The other night, everyone arrived home from their various activities around 5:30 and plopped down in the living room exhausted. My sister, the ballerina, was sprawled across the couch. “Mom, I’m hungry!” she moaned. My mom did not look in the mood to cook at all, so I suggested that we have waffles. The three of us headed out to the kitchen while my dad went for a short workout. From the pantry, my mom pulled our staple Buttermilk Pancake Mix from none other than Trader Joe’s. I grabbed leftover whipping cream out of the fridge and made some fresh cream to put on top, and Olivia washed raspberries and blueberries. The waffle iron was hot and ready to go a few minutes later, and the first batch of batter went in. Fast forward two minutes, and out came perfectly shaped, fluffy, delicious waffles.
Here is our go to recipe for a quick breakfast (in this case dinner) fix:
3.5 cups Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Pancake Mix
2 cups of water
2 eggs*
1/2 cup canola oil
For the whipped cream, I mixed up about 1/2 cup of heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup for sweetener.
*Out of eggs? Need a substitute? A great switch I have used in the past is flaxseed. Combine 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds and 3 tablespoons of water to replace one egg. Make sure the mixture thickens up before pouring it into the rest of the batter. It adds healthy omega-3s to your waffles! And unlike other substitutes like mashed banana or applesauce, it doesn’t interfere with flavor. It passed the taste inspection of Miss Olivia, who can detect the slightest bit of added healthiness to any of her favorite treats. (Ahem…whole wheat flour, less sugar…you get the picture).
Not only were these a great dinner, but popped in the toaster the next morning they make a perfect breakfast. They keep up to several weeks in the freezer, so when we make these we usually double the batch to make a quick and easy breakfast option for busy mornings to come. They taste great topped with greek yogurt, honey, syrup, fresh fruit, granola…the list goes on. My personal favorite is greek yogurt, honey, and chopped almonds.
Olivia: Don’t listen to the healthy wacko. Yogurt and waffles do NOT go together and you forgot to mention the way Dad and I eat them…..lots of Vermont Maple Syrup preceded by a dab of butter.
Susie: My favorite waffle for dinner memory was one where we had been strawberry picking 2 nights before Christmas with friends-yes this is California weather. We were up to our ankles in mud with 5 children all under the age of 9 in the local field behind our neighborhood. We came home with pounds of bright red strawberries and decided we best make jam with the mother lode. It was a fun but long day indeed, and we pulled out the waffle iron and our favorite Trader Joe Buttermilk mix and topped them with the fresh picked strawberries. But, truly Emma, how could you forget my favorite topping of lemon curd and greek yoghurt combined; and of course the steaming hot cup of coffee on the side?
francesretigan 