Dairy Free, Gluten Free, possibly Vegan Waffles

I have had multiple requests for these waffles, so I'm going to post them here for anyone who would like the recipe. 

These are, hands down, the best waffles I have eaten.  The fact that they are dairy and gluten free is a bonus since those things make my tummy ache.  If you don't want to use eggs, you can make them vegan, too.  The original recipe that I adapted these from was vegan.  I threw in an egg because I think that whipped egg whites in waffles and pancakes makes them light and delicious, and I'm not vegan.  But if you are vegan, or don't have eggs on hand, or just have something against eggs, this recipe will be just as delicious, but slightly less crisp and airy, without the eggs.

The original recipe also used different flours - mainly brown rice flour, I believe, so feel free to play around with that portion of the recipe as well.  If you don't have any gluten issues, and don't want to mess around with three different, difficult to find flours (if you don't have your own personal grain mill, like I do) I bet that whole wheat pastry flour would be almost as nice.  If you'd like me to whip you up a batch of the flours used in this recipe, I'm happy to do that for you, too, just let me know.  I weigh my flour, so that I have an equal weight of each flour equaling 8 ounces total, but I know most people around here use cup measures, so I've used that in the recipe.

I always put a pureed vegetable, usually winter or summer squash, in any baked good I can.  I know this doesn't make them healthy, but it does make them delicious, and it never hurts to eat delicious vegetables.  The butternut squash in these waffles makes them extra moist and sweet (so I don't put any added sugar in).  I use any winter squash I have on hand, but butternut is the most reliably tasty in my experience (I have had some disappointing run ins with watery not terribly sweet pumpkin on occasion, although I've also been delightfully surprised as well).  How do you roast and puree winter squash?  Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, stick it in the toaster oven or oven at 350 cut side down until it is soft.  Scoop the flesh out of the shell and mash with a fork.  Voila!  All of that said, if you haven't got any winter squash on hand, these waffles will be almost as tasty without.

Finally, I ALWAYS double this recipe, sometimes quadruple.  Because really, who can eat just one of these waffles?  If I have leftovers I put them in the freezer in a plastic bag.  Take them out and put them in the toaster whenever I need a snack.  Samuel loves them in his lunch too.

Without any more ado:

Waffles

--1/4 cup buckwheat flour
--1/4 cup teff flour
--1/4 cup millet flour
--2 teaspoons baking powder
--1/4 teaspoon salt
--3 tablespoons melted coconut oil cooled (it can impart a weird flavor when mixed in hot)
--1/2-1 cup roasted pureed butternut squash
--3/4 cup coconut milk (or other milk of your choice)
--2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
--1 tablespoon lemon juice
--1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
--1 egg separated, whip the egg whites

Optional: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cloves, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg - makes them pumpkin spice waffles.  Grated lemon rind sprinkled over the top of each waffle before you close the iron, also yummy.  Sliced bananas added the same way, are heavenly, in my opinion, but other family members prefer apples or strawberries.  You can see where that line of thought can get you.  You can also add molasses, maple syrup or sugar (gasp!) if you would like a sweeter waffle.  You can also whip these up the night before (leaving out the eggs, and adding them in the next day).

1.  Preheat your waffle iron
2.  Combine dry ingredients (except for the flax).
3.  Whisk together the wet ingredients (this includes the butternut squash puree) and the flax.
4.  Mix wet and dry ingredients together.  Fold in egg whites.  Pour into waffle iron. Note: I find that I need to leave my waffles in past when my iron says they are done, I wait until most of the steaming has dissipated. 

First ride to school

Samuel just left for school.  Why is this significant?  I'm sitting here writing this blog post, and Samuel is on his bike by himself.  I had to run after him to give him a hug and a kiss.  He was already on his way without a look back.  I either get a pat on the back for raising a confident and reliable kid who knows how to navigate the road and cars by himself (he is still riding on the sidewalk, but still, he has to cross multiple streets and LOTS of driveways) OR I'm the most negligent mother on earth.  I'm voting for the first one.  Proud and anxious at the same time.

That said, I texted a dad that I know who is always at drop off to ask him to tell me when Samuel gets there safe and sound :)

Steve Went to Japan

Way back in February Steve went to Japan.  I'll let him caption his pictures, if he feels like it.

Some 2012-2013 school year photos

This is video of one of Samuel's school "sings".

 Samuel's class led the Pledge of Allegiance in front of the whole school

 Shira's class hatched some chicks

 Shira loved holding them

 Samuel's class went on a field trip to the fire station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Another "sing"

Hmm, waiting for lunch?  Don't have any idea what this one is. 

I think the next three are from the last day of school.

 

 

 Lego creations from Samuel's bday party

 

 

Peaches! Pears! Nectarines! Tomatoes! Raspberries!

We came home to an extremely overgrown garden and a lot of ripe and over ripe fruit.  We've harvested more than 50 peaches with more to come.  Their flavor is good, but the texture is a little mealy.  The nectarines and raspberries and pears are amazing.  Pictures to come.

Minnesota Lake trip and Grandma's and Grandpa's

 

 We had the opportunity to stay in a lake house for a week, so we invited Peter, Cindy, Ben and Jonah to join us for the quintessential Minnesota experience.

