Fantabulous Food! Waffles with Strawberries

This week, I was in a pinch as to what recipe to post about (a.k.a. I was a little lazy), so you get to see how I made my breakfast :)

Waffles with Strawberries
If you have never made waffles before that weren't from a box in your freezer labelled "Eggo," then you really don't know what you're missing. Not only are fresh waffles delicious, they are also really easy to make and can be topped with pretty much whatever you have around.

Strawberry Topping:

In my case, I still had a quart of strawberries that I needed to use, so I started by  1. cutting off the tops and slicing them and placing them in a container with a locking lid.

2. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of sugar over the top of the berries.

3. Lock the lid onto the container and shake the berries lightly until the sugar no longer looks white.

4. Place the closed berry container in the fridge while you do the rest.

Waffles:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Hungry Jack Pancake Mix
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 egg

I only used Hungry Jack brand because it was what I had in my pantry. Usually, I prefer Bisquick or Krusteaz as they make a crispier waffle, but any waffle or pancake mix will work.

1. Plug in your waffle iron. My waffle iron is the type you spin that makes one large waffle, but you can use any type of waffle iron. We used to make Snoopy and Hello Kitty shaped waffles :) I love mine - it rotates like the ones hotels use in the continental breakfast :) The hubby got it for my for Christmas while we were dating. They really are not as expensive as you think and because it spins, it can be stored tilted up so it doesn't take up much space. West Bend 6200 Hi-Rise Rotary Belgian Waffle Maker <- This is very close to mine (mine is just Cooks brand from JC Penny). Anyway, plug in your iron and make sure it's getting power (a light should come on).

2. Combine all ingredients and stir lightly until combined. You just want to make sure there are no huge lumps, but Do Not mix it until it's perfectly smooth. You want it to be slightly lumpy.

Before Mixing

It should look like this:

After mixing

3. Spray your iron with a non-stick cooking spray, top and bottom plates. I don't spray a ton, but don't be afraid to give it a nice coating. There's nothing worse than having to pick little pieces of waffle out of your iron because it stuck.

4. Pour some of your batter into the center of your iron. As the batter pours, it will fill in toward the edges, so pour slowly to make sure you don't put too much batter. You want most of the squares that stick up to be covered lightly with batter.

5. Quickly close your iron and spin or lock it into position. Now we wait. Depending on your iron, there will probably be some kind of indicator light to tell you it is finished cooking - do not believe it! If you make the waffles completely from scratch (with no box mix) this light would probably be correct. In my experience however, when using a pancake/waffle mix the indicator light will come on while the waffle is closer to the outer consistency of a pancake - lightly browned and very soft. I like to leave my waffles in for a much longer time and just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn (I don't believe I've ever burnt one from a box mix like this). I just open my iron and feel the edges to see if they are crisp - if not, close it back up and wait another minute. They should be light golden brown and crispy when you take them out.

See why we spray the iron? It lifted right off, no problem.

6. Now just spray your iron again and pour in more batter. With my waffle iron, one recipe like this makes 3 waffles that are almost as big around as a dinner plate.

Now, to assemble the final product.
1. Take a little of the strawberry freezer jam from last week and spread it over the waffle.

2. Remove your sliced strawberries from the fridge. During their chill, the sugar will cause them to "sweat" and make a delicious strawberry syrup.

3. Spread some of the strawberries and the syrup over the waffle - not too much syrup or the waffle will get too soggy.
4. Top with whipped cream and serve!

Mmmm... It tasted even better than it looks, I assure you :)

So, next time you have a little time for breakfast, give this recipe a try. It's very easy and it only takes about 20 minutes in all :) See, simple! :)