Awful Waffle

Source: My grandmother. She had 7 children in 8 and 1/2 years, 6 of them boys! In order to dissipate some of their energy she signed them up for competitive swimming. Needless to say, she had to provide some good, energy rich food for breakfast before those early morning swim workouts. The name awful waffle came from the early versions of these waffles that my fathers says would just expand in your stomach. My grandmother refined the recipe and I'm sure most would not be able to tell much of a difference between these waffles and store brought brands.

Original	Reduced Fat Version***
1 ½C whole wheat flour	1 ½ C whole wheat flour
¾ tsp salt	¾ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder	2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs (separated) yolks	2 eggs whites
1 ½C milk	1 TBSP lecithin granules****
2 TBSP sugar	1 ½ C skim milk
5 TBSP olive oil*	1 TBSP sugar
2 tsp flax seed (optional)**	3 TBSP olive oil

Beat egg whites separately until they form peaks when beaters are pulled out

Combine the rest of the ingredients, beat, then fold in egg whites

(Why was the chef arrested?

Because he was caught beating an egg!! HAHAHA!)

* Extra virgin olive oil has become a craze and people are using it for everything! However, both olive oil and extra virgin olive oil are monosaturated fat, the healthier type of fat. EVOO has some additional healthy contents which are most beneficial when used in salads or other applications where it is not heated. For cooking, regular olive oil is a more economic alternative that provides pretty much the same health benefits. 

**flax seeds are one of my favorite ways to be sneaky. They are small enough that they do not make a big contribution to the texture and they are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, and several vitamins and minerals.

*** Again, the intended audience of the blog is for young families who need calorie rich food, so I always use the original. But if you are interested, I provided a lower fat version for those wanting to cut back on fat per serving (you could use the original recipe and just serve smaller servings).


**** lecithin is a fat emulsifier (pretty much means thickener in regards to food preparation). It is an ingredient in the egg yolk that helps it bind food. If you are wanting to cut back on your fat and take out the egg yolks, adding lecithin granules will help you to keep the texture the same. (If the texture is still lacking, add a TBSP of fat free plain yogurt.) It is a common supplement with people raving about its health benefit. The only real benefit is that it is a great source of choline, an essential amino acid. However, wheat germ, tofu, amaranth, and cauliflower are also good sources so don’t get sucked into the supplement market.