Chicken Little’s Waffles

Cinnamon Waffles

I’ve been researching the feeling I talked about yesterday (WebMD…we all do it). Apparently, it’s called “derealization” and is (or can be) associated with extreme anxiety. God forbid I should just feel “anxious” like everyone else. I skip past panic and go straight to delusional.

This got me thinking, which probably wasn’t the best idea. When I couldn’t give my stress a concrete name, I began to panic. What if I’m missing something? My mind was racing with the myriad of things I might be forgetting. It felt as if I might be forgetting that someone had told me the world was going to end and I had to save it. Needless to say, I only became more stressed. (The world was ending, people! And I forgot I had to save it!)

For future reference, if you’re stressed and don’t really know why, it’s probably best to just leave it a mystery for the time being.

After a several minutes spent hyperventilating, pacing, and panicking, I grabbed a few towels and (being now properly armed for the coming apocalypse) decided to have some waffles.

And, yes, I have completely lost it. Not quite sure what “it” is, but if there ever was an “it” (or several “its” for that matter), I am now officially without.

It.

Chocolate waffles with strawberries

“The World’s Ending so I May as Well Eat Waffles” Waffles
serves 1 (this is no time to diet! where are your priorities?!)

• 3T. mashed Fiber One Original Bran (mash it till it has the consistency of flour)
• 2T. cocoa powder (version 1) or pudding mix (version 2)
• 1/4 t. + a few pinches baking POWDER
• 3/8c. TOTAL applesauce + cottage cheese or 3 oz./half a small container yogurt (version 2)
• Water or milk or soymilk as needed to make it pourable
• Pinches of seasonings/extracts
• Sugar or sugar substitute, to taste

→Mix all the wet ingredients together in a small container/bowl/dish/cup.

In a different bowl (etc), whisk the fiber one, other flour, baking powder and sugar substitute/seasonings.

Version 2 after mixing

Add the contents of the second bowl to the contents of the first (or the first to the contents of the second) and mix well.

Cook in a WELL-GREASED waffle iron. Top with fruit or other topping of choice.

Making a mess

Don’t bother cleaning. The world’s about to end.

Cinnamon waffles with apple pie filling

Whoopie Pies for the One I Love

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Mix ‘n Match Cake (Healthy AND Low-Calorie)

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Breakfast of Champions: Lemon-Raspberry Parfait

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I have a confession to make: I’ve been eating a lot of cake/brownies/cookies lately. It makes me feel incredibly guilty, which, from a logical standpoint, doesn’t make much sense. If one were to take into account all the ingredients, they wouldn’t find a single guilt-worthy one. After all, what makes a plate of steamed broccoli “healthier” than pureed steamed broccoli in a cake?

I suppose it’s more about the psychological connections we have with certain foods. I remember my friend telling me once that, every time he ate something “unhealthy,” he would follow it up with something “healthy” like “broccoli”. Of course, being the kind of person that puts broccoli in my cake, my first question was what he would do if the cake was made out of something “healthy” (like broccoli). Not being one to obsess over every bite of food, he shrugged and let the issue pass, but I haven’t been able to let go of it since.

Whenever I eat a “healthy” version of a typically “unhealthy” food, my id and superego begin to battle it out in a dialogue reminiscent of the 1930s comedy sketch, “Who’s on First?” It seems neither one can understand the other and neither one cares to try. As a result, I am left guilty and confused about whether or not I should consider my baked goods “unhealthy” or “healthy”.

I guess the only question that really needs to be answered is why I care so much.

Things to think about:

1. How do you define healthy? Is it macronutrient composition? Raw food? Calories? Is it more a “feeling” based on what you associate the food with?
2. Based on your definition, how do you (or how don’t you) moderate unhealthy vs. healthy foods?
3. Where would you put a cake made out of broccoli on the spectrum?

For the parfait:

• Lemon Cake: Sponge cake seasoned with lemon zest
• Whipped Cream: Try my version made with sugar-free, fat-free pudding
• Raspberry Sauce: Mix low-calorie raspberry yogurt with water until it forms a saucy consistency

Adventures in Molecular Gastronomy: Vegan, Low-Calorie Sponge Cake

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Low-Calorie Whipped Cream

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Healthy, “Any Way You Like” Cookies (Microwave-Friendly)

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Thank you.

Memories of food: Spaghetti Squash Seviyan

There are a million ways to spell this vermicelli-based indian dessert. I’m sure there are an equal number of ways to cook it, but I am only acquainted with one: you start with vermicelli noodles, saute/fry them in a bit of ghee (fresh butter), add milk/sugar, cook over low-medium heat, and add cardamom/rose water when you remove from the heat.

