Vegan, gluten free waffles

Yeah, yeah, I know. I've been gone a long time. Blogging has definitely been on the back burner. I am not going to give excuses or apologize. Life is crazy and I'm making a concerted effort to return to the blogging world. I swear. :)

In place of my excuses, I bring you a new recipe! It is 100% my own, perfected finally after a number of trials. The reason I came up with my own waffle recipe is 1. My daughter loves her waffles and 2. At least for the time being, she needs to be GF. All the GF waffle recipes I have tried thus far produced less than stellar results. They were either too oily, too dry, stuck to my waffle maker and split in half, etc etc etc. I have had J on a GF diet since September and only now have I perfected her beloved waffles. Poor child. ;)

She looks pretty distraught, right? ;)

So, without further ado, here is the recipe:

1 flax egg (1 Tbsp fresh ground flax, 3 Tbsp warm water. Mix, let set for 5-10 minutes)
1 medium banana
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/3 cup oat flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1. Mash banana in the bottom of a large bowl. Add almond milk, olive oil, applesauce and vanilla. Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated well.
2. In a separate medium bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients. Add to the large bowl and mix until no clumps remain.
3. Pour waffle batter into preheated waffle maker. Makes 8-9 square Belgian style waffles.

Gorgeous and delicious!

These look and taste delectable! :) Let me know if you try them.

Oh, P.S., sometimes flours can vary, even the same type of flour. So, the batter should be thick, not runny. Runny batter = split waffles in my experience. Good luck! :)

Day #1 of 10

So, it's been awhile since I wrote my post about returning to blogging.  About 8 or 9 weeks, actually.  I really am trying.  I have a good excuse for part of that absence.  Our computer died.  We couldn't type for more than 10 minutes without having to restart the darn thing so we could continue using the keyboard.  Ridiculous.  Pretty sure that will be the last Dell we ever buy.  So, we got a Toshiba Satellite laptop with a 13.3" screen.  I would post a pic of it, but apparently blogger doesn't like that pic.  I love the computer so far.  Light, compact and does everything we need it to.  Now if it will last more than three years, I will consider it to be a good purchase. I am hoping this is our last major purchase for the year.  We are in December, after all, so there's not much more time for something to break, right?  Oy.  Too many big ticket items malfunctioning this year.

Anyway, normally on a Monday I would share my menu plan for the week.  Have any of you seen this movie?

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My hubby and I finished watching this documentary yesterday.  We had started it a couple of weekends ago but both of us were so exhausted from the week that we never finished it.  I highly recommend the documentary for anyone, especially those who feel that there is nothing they can do about their health except to take medicine. That documentary actually inspired my hubby to go on a 10 day juice fast.  I have done a juice fast in the past, but only for 3 days.  The first few days are the worst, but I did not have a lot of fun just drinking juice.  However, I am going to be a supportive wife and juice right along with him.  So, no need for a menu plan.  The next ten days will be various kinds of juice. It's going to be a tough few days, but I think once I get past day #3, I will be good to go.

I have a couple of cheats scheduled in that 10 days that I had planned prior to my hubby deciding that he wanted to fast.  I will be going out for a glass of wine with a friend of mine from work on Wednesday and then a possible lunch date with an old coworker on Friday. Those "cheats" will consist only of salads and one glass of wine.  Otherwise, I will stick to water.

This morning, this was what my breakfast looked like:

It actually was quite delicious.  A combo of pineapple, orange and half a pear.  Super yummy, but my stomach was growling about a half an hour later.  I had to have my coffee this morning.  My daughter sleeps too little for me to cut out the coffee totally right now.  I am trying to drink less though and stick with herbal tea, if I feel like I need a hot drink.

I will try to chronicle our experiences through the 10 days as much as I can. One thing I am continuing to take while juicing is my Juice Plus+ supplements.
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It is solely raw, dehydrated, organic fruits and veggies and it will give me additional nutrients that I may be missing while fasting.  Curious about Juice Plus+? Visit this website: www.btannattjuiceplus.com.

I will be back either later today or tomorrow with a recipe for veggie meatballs.  Soy-free, gluten free, easily adaptable to be vegan, and flavor-full.  Stay tuned (and wish me luck)!  :)