Flourless Black Bean Waffles

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

After staying home due to head colds for me and the littles, then falling asleep early on New Year’s Eve, we enjoyed a post New Years, New Years gathering yesterday. We went for a skate on the lake and had cousins and family over for a potluck delight. This morning we have been enjoying a lazy Saturday, which led me to some experimentation in the kitchen.

As some of you know I have been having self described “stomach issues” since the end of my pregnancy with my daughter, who is now over a year and a half. After seeking medical consultation, the diagnosis was gall stones. I was referred for surgery, but decided to try to manage things through diet. Surgery felt a little abrupt for me personally, without trying anything else. This has meant limiting/eliminating foods containing wheat, animal fats, nightshade veggies, broccoli, brussel sprouts, refined sugar… and a continuing list of foods as I work through trial and error. Coffee in the morning is fine, but no caffeine for me after noon. I take digestive enzymes with most every meal, have increased consumption of apple cider vinegar, hot water with raw honey and bone broth. I went for nearly 4 months without any “attacks” until some risky business with onion rings and pizza (not on the same day!)

Prior to making diet changes and chiro care I was experiencing attacks every 2 weeks like clock work- lasting nearly 12 hours. It is most definitely the scariest and most painful thing I have experienced physically. I feel trapped in my own body, not knowing when things can go south, and how long it will last when they do… it is sudden and debilitating. It started to seem like I couldn’t eat anything, and I became really tired, cranky and lost 30 lbs. I can’t really imagine what that would have looked like had I not needed to lose weight post baby. I promise you though, it really isn’t a nice way to lose weight. However, it has been really freeing to know that changing my diet has put me on a path to healing, and there are most definitely foods I can eat and enjoy!

I have to be honest: I kind of hate being that girl who “can’t eat this or that” but  I am learning to get over it. Some days I just want to not think so hard about what I am putting into my body, but God has really been teaching me a lot through this whole experience.

In light of this, my sweet friends have been bringing “Ashlea friendly” foods to dress club, and my amazing baker friend brought a Chocolate Black Bean Cake- that was so good, I literally could not believe it was made with BEANS! I wondered if I could utilize the beans for other recipes, and that is how  we landed here today. This mix works well for both waffles and pancakes. It is wheat and egg free. I have found that the mix takes a little longer to cook than traditional wheat based mixes, but the GREAT news is that my entire family approves- my toddler gobbles them up equally as quickly as my husband. Which is a win in my book 😉

I added cinnamon to this mix, and think cocoa would be delicious as well. You can substitute the coconut sugar for maple syrup, stevia or agave. You could also exchange the coconut oil for any oil you have on hand. These are quite filling and freeze well- just pop them in the toaster to heat them up! This recipe makes plenty so you could also halve it- but it uses up a 19oz can of black beans as is, which I like. We took the plunge and bought a Vitamix for Christmas- and so far it rocks.

Enjoy!

-Miss Ash

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