of banana pancakes for this family, especially with our busy week day mornings and four bananas ripe and ready for a recipe! I am officially at 35 weeks pregnant and looking to make double or even triple of recipes to put in the freezer for healthy meals after the baby comes. So this morning, I tripled my normal banana pancake recipe and added oatmeal for some extra texture (I have some in my cabinet that should be used soon before it goes stale). Here is the tripled recipe ingredient list below. My original whole wheat banana pancakes recipe will feed my family of 5 for one meal only. 

Great Reasons for this Recipe!

The kids love to help with this recipe! Another reason I love this recipe is that the only sweetener involved is Honey and only a small amount. The overly ripe black speckled bananas add a natural sweetness as well. Another great reason I love pancakes on the weekends and making an over abundance is that the kids can just pop them in the toaster during the week before school for a quick and healthy breakfast. 

The Toppings!

To my husbands dismay, I no longer purchase pancake syrup...I don't like serving my family high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners for various reasons, so instead my kids can choose from various toppings such as nonfat yogurt with natural fruit, unsweetened natural apple or pear sauce, natural peanut butter (without the added sugar), natural jelly sweetened with fruit juice, or sometimes I make my own fruit compote' with applesauce and berries. My husband likes to sneak the honey from the cupboard and substitute that for the pancake syrup or mix it with his unsweetened peanut butter. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as my family does!

Ingredients:

3 c. whole wheat flour
6 tsp. baking powder

3/4 c. oatmeal (not the instant kind)
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp of kosher salt
3 c. skim milk

3 TBSP honey
4-5 mashed, ripe bananas
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Dear Daughter mashing away! Soon it will be Dear Son's turn.

Peel the bananas, place in a bowl, and mash with a fork. My kids take turns with this job, because it's "hard work" or so they say;) Combine the first 6 ingredients, all dry ingredients. Stir well.

All the dry ingredients.

Combine milk and next 4 ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring until smooth.

Dear Son stirring the wet ingredients...if the batter
is too thick add more milk to thin.

 I use a soup ladle to pour the batter into a well oiled frying pan or griddle set to medium high heat. Flip the pancakes when you notice bubbling in the batter. Yields: 24-30 (4 inch) pancakes.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Josh keeps telling me for his birthday all he wants is cereal and milk, but that is not a very special birthday breakfast for my little man, so I decided to whip up some banana pancakes....I think he still wants the cereal (he loves his cereal), but this is still a great recipe.  With only 1 cup of milk added to the recipe, the pancakes are thick. If you wish for them to be a little thinner, add a touch more milk.

1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cinnamon
dash of salt
1 c. skim milk

1 TBSP honey
1/2 c. mashed, ripe banana (1 banana)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten

Combine first 5 ingredients. Stir well. Combine milk and next 4 ingredients. Add to dry ingredients, stirring until smooth. Yield: 9 (4 inch) pancakes.

Healthy Whole Wheat Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 c. whole wheat
1 c. milk
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c. milk
4 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
Blueberries
Bananas

Directions:

Blend whole wheat and milk in blender for 4 minutes and then add all the other ingredients and blend 4 more minutes and then let sit for 2 minutes. Pour on hot griddle and place fruit on each cake as fast as possible. Batter will keep in refrigerator for 1 week. May need to thin with a little milk.

I found this recipe at http://www.pancakes-recipes.com and found the texture much better than a recipe I was using from the vegan cook Christina. The kids and I loved the flavor, but Sean not so much, so I think next I will try 1/4 cup apple or pear sauce and 1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil instead of the 1/2 cup required by recipe. It may add some sweetness for his taste buds or maybe 1-2 TBSP of honey.

Breakfast - Denver Omelet

In the mornings, since we are trying to cut carbs, cereal and milk are out for Phase One of our diet. This morning's treat, a Denver omelet with lots of vegetables to fill our tummies for a busy day. This meal is actually one serving. Sean thought this was too much food and put half in the fridge for tomorrow morning. If you have a good non stick frying pan, you may not even need the olive oil.

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons bell pepper, red, chopped
• 3 tablespoons bell pepper, green, chopped
• 3 tablespoons tomato, optional
  
• 2 ounces ham, lean, reduced sodium
• 2 eggs, large
• 2 egg whites, uncooked
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• sea salt to flavor
  

Preparation

Lightly coat skillet with oil and heat over medium high heat. Sauté onion, bell peppers, tomatoes and ham until onion becomes transparent. Meanwhile, beat eggs and egg whites with a pinch of black pepper. Reduce heat to medium and slowly stir the eggs into skillet. Lightly brown on each side. Transfer to plate and serve. Enjoy with a glass of water or herbal tea.