What's for dinner?

...or, let's be honest, this would be a lovely breakfast as well!

Coconut sweet potato waffles with whipped coconut cream
Sunrise smoothies
(I think some kind of quiche would be great with this, let me know of you have a killer one. You know, so you can add a little more veggie oomph).

Coconut Sweet Potato Waffles:
My own twist on a bunch of different pumpkin waffle recipes. You could probably use pumpkin or butternut squash without any problem, but I had sweet potatoes...but I called them pumpkin waffles for the kids since they "hate" sweet potatoes (except they DEVOURED these with a focus usually reserved for pizza).
This is a thick, dense, very filling waffle! It crisped up nicely in my iron, but it will not be the fluffy, crispy waffle you might usually have...
(edit: made this 10/27 with butternut puree. Delicious, but....the puree was a LOT thinner than the sweet potatoes mashed. Those waffles cooked up lighter and crispier.)

Dry
2 c. whole wheat flour (I used white wheat, but all purpose would work if you roll that way)
1/2 c. oats
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. powdered ginger
1 t. salt
1 T baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda

Wet:
2 c. mashed sweet potato (about 2 med sweet potatoes cooked) or 2 c. pumpkin or butternut puree
1.5 c. coconut milk (I make mine by blending 1/4 c. unsweetened dried coconut with enough water to make 1.5 c...blend for a few minutes until all frothy and delicious. Oh, and make some extra for the smoothies!)
1/4 c. real maple syrup (you could sub in 1/4 c. sugar or sucanat into the dry if you don't have syrup, not sure how honey would work)
1/2 c. coconut oil (you could sub in butter or half olive oil, half butter)
3 eggs
Splash of lemon juice

Mix together the dry stuff.
In the blender you used to make coconut milk, blend together the wet stuff.
Make a well in the middle of the dry stuff. Add the wet and stir gently to combine. Do not over-mix! With
Preheat your waffle iron and allow the batter to sit.
Make your first waffle a test waffle! If you've used a puree, your batter will be thinner, if you've used a mash, your batter will be much thicker! Use 1 c. batter cooked for 5 minutes. Spread the batter out a little. If you end up with a puny-sized waffle, use 2 c per waffle. If your batter is thinner, you'll only need 1 c per waffle!
Cook 4.5-7 minutes. (It was 5 min in my iron with  my thicker batter and 4.5 minutes with my thinner batter, but my guess is that you'll need to experiment a little to figure out what works in yours!)

Whipped Coconut Cream:
(My take on a several recipes floating around the net)
1. Put a can of coconut milk in your fridge at least 24 hours before you want to use it. Allow it to sit, undisturbed, for that time. The less additives there are in the milk, the better it will work.
2. A few hours (or the night) before serving, pull out that can of yum and scoop off the white layer on top (keep the watery layer for smoothies).
3. Add a drizzle of maple syrup and whip for a couple of minutes.
This could go a few ways, depending on the coconut milk you've used. It might come out of the can thick and scoop-able already. It might be thick but liquidy until you mix it, and then turn to fluffy cream. You might whip it for 5 minutes and get frustrated because it doesn't seem to be changing! Just put it back in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Usually my liquid frustration firms up beautifully in that time and is scoop-able, whip-cream-like deliciousness....but even if if doesn't thicken up, it adds so  much yumminess drizzled atop waffles!

Sunrise Smoothies:
1 c. homemade coconut milk (or coconut water from making whipped coconut cream)
1 large,  very ripe banana
1 orange, peeled
10 large frozen strawberries (maybe 2 cups? Who really measures for smoothies?)
About 2 T orange juice concentrate (I use a large dinner spoon to scoop out this approximate amount)
1/2-1 c. water, as needed to blend smoothly.
Put orange, banana, and coconut milk in blender and pulse to blend. Add frozen strawberries and pulse, adding additional water to enable smooth blending.
Optional: blend in a big ol' handful of spinach with the coconut milk for some added veggie goodness.