waffles

plain old waffles!

we make waffles pretty much every weekend and every weekend i say "i'm going to write down this recipe!" but today's were pretty special, so i'm finally doing it. no picture, because we ate them too fast. but this is what i do every weekend, although sometimes i halve the recipe if we don't want waffles on sunday, too, or i don't want leftovers. i love to put extra waffles in the fridge to have for breakfast or snacks during the week. the batter keeps well for a few days too, so you can just fire up the waffle maker over the next few days if you want fresh waffles on a bleary monday morning.

ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder (see note below)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/4 cups soy milk
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
3 tsp vanilla

directions:
combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. combine the wet ingredients in a small bowl or large measuring cup and add to the dry, mixing well until only very small lumps remain. cook as per your waffle maker's directions.

variations:

* mix and match your flour!! today i used half quinoa flour and half white flour. sometimes i use one cup of whole wheat flour and the rest white. the quinoa mix is my new favorite.
* decrease sugar to 1/4 cup or replace with 1/4 cup agave nectar. (i like my waffles sweet.)
* replace some of the nondairy milk with fruit juice.
* add a teaspoon of cinnamon.

this recipe makes 6 or 7 belgian waffles. i bet it makes twice as many regular waffles.

NOTE: i use aluminum-free baking powder. i highly recommend you do, too, if only for taste reasons, because there's less of a potential for that metallic taste that can sometimes happen with lower quality baking powder.

iron skillet pot pie

i recently bought a cast iron skillet because i've heard such great things about them, and that they can be as great as nonstick, when properly seasoned. i have one nonstick pan i'm phasing out of use, so this cast iron skillet will be its replacement. i love that they can go in the oven, too!

this is a veggie pot pie base covered in biscuits and baked in the oven. i will tell you up front you'll have to find your own biscuit recipe, and i highly recommend the one from the joy of vegan baking, because it's the absolute best biscuit recipe i've ever found. the whole book is fantastic. that said, here's how to make the rest of the pot pie:

ingredients:

2 cups cold water
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried thyme or 1 tbsp fresh thyme
6-8 white mushrooms, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and diced,
1 cup chopped carrots (i used baby carrots)
1 cup frozen peas
2 cubes vegetable bouillon, or use 2 cups broth instead of water.

directions:

gently warm the cast iron skillet to low and then medium-low heat. mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and set aside. in olive oil, sautee the garlic and mushrooms until the mushrooms release their juices. add the thyme, potato, and carrots and saute until the potatoes start to turn a little golden. add the water or broth with cornstarch mixture, and stir until it starts to boil (you may need to increase the heat for this, or just be patient), then add the bouillon, if using it. once the mixture starts to thicken, add the frozen peas and turn down (or off) the heat.

make your biscuit dough and drop biscuit-sized lumps evenly over the skillet, and bake the biscuits in the skillet, on the pot pie mix, according to the recipe's directions (keeping in mind that most skillets can't be used over a certain temp in the oven). you may need to adjust the cooking time by a couple minutes.

enjoy!

variation: my husband loved this, but said it needed corn. i suggest adding a cup of frozen corn to this mix, which i will do next time.