Waffles for Spring

I'm in the middle of preparing things for the end of term, so I don't have long to write. On the bright side, I have a number of food pictures ready to go and on a computer that I can post from... so I should be able to put up some more posts over the next several days.

To the left, you'll see a picture of our very first Spring flower. Last Fall, Ken's mom purchased a variety of bulbs for us which I planted around the garden. We've been having so much fun discovering all the growing green things in our backyard and we're planning to plant a vegetable garden this weekend. I just love Spring.

Also, wanted to share my waffle recipe with you all. We've been making waffles regularly because they're easy to reheat in the toaster for a quick breakfast. In an effort to make this a healthy as well as easy breakfast option, I've come up with a waffle recipe that I really like. The flavor is excellent and they're much more filling than regular flour waffles.

Combine in a large bowl:
1 C whole oats
1 C bran
1 C bran flour or whole wheat flour (or 1/2 and 1/2)
1/4-1/2 C sugar (or honey or brown sugar)
Enough low-fat buttermilk for a soupy consistency

Let sit for about a half hour to soften the oats.
(This isn't necessary but will ensure that you don't get any whole oats that are hard and uncooked)

Stir in:
2 eggs
1 T baking powder
1 T baking soda
1/4 C oil
enough milk to make waffles pourable (the buttermilk will probably have soaked into the
any seasoning you prefer (vanilla, cinnamon etc.)

Oh and one quick note about the oil-- you have to include some fat in the recipe or the waffles won't hold together. You can use butter or oil, whatever you prefer. I usually start with just a dash of whatever fat, cook the first waffle, and then add more if necessary.

Recipes for things like waffles, pancakes, muffins, quick breads, etc are really fun because you can muck around with them a lot and usually still get a tasty final dish. Unlike yeast doughs or fragile butter pastries, they're pretty hardy and can handle some mistreatment. If you want to experiment with baking, I highly suggest playing around with some of these kinds of recipes.

Anyway, back to work.
Toodles.