Waffle Heart Adventures

 

Waffle Hearts

Michelle Underwood
These waffles are a staple in our home. We were first inspired to make waffle hearts after reading the book Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr. This is a great family read aloud and goes great with Waffle Hearts! Our family would like to encourage you to take your own adventure with waffle hearts by trying a new kind of flour - Einkorn whole wheat flour (instructions and tips below).
Course Breakfast
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • waffle iron

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups wheat flour (whole wheat or Einkorn) (280 g)
  • 1 tbsp baking powder aluminum free
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 each eggs
  • 1.5 cups milk
  • 4 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 tbsp honey can substitute with maple syrup or omit
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 cup mini blueberries you can omit the blueberries if desired. I have not tried regular size blueberries, but mini work amazing!

Instructions
 

  • Warm waffle iron.
  • Melt butter on low in a pan on the stove while you prep other ingredients.
  • NOTE: If using whole grain Einkorn (see notes below), grind the grain into flour in Vitamix or grain mill. I use my Vitamix and start on 1 and slowly increase to 10 for a total of about 1 minute. That's it! You have flour.
  • Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir with a whisk to combine.
  • In a 4 cup measuring cup or medium sized bowl, combine milk, eggs, honey, and vanilla. Mix well.
  • Add liquid ingredients (milk, eggs, honey and vanilla) to dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Fold in butter just until mixed, and then add blueberries. Do not overmix.
  • Add waffle mix to preheated waffle iron per manufacturers instructions. I use 1/3 cup of batter with my waffle iron and it is the perfect amount. Top with grass fed butter (like Kerrygold), fresh berries and maple syrup.

Notes

My waffle iron makes 10 6" heart waffles. 
EINKORN FLOUR
You can purchase ground Einkorn flour to try in this recipe on Amazon and most health food stores.   If you are feeling adventurous and have a Vitamix you can try your hand at grinding your own grain for this recipe.  It is easier than you might think and truly makes these waffles a cut above all the rest.  Einkorn grain is available on Amazon.  I purchase mine through Azure Standard, where it is considerably more affordable.  Start with a 5 pound bag, that's what I did.  Now I have upgraded to a 25 lb bag and have started dreaming about a grain mill.  One thing has a way of leading to another... 
WAFFLE IRON
You can use any waffle iron in this recipe.  If you don't have a heart waffle iron but really want heart waffles - you can always use a heart cookie cutter.  The waffle iron I use is the heart shaped Euro Cuisine WM520.  My goal is to upgrade my waffle iron to cast iron to get away from the nonstick side of things. 
Real ingredients make a real difference.  The ingredients in these waffles show up again and again in my recipes.  Each ingredient is purposeful and intentional.  Click HERE to learn more about each ingredient (COMING SOON).  
These waffles are best paired with the book Adventures with Waffles by Maria Parr.  This book is a great family read aloud, one you won't want to miss. So make some Waffle Hearts and enjoy and good book together.  You will be glad you did!

Family Movie Night

Our family loves good literature and good movies.  There are so many beautiful stories available to us, but at times it feels like finding a needle in a haystack.  We have come across some of the best of the best and want to share these treasures with your family.  We hope you enjoy our list of quality movies as much as we have.

Below is a list of our favorite family movies.  These are movies the whole family can enjoy.  Most of these should be available at your local library.  We do not watch a lot of TV, but when we do I am pretty particular with what we fill our minds with.  It is not always easy to find the high quality wholesome movies I am referring to.  I wanted to begin compiling a list to share with you.  Any movie listed below will be a movie I have screened.  My values may differ from yours, so please be sure to check out the full review when available at Plugged In by Focus on the Family.  It is almost impossible to find a perfect movie, but many of these come close.   I hope you find this helpful.

Movie night isn't just about the movie though.  It is about the quality time you are spending together as a family.   With that said, movies are not the end all be all of family time, they are one of the many fun things we can do together with our children.  Movies are a from of passive entertainment or consumerism, and there is a time and a place for simply vegging out with a great movie.  As long as this is balanced with various forms of active entertainment, it can hold a healthy position in our lives.  Active entertainment can be thought of as something that we do that produces something.  Examples of active entertainment may include reading amazing literature, family games, sports, art, cooking, hiking, swimming, and many more.

One of our favorite ways to watch a movie is to first read the book.  Many of our movie nights were prompted by our favorite books (this information is included in our list below).  Some of our favorite books turned movies include: Little House on the Prairie, Anne of Green Gables, and Because of Winn Dixie.  Anne of Green Gables by Sullivan Entertainment is unmatched!  

Prepare a few snacks, get on your jammies and snuggle in tight on the couch together.  Need some fun movie night snack ideas?  Try our homemade Maple Vanilla Hot Cocoa with a batch of Nut Butter and Honey Popcorn (a favorite).

 

Movie TitleRatingRelease DateFeature LengthBased on the Book:Review link:
Plugged In
Notes:
Anne of Green Gables (Sullivan Entertainment)G19853 h 15 minAnne of Green GablesPlugged In
Because of Winn-DixiePG20051 h 46 minBecause of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamilloPlugged In So very good!
Charlotte's WebG20061 h 36 minCharlotte's Web, E.B. WhitePlugged In
Charlotte's WebG19731 h 34 minCharlotte's Web, E.B.White
n/a
Christopher RobinPG20181 h 43 minWinnie-The-Pooh Series, A.A. MilnePlugged In
Disney Nature,
Born in China
G20171 h 15 minn/aPlugged In
Disney Nature, ChimpanzeeG20121 h 18 minn/aPlugged In
Disney Nature, Elephant G20201 h 29 minn/an/a
Disney Nature,
Wings of Life
G20131 h 20 minn/an/a
Dr. Seuss' The GrinchPG20181 h 25 minHow The Grinch Stole Christmas! Dr. SeussPlugged In
Little House on the Prairie, Pilot MovieNR19741 h 35 minLittle House on the Prairien/a
MistyG19611 h 32 minMisty of Chincoteaguen/a
Nadia (true story Nadia Comăneci, 1976 Olympic gold medalist)NR19841 h 39 minn/an/aAge 10+, some intense scenes regarding mental health.
RatatouilleG20071 h 51 minn/aPlugged In
Spirit: Stallion of the CimarronG20021 h 23 minn/aPlugged In
Tales from Avonlea (TV Series)NR1990-19966 h 36 minBased On The Novels of Lucy Maud Montgomeryn/a
The Biggest Little FarmPG20191 h 31 minn/an/aThis is one of my favorites!! Caution to sensitive viewers - death of some animals.
The Fox and the ChildG20081 h 34 minn/an/aExcellent!
The Sound of MusicG19653 h 44 minn/an/a
The StarPG20171 h 26 minn/aPlugged In
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate FactoryG19711 h 39 minCharlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahln/a