Playing With Food

I never follow a recipe, much to my husband's chagrin.  My dad used to pour over cookbooks, like Jeff Smith's The Frugal Gourmet, for hours and hours.  But I never actually saw him follow the recipe word for word.  What fun would that be?!  Because I am a daddy's girl, I, too, have a love for cookbooks, but they tend to sit {unused} high in my kitchen cupboards...  usually I don't have all the ingredients to follow a recipe anyway, so I Google recipes and read five or six of them and then pick pieces from each that I like {or that actually include ingredients I have on hand}.  As such, I never know exactly what the end product will be ... nor how to duplicate it.  Ever.

I don't cook from scratch often, but try to provide healthy meals or at least healthy components to a meal as much as I can. {Confession:  Quick pasta and sauce straight from a jar is a staple here!}  I'd be happy with steamed vegetables {period} every night.  Maybe some perogies and kielbasa would be good too, but with two {growing} boys in the house, the need is there, but I struggle with planning and executing well-rounded dinners.

No matter what I cook, Alekzander loves to "help" in the kitchen.  He drags his tool bench into the kitchen and "fills" measuring cups with the drill bit, "cooks" on the workspace, and stirs, pours, and mixes with all his might.  Some nights I let him help for real; what a treat... for us both.

Tonight we made homemade waffles and a plum-apple compote for dinner.  It was successful and delicious! And I might be able to recreate it.

Homemade Healthy Waffles

Original found here

{*} my additions/changes

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups milk

2 generous shakes of cinnamon* 

1 large egg*

1 tablespoon flaxseed meal 

         + 3 tablespoons water (as an egg substitute)*

1/2 cup melted butter

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract* 

1 teaspoon/frugal swirl of molasses* 

Mix dry ingredients; add mixed wet ingredients; mix well; let sit 5 minutes; use 2/3 to 1 cup of batter in 7-inch waffle iron; cook 5-10 minutes until waffle iron stops steaming!

Plum-Apple Compote 

{from my head ... inspiration :: our fruit bowl}

2 plums - peeled and diced

1 Gala apple - peeled and diced

In small saucepan, add cut up fruits and 1/2 cup of water.  Boil until liquid is reduced and fruit is soft.  

Enjoy warm over waffles!