Waffles

Expectation: To make a delicious, healthier waffle!

Winning Box Recipe: Kodiak Cakes Flapjack and Waffle Mix

Winning Homemade Recipe: Cinnamon Sweet Potato Waffles

Kodiak Cakes 

Always on the lookout for quick and easy whole grains, I stumbled upon Kodiak Cakes Whole Grain Frontier Flapjack and Waffle Mix on a recent trip with friends to Oregon. This mix contains all-natural ingredients: whole wheat flour, whole oat flour, milk, honey, leavening, egg whites and salt. Although I haven't made the flapjacks yet, the waffles were excellent: crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. We happened to add bacon to the batter, which definitely didn't hurt, but I know the waffles would be great without it!

Cinnamon and Walnut Sweet Potato Waffles

For Christmas this past year, I received a great new cookbook, The Frugal Foodie, by Alanna Kaufman and Alex Small, authors of the blog TwoFatAls.com. This recipe caught my eye from the very beginning.

Along with whole grains, I love using vegetables in my baking because they add nutrients to otherwise empty-calorie foods. These waffles contain several healthy ingredients; whole wheat flour, cinnamon, sweet potato (or yams, in my case), walnuts and bananas (depending on your choice of toppings). Another bonus about this recipe is that it only contains a quarter cup of brown sugar, as the waffles are sweetened mostly by the sweet potato. I used a yam because yams are a bit sweeter and have that great orange color. 

These waffles are really fun. They have a rich, brown color, and offer layers of flavor from the spices, orange zest and yam. Although they are not particularly crispy, the texture is solid and holds up well to toppings. 

For this recipe (and more), click here: Cinnamon Sweet Potato Waffles

While on the topic of waffles, don't miss one of my all time favorite blogs, Waffleizer.

Easy Whole Grains

A lot of my readers (all three of them) have requested information about ways to add whole grains to their diets without all the work of baking. Here are some of my favorite products that are super tasty and full of healthy whole grains:

Annie's Organic Whole Wheat Shells and White Cheddar

This macaroni and cheese is really good, easy to make, and 100% whole wheat. I use it to make one of my favorite meals; Veggie Mac and Cheese! Here's what I do:

Boil the water as directed on the box. When you add the pasta to the water, also add whatever chopped vegetables you want; spinach, green beans, broccoli, squash, carrots, zucchini - almost anything works! Cook the pasta and veggies together for 8-10 minutes as directed on box. I like my sauce a little creamier and spicy so, along with the cheese packet, I use 1/4 milk, 2 tablespoons butter, and a couple dashes of cayenne pepper. I also sometimes throw in some cream cheese or shredded cheddar to make it a bit cheesier. It's a pretty fail-proof meal (how can you go wrong with pasta and cheese?), so get creative!

Trader Joe's 12 Grain Mini Snack Crackers

These crackers are amazing! The taste is slightly sweet and salty, with a nice buttery crunch - kind of like a healthy version of Ritz Crackers. They are perfect with almost any kind of cheese, and are practically a nightly snack at our house. These crackers contain enriched flour (white flour, so they are not completely whole grain), oatmeal, inulin (an all-natural, soluble, prebiotic fiber), rye flour, a multi-grain flour blend (containing wheat, triticale, barley, corn, millet, rice, flax, durum wheat and oats), and wheat germ. That's a whole bunch of tasty whole grains!

La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style Corn Tortillas

These tortillas are awesome because they contain some corn and some wheat, but they feel like flour tortillas. They are not hard or dry like most corn tortillas. The ingredients include stone ground corn masa flour and wheat gluten. I use these in another one of my favorite meals; Veggie Wraps!

To make veggie wraps, I cook veggies (usually frozen spinach, broccoli and bell peppers, but again, almost anything works) in a pan with some olive oil. While those are cooking, lay out some tortillas and put shredded cheese (Monterey Jack works great) on top. Once the veggies are done, put a good size spoonful on each tortilla until the veggies are all out of the pan, but leave the burner on. Add a bit more oil to the pan and lay the tortillas on one or two at a time until the cheese melts. Remove them, fold them up and enjoy!

Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

This is a big ball of dough which makes great pizzas, and can also be used for calzones, empenadas, breadsticks and anything else you can come up with. It is not 100% whole wheat, but it tastes good and is easy to work with. It can be found in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's.

What to Look for in the Grocery Store

There are a lot of terms and tricks out there that make incorporating true whole grains into your diet a challenge. Words like "multi-grain", "stone ground", and "wheat" are buzz-words used to help sell products. The key lies in the word "whole".

• Bread: Many "wheat" or "7-grain" breads have enriched flour as the first ingredient, which is another term for refined white flour. Whole wheat flour is the first and only flour in true whole wheat bread.
• Cereal: Special K has a healthy reputation, but it is made from white rice. Cheerios, on the other hand, have whole grain oats at the top of the list
• Tortilla Chips: Although corn is a whole grain, many products use refined corn that has been stripped of it's nutrients. Look for "whole corn".
• Crackers: Whole Wheat Ritz crackers have enriched flour at the top of the ingredient list. However, Whole Grain Wheat Thins and Triscuits are 100% whole grain.