Sweet Potato Waffles

So, sweet but savory and full of yummy deliciousness. Sweet potato waffles… mmmm. The new year needed a new breakfast sandwich. Non negotiable.

The new year is a time for a fresh start, big dreams and a new story to be written. One of my new 2018 goals is to create weekly opportunities for meaningful time as a family.  We’re now at the end of January when most people fall off the band wagon with goals, but I’m just getting started! This family time goal might sound a bit wafty to some but as a family of two working parents, weekends full of chores, grocery shopping, birthday parties and more work with a second job, I have found that we have just been dragging ourselves sleep deprived and overworked from one year to the next, and [blink] — rinse and repeat.

We can’t wish for more time, time is finite. We can however control what we do with our time and whether we are really present and mindful, or just ‘there’ in body with mobile phone attached to our hand. It’s all about the BIG rocks, right? (Steven Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People!) Work will always be there, but the kids won’t. I read somewhere that there are only 936 weekends between the time your child is born and the time they leave for college (or Uni in Australia!). According to my rough calculations, we are already down 376 weekends, and the last 260 weekends will be teenage years spent probably wishing not to not be seen in the same room as their parents, so that leaves 300 weekends left to make dreams, memories …. AND WAFFLES that we will all look back on fondly — kids included!

So back to my waffles… I decided to set up a fun breakfast picnic to open the conversation and brainstorm the inputs to our weekly Family adventures. I love how meals take on a sense of adventure in themselves when served outside the boundaries of the dining room table. It was the perfect space in the sun on a cold crisp morning to get our creative juices flowing! We came up with a long list of activities to pick and choose from that you can see here if you are interested.

[background -> We have started some goal setting activities this year with the girls now at aged 7 and we are trying to help them adopt a growth mindset. Just to give context to this conversation, darling daughter Amelia’s foray into goal setting saw us delicately discussing — i.e., dismissing — one of her 2018 goals she wrote ‘Learn how to make fireworks.’ Oh boy, we always knew we were in for a treat with this one!!]

I wanted something for breakfast that day that I could munch holding in my hands, would be oozing with goodness, definitely filling for husband after his bike ride, yet feel more special than a plain ol’ egg-on-toast kinda sandwich, plus I wasn’t in the mood for sweet. AND it needed to be gluten and dairy free for moi. Enter the sweet potato breakfast waffle sandwich. TA DAAAA.

Sweet Potato Savory Waffle Sandwich

• Servings: 6
• Time: 20 mins
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Waffle Ingredients

• 2 cups sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 cups non-dairy milk like almond milk, rice milk, soy milk etc.
• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup melted butter (or ghee if dairy free)
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten free flour. I use the Organic Foods & Cafe GF All Purpose Flour for recipes like this.
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup whole kernel corn
• 1/2 cup grated Mexican blend cheese, optional
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• Chili powder (optional, to taste) – my favourites are Urfa or Aleppo chili
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Filling Ingredients (pick and mix!)

• Avocado slices
• Fried eggs
• Baby spinach leaves, lettuce or rocket
• Sautéed greens – kale, chard, spinach, beetroot/broccoli/kohlrabi leaves sautéed with a little chopped onion, season to taste
• Sautéed garlic mushrooms – sauté chopped assorted mushrooms in butter, add minced garlic clove halfway through cooking, add chopped parsley at the end and season to taste.
• Grilled and marinated peppers
• Cheese
• Tomato slices
• Black beans
• Sauce ideas: Chipolte mayonaise, sriracha, cilantro cashew cream, chimichurri sauce, rocket walnut pesto, beetroot hummous, etc.

Method

1. Steam sweet potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes, and mash with a fork. In a large bowl, mix together the milk, eggs, and butter/ghee. Then add the remaining waffle ingredients and stir.

2. Add mashed sweet potatoes to the waffle mixture and combine. Cook waffles for about 5 minutes per waffle. Once cooked – remove and keep on a cake rack rather than a plate so they don’t go soggy.

3. While the waffles are cooking, get your favourite toppings ready. The sautéed greens, marinated peppers and sautéed garlic mushrooms can be prepared the night before and reheated for quick assembly.

4. Assemble – reheat your waffles if required by placing them in the toaster to warm. Waffles can be made ahead of time, frozen individually, then simply defrost and reheat in the toaster to serve. Make your sandwich by adding the toppings of your choice, drizzle with sauce if using, top with another waffle and slice to eat. You can also wrap in wax freezer paper or foil for a tasty breakfast treat on the go!

5. Best served outside in the sunshine on a picnic mat with loved ones around!

NB. For my kids — assembled or ‘mixed’ foods don’t always go down so well, so consider either placing all the toppings on a platter and having the kids pick and choose what they would like and encourage them to taste, dip, layer, fold – whatever they want from a selection of delicious and tasty options.  My kids like waffles cut into long strips that can then be dipped into soft boiled eggs, guacamole or yoghurt for sweet versions.

From our picnic rug to yours.  Enjoy x