Cinnamon Belgian Waffles

These waffles are light and have such a nice flavour. Cole said they are the best waffles he has ever had! The recipe comes from allrecipes.com. The author of the recipe said that it is a combination of her and her husband's favourite waffle recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, buttermilk and butter until well blended. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt and cinnamon; stir into the buttermilk mixture. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff. Fold into the batter.
3. Spoon batter onto the hot waffle iron, close, and cook until golden brown. Waffles are usually done when the steam subsides. *I found that they cook the best when you fill the iron quite full. Not too full though because then that batter seeps over the edges when you shut it.

Danielle's Sweet Potato Gratin

This dish is delicious! It comes from a cookbook my mum gave to me for Christmas, Ottelenghi: The Cookbook. Her friend, Sharon Hannah, recommended this book and I trust her recommendations since she is an amazing cook and knows a lot about food (See her website: http://www.gardenwiseonline.ca/shanna). All the recipes in the book are quite simple and not too time consuming.

Ingredients

6 medium sweet potatoes
5 tbsp roughly chopped sage, plus extra garnish (or 1.5 tablespoons dried sage)
6 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
250 ml whipping cream

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C/Gas Mark 6. Was the sweet potatoes (do not peel them) and cut them into discs 5 mm thick. A mondolin is best for this job but you could use a sharp knife.
2. In a bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, sage, garlic, salt and pepper. Arrange the slices of sweet potato in a deep, medium-sized ovenproof dish by taking tight packs of them and standing them up next to each other. They should fit together quite tightly so you get parallel lines of sweet potato slices (skins showing) along the length or width of the dish. Throw any remaining bits of garlic or sage from the bowl over the potatoes. Cover the dish with foil, place in the oven and roast for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and pour the cream evenly over the potatoes. Roast, uncovered, for a further 25 minutes. The cream should have thickened by now. Stick a sharp knife in different places in the dish to make sure the potatoes are cooked. They should be totally soft.

3. Serve immediately, garnished with sage, or leave to cool down. In any case, bringing the potatoes to the table in the baking dish, after scraping the outside clean, will make a strong impact.

Caper's Power Cookies

I love Caper's Power Cookies and wish I had the exact recipe. Below is what I've come up with, but they aren't as good as the Caper's version. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know! I do still really like them and find them a perfect treat to have at work and for studying.

Ingredients
1 cup raisins
1 and 1/2 cups spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ginger powder or nutmeg
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1 and 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped dried fruit or chocolate chunks
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (shell-less)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (shell-less)
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 egg lightly beaten
1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
1/2 cup syrup (maple or rice syrup)

Method
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Oil 2 large cookie sheets. Soak raisins in boiling water for ten minutes. Drain.
In a large bowl, put flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg and chopped nuts. Mix well.
Add oats, drained raisins, chopped fruit or chocolate, and seeds.
In another bowl, put lightly beaten egg, apple sauce (or second egg), oil or butter and syrup. Beat until well blended.
Add to dry mixture, mix well.
Drop by tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets. Sometimes I flatten the cookies with a fork dipped in water (my nana taught me that trick).
Bake in preheated oven 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are golden on edges and tops are set.
Cool on wire racks.

Cream of Spinach Soup

 

My nana's friend, Sylvia, used to make spinach soup and it was my nana's favorite thing to eat at lunch. This weekend I tried to recreate it. It wasn't too much like Sylvia's but it was nice and fresh tasting.  With its bright green colour, I felt like it gave me lots of energy.

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 cubes chicken.vege bouillon
• 2 bunches of spinach (washed with the stems cut off)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp fresh nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine water, bouillon, and spinach. Bring to a boil, and cook until spinach is tender.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute garlic. Stir in flour, and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk. Add chopped onion, fresh nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in spinach mixture. 
3. Blend entire mixture. 

Ridiculously Simply Banana Bread

This recipe comes from one of my mum's oldest cookbooks Feed Me, I'm Hungry. Between the two of us we have probably made this recipe a hundred times.

 1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 ripe bananas, mashed (I often put three for extra sweetness and moisture)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Sift together flour and baking soda. Mix together eggs, oil, sugar, bananas and walnuts. Add banana mixture to the flour and stir until well blended. 

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake in oven at 350F from 1 hour. If making muffins bake for 20 minutes.

Feed Me, I'm Hungry author writes: I've been told this recipe has saved many a marriage!