Low-Fat Blender Waffles - Frozen?

Sometimes you just need convenience food. The trick to keeping it healthy without breaking your budget is to fix it yourself, and then converting it to convenience food. Like frozen toaster waffles, for example. About a month ago I had a couple pears that needed to be used but weren't juicy enough for me to slice and eat with Handsome Man. Since no one else in the house will eat fresh pears, I decided to try them out in my waffles and the recipe for Pear Blender Waffles was born.

Since then, I've been a little out of control. Because these waffles don't actually taste fruity, the kids love them. Because they're lower in fat and do have fruit in them, I love them. I have tried pears, apples, and frozen peaches in this recipe. And so no matter how hard I try I can't actually take the time to fix breakfast from scratch every day, I decided to make a double-batch of these every week and freeze the extra. They'll get the kids and I through about 3 days, which is great because I can plan on pulling them out on the crazy days.


Low-fat Blender Waffles
(Makes 8 to 10 Belgian-style waffles, about 100-110 calories each.)

1 c. frozen peaches OR
1 fresh peach, apple or pear, peeled and sliced
1 c. milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp butter
1 1/4 c. flour, white or whole wheat
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

If you are using frozen peaches, thaw for about 30 seconds in the microwave before using. Otherwise, place prepared fruit in the blender. Add milk, egg, and butter.

Blend for 30 to 60 seconds until fruit is completely mixed in.

Add 1/2 cup only of the flour, along with salt and baking powder. This makes sure everything gets mixed in well. Blend until combined.

Add remaining 3/4 cup flour and blend until combined. You may need to take off the lid and scrape the sides while it's running to make sure no flour clumps are left hanging on for dear life.

Pour into a pre-heated waffle iron and cook according to waffle iron specifications.

Hopefully your waffle iron will cook a little more evenly than my (brand new!) contraption...

Serve for breakfast or freeze.

To freeze, line a cookie sheet with wax paper and lay waffles out in a layer. If you still have waffles left, place another sheet of wax paper on top and make another layer. Repeat until all the waffles are laying flat between or on layers of wax paper.

Stick in the freezer for about 2-3 hours. Once waffles are frozen, place into a Ziploc bag and store in the freezer until ready to use.

To prepare frozen waffles:
If you have the thicker Belgian-style waffle maker like I do, you will need to microwave them for a few seconds before toasting them. I usually microwave a plate of 4 waffles for 30 seconds or 2 waffles for 15 seconds. Then toast like you would the store-bought frozen waffles.

Fun Fridays: Low-fat Sub Rolls

I love a good sub. Doesn't everybody? It's even one of those meals that everyone will eat without complaining. Amazing, but true. And I can't figure it out, really. I can make them a sandwich with the exact same toppings and they complain. I make them a sub and I'm "mom of the year". They don't even notice they're having sandwiches for dinner!

This particular batch of sub rolls were made with all white flour because I had run out of wheat and hadn't gotten around to grinding more - much to the delight of the younger members of the Peanut Gallery. It can be made with a white-wheat mixture of flour as well, however I don't recommend whole wheat for this recipe. It doesn't have any oil in it, so the only fat comes from the egg yolk. They are really good the day they are made, decent the next day. Beyond that, they don't really keep all that well because they dry out more quickly. Not a problem for our household, because it's not like sub rolls actually last all that long around here.


Low-fat Sub Rolls
(Makes 6 sub rolls of 220 calories each)

1 c. warm water
2 tsp. active dry yeast (or 1 pkg)
1 tsp. sugar or honey
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
2 1/2 to 3 c. flour, white or white-wheat
1 egg white
1 Tbsp. cold water

Combine warm water, yeast, and sugar in a medium bowl. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes to dissolve the yeast and give it a chance to start reacting with the sugar. It'll start to look all foamy, like this:

Stir in salt, egg, and 1 1/2 cups of flour. Beat on medium for about 3 minutes. Stir or and knead in as much of the remaining flour as needed to make the dough elastic yet still soft. Knead the dough lightly and let it rest on a floured service for about 10 minutes.

Roll dough out into a long rectangle, about 6 inches tall by 12 inches long. I had a hard time getting "rectangle" and ended up with more of an "oblong". Don't worry about it. Just make sure it's as tall as you want your sub rolls to be long.

Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into strips about 2 inches wide. As you can see, I had to cut off two smaller strips on the end because of the whole "oblong" thing. I then shaped those smaller pieces into one sub roll, as you will see in later pictures.

Place dough strips on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and let rise about 40-45 minutes.

Just before the bread dough is finished rising, whisk together one egg white and 1 Tbsp cold water with a fork.

Brush this egg mixture on top of the sub rolls, and bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes. (See the hand-shaped sub roll on the left? Not as pretty as the others, but it'll do!)

Bake at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool, then cut and make your subs!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

There it is: the ultimate dessert muffin. I actually cut into this one when it was still hot so the chocolate chips were melted and they and smeared a little bit for the picture. Yum!

This time of year I get regular requests for my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins from the Peanut Gallery. They are extremely popular with everyone, even The Monkey who is my most picky eater of all. Yet I have a love/hate relationship with muffins and sweetbreads in general. They are so good, yet usually so loaded with fat and sugars that I feel guilty letting my kids have too many. Not to mention the fact that I will eat too many. They are quick and easy snack that I am more likely to reach for over a piece of fruit or something else that would be better for my waistline.

So in an attempt to reconcile my guilty pleasures with my calorie conscience, I have modified my pumpkin muffin recipe to make it better for me. The chocolate chips also add a good bit of fat and calories, so you can actually leave those out and end up with a muffin that has only about 100 calories each. If you know your muffins, that's actually really good. And they don't taste or feel like cardboard - imagine that!

