breakfast

Mad for Waffles!

Camping is fun for me; I love to cook over an open fire or on the camp stove. Summer is a great time for fresh produce. If you can combine cooking and being in nature that is the best deal for me!

Now this is car camping, you know… where you drive there with a trunk full of sleeping bags, tent, tarps, comfy clothes, cook stove, lanterns, and coolers of food… So I had lots food and I also brought my cast iron waffle maker; an antique from the 1920s that was my sister Margie’s and before that my parents.  It was kinda messed up when she gave it to me but Joe and I worked hard to bake off the crud and now it works fantastically… and corn on the cob, shrimp and swordfish (frozen), half frozen chicken thighs, lamb loin chops and a zillion other food items.   Nothing like traveling light!

So we enjoyed some good food. For breakfast I made waffles, then  pancakes, and then more waffles the third morning.  The pancakes are lovely; for a year or two I just couldn’t find any pancakes that measured up to what I felt they should taste like.  These are from Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s cookbook. Sometimes I add extra milk if they are too thick. I pour the batter right out of a mixing bowl with a pour spout onto the griddle.

And, again, I forgot to take pix of the waffle iron in action; so here is that recipe (my version; based on a pancake recipe in Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts. This recipe is great for camping because buttermilk travels better than regular milk and it also uses oil not butter in the waffle; easier to deal with than melting butter on the camp stove…. The other week I was out of buttermilk and used kefir, a fermented milk; worked fantastically.

waffle

Cinnamon Waffles (for 2; double for 4 people)

1 cup brown rice flour mix

1 tbsp. sugar

¼ tsp. salt

1 ¾ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 large egg, well beaten

2 tbsp. canola oil or melted butter plus extra for greasing griddle.

2/3 cup buttermilk

½ tsp. vanilla extract

cooking spray (kind with no flour in it)

Directions:  To make it portable; measure the dry ingredients into a zip-lock baggie. I like to write the other ingredients on with a black Sharpie marker and label it waffles…so you don’t use the pancake mix by mistake!  Beat the egg in a large mixing bowl, add the oil, buttermilk and vanilla (optional when camping but I did bring it this summer and they were so yummy). Pour the dry mix into the bowl and whisk briefly until fairly well mixed.

While you are doing that mixing step the waffle iron should be heating.  I use a round cast iron waffle iron; please do spray it with cooking spray before heating and then I melt about 1-2 tsp. of butter into the 4 quarters; I blop the chunk around with a fork so some melts into each part of the iron.  Flip the iron over just before putting in the batter. I use a big spoon to glop it into the waffle iron.  One big glop in each half.  Close the iron and let it bake about 2 minutes. Flip it and bake 1-2 more minutes, or however long your waffle iron takes.  I serve it with real maple syrup; something this good deserves the best.  Before I serve the first waffle I break off a section and eat it hot and plain; you can really taste the cinnamon that way.  Make sure your waffles are crisp not soft. The crisp is Everything!

We had scrambled eggs and maple flavored sausage links; both go fantastically well with waffles.

Brown Rice Flour Mix (it is the same as King Arthur’s gf flour mix)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

Originally posted in July 2015 and again in 2016  and 2017 with minor text revisions. Recipe the same.

Butter Poached Eggs and Beet Greens

I know it is the Fourth of July weekend and everyone is eating potato salad and burgers and guzzling booze.  Got that in my plans but this healthy and simple lunch is just the ticket to balance against all those less than healthy meals I plan on consuming. Bonus: it is naturally gluten free and tasty.

Beet greens are underutilized; most people buy beets in a can or if fresh, the beet tops are cut off.  But, if you grow your own maybe you have tried them.  They are full of vitamins and minerals and are crazy healthy (lots of protein, fiber, iron, folate, magnesium and calcium!) – some consider beet greens to be in the top ten of healthy greens:  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=151.  I steam them a few minutes; depends on how much I put in the pan; maybe 5 minutes.  As shown above I love them with butter, salt and pepper: tasty with a subtle beet flavor.  And I still have the beets for use in another meal.  I do love raw beets in a salad; I suggest you try that sometime! I have a new recipe for that; trying this weekend.

