Van's Waffles

For Valentine's Day, my very sweet husband went on a gluten-free shopping spree.  He purchased all kinds of goodies for me that I would never get.  It's not that I want to deprive myself of food that I love, it's that I don't want to spend the money for expensive stuff, and I don't have a lot of time to bake right now.  The food items that he purchased are things that I don't need to eat.  I know that a lot of folks that end up going gluten free eat a lot of whole foods.  I can honestly say that I eat more fruits and vegetables now than I ever did before, and it's not a bad thing.  There are worse things in the world to eat than broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, celery, beans, apples, strawberries, dates, oranges and bananas.  The fact that my diet is filled with that, and lean proteins like chicken, pork, and extra lean ground beef is fantastic, and I know that for the most part, I'm putting good stuff in my body.

But sometimes, you just want a waffle.  The college that I went to for my undergrad used to have make your own belgian waffle stations.  They'd have all sorts of delicious toppings like strawberries and whipped cream, bananas, chocolate, etc.  Even when I was first living out on my own, I'd buy frozen waffles, and put some syrup, or smear peanut butter on one on my way out the door to work in the morning.  Sometimes, when it's very early in the morning, milk upsets my stomach.  So, this was a perfect breakfast.  I have some gluten-free Bisquick that I'd like to use but, I don't have a waffle maker in my house.  It's one of those appliances that some people have, and some people love and use regularly.  But, a lot of people have sort of banished it to some cupboard, or into storage in the basement, because they just don't use it that often.  I live in a small townhouse with a TINY kitchen (my oven is not even full sized, as in, I can't fit a regular sized cookie sheet into it), so extra appliances are a no go.

But, one of the products that my husband bought for me during his spree were Van's Gluten-Free waffles.

And they are very, very, good.  Just like any other frozen waffle, you can toast them in the toaster oven or a regular toaster.  I toasted them in my toaster oven.  You have to cook them for at least 2 minutes, and then go from there based on how you like your waffle.  To me, they taste EXACTLY like any other frozen waffle.  The texture is very similar, although that sort of rubbery feeling that you can get with a regular frozen waffle is not there.  But, these waffles have a light, satisfying crisp on the outer layer, and dare I say, a slight chew in the interior.  I was so happy to remember that I had these in the freezer this morning.  I just didn't feel like cold cereal and milk.  These would hold up well also to a peanut butter or cream cheese smear if that's how you like them.  

I have no idea how much these cost, because I didn't buy them.  I just know they're tasty and I would definitely get this brand again.  For those of you who read this blog because I post links on facebook, you may have noticed that I've been a little angry at the food world lately. I haven't had as much time to cook meals at home, and I miss the ability to just pick something up anywhere I go.  The Jimmy John's dude walked through the building I work in the other day and was handing out free samples.  My coworkers were happy to munch on their delicious, chewy, crusty, bread sandwiches, and the guy apologized that he didn't have any unwich samples with him, because it's just not as big a market, and they don't travel well.  It's not his fault.  It's not my coworker's fault.  It's no one's fault that I can't eat bread. But, despite the existence of some really good, convenient food, a diverse repertoire of quick stuff that most places have readily available just doesn't exist.  And the monotony of eating the same things over and over when you don't have time to prepare something different can make you a little cranky.  

So, it's on days like these, after weeks like those that make me really thankful for products like this.