Listen to Your Waffles

I eat waffles every day. They are a post-workout ritual for me, marking a major division of my day separating “taking care of me” to “now fully available to everyone else.” I look forward to waffle time – it is a chance to refuel, enjoy a treat, and pause and think before shifting gears. More and more, it has become a moment of reflection, and, like Anne Lamott and Mel Brooks with their broccoli, I’m beginning to listen to my waffles.

This sounds cuckoo but hear me out.

They say that you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes. It was actually researched and published.

The more I contemplate while I eat my daily waffles, make them for others, and discuss people’s waffle eating preferences, the more I believe we can also tell a lot about a person by the way they enjoy their waffles.

And, I believe if we listen closely, our waffles are telling us things about ourselves and life as a philosophical whole.

My Waffles

I make Kodiak Cakes Power Cakes, chocolate chip, mixed with just water. Higher in protein, lower in carbs than typical waffles, clean, and easy to make. The chocolate chips are my tiny bits of sweet texture thrown in for excitement, the rebel in me revolting against the coach-prescribed plain mix. (Sorry, Adam!)

How I cook these matters. I don’t have a standard, full-size waffle iron. No way! Instead I use this teeny tiny red mini waffle iron, cooking and eating them one by one as they are cooked. That way they are fresh and hot. No soggy, cold waffles for me!

How I eat them matters, too. I put them in a bowl, one by one, alongside a 2oz dollop of fat free plain Greek yogurt. This is a no silverware situation. The yogurt cuts down on the sweet, adding some exciting sour. It really isn’t all that appetizing looking.

I shot these photos yesterday just for this post, interrupting my normal flow of cook-eat-cook-eat-cook-eat-cook-eat. I had to endure a couple of cold, half-soggy ones to capture these images. Go on, cry for me. It was highly disruptive to my waffle flow but you are worth it!

As much as I’d love to do some macro shots and something more creative, this is the best you’re going to get. My waffle time is borderline sacred – a time for me to listen to my waffles.

Waffle Contrast

Let’s compare it to how my daughter takes her waffles. She likes the Kodiak Cakes buttermilk mix. She doesn’t like the texture of chocolate chips in her waffles, so plain and smooth it is. But, she must have a strip of Sparkle Syrup going down the center of her carefully chosen kid plate, one waffle flanking each side.

David likes the chocolate chip mix smeared in peanut butter and syrup and would probably add a whipped cream smiley face. He also is voting for a larger iron so we can hurry up to have more, more, more!

And, Mason? Well, he won’t eat any of these waffles and instead opts for falafel waffles, but just as a gamer handle.

Can you see how this says a lot about each of them and how different it is to what my waffles say about me?

Listening to Waffles

Just as my Trader Joe’s waffle bag says, waffles are considerate and have pockets. They are thoughtful and hold the space for us, allowing us to fill those spaces with whatever we wish.

So what does this say about me and what do my waffles say to me?

I am so specific on how I like my waffles. I mean business. From the ingredients to the cook process to the eating process, it is calculated. It tells me I know exactly what I want. No fruit or syrup, no fru fru or fancy garnish.

My waffles are telling me a lot about my hip and pelvis journey, especially about making surgery decisions. They are telling me to savor the sweet bits thrown into my days – into my hip and pelvis journey, but also life as a whole. The chocolate chips tend to sink to the bottom of the mixing bowl, so the last two tend to have the most chips – just as this journey has the sweetest bits at the end. While there may be a sour yogurt smear atop everything, it creates a smooth cohesiveness and tempers the sweet. Eating them fresh, one at a time, they are telling me to keep taking this all step by step, be here now, and to forget the stack. Savor.

There’s always a bit of batter left at the end, too little to cook another waffle with, so I absolutely lick the bowl clean. This is like frosting to me. My waffles are telling me that there will be frosting on this entire journey, laced with rebellious chocolate chips.

One of the most important things my waffles are telling me is that it is ok to waffle. As in, rethink decisions. Waffle time is the perfect time for waffling. Considerate, pocket-picking and filling, waffling.

Listen to YOUR Waffles

Ok, your turn! How do you like your waffles? What does that say about you? Go make some and then listen carefully. What are your waffles telling you?

Note – this is a mostly ridiculous post, but seriously, if shoes were studied and broccoli listening is a thing, why not waffles?

Another note – for a full on Waffle Celebration, go to this post. National Waffle Day, oh yeah!!!

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