To butter poach eggs melt a tbsp. butter in an egg frying pan at medium heat.  This is the Teflon pan I use only for making eggs.  They don’t stick when you don’t share the pan with other cooking.  I slide in each egg.  Then I add 1-2 tbsp. water and sprinkle the eggs with green Tabasco sauce.  It is far milder than the red and I love the way it goes with fried eggs.  Cover the pan with a lid and steam on low for 2 minutes.  Turn off heat and if you are like me; I want my eggs barely runny; so I let them stand a minute. If you want runny take them out after the two minutes.  Butter poaching with a tablespoon or so of water gives you a soft egg, no hard edges and the flavor almost of a poached egg but shaped like a fried egg. Bonus is you have total control because you can see the yolk, even touch it to test for doneness and you can flavor it as soon as the eggs go in the pan or as the eggs cook.  My green hot sauce is my go to topper but there are a host of sauce choices out there like sriracha sauce, Tabasco hot sauce, gf soy sauce, etc. For this posting I tried my eggs with a big sprinkle of fresh feta cheese or minus the feta cheese. I loved them either way. Feta cheese lovers rejoice!

eggs and beets 001

One of these eggs is a farm egg and one is from the grocery store.  Love farm eggs!

Sprinkle with good quality salt and freshly ground pepper and you have an inexpensive, tasty and healthy protein.  Eggs were out of favor for a long while but I never gave up on them. My dad always said they were good for you and that the lecithin in them counteracted the rich yolks.  Now experts say they are okay to eat within moderation. Go figure!  Regardless, I do love them for a quick satisfying meal at a low cost and they match perfectly with the earthy flavor of beet greens.  Don’t forget a touch of butter and the salt/pepper; this dish really needs it to brighten the greens.  Enjoy!

Peach Oatmeal…It’s What’s For Breakfast at My House!

Healthy breakfasts are a way to start the day off great.  One of my go to breakfasts is oatmeal.  I love it the way it comes out in this recipe; not sticky or goopy, no way I would eat that kind of glop!  I use a lot of water and drain it before adding yummy stuff.  This substantial breakfast is minimal work and I let it cook while I made my lunch or feed the animals.  Less than ten minutes later I am eating a healthy tasty bowl.

A year ago I posted on making healthy breakfasts; there was an instant oatmeal I raved about as well as a bunch of other choices https://myworldwithoutwheat.wordpress.com/2014/12/02/gf-breakfast-is-doable-and-delish/.  Nice, but this whole oatmeal recipe is my fav and I wanted to share my recent fruit topping discovery.  It sounds so elementary but I just never seemed to try it…until now.    Here goes.

oatmeal peachy 001

This was a big juicy peach I cut up for this breakfast treat.

Angie’s Oatmeal with Fresh Peach (one serving)

½ cup old fashioned oatmeal, gluten free if you have celiac

Sprinkle of salt

1 tsp. butter

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1 peach

Sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

Heat a quart pot 2/3 full of water, sprinkle in some sea salt.  When it comes to the boil add the oatmeal.  Turn heat to medium low.  Cook 8 to 9 minutes.  Drain into a strainer.  Pour into a bowl, add butter, sprinkle with brown sugar and a peach that you have diced into small bits.  Cinnamon on top if you like that sort of flavor too. It’s that simple and that peachy good! Great use of late season peaches…could use frozen ones once the fresh ones are gone.

I also make this with sliced bananas or blueberries.  So healthy and very filling. Sometimes I make it topped with dried cranberries, chunks of walnuts, a tiny bit of butter and some real maple syrup.  I sprinkle that version with cinnamon and nutmeg.

oatmeal

Oatmeal is naturally gluten free but it is often processed on equipment that does wheat or is contaminated with wheat kernels from the farm; if you have celiac you really need to buy oatmeal that is labeled gluten free so your chances of cross contamination are nil.

I do eat instant or dry cereal but this oatmeal is so much more satisfying.  And so little effort too.  Enjoy!

Blueberry Pancakes, GF AND Yet Fat and Sassy!

Who know it would be so difficult to find a really tasty gf pancake recipe?  Tried a few and found some too dry and some too bland.  It took me just about 2.5 years to find ones I really liked.  Fat, tender and flavorful.  I don’t miss my old wheat based pancakes anymore.  Plus these are super easy to make; dump and stir.  Sorry, no ready made box mix used here but I am considering making a dry mix version of this recipe so I can blend them together in a hurry.  Soon, when I can find the time to figure out the way to do it best, then I will be ready to make almost instant pancakes from scratch!They are from Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s cookbook.  I am generally not a fan of celebrity cookbooks but this recipe is worth sharing.

shrimp bisque 001shrimp bisque 002

So try these and you will find them to be fat and utterly yummy.  I put blueberries in mine but they are good plain and would taste fantastic with chocolate chips added on top! My three year old grandson loved them the other week.  We sprinkled a little cinnamon in our batter too.

shrimp bisque 003

I think someone already took a bite out of one of these beauties!

