Note – this post originally appeared on meaghanwebster.com in 2016.

After mutual Instagram-stalking seemingly brought us together by fate, I recently had the pleasure of meeting Rebecca Peress from SWAP, a D.C. startup that makes AMAZING savory waffles, called swapples.

swapples swap the junