Happy Easter!

I struggled a bit with Easter this year with wanting to fill Addisyn’s basket with fun things but not wanting to contribute to the growing need for baskets full of candy and junky plastic toys that break in 2 seconds and end up in the trash at the end of the day. So this year we got her a movie, a dress for the summer, a hat for the beach, and a vegan rice crispy bar. We had left over plastic eggs from last year and filled them with stickers and a few vegan jelly beans and hid them around the house. I also added a few small stuffed animals to her basket that I had boxed up last year, she thought they were new and it worked out great! In a few weeks I’ll box them up again and pull them out again next year.

I really didn’t want to do anything that involved eggs since we no longer eat them, but everywhere you go, and every children’s book you read Easter is associated with eggs. So I thought that only the plastic ones would be fine, no dying real eggs this year. I don’t know how we are going to handle it next year and as she gets older when and if she starts asking to dye eggs like everyone else. We will need to get creative and cross that bridge when we get to it.

Keeping with the theme of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle we are using the same Easter basket, grass and plastic eggs each year and this year we reused the stuffed animals.

We topped the morning off with some yummy waffles made from our new cookbook, The Joy of Vegan Baking.

Waffles

3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
½ cup water
6 tablespoons non-hydrogenated non dairy butter, melted (we use Earth Balance)
1 ½ cups nondairy milk (we use Almond milk)
1 ¾ unbleached flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Pinch of salt

PREHEAT YOUR WAFFLE IRON

In a food processor or blender, whip the flaxseed and water together until it reaches a thick and creamy consistency, about 2 minutes. Add the butter and non-dairy milk, and whip for another minute.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Create a well in the center of your dry ingredients, and pour in the milk mixture. Stir until just combined. If you’d like to add any optional ingredients, fold them in now.

Spoon ½ cup batter (or the amount recommended for your waffle iron) onto the hot iron. Spread the batter to just within ¼ inch of the edge of the grids using the back of your spoon or spatula. Close the lid and bake until the waffle is golden brown. Serve immediately or keep warm in a single layer in a warm oven while you finish cooking the rest.

Yield: 4 to 6 waffles

Serving Suggestions & Variations
Add any of the following to your batter:
• ½ cup nondairy semisweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
• 1 small ripe banana, thinly sliced

We added chocolate chips, they were so good!