Elizabeth’s GF Pancakes

1 cup sweet sorgum flour

½ cup sweet rice flour

¼ cup tapioca flour

2 tbsp. sugar

2 ½ tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. guar gum

¼ tsp. salt

———

1 2/3 cup 2% milk

2 eggs

½ tsp. vanilla

4 tbsp. butter; melted plus more for griddle frying

Topping: ¼ cup fresh blueberries, sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions: Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix the next three ingredients in a small bowl, whisk well, mix in the melted butter, whisk.  Pour into the dry ingredients, mix with whisk just until no dry shows.  If the batter looks too thick add 1-2 more tablespoons milk and stir up. I heat the griddle while I do the mixing so it is all ready when the batter is mixed; it doesn’t keep well; to get the fattest puffiest pancakes the secret is mix briefly and you have to bake them right away.

Heat griddle until hot, add some butter, I like to use a big kitchen spoon to measure and I do 3 or 4 pancakes on my cast iron griddle at a time. Sprinkle 3-5 berries on top of each pancake and add a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Let them cook until the edges look set; about 2-3 minutes.  Turn with flat spatula turner.  Let cook 1-2 more minutes.  Do not flip again.  Serve with maple or blueberry syrup.

GF Breakfast Is Doable and Delish!

Breakfast, well…that can be sometimes kinda problematic for us celiacs. No more raisin bran, no more cheerios, no more Great Grains cereal.  What to do??  Well, there are a number of options, the Chex Family comes to mind for me: Rice Chex, Cinnamon Chex (my personal fav) and Chocolate Chex which is surprisingly good.   Not many other mainstream GF cold cereals.  I do hear that Special K is coming out in a GF version in a few months; can barely stand the wait; loved that cereal.  Maybe they will even make a version with freeze-dried strawberry slices.  I would be in GF cereal heaven!

cinnamon chex

Anyway, back to reality; there is one gf flaked cereal I have found that floats my boat, Nature’s Path Organic Mesa Sunrise.  It contains corn, flax, buckwheat, quinoa and amaranth.  The flakes are crunchy and hold their own in milk for a few minutes, less sog than any other flakes I have tested. I buy them at Frey’s Better Foods, $9 for a big 26.4 oz bag, yes, that is a lot of moola but it is basically a double sized box making it $4.50 a box which is about what most gf organic cereals cost.  I like it with hemp hearts sprinkled on top and some one percent milk poured in.  The hemp hearts are nutty and crunchy, kinda like a less hard sesame seed.  I keep them in the freezer so they stay fresh.

natures pathhemp hearts

I also prefer my homemade granola with pecans to any I have purchased since going gluten free.  I love it sprinkled over applesauce and over organic yogurt.  It is much more flavorful and it is not hard like pebbles as most GF granola seems to be.  Not sure why they can’t make a decent gf granola to sell but I just make my own every few months and freeze most of it to eat later, stays fresh in my freezer.  I made some today actually, do try it; you will not be disappointed.  The recipe is in my archives.

Hot choices: a few weeks ago I posted my new recipe for quick oats made out of GF rolled oats.  I like it even better than the commercial Ancient Grains Oatmeal by purely elizabeth.  Don’t get me wrong, I like their cereal but I think my own oats are toastier and fresher and I like the pure oat flavor as opposed to their blend of oats, quinoa, amaranth and chia.  I also make old fashioned oatmeal the same way I have for years: boiled in lots of salted water which is drained off before topping with walnuts, dried cranberries, cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup: a superb combination of flavors.

Last weekend I made some buckwheat pancakes.  GF, yes; buckwheat is not wheat.  It is not related at all.  Actually in the same family as rhubarb, but you don’t eat the stems like rhubarb, the seeds are what manufacturers grind into buckwheat flour. The cakes were hearty and flavorful with maple syrup and a glass of milk. I also have a great recipe for cinnamon GF waffles which I often make for company, pretty much as good as wheat ones.

I make a bunch of different muffins, apple walnut, banana nut, carrot and raspberry coconut. They are all great for breakfast and can be frozen for a few weeks; just heat them in the microwave: instant breakfast.

2024-11-05 apple muffins 008

Of course, you can go for eggs. I like them soft boiled, scrambled, over easy and in an omelet.  Last Sunday I made an omelet and stuffed it with two jumbo shrimp leftover from the night before, chopped them in chunks, draped them with a slice of provolone cheese which melted over it all.  Wicked yummy that was!  No toast needed either.

Sometimes I make grits and stir in a handful of cheddar cheese when they are cooked and top it with a couple of over easy eggs sprinkled with green hot sauce.  To kick it up even further; top it all with some sauteed peppers slices and a couple of slices of crisp bacon. Now that is some tasty meal, even grit haters might go for that combination!

grits and bacon 2

So don’t skip breakfast; there are some great gluten free options out there.