 

I did not take any pictures of the mosquito bites, but rest assured, we did have that quintessential Minnesota experience as well.

The cousins had a great time together reading books 

 

 

 There was a lot of running around, and general silliness 

 Uncle Peter made sure Samuel and Shira had their first experience with fireworks

 Shockingly, no burns or trauma occurred.  There was a lot of discussion about Steve's scarring fireworks experience as a child.

Note the scratching of mosquito bites 

 

And Steve applies mosquito repellant to the kids, yet again.  Where'd that deet go? 

 And we had the opportunity to introduce Ben and Jonah to their first s'mores experience.

Hmm... I think they liked them

 Eating breakfast together

One rainy day we went to the movies - Monsters University - Shira's first movie

And Cindy had the pleasure of driving the kids back, crammed in the backseat of her car.

The lake house came equipped with plenty of toys and games

We provided the necessary craziness

When the Brooklyn Kafkas left, it sucked a lot of life out of the house.  The kids really missed their cousins, and the lake house became very quiet.  It took about a day for us to change gears and get back to enjoying our much smaller family again.

 

Samuel went to mini golf for the first time at camp this summer and loved it, so when we drove past a Pirate miniature golf course on our way up to the lake, we were pretty sure we would be returning to give Shira her first crack at it. 

 We started out taking score, but the competitive nature of one of the smaller family members made that NOT FUN AT ALL.  Things got better when we got rid of the score card.

 Shira had a hard time deciding whether she was a lefty or a righty.  We seemed to really hit our stride on the last hole.  The kids loved starting over and over again, to see if they could get a hole in one.  We probably stayed on the last hole about as long as we were on the entire rest of the course.

 

 

 

The combination of some yucky weather plus Shira's and my extreme aversion to mosquito bites that swell and take over our entire bodies, drove us inside and inspired what was ironically and inarguably the biggest hit of the whole trip - an indoor waterpark at a hotel.  Not surprisingly, we pretty much had the place to ourselves - I mean, who goes to an indoor water park in July in Minnesota?  The answer - California tourists whose children love to swim, but are tired of running away from mosquitoes.  Anyway, the place was empty, we never had to wait in line for the water slides, it was blessedly climate controlled, the water was clean because we were practically the only ones there, they ignored the size requirements for the waterslides, so Shira could go down on her own and Samuel didn't have to wear a life vest, and Shira learned how to pop out of the water while swimming and take a breath to continue swimming.  We all had a fantastic time.

It wouldn't be a trip to Northern Minnesota without a few Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox sitings

 

In a fit of brilliance 50 years ago, a business owner in the sleepy town of Nisswa brainstormed the idea of turtle racing for tourists to bring people into town and away from the lakes in order to spend money at local businesses. Nisswa continues to hold the races every Wednesday during the summer season, and we attended on our last day at the lake.  Steve couldn't believe that they truly draw in over 500 people a week to race turtles, but they did indeed.  And those are just the actual racers, not counting the family/spectators.  For 4 bucks you get a button and the privilege of renting a turtle for a race or two.  They capture the turtles from the wild in April and May, race them in June, July and August, then return them to the lakes.  Completely bizarre, but it works.  I'm sure many people spent money they had no intention of spending in downtown Nisswa.   

The inner white circle is where they stage the buckets of turtles before each race.  The racers stand between the inner white circle and the yellow circle.  The turtles start at the first yellow circle, and the first one to make it to the outer yellow "Finish" circle, is the winner.  The outer white line is the "Spectator" line - spectators can't cross. 

 

The mascot - can't remember his name. 

 

The turtles 

 

 

 

 

 Picking a turtle to race

Getting ready to race 

 

Getting the turtle out  

 

 

 

 You pour water on the turtle to try and make them move (hopefully toward the finish line)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And the next morning we got up, packed up the car, and headed to Grandma's and Grandpa's house.

 

The kids have their favorites that they like to do on every trip to Grandma's and Grandpa's, like the Zoo,

the Science Museum, the Children's Theater

 and ice cream at Sebastian Joe's. 

There always a few new things to do too - this time we happened to be in town for the Aquatennial (I know, I have know idea what it is either) and had the opportunity to watch people race boats they had made out of milk cartons.  I don't know what was more fun, watching the people on the boats that fall apart end up in the drink, watching the boats that were super fast make it to the finish line, or listening to the talking head announcer with her super cute Minnesota accent.

The guys in the picture above looked like they were about to sink the whole time.  Someone fell off the moment they got into the water.  The life guards were so convinced their boat was going to fall apart, they've got two canoes following them.

The long boat in the above picture has been winning for 15 years.  Pretty impressive since most boats are lucky if they hold up for 15 minutes.

And the newest greatest toy at G & G's is the Lego train!  Hours of fun to build and use.

  

 

 

We tried out a new pool.  This one had an obstacle course, and looser rules on their waterslides.  Samuel has inspired me to be much braver - he always wants me or Steve to go first, and how can I say no? 

 

 Shira loved the whale slide, as well as the big waterslides.

 And bedtime wouldn't be bedtime at G&G if they didn't read the bedtime stories