This recipe also makes a large batch of muffins - about three dozen. That's because it calls for a full can of pumpkin puree. It really bugs me when a recipe calls for 1 cup of pumpkin and then then I'm left with this partial can of pumpkin in my fridge - not even quite enough for a second batch! Grrr... I'd rather make a large batch and live on 'em for a few days. Or better yet, just share with someone you love. Or someone you even like just a little bit. Or maybe even someone you are trying to get favors from. They will all thank you.


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
(Makes 36 muffins, about 150 calories each)

1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. honey
1 stick butter, softened
1 1/2 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. milk
3 eggs
1/2 c. nonfat plain yogurt
2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

In a bowl combine canned pumpkin, spices, brown sugar, honey, and butter.

Beat until combined. Butter will still be chunky-looking in the batter.

Add 1 1/2 c. flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Beat an additional 1-2 minutes on medium speed.

Add milk, eggs, and yogurt. Mix yet again.

And finally, add the other 2 cups of flour. Beat well.

With a spoon or a spatula, mix in the chocolate chips by hand. You'll still have about 1/2 c. of chocolate chips left in the bag, but you notice I'm not complaining about having that left over. This is good for snacking while you're making the muffins, baking the muffins, or my favorite - stick them in the freezer and grab a few when you need a chocolate fix in the middle of the day.

Fill muffin cups about half full and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

White-Wheat French Bread

Credit for this recipe has to go to Melissa Coombs. She taught a class I attended about food storage, and she is just phenomenal. As part of the class, she gave us a sheet of recipes (front and back) that I have worn almost to pieces. I'm not kidding. I'm going to have to retype it soon or put it in a sheet protector.

You have already reaped the benefit of her culinary prowess if you've ever tried my recipe for Best Homemade Bread or Sunday Morning Pancakes. And if you've tried those, then you know why I have worn this sheet of recipes out.

So, on to the French Bread. The original recipe makes 2 loaves, but I generally just half it and make one unless we have company coming. I suppose I could just make two loaves and freeze one, but I'm not used to having much extra freezer space yet and haven't gotten around to trying it. For simplicity, I have given the recipe for one loaf of French Bread.


White-Wheat French Bread
(Makes one loaf of 1700 calories. That means, if you cut it into 12 slices it's just under 150 calories per slice.)

1 1/4 c. warm water
1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white flour

Mix water, yeast, and sugar together in a bowl.

Stir and let it sit for a few minutes until foamy.

With a mixer, beat in oil, salt, and 1 1/2 cups wheat flour. (I promise I used a mixer for this part, I just didn't take a picture of it.) Mix for about 4 minutes, or as long as you can stand it. This replaces the kneading time so hang in there!

Stir in remaining flour with a spoon.

Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead a couple times until flour is mixed in well and bread dough is smooth and not sticky any more. Add additional flour if needed.

Wash and dry the mixing bowl you were using. Drizzle a little oil in the bottom.

Place the dough (smooth side down) in the bowl. Give it a turn to coat, then turn over so the oiled side it up. Cover and let rise till double in size. Depending on how warm your kitchen is, this should take an hour or two.

If you don't have time to shape into a loaf when the bread dough is ready, just punch it down and let it rise again. When the dough looks something like this, you're ready to shape it into a loaf of french bread.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it out into a long rectangle. The long side of the rectangle will be the length of your loaf of french bread, so make sure it's not too long to fit on your baking sheet. Starting from one of the long sides, roll up the dough into a loaf of bread.

Place the loaf on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Or, if you haven't discovered the joys of parchment paper yet, you can just spray the baking sheet with cooking spray. Be sure to cut several slits along the top of the loaf BEFORE rising.

Let rise until double in size (about 30 minutes).

Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or until nicely browned. The longer you bake it, the crunchier it will be.

(For more bread-making tips, check out my Bread Tutorial!)

Cinnamon Biscuits

My kids have been begging for my cinnamon rolls lately. Unfortunately, since we've moved I haven't had the focus or foresight to make my usual fare since it requires making yeast bread. So a couple of nights ago I finally broke down and decided to make breakfast for dinner with a side of no-yeast cinnamon rolls. I found a recipe online that I could use as a starting point. After making it, I realized that most no-rise cinnamon rolls recipes are really nothing more than cinnamon biscuits. I can live with that, but they won't replace my yeast cinnamon rolls any time soon. Here's the recipe with my changes.


Cinnamon Biscuits
(I didn't count the calories on this one, folks. In situations like these, I just know they are going to be high so I make a point of not eating too many!)

Dough
3 c. flour (white, wheat, or a mixture)
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1 1/4 c. milk

Filling
2 Tbsp. butter
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

Icing
2 c. powdered sugar
Milk



In a large mixing bowl, combine flour (I used 2 c. wheat, 1 c. white), baking soda, salt, and soda. Cut butter into cubes and add to bowl.






Using your hands, work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.





Add milk and stir as much as you can with a spoon.






Dump mixture out on a floured surface and knead it together until completely combined.





Roll out dough into a large rectangle. If sides are too rounded, fold them in to make a straight edge and roll flat again.




When you've got a large rectangle (about 10x16 inches), melt your butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds. In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.




Spread melted butter out on the dough, and sprinkle with cinnamon mixture, getting as close to the edges as you can.



Roll the dough into a tube for slicing. Using a ruler, score the top of the roll at inch-intervals so you know where to slice. Then, taking a piece of thin string or dental floss, cut off the cinnamon biscuits by wrapping the string around the tube and pulling it tight.



Place cinnamon biscuits on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.






Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. While baking, prepare your icing by placing the powdered sugar in a bowl and adding milk, a tablespoon at a time, until icing has reached desired consistency. Ice cinnamon biscuits while still warm.