Kids love starchy starts in the morning like cereal, pancakes, muffins, toast… and waffles. The trouble is these can spike blood sugar early, then drop it in an hour or two, leaving kids droopy, crabby, and inattentive at school. Make this type of breakfast worth it – less empty starch, more brain-powering protein, fats, vitamins and minerals. Stir up a batch of these and freeze ahead. On school mornings, give them a light toasting for a fast and nourishing option. Credit to Boulder Bike Life Magazine for publishing the inspiration version of this recipe in their Spring 2016 issue.
If juicing the carrots is out of the question, buy fresh carrot juice, leave out the carrot pulp, and increase the hemp hearts by adding an extra tablespoon. You’ll still get a boost of healthy sweet and beautiful carotenoids! Check out this primer on carrot pulp here. For nut flours, you can buy these already ground (pricey), or grind them in an instant to fine powder from fresh whole raw organic nuts yourself. Use a coffee grinder or an immersion blender with the cup attachment (pictured below). For the fat in this recipe, I prefer ghee for its rich and lightly sweet taste. Ghee is well tolerated by most dairy sensitive children in my practice, but see other options below.
Grain Free Carrot Waffles
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Deliciously sweet thanks to the carrot, easy to prepare in about 20 minutes plus juicing time, or prepare ahead and freeze for fast breakfast on school mornings.
Deliciously sweet thanks to the carrot, easy to prepare in about 20 minutes plus juicing time, or prepare ahead and freeze for fast breakfast on school mornings.
Plug in your waffle iron and oil it, so that it is at ready temperature when your batter is mixed.
If grinding flours yourself, combine almonds with coconut flour, hemp hearts, and/or hazelnuts. Grind to a fine powder. You can use a coffee grinder or an immersion blender with its cup attachment like the one shown here. If you're using nut flours already ground, blend them thoroughly together in a medium bowl. Either way, combine nut flours and hemp hearts. Add remaining dry ingredients, and mix together.
In a separate small bowl, whip the separated egg whites to soft peaks. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine carrot juice, egg yolks, and melted ghee.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and mix until flour is thoroughly incorporated. Add carrot pulp - the batter will be a little lumpy. Your carrot pulp will look like this:
Fold the egg whites gently into the batter.
Spoon batter into each waffle form to nearly but not completely fill it - batter will expand when pressed. Cook til steam stops escaping from the waffle iron and edges feel crisp to touch. If you have extra batter, repeat and make smaller waffles - don't over fill the waffle iron as the batter will spill and be wasted.
Makes 4 large waffles. Serve immediately from waffle iron with favorite toppings - or slice on some banana, drizzle with sesame tahini, cinnamon, and a dash of maple syrup. Or, let cool then store in freezer for later use.
Butternut squash can be a hard sell for some kids unless you make it better. Here’s a version that’s well rounded for flavor, healthy fats, a smidge of protein, and extra phytonutrients that are anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant. Be sure you buy organic when buying winter or summer squashes: Data show that squashes are a little too good at pulling chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) out of soil. These are extremely toxic waste products left in soil from gas energy production sites, and they can accumulate in our water supply (drink filtered water) or air, especially near gas, oil or coal production sites (fracking, gas wells, oil wells, coal power plants). For more on the many benefits of butternut squash click here.
1 teaspoonalmond flourflax meal may sub if almond is allergenic
Servings: kid size servings
Instructions
If not already prepared, buy 2 small or 1 large butternut squash. Slice lengthwise and then cut into smaller pieces, leaving rind on. Place on steamer tray in a covered pot and steam til flesh is soft when poked with fork, about 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, scoop cooked flesh away from rind and store or use as needed.
Melt the ghee with coconut manna and chicken broth. Stir to blend. Do not boil. Remove from heat.
Add cooked squash, with warm melted ingredients and broth together in a food processor, immersion blender, or use a hand mixer. Pulse or blend until smooth. Serve warm.
