In the Kitchen with Karin: Meatless Mondays: Buttermilk Waffles

To celebrate Valentine's Day I thought that something red needed to be made. I also wanted to keep with the theme of Meatless Mondays and if you aren't going out with your husband then I thought something different for the kids would be waffles with strawberries. What kid really doesn't love to have breakfast for dinner every once in awhile?

A quick sideline - I had the most hectic, busy weekend and didn't even have time to get my posts together like I should have on Saturday or Sunday - ergghh... So on the agenda for this week recipe wise:

Wednesday: Minced Chicken Curry
Friday: Biscuits & Gravy
Saturday: Spinach Bow-tie Pasta

Today's recipe is Buttermilk Waffles. Not from a mix, no way! These may take a little bit more time but the effort is well worth it. You know what I really like about waffle Saturdays (only done once in awhile) our kids eat really well especially when we have strawberries. I also love that if you have leftover waffles just pop them into a freezer bag and throw them in the freezer. Throw them in a toaster on a crazy morning and breakfast is ready! Your kids will think they are better than frozen waffles from the store and they don't have any of those nasty preservatives.

Doesn't it look delish? If you haven't ever made your own whipped cream it is sooo easy, way better than freezer whip cream and so delicious!

Today's Ingredients:
For the Waffles
2 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup margarine, melted

For the Strawberries
Sliced strawberries
Sugar

For the Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

I have to be honest here. My husband usually makes these. He lets me sleep in on Saturdays and sometimes gets these going before I get downstairs. Isn't he grand? Anyways, he wanted me to for sure tell you to SPRAY your waffle iron before heating up, not after. I did make these on Saturday though.

Separate your egg yolks from your whites. You'll be using the yolks in the batter and the whites get whipped up nice and fluffy with your mixer.

Put your egg whites in your mixer and if it's a Kitchen Aid I put on a 3 and let them mix until they were nice and stiff and fluffy. You can do this with a hand held mixer, but it will just take a little longer. If you don't have either of those you can whip by hand with a whisk. I've never done that and don't really know how long it will take!

Mix your yolks and buttermilk together in a separate bowl.

The egg whites are getting fluffy. It does look yummy, but don't taste it. I had a brain fart for a moment and thought it was the whipped cream and I can attest fluffy egg whites taste gross!

Now take all of your dry ingredients and sift into another separate bowl. This way everything gets nice and mixed together. I've also used a regular sifter/strainer before and it works just fine too.

Now take your dry ingredients and mix into your buttermilk mixture and beat until smooth (not too long - just until incorporated and smooth). Add your melted margarine or butter and mix again.

Please excuse this horrible lighting. I was trying different settings and this DID NOT work. Now take the fluffy egg whites and add them to the waffle batter.

Fold into the mixture very gently trying to mix it all together but don't kill all the fluffiness of the waffles. Now start cooking them. We have two waffle makers as I like the traditional 4 squares ones and my husband likes the deep crevice Belgian waffles.

Sliced Strawberries

So I learned this little trick from my sister. Layer some sliced strawberries in a bowl. Sprinkle with just a little sugar.

Layer some more strawberries and sprinkle with sugar, and keep repeating until you get done.

A big bowl of yumminess! If you have the time I would set in your fridge for 30 min. - 1 hour. Our kids were too hungry so we just promptly ate them all up! They were still super delicious though.

Whipped Cream

Whipped cream is super easy especially if you have a stand mixer. You can do it with a hand mixer, but it will just take longer. I am sure a whisk would work too, but I have no idea how long it would take.