Saturday, June 16, 2012

Sweet Potato Waffles

Waffle irons are great! I love how they nicely put orderly and symmetrical miniature squares into food, while cooking from both sides. That is, regular waffle irons. We had a Bugs Bunny novelty waffle iron, and everything that came out of it was flat. No fluff anywhere! Not at all as I imagined Bugs Bunny being like in real life, unless he became roadkill. So I got rid of it-good riddance. Last night my MIL gave me their old waffle iron (they had replaced it with a belgian-style iron), after I mentioned that I needed to look into getting a normal one. I was very excited, and these are the result of my first adventure with a regular waffle iron.

These sweet potato waffles are good. I topped them with butter and cinnamon for the boys this morning, but my imagination is running wild with many variations.

1 med sweet potato, peeled and shredded (use larger shred size if choice between two)
4 eggs
1.5 TBSP coconut flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
Dash salt

Grease and preheat you waffle iron.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl- batter should be a little wet, but not swimming.
Spoon into waffle iron. Cook for four minutes, or until slightly browned.

*A future variation I'm going to try will be with pumpkin pie spices and topped with freshly whipped cream, chopped bacon and sprinkled with cinammon and nuts. "Oh yeah!" (Think Kool-Aid guy)      ;o)


Monday, June 4, 2012

Watermelon smoothies

This is super easy! No recipe even needed, but I figured since the children enjoyed the smoothies so much, I'd post about them anyway.
*You can get light coconut milk from Trader Joe's for $.99, in bpa free cans. I just bulk it up with heavy cream, or sometimes even make my own coconut milk.

Food items suggested:
3 cups watermelon (or any melon/ fruit)
1 15oz can coconut milk (can use full fat or light. Make sure to shake it before opening!)
1/3 cup heavy cream (omit for dairy free, and use while can of coconut milk).

Method:
Chop watermelon into bite size pieces and freeze. After frozen, stick into a blender with heavy cream and 1/4 can of coconut milk, adding more a little at a time until blender works it in and is running smoothly.

*If you do not care for coconut milk, you can substitute unsweetened almond milk or your preference, but make sure to balance it out with more heavy cream for a fuller and more satiating treat. Same thing goes if you want to omit heavy cream. Add almond or other milk to get blender running smoothie-ly. ;o)


Friday, June 1, 2012

Vanilla Maple Custard

You will need a water bath in the oven for this recipe. I like to put my ceramic bowl that the custard will be baked in into the corning ware dish, as I fill it with water, for water displacement. I also leave the water bath in the oven as it preheats (not sure if this is a normal practice, but it makes sense to me).

Foods for assembling:
1.5 cups whole milk
.5 cups heavy cream
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 TBSP pure maple syrup
.5-.75 tsp pure stevia crystals ( I like Trader Joe's brand-they taste the least bitter to me).
Dash salt (I use Himilayan Pink Sea Salt).

Method:
Make your water bath before you begin, preheating it in the oven at 350 F.
Start recipe by heating milk and cream together on stove top at medium heat, whisking occasionally as you go.When slightly boiling and climbing sides of pan or milk rises a little in the middle, turn off and let cool. Skim any skin that forms as it cools (and eat! Cooked milk is yummy...).
Next, while waiting for milk to cook/cool, beat eggs, stevia, salt and vanilla together in a ceramic or oven safe dish (may also use individual custard cups for fancier presentation). Once you are able to stick your finger into the hot milk without getting too badly burned, add a little to the egg mixture, whisking as it streams in(trying to temper eggs a bit-about half a cup milk).  Then add the rest of milk/cream. After that, then whisk in maple syrup.
Place dish(es) into hot oven water bath. Bake for about 20-25 minutes before checking doneness with a butter knife at center. May need a few more minutes if knife doesn't come out cleanly. You can also choose to shut oven off after 20 minutes, leaving custard to cook in residual heat, if desired (woo-hoo! Power saver!) If you do this, let it sit an additional 30 minutes in oven.
Can eat custard hot, cold, for breakfast, for dessert, snack, let a puppy lick it off your toddler's face, etc. I ate mine after lifting weights this afternoon- garnished with Vietnamese cinnamon, nutmeg and raw cream.
Super yum.
P.S. I doubled my recipe and adjusted cook time accordingly, letting it rest in the oven longer.