Cottage Cheese Waffles

Growing up we never had sugar or white flour.  My mom strictly followed a hypoglycemic diet.  She was very creative and had some great tried and true recipes.  One recipe I always enjoyed was Cottage Cheese Pancakes. (She always made them as waffles).  These are and have been a life saver for me.  I have even used them to make grilled cheese.  The following is the original recipe.  My modified recipe is below.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes (Waffles)--Original recipe

6 eggs
1 1/2 c. cottage cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder

Blend all ingredients in a blender until very smooth.  The batter will be thin.  Pour onto a hot greased skillet.  For waffles, pour onto a preheated waffle iron.  These waffles steam for a long time.  When the steam slows down, gently lift the lid to check them.

Modified Version:

Cottage Cheese Waffles--low grain/no wheat

8 eggs
1 1/2 c. cottage cheese
1/4 c. Almond meal
1/4 c. Fresh ground oat flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder

Blend all ingredients in a blender until very smooth.  The batter will be thin.  Pour onto a preheated waffle iron. 

Some notes about Cottage Cheese Waffles:  The batter is thin.  The texture is not like a wheat flour waffle.  It is moist and will not be fluffy when finished cooking.  I omit the salt as cottage cheese is salty enough.  Top with natural jam, apple sauce, berries or just plain butter.  To make these completely "grain free" use almond meal to replace all of the flour (you must add the extra eggs found in my modified recipe).

I love foods you can make ahead and put in the freezer.  I am definitely a "freezer fanatic."  This morning I made a double batch.  WD and I each had some. I put the rest in freezer bags to use on other days.

Low Fat, Natural Sugar Granola

Eating a low sugar breakfast is always a challenge for me.   I like eggs, but not every morning.   Yogurt and smoothies get boring.  Making things ahead is such a help.  I like to be able to "grab" something in the morning.  Making a big breakfast takes too much time.  Over the weekend I made a triple batch of waffles and a large batch of breakfast burritos for the kids and hubby.  My plan was to prepare some food for me, but I ran out of time.  I took a few minutes before school to make a few things.  One was a low fat, natural sugar granola.

I combined a low fat granola recipe I had found a few years ago with a formula I found for Basic Granola (see http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/diy-recipe/diy-recipe-basic-granola-formula-011984).

Granola

1 cup pitted, chopped dates
2 ripe bananas, peeled and diced
1/3 cup hot water
1 TBL. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup each buckwheat groats, steel cut oats, sliced almonds, old fashioned oats
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 250.  In a blender, combine dates, water, vanilla and bananas.  Blend until smooth. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Pour banana mixture over dry ingredients.  Stir well.   Spread into 2 10 x15 baking pans in a single layer.    Bake until desired texture, stirring every 15-20 minutes. (usually about 2 hours).   When cool you can add dry fruit or additional nuts.

Note:  I turned the heat down to 175 after about an hour.  Then I cooked it for maybe another 1/2 hour.  Then I turned the oven off and left the granola in the oven for several hours to finish.

This is definitely not a "low carb" cereal.  It is however a very healthy substitute to most breakfast cereals out there.  Check out http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/diy-recipe/diy-recipe-basic-granola-formula-011984 for more "dry ingredient" ideas.  Enjoy!

Young Boy's Devotional Book

Since my son has been able to read, we have been having him read passages in the Bible each day.   I have tried different things.   In the beginning I marked a different verse for him to read each day.  Then as his reading progressed, I would give him longer portions.  Typically, I would make a daily reading schedule for him.  Using this method, he read through all four gospels and Proverbs.  This is a method that worked fairly well. 

There are pros and cons to this method.  It is good for him to simply get in the habit of reading the word of God each day.  At the same time, I want to encourage him to be retaining and applying what is appropriate for his reading/age level.  What I wanted for him was a devotional guide.  A book that would give him some scriptures to read along with some questions that corresponded with the passage. I didn't want a read this verse now here is a story to go along with it (like a Keys for Kids--which is a  good devotional book to do as a family in my opinion).  I wanted something that would challenge him to look more closely at the passage he read.  Something that would be a guide to how to read the Bible and retain what you read.

The other thing I wanted in a devotional guide was strictly King James material.  I am a King James Bible believer.  I don't want my children reading scriptures that are not from the KJB.  King James only material for children is very hard to find.   Our local Christian book store is very small.  I never really have found much there.  I don't like ordering things from on-line book stores for the kids becaus you never know what you are going to get. 

So what was my solution?  Make one. I thought since I know what I want for a devotional guide for my son, why not make one?  I finished my first section last week.  I am planning on writing each section on a young man in the Bible.  The first section is on Samuel.  It is time consuming, but serves a two fold purpose.  I have to study to write the guide (extra scripture study time for me) and a more purposeful devotion time for my son.   This is a trial.  We will be starting this Monday.   I am excited.  I wish I had had something like this when I first started reading my Bible daily.  (I probably could benefit from this now).

I would love to hear how others encourage their children's personal Bible reading/devotional time.