Consistencies vary from what I have heard, but I have only seen the soupy variety, which resembles a strand of string floating in a milky puddle. Why seen, you might wonder. The answer to that is simple: I have never eaten seviyan before now; only watched my mother standing over a pot stirring it diligently, preventing the milk from curdling yet ever mindful of the noodles’ consistency.

It is a strange thing, this memory. Unlike my other memories of foods, which are irreversibly bound to taste and texture, this memory is a fleeting image in my mind. A shadow of a pot over a bright orange flame, strings of noodles, thick billows of rose-infused steam.

That was the image flashed across my mind as I scraped the bottom of my spaghetti squash the other day. It’s subtle sweetness jumped out at me, so much so that it was all I could taste. Visions of tomato-drenched spaghetti covered in cheese fled from the strong taste, leaving an irrepressible desire to make something noodly and sweet at the same time. Something like….

Seviyan Kheer with Spaghetti Squash
servings variable

• Light butter
• Spaghetti squash, cooked
• Evaporated milk (or mix 2/3 c. milk powder with enough water to make one cup)
• Sweetener
• Ground cardamom
• Rose water

→Dry the spaghetti squash strands. If you have a dehydrator, now would be a great time to use it. Otherwise, lay the strands on a paper towel and microwave until dry (but be careful not to burn them).

Melt a bit of light butter in a medium saucepan. Add the spaghetti squash and “fry” it in the butter over medium-high heat.

Add the milk and turn the heat down to low. I always seem to have issues with curdling, so I like to keep the heat really low. Let it cook for a few minutes and taste a spoon. The spaghetti squash will most likely release some of its sweetness into the milk. Add sweetener to taste.

Once the kheer (pudding) is the consistency you like, remove it from the heat and add the cardamom and rose water. Stir well.

Serve with some crushed pistachios.

Saturday Breakfasts with Friends: Spaghetti Pancakes

I’m going to start by saying that these are not the typical spaghetti pancakes with strings of spaghetti in them. These are actual pancakes with actual pancake consistency that taste like actual pancakes. Well, that taste like actual pancakes would if you added cinnamon to them.

You might be wondering how I came about these pancakes. I, after all, don’t normally eat things like spaghetti, much less try to find creative uses for such things. Well, it just so happened that my friend and I had spent Friday night cooking, eating and talking. What did we make, you ask?

Why, spaghetti, of course!

Unfortunately, the amount of spaghetti we ended up making was a little bit past our appetite. I’m going to blame it on the vinegar-laden basil pesto that my friend talked me into trying. Although she did say that was quite good so one never can tell.

I’m sure you’ve all been in this situation before: waking up in the morning to leftovers with which to contend; you don’t want to throw them away but, let’s be honest, who REALLY wants spaghetti for breakfast? I know I don’t, but then again I don’t really eat breakfast…

Either way, we ended up making these little dollars of spaghetti laden joy. One bowl of leftover spaghetti salvaged; one friend enjoying pancakes; one new recipe created. I think it was a very productive morning.

Is it just me or does it look like mickey mouse?

Leftover Spaghetti Pancakes
makes 3-4 pancakes

• Leftover spaghetti
• Baking powder
• Pasteurized egg or well-beaten eggs
• Cinnamon, sugar and/or any other flavorings
• Skim milk

→Puree the spaghetti (I used a hand blender).

For every cup (roughly) of pureed spaghetti, add about one egg (1/4 c. egg substitute) and 1/4 t. baking powder. Add spices and enough skim milk (or water) to make it the consistency of pancake batter.

Drop by spoonfuls on hot pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Check for doneness by carefully lifting up the side of the pancake. When pancakes look done (lightly browned), very carefully flip them over. I, for one, have not yet even come close to mastering the subtle art of pancake flipping.

Serve with desired toppings.

Side note: I just went back over this post and realized how much the 2nd picture looks like a face. I don’t know what it is but, every time I eat something with this particular friend, something ends up looking like a face. In case you don’t believe me, here’s another example:

Soft-serve ice cream in the dining hall topped with Reese's pieces that were not purposely arranged in any way

The Adventure Continues: Sprouted Wheat Finds it’s Soulmate in the Pistachio

Truly a match made in heaven

All philosophical musings and deep words have been pried out of me by this miserable excuse of a day. So, in an effort to keep this blog from becoming a complete vehicle for my pointless rants, I’m going to try to avoid saying too much. I think I’ve already said too much.

I don’t know if you remember the pistachio butter I made awhile back or that I said it was insanely strong. I did though and it was. I am happy to report I have found a most perfect of uses for it. Green sprouted wheat berries. Opposites attract and these two are certainly opposites in flavor; but, don’t forget, birds of feather flock together–for that we have the intensity of said flavor.

It’s a match made in heaven.

Opposite, yet alike-the definition of perfect