The Evolution of the Waffle

The transition from the American diet to real foods can be difficult especially when kids are involved.  Some families can just make the jump cold turkey, but not us.  We prefer the evolution method.

And according to the dictionary, evolution is “A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form. The process of developing.  Gradual development.”

I am going to take you through our family’s evolution of the waffle so that you can see the different steps it can take to get to healthy foods.  Hopefully, you will be able to apply this very specific example to your general menu.

Not so long ago, I bought frozen Eggo waffles for my kids.  I would pop them in the toaster and we would put Mrs. Butterworth’s maple syrup on them.   That would be their breakfast.

Eggo Waffles

As I moved away from white flour to wheat flour,  I switched to the whole wheat or high fiber frozen Eggos.  I figured that was better than the enriched white flour at least.  We still topped our wheat waffles with Mrs. Butterworth or Aunt Jamima (one of those ladies).

Somewhere on the road to health, I convinced some of the kids to try peanut butter on their waffles.  I figured at least peanut butter had protein and fiber in it.  But our peanut butter was just good old Skippy- hydrogentated vegetable oils and all.

Then I started reading about processed foods and realized that it was time for me to make a whole wheat waffle from scratch instead of the processed versions I was buying.  The frozen quickies at the store just had too many ingredients in them.

I found a recipe that had all real ingredients and looked good, but I didn’t have all the necessary ingredients and tools.  So I had to go buy myself some coconut oil and a waffle iron.

The first week with the homemade whole wheat waffle Crew’s response was, “I just want my Eggos back.”

After cooking for 30 minutes in the kitchen and a huge mess to clean up, I responded back, “I want your Eggos back too, buddy.”  Popping those babies in the toaster 4 at a time is a heck of lot faster than tackling the sticky honey and measuring out cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder and waiting for the red light to turn green.

But I carried on.

It took about 3 weeks of the kids’ complaining about the taste and me figuring out the recipe and my kitchen zones before Wednesday mornings perked up again.

After we were all comfortable with the homemade whole wheat waffle, we moved to the half and half method with our peanut butter.  (Unless, of course, you are Chad who keeps his jar of Skippy hidden in the deep recesses of the pantry.)

The kids now actually like the waffles.  I may have even heard “Yum! These are so good” once.  The next step in our evolution of the waffle is the conversion to pure peanut butter.

Recipe - Whole-Wheat Waffles from 100 Days of Real Food

See where we have been and how far we have come!

I didn’t outline the evolution of the waffle to bore you with intricate details of our waffle life, rather I outlined the evolution so that you can see the baby steps you can take to improving your family’s nutrition.  I don’t think my kids would have gone right from frozen Eggos to homemade whole wheat waffles without some of the intermediary steps.  I slowly lured them away from the processed junk we were used to and allowed time for their taste buds to adapt.

But perhaps the real reason for the slow evolution is that  I needed to get comfortable with the ideas as well.  I needed to adapt to the taste of whole wheat myself; I needed to ease into baking from scratch in the mornings; I needed to adapt my schedule to the extra time real foods take.   For me, if I change everything too quickly, I get overwhelmed and regress or give up.

I prefer to make steady, slow, sustainable changes.

With those changes more than just our waffles have evolved.  Our pizza, our spaghetti, our smoothies, our eggs, our macaroni, our banana bread, our bread, our yogurt, our snacks, our breakfasts, our lunches, our dinners, etc. etc. have all progressed.  Some were quick, easy transitions and some took longer like our waffles. We are in the “process of developing to a better form” and we will continue that evolution.

 

4 thoughts on “The Evolution of the Waffle”

  1. I’ve tried your wh.wheat waffle recipe and they are good! I actually used to make a big batch of them and freeze them, so the kids could still pop them in the toaster! I haven’t done it for a while, but maybe we should and try peanut butter too!

    Do you have good ideas for healthy afternoon snacks for ravenous boys? 🙂

    1. I do apples and peanut butter, carrots and ranch, chips and salsa (we do an organic chip), yogurt parfaits with fruit and granola, crackers and cheese, bananas and cinnamon, string cheese, mini homemade pizzas on thin bagels, homemade banana bread and muffins (using honey, coconut oil, wheat flour, etc.), organic endaname, cottage cheese and pears, and popcorn (not microwave).

      Here is a link to some real snacks from the same website that the waffle recipe comes from
      https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/07/31/85-snacks-for-kids-and-adults/

  2. My sil found your blog through Pinterest and forwarded it to me bc she knew I would love it! I taught a lesson to my laurels last fall about nutrition and one of the told be about 100 days of real food…we started officially in January and I too realize it is a process!! I loved your post on capacity and have thought about it often as we all grow line upon line. Our nutrition has certainly been similar to yours. As newlyweds pasta roni was an accomplishment! Thanks for putting things so eloquently.

    Oh, we love egg in the holes for breakfast too…real bread with butter, use a fun cookie cutter to cut a hole, place the egg and cook in a frying pan. 🙂

    Thanks for your blog. You’re great and have a new friend in CA! 🙂

    1. Thanks Sarah! I love new friends. And nutrition is a process! This morning I put too much spinach in the scrambled eggs and my whole family let me know I had gone too far. Good luck to both of us!

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