My Favorite Waffle Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 c. milk
• 3 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• pinch of salt
• optional: cinnamon, nutmeg, blueberries, raisins, apples, etc….

Directions:

1. Whisk the egg
2. Add everything else
3. Grease a waffle pan & cook until done

Tips:

• Keep finished waffles on a plate covered with a towel in a microwave to keep warm until they are all finished
• To make pancakes, increase the milk by a few Tbs. and increase the baking powder by another 1/2 to 1 tsp (depends on how fluffy you like them).

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

There is something about the impending feel of winter that makes me want to hole up and indulge in baked goods. This usually also means that I am at home indulging and baking and not outside running! As a runner and all-around healthy person, I love finding recipes that are as good for the body as they are for the soul. I happened upon this recipe for pumpkin baked oatmeal online, and it’s quickly become my go-to food item for quick and hearty breakfasts and snacks.

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

2 1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup Eggbeaters
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup Splenda
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin 
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8″ square dish with non-stick cooking spray. Combine wet ingredients. Combine dry ingredients. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool. Cut into 6 bars.

I personally like to blend my own pumpkin pie spice with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, but feel free to spice it up however you’d like. This is also delicious with dried cranberries and apples, especially served warm with some fat-free half and half on top. Best of all, the serving size is generous, and each piece is loaded with fiber and 8 grams of protein.

Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce

This year, don’t be one of those people that buys the “cranberry sauce” in a can and sets it on the table for everyone to wonder whether it’s food or little Billy’s science experiment.  Homemade cranberry sauce is wonderfully delicious and the simplest of all the dishes and sides you’ll make on Thanksgiving Day.  Here’s what it takes:

• 12 oz cranberries (I got mine from a 12 oz bag with this recipe on the back)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar (brown or white will work, I used a mixture of both)
• That’s all (seriously, no more ingredients)

All you have to do is find a medium-sized saucepan and pour in the cup of water and cup of sugar.  If you like your sauce tart, you don’t need the full cup (I used about 5/6 cup) of sugar.  Put the pan on low-medium heat and let the mixture come to a slow boil.  Next add the cranberries and stir occasionally.  A lid for the pan may save you a bit of splatter from popping berries.

Take a taste test along the way to see if it’s coming out the way you like.  If it’s way too tart, you can add a bit more sugar to sweeten it up (or just prepare to enjoy all the sour faces at the dinner table).  Just let it cook down until it nears the consistency you want, then take it off and let it cool.

Nothing else you serve on Thanksgiving will be this simple, and yet nothing else will have more flavor.  I personally recommend letting some of the cranberry sauce get on your turkey; they go pretty well together.