Not My Mom's Waffles

My son and I have two things in common: we love chai tea, and we don't eat a wide variety of breakfast foods. Sure, we'll eat pancakes, waffles, and french toast. We will have yogurt with fruit, or a bowl of cereal, or a bagel from time to time. But unlike my husband, we can do without eggs. In fact, the only way we eat eggs is when my husband makes his breakfast burrito, which is big of flavor but not the healthiest of dishes. So what'sa mom and son to do?

I have found coming up with variations of our favorite standards is key to preventing breakfast to becoming boring. For instance, in 2014 we added a fruit wrap to the morning rotation. In the summer I love to add berries and fresh ricotta to our usual pancakes. In the fall pumpkin becomes the star, and we add my favorite gourd to both pancakes and waffles.

And Sunday morning, I was looking to mix it up again.

Last Sunday, as a treat, I made these chai cupcakes I found I Taste of Home's Facebook page. My son and I, being the huge fans of chai that we are, LOVED them. So Sunday morning I had a stroke of inspiration: add the flavors of chai to our waffles. I asked my son if he was game, and he was willing to give it a try. And they did not disappoint! In fact, my son said, "I could eat these forever!"

It looks like I found another way to keep breakfast interesting.

Chai Waffles
A Country Cooking Original
Makes 8-12 square waffles

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  For serving:
• maple syrup
• whipped cream
• cinnamon sugar

Directions:

1. Beat eggs in a large bowl until fluffy.
2. Beat in flour, milk, canola oil, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla just until smooth.
3. Preheat waffle iron.
4. Cook according ton waffle iron's instructions.
5. Serve topped with maple syrup, whipped cream, and cinnamon sugar.

Hopping on the Kale Bandwagon

Kale has been trending for two years now, maybe more. It's everywhere -- blogs, magazines, cooking shows, restaurants. And since this past winter, it's been in my kitchen as well.

Two winters ago I had the zuppa toscana at the Olive Garden. It may not be my favorite restaurant, bit I really enjoyed the soup. I enjoyed it so much that when the temps hit frigid this past winter I took to Pintrest and played around with a few recipes until I found a variation my family and I liked.

The recipe I made this past week is not exactly new. It's a Cooking Light standby that I have been playing around with for about two years. But last week I finally found the variation my family likes best. The change this time? Swapping out baby spinach for kale.

The kale brings a heartiness to the dish, and stands up well to the quiona I started substituting for the rice over a year ago. And unlike baby spinach, I add the kale to the pot earlier during the cooking process, giving the kale plenty of time to cook down and absorb the flavors of the sausage, onions, and garlic.

Yup, kale has been trending for quite a while. But with the help of this dish, it's now trending in my kitchen, too.

Sausage, Kale & Quiona Bowl
Recipe from Country Cooking

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. sausage -- hot, sweet, or a mix -- casings removed
• 1 bunch kale, removed from stems, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 cup uncooked quiona
• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Cook quiona according to package directions.
2. Heat oil in a dutch oven. Brown sausage, breaking into pieces. (You can use a wooden spoon, but a potato masher works great, too.)
3. Add onions and garlic. Sweat until onions become translucent.
4. Add kale to pot. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. You may need to add some more olive oil as the kale cooks down.
5. Deglaze pot with white wine and let reduce for a few minutes.
6. Add tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Simmer for 10 minutes.
7. Add cooked quiona and Parmesan and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

A Note from the Cook: We like to serve slices of a multi-grain bread fresh from our farmer's market on the side for dipping and sopping up any extra juices.