Randomly my eldest son asked for waffles for breakfast last week, he must have seen them on a TV program or something because I have never made them before! Initially I said no and then I remembered that my toastie maker has waffle plates on it and I have never used them, so I thought why not? I googled a few recipes to see roughly what the ingredients were and then made up a batter using what I had in the cupboards.They are relatively simple to make, you just have to take care when folding in the egg whites because this is what gives them a light fluffy texture over a stodgy one - cooked well they should be crispy on the outside and light and fluffy in the middle. They cook quickly and the variations for sweet or savoury toppings are endless - myself and the boys had strawberry and banana with maple syrup and the Hubby had crispy bacon with maple syrup! If you have any type of waffle maker at home I would highly recommend giving them a go! This batter made 6 waffles.
Ingredients
170g Plain Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
30g Caster Sugar
2x Eggs
250ml Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
How To Make
1. Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Separate the egg whites from the yolks.
2. Combine the yolks with the milk and vanilla and then pour into the dry mixture and thoroughly combine.
3. Whisk the egg whites until they a fluffy and form soft peaks. Then carefully fold them into the batter, keeping in as much air as possible. Let the mixture rest for a few minutes whilst you prepare you toppings and heat up you waffle maker.
4. Cooking instructions may vary depending on your waffles maker. Mine is a 3in1 toastie maker and I cooked them by pouring approx 40ml - about half a ladle - of batter onto the bottom plate of the waffle maker and then closed the lid and cooked them for 4 minutes.
5. Once cooked, pop them onto a plate and top with your desired topping!
I am not a fan of breakfast, I used to not be able to function without a bowl of cereal before I had kids but now I can't face it. Plus I have been finding I don't have time to sit and eat, as bad as that sounds.My husband often has shop-brought granola with milk for breakfast and has recently started buying the yoghurts with granola on top, which I quite enjoy and so I decided to maybe try and make my own granola to get me into the habit of having breakfast again. I googled lots of recipes for ideas as to what to include and it's so versatile! You can pretty much add any combination of fruit, seeds and nuts that you like. So I popped to our local Eco Store to top up on what I needed and set to work.For my first batch I used pecans, walnuts and peanuts plus apricots, apple rings, pears and raisins for dried fruit. Since then I have made it with banana chips, papaya, pineapple, sultanas, cashews, pistachios...you name it! It is fabulously easy to make and very tasty and satisfying served with yoghurt and honey for breakfast (the recommended portion of granola is 45g). Once made, the granola keeps in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.
Ingredients
200g Porridge Oats
120g Mixed Nuts
120g Mixed Seeds
120g Desiccated Coconut
250g Dried Mixed Fruit
4 tbsp Olive Oil
6 tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp Cinnamon
How To Make
1. In a large bowl mix together the porridge oats, nuts, seeds and coconut. Then stir through the oil,cinnamon and maple syrup.
2. Spread out onto a baking tray and pop in the oven at 200'c for 20 minutes. Give the granola a stir every 5 minutes to prevent bits getting too crisp.
3. Once toasted, remove from the oven and stir through the fruit giving it a good mix up. Leave it to cool and then store in a jar or container. Serve with milk or yoghurt and honey.
2. Combine the yolks with the milk and vanilla and then pour into the dry mixture and thoroughly combine. 
