As we were reaching the end of our time in Ohio my pantry ingredients kept dwindling without being replenished as was only logical. The only problem was trying to make dinner! Our go-to “no food in the house” meal is some sort of breakfast. But when you’ve depleted your supply of both whole wheat and all purpose flour you have to get creative.

My husband started getting into Alton Brown’s old show Good Eats which re-airs on Cooking Channel around that time and remembered seeing him grind up oats for waffles. We figured we’d give it a try, but upon inspection of the recipe, there was still flour involved. I still had a little bit of cake flour and decided to just go for it. We didn’t have the right amount of oats either, but our result was still a delicious waffle. Naturally, I added some cinnamon to the batter for good measure.

Out in California Good Eats airs right after the bedtime routine for the boys. The bedtime process starts with watching the “Nighttime in the Neighborhood” episode of Daniel Tiger and eating a banana. We then go brush teeth, read books, and sing songs. I hold Firecracker’s hand until he drifts off to sleep. (Now that he’s in a “big boy” bed, it’s a lot easier!) Stuart stays upstairs with Treat watching Good Eats as he (I could be talking about either of them really) drifts off to sleep.

Oat Waffles

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 C old fashioned oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
• 1 C cake flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 2 C buttermilk
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

Steps:

1. Toast oats in dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Transfer oats to a food processor and pulse until they reach the consistency of whole wheat flour.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the oat flour, cake flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
3. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the try, mixing until just combined.
4. Pour batter into a hot, greased waffle iron until golden.

*This recipe is modified from Alton Brown at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/oat-waffle-recipe.html*