Fruity Pebble Waffles

Post number one of VeganMoFo 2012! I am pretty excited to start this up again. I miss blogging and it seems like if I don't force it, I never get around to it. I am really going to try to blog every day this month. Tonight is going to be a shorter post. I am traveling again. Spent the weekend in Minnesota with my boyfriend and he has agreed to try a weekend being vegan with me. Plan A was to do that this weekend, but we started things off having lunch at a restaurant without a lot of options. I know he would have sacrificed and had a salad with me, but I let him off the hook.. mostly so he wouldn't start off this attempt with no options for a good meal. I hate that people think vegans never get a good meal.. my other reason is that next week is Thanksgiving, and I am planning to make the dinner. I haven't hosted a holiday dinner in a long, long time and I am really excited that he is letting me do it and wants to be a part of it.

Even though this weekend did not end up being his vegan weekend, this morning we decided to make breakfast. The first time I went to visit, he made me waffles. It was a lot of fun and today marked 6 months of being together so it was a great reason to break out a vegan breakfast again. We used a really basic recipe for this waffles, but this time Tony had a genius idea, fruity pebble waffles. Seriously, genius! I had never had fruity pebbles up until a few weeks ago... they are kind of like fruit loops, but better. I was a little worried that adding them to the waffles would make them a little swamp water coloured, but they ended up looking and tasting fantastic.


Fruity Pebble Waffles

• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1/8 cup of ground flax
• 1 Tbsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 - 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 a very ripe banana, mashed
• 1 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of fruity pebbles 
• 1 peach, diced
• maple syrup and powdered sugar

First mix all the dry ingredients into a large bowl and set aside. Get a second smaller bowl and add the banana and mash is with a fork. Add the milk, vanilla and oil and mix.

The dry ingredients - Cinnamon is the secret. It makes any breakfast better

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and use an electric mixer to combine. You want it so there is little to no lumps in it. Now get out the fruity pebbles and add about a quarter cup to the batter and stir it until combined. We added ours by the handful until it looked like there was enough. I think this everyone is a bit different. You want the batter to kind of look like rainbow chip cake batter.

Secret #2 - Fruity pebbles. Sometimes it pays to cook based on cravings!

Next, heat up the waffle iron and spray with some oil. While you're waiting for the pan to heat up, dice your peaches. I did about a 1/2" dice, but again, this is up to you. If you are feeling like fancying this up, try making a peach sauce:

take peeled, diced peach and add it to a small sauce pan. Add about 2 Tbsp of white sugar and about a Tbsp of orange juice. Simmer it on low until the peaches are soft and the sugar is absorbed. You can add more juice if you want or use other juices if you have them. In the end, you are looking for a think glaze or sauce.

Action shot - the batter really looked like Rainbow cake mix!

Waffle time - Minutes away!

By now, your pan should be heated up. Add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the batter to the pan (amount is going to depend on the waffle iron. Cook to waffle iron instructions (about 3-5 minutes). When your waffle is ready, serve it with pure maple syrup, powered sugar and some extra fruity pebbles for garnish. Coconut Vanilla ice cream would also be an awesome what to serve these. Get creative.

Tony's waffle - He went fancy. 

My waffle - Not so pretty, but so, so yummy!!

Perfect start to Vegan MoFo. I can't wait for next weekend. Not only to be back with Tony, but to see what else he come sup with. Pressure is on Tony! ;)

Mochi Waffles - Vegan, Gluten Free...and Delicious!

This afternoon I was going through some photos on my camera, and came my first try at mochi waffles. I cannot believe I forgot to post about this. It is so, so good! I had read about this in Alicia Silverstone's, the Kind Diet, but was a bit skeptical. Mochi is really good, but I didn't see how it would make a good waffle.

What is mochi you ask? Well, it is a yummy Japanese creation that involves soaking and cooking rice and then pounding it into a block. When you cook it, it melts and puffs up, making odd shapes. I have been eating it for about a year now and tend to pan fry it with a bit of soy sauce and brown rice syrup. It is really easy.. the steps for the basic pan-fried mochi:

First, cut up a block of mochi into 1-2" square blocks while heating a frying pan to medium low heat with a bit of olive oil (about 1 Tbsp). Add the mochi and cover and let it cook for about 4 minutes. Flip the mochi and take a spoonful of soy sauce and pour over top (note, this is going to splatter, so beware nice clothing!). Cover again and cook another 4 minutes.

Check the mochi and it should be all puffed up and melty. If it isn't, then put it back on the heat for another minute or two. Once it is done, transfer to a plate and drizzle brown rice syrup. That's it! Breakfast, or a snack... this is yummy.

OK, back to the real recipe at hand.. Mochi Waffles. I have seen this in the Kind Diet. It is also on the back of the mochi package. Finally, I took my mochi and a few other ingredients for a sauce over to my sister's (I don't own a waffle iron... yet...) and convinced her to give this a try.

Mochi Waffles
*Adapted from the Kind Diet

•  One package of mochi
•  1/2 cup of Maple Syrup or Brown rice syrup
•  1 cup walnuts
•  Juice of 1/2 a lemon
•  1 Tbsp of lemon zest (optional)
•  Strawberries, chopped
•  Mint, chopped and/or for garnish

First, toast the walnuts in a dry skillet on medium heat and pre-heat the waffle iron. Once toasted, remove from the pan and chop. Next, slice the mochi into strips about 1/4" wide. I found that each waffle requires about 5-6 strips of mochi.Put the mochi on the waffle iron and cook until it puffs up and is a little crispy. The book said about 3 minutes, but I found it needed closer to five. Keep an eye on it.

While the waffles are cooking combine in a small pot the syrup, 3 Tbsp of water, lemon juice and the walnuts. stir over medium heat until warmed.

Put the waffles on a plate and top with the syrup, berries and mint and serve.

Now the book says to use the brown rice syrup, but I found that the sauce was too mild this way and ended up put maple syrup on top the first time. So, judge accordingly based on your sweet tooth.