Failure. I do it all the time. It’s quite true. I set expectations for myself but the noise of others’ opinions and my own fears and insecurities drown out my own inner voice, and I constantly fall short. Failure is hard work, but it’s part of life and I’m learning it’s a sign of experience. Every failure along the journey to becoming your perceived ideal is what ultimately defines you and makes you totally unique. With failure comes the courage to accept yourself and expand to the absolute limit. 
Courage. It is your courage that gloriously triumphs over failure and allows you to follow your heart and intuition. It’s not easy, but you already know what you truly want to become. Courage helps you handle your failure, accept your imperfections, and create yourself to become the perceived ideal you want to be. The courage to persevere through your failure becomes a catalyst for reinvention. 
You must have some kind of vision for your life, even if you don’t know the plan. Most things that create the best endings are sometimes the things you are least certain about. Of course while you’re doing them you have absolutely no way of telling which way is up or hanging upside down. This leads me to waffles. I didn’t have a plan and I didn’t know what I was doing. All I knew was there had to be someplace to start. No plan, just a simple desire. I added all sorts of health and crunch to the whole wheat base: Sunflower seeds, cocoa nibs, buttermilk, butter. Obviously there’s a good dose of butter added, too. 
These waffles don’t reflect my failure, but my appetite for sweet and slightly tart. These are hearty, packed with whole grain flavor and some serious support from seeds and organic cocoa nibs. Accessories are always nice. (Right?) (Right….?) They’re exactly what they need to be… A slight chance of failure with a good dosage of courage and creativity. 
Whole Grain Buttermilk Waffles with Cocoa Nibs and Sunflower Seeds
(yields 6 waffles)
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup skim milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons shelled roasted sunflower seeds (salted or unsalted)
4 tablespoons cocoa nibs (or chocolate chips for a sweeter waffle)
waffle iron
PREPARATION:
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, skim milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
Add the wet ingredients, all at once, to the dry ingredients. Stir until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter may be lumpy. That’s ok. Add sunflower seeds, and cocoa nibs. Whisk to combine and try to beat most of the lumps out of the batter.
Preheat the waffle iron.
When hot, spray with non-stick spray and spoon 1/3-1/2 cup batter onto the surface. I like to make these as small waffles since they’re dense and seedy.
Cook according to manufacturer’s directions and serve with butter and warm maple syrup. 
These waffles are great fresh from the waffle maker, but they’re also great individually frozen and reheated in a toaster oven. Can be stored in an airtight container or plastic bag for 2 weeks.
Enjoy!
Tagged: blogging, breakfast, brunch, food, healthy, main dishes, milk, nuts, recipes, sweet, vegetarian, whole wheat
