Low-Fat Oat & Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles

We ate these for breakfast on a SURPRISE snow day! I love having extra time to make a special breakfast on a weekday. 🙂

This recipe eliminates fat compared to a traditional waffle recipe by using less butter, egg whites, and low-fat buttermilk. To make it even healthier, it could be served with fresh fruit in lieu of maple syrup. We opted for banana slices, mango chunks, and maple syrup. You have to live it up on “vacation!”

This recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart Living. The waffles were incredibly light and fluffy. Nice.

Yield: 10 waffles

• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour, (not self-rising)
• 3 tablespoons instant non-fat dry milk
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 large whole egg
• 2 large egg whites (1 egg can be substituted)
• 2 1/4 cups non-fat or low-fat buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. optional
• 1 1/2 pints assorted fresh fruit, such as raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries, and peaches, or bananas, for serving, optional
• pure maple syrup, for serving, optional
• vegetable-oil cooking spray

1. Preheat a waffle iron.
2. Place oats in the bowl of a (mini) food processor, and process until coarsely ground, about 30 seconds. Transfer oats to a medium bowl.
3. Add whole-wheat flour, cake flour, dry milk, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the oats. Whisk to combine.
4. In another medium bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract, if using.
5. Pour into the dry ingredients, add melted butter, and mix together until thoroughly combined.
6. Spray waffle iron with cooking spray.
7. Quickly pour about 1 1/2 cups batter onto center of grid. Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter evenly out to the edges. Bake waffles until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
8. Briefly cool on a wire rack. Transfer to a warm oven or warming drawer. Repeat until all batter is used.
9. Cut waffles into squares; serve two per person topped with fruit and/or maple syrup, as desired.

One Year Ago:

• Blueberry Buttermilk Waffles
• Hurricane Sandy Pancakes

Terrific Low-Fat Lasagna

This is my favorite “go-to” lasagna recipe- I have made it for years. I am not sure how truly low-fat it is, it is still LASAGNA, but it was the winning recipe in an ABC News “Cut the Calories” contest many years ago. I increased the amount of ground turkey, garlic, and seasonings.

• 1 28-oz jar of spaghetti sauce
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 eggs
• 2-4 crushed garlic cloves
• 8 ounces grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 lb ground turkey or beef
• 16 oz package frozen thawed spinach or kale
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 1/2 lb sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 8 ounces lasagna noodles
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees on convection.
2. Lightly oil bottom of baking pan. Stir one cup of the chicken stock into the spaghetti sauce and set aside. Whisk the egg. Stir in ricotta cheese and one cup of the mozzarella. Add garlic, salt and pepper and set aside.
3. Brown and drain the meat making sure to break it into very small pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the spinach (or kale) until it is half done, approximately two-thirds of the time indicated on the microwave directions. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Saute the onion in 1/2 cup chicken stock until it is translucent. Cook the mushrooms in the remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock adding the soy sauce and vinegar. Simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed. Mix together meat, spinach (or kale), onions, and mushrooms. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
5. Build the lasagna starting with a layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Add one layer of uncooked noodles followed by more sauce, 1/3 of the cheese mixture and 1/3 of the meat mixture. Repeat 2 more times, finishing off with the meat mixture and the remaining sauce.
6. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes, until liquid around the edges has been absorbed. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top and bake for and additional 15 minutes. Serves 10.