Grain-Free Banana Nut Waffles

When you descend the ski hill at Crested Butte in Colorado, the smell of vanilla, butter and maple syrup wafts in your face. It gets stronger the closer you get to the bottom. As the hill tappers off and your skis slow, you find yourself standing in front of a small shack serving Belgian Waffles. They are steaming even as they get plated, causing swirls of butter and maple syrup to take over your mind. Talk about a solid business plan! Serving hot waffles to hungry traveling skiers who just want something warm--now that's a jackpot. 

One whiff of those ski hut waffles has the ability to set me off on a waffle-craving craze for weeks. These banana nut waffles have a similar effect, filling the house with the sweet smell of maple syrup, butter, and vanilla. Toasted pecans only add to this experience. The difference is, they are made with 100% wholesome ingredients (because you know that's how I like it!). 

Grain-Free Banana Nut Waffles

Published September 28, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

For batter:
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1 banana
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk of choice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional, to serve:
• Sliced banana
• Toasted pecan pieces
• Butter
• Maple syrup

Directions:

1. Pre-heat a non-stick waffle iron.
2. Add batter ingredients to a blender, and puree until batter is smooth and no clumps remain.
3. Pour ¼ of the batter into waffle iron, and close iron. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until waffle is fluffy and golden. Transfer waffle to a plate.
4. Repeat step 3 until all of the batter is used, cleaning waffle iron as necessary between rounds to prevent and burning or sticking.
5. Serve with pats of butter, toasted pecans, sliced banana, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Broccoli & Pepper Jack Frittata

Frittatas are the answer. As long as you have eggs, frittatas will solve your problems. All you have to do is trust in the way of the frittata.

When I want to feed a crowd, I make a frittata. When I want to use up all of the almost-at-the-end-of-their-life veggies in the fridge, I make a frittata. When I am feeling extra organized and want to make a breakfast we can eat all week, I make a frittata. 

Heck, when the fridge is looking really bleak and I have to get dinner on the table, what is always there as a fall back? Good old frittata. 

I make a frittata at least once a week, because you really can just put whatever you have on hand in a pan and fill in the cracks with egg. 

This particular frittata calls for broccoli, a bit of bell pepper, potatoes, and pepper jack cheese (plenty of pepper jack!). It's simple, but it's killer. It's the kind of frittata I would serve to guests (I use fresh veggies for the guests, of course ... not those wilting veggies I mentioned earlier, of course! 😝) 

And you know me, impatient as always: frittata comes together quickly, too!

Broccoli & Pepper Jack Frittata

Published September 19, 2017 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 9   |    Total Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 head broccoli, cut into florets  
• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato  
• 1 red bell pepper  
• 1/4 white onion  
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic  
• 6 eggs  
• 1/4 cup milk of choice  
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt  
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil  
• 3/4 cup shredded pepper jack

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Set aside.
2. Dice the potato into bite-sized cubes, chop the broccoli into bite sized pieces, and dice the onion and bell pepper.
3. Heat remaining tablespoon coconut oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Once the oil is hot, add potatoes, broccoli, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender. The onion should be softened. Scrape veggies into the prepared baking dish.
4. Sprinkle ½ cup cheese over vegetables.
5. In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk of choice, black pepper and salt. Pour over vegetable mixture. Place in oven, bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top, and bake for 5 minutes more. Remove from oven. Eggs should be set. Allow to cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Fresh Mint Mocha Cold Brew Coffee

When there were only two coffee shops in town, you had your pick between Cup of Coffee, a large coffee shop with lots of seating and lots of windows (so many it feels fish-bowl-esque) and Vic's, which was downtown so you'd have to find parking or walk (or find parking and then walk). This was not, for any kid in their late teens, "the promise land." When you asked around, no one was looking towards graduation and saying, "I think I'll stay here." 

At first, things changed slowly. Too slow too notice even. A restaurant went in one year and just sat for a while, becoming an icon of main street in it's own time. A few years later a new coffee shop opened, and it was far cuter than the original two. They sold coffee from an old-timey house that was full of character, called their shop "Bitter Sweet" and encouraged you to sip your drink from their patio. Bitter Sweet turned on twinkle lights after sun down and served wine. 

Then it was like dominos. Almost the entire west side of Main Street was revamped. It feels like it happened over night but these things take time. I was in college, and every time I came back it looked different: A new barbeque joint replaced something that none of us remember. A taco shop went in next door (a second went in around the corner, because every small town needs a selection when it comes to tacos), and a new ice cream parlor opened up down the block. The old ice cream shop has since closed. The new shop serves flavors someone could've made up on a whim, like Honey Maple Grapefruit and Apple Pie. In terms of ice cream shops, it's pretty darn good. 

Next came, an artisan bakery that serves espresso and sandwiches. Pizza. A new yoga studio. A kitchen store 😍. You get the picture.

Living in the town you grew up in never had much appeal. Part of me never even considered it as an option. The way my mom spoke of her hometown probably reinforced this. The way my dad spoke of the suburbs certainly did. I was young, I had plans! I was going places. I wasn't sure where, but I was getting my degree in Spanish and that was certainly going to take me somewhere. 

It's a mixed bag when you tell people, "I'm from here," because part of you is so proud that you--yes, you!- are the one native left on the block. You are the O.G. Other than that small nugget of pride, part of you also shrinks inside: "Hi, I'm me, and I'm still right here where I've always been." 

Not a century ago, generations on generations stayed in the same home town. Today, it comes with such a stigma. And what for? This town has grown with me. I have grown with it. I have seen plenty of other towns. They were great. This one is too. So I'm taking all of the feelings that come with that stigma, and I'm balling them up, and I'm throwing them out the window. Will you join me? Toss out the heaviness you feel when you explain why you are where you are, and instead wear it with pride (this goes for anyone, where ever they are--home town or not). You worked hard for it, after all. (This is a technique a sports psychologist taught me: Bad day? Ball it up, and flush it down the toilet. Let go.) 

Mint Mocha Cold Brew Coffee

Paleo, Primal, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Cold brew coffee is refreshing and less acidic than regular coffee. The addition of cocoa and mint add a smoothness to this cold brew and a note of freshness that will wake you right up.

Yields: 4 cups   |    Total Time: 10 active minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup ground coffee of choice
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup or sweetener of choice
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
• 1 liter water

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a pitcher and put in fridge. Allow to seep for 24 hours.
2. Remove from fridge and strain coffee through a coffee filter or even a very fine mesh tea stainer into serving glasses/mugs. Serve with ice and milk or cream as desired.