Hullabaloo Homestead

For mother’s day I was gifted a waffle maker. Last year two of our kitchen appliances broke…one was our waffle maker and one was our ice cream maker, both gifts from my mother in law, both things that got a lot of use out of them. My kids were so excited over the waffle maker and I totally know why. Last spring and summer I used to make waffles for breakfast a couple mornings of the week…chocolate waffles…ones filled with sugar. They were seriously soooo good. However, for many reasons, I have cut the majority of sugars out of our diet, which includes not just sugar as an ingredient, but also most flours and grains. So, despite their excitement, I wasn’t going to burst their bubble, just yet anyways, that those waffles were not going to be at the top of my list of things to make.

So, I spent some time thinking and researching and coming up with some thing to try. I considered a few things: one, that I wanted to try a base other than almond meal; two, someone sweet recently gave me a couple bulk bags of coconut flour that I wanted to put to good use; and three, with 12 laying chickens we’ve got all the eggs we could possibly need.

So, my early morning helper and I got to work. Cracking eggs and mixing and all that fun stuff four year old boys like to do. It’s interesting to me, and I guess if I really think about it, it doesn’t seem like rocket science or anything, but the more refined foods and hidden sugars disappear from a certain high energy four year old’s diet, the more calm, sweet, and relaxed he becomes. In fact, the absence of sugar from his diet in general makes me wonder about how much sense it makes to have it included to anyone’s diet. I guess as with all foods, there are varying sensitivities with varying people…it just depends. Sugar is just a nasty one. It’s addicting. And when I don’t eat it regularly, and then I do, it’s like my body goes haywire, asking/begging me for more. So in general, we just try to avoid it as much as we can. I can’t ever imagine being able to completely knock it out, but we all do the best we can right?

Gluten & Grain Free Waffles

What you need:
8 organic free range eggs
3/4 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

What you do:
Crack eggs into a mixing bowl. Add milk and vanilla extract. Beat approximately 1-2 minutes until fluffy. In a separate small bowl mix together the coconut flour and cinnamon. Beat flour into egg mixture with a fork. After you have added the flour, let the mixture sit for several minutes to absorb. The coconut flour takes a bit of time to suck up the liquid and it will change consistency.

Get your waffle iron ready. (I used coconut oil to oil my iron and cashew milk for my milk in this batch.) Then follow the instructions for your waffle iron to make waffles.

Makes 6 Belgian waffles.

Truth be told, these taste a bit like eggs…wonder why? There’s a lot of eggs in them. However, my kids liked them, so it was a good turn out, but one of these filled me up. I have been searching high and low for good whole food breakfasts. So, these fit the bill for me. Here are a few breakfasts we have been enjoying lately and some that have become staples:

sweet potato pancakes topped with apple butter
blueberry almond meal pancakes with maple syrup
pan fried sausage patties with sliced apples on the side
soaked and baked steel cut oatmeal

The baked oatmeal recipe has been the first grain based food that hasn’t left me feeling boated and yucky. I am guessing it has to do with the soaking process. Since we just recently got a whole bunch of raw milk and I have been making cheese, I can’t wait to try this waffle recipe using whey, because whey just makes everything spongy and soft and yummy. Enjoy!

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Over here I am still waiting…waiting to put a gate on the newly fenced garden area, waiting to put together some raised beds…waiting to plant my seedlings that I started what feels like a really long time ago. Time just hasn’t seemed “normal” this year. To me it seems to be going realllly slow, but that’s okay. Given the fact that a lot of the east coast was covered with what I surely hope to be one surprise last visit from old jack frost last night…I guess I am not all that behind. Every year though…I feel that way. Like the growing season is going to get away from me and I fear that somehow I won’t get to plant anything…although, I know that is not true at all. It’s a ridiculous thought actually.

Over the past seven weeks (yes…it’s only been seven weeks since I seeded, which is right on cue) my seedlings have grown and grown…beautifully! I love love love capturing the process of my plants almost just as much as my growing children. Both lend me a whole lot of inspiration. That time has the power to do what it wishes…bend and contort itself, speed on by while seemingly standing still from a slightly different angle. Time has the power to heal. Time has the power to give us very small window into which we can gain a whole lot of clarity over the most mundane events. Time shows us just how fragile life can be and just how beautiful it is in all of the shapes and sizes it reveals itself in. Time has the ability to make us fear if we chose to let it. Time is a mystery that most likely will never be solved. And something like that.

My tat soi died. It bolted. In the seed tray. That was a sad day. The temperatures have been hot during the day; cold at night; now freezing. It snowed and hailed yesterday. Some mornings I just didn’t get the plants out of the cold frame in the morning quick enough. So, I had to let that go. Once the beds are up I can reseed tat soi in there. No problem. I just don’t like seeing my seedlings that I worked so hard on and poured love into die. It feels frustrating. But reality is…that I can’t do everything, nor can I control the weather. Which can also feel frustrating. A lot of room for letting go of expectations there.

I am hoping things come together this weekend in the garden. Until then…there’s more waiting…for me…and my seedlings all snug in their seed trays…patiently teaching me about time and my lack of control over it and that some of the best things in life require patience. And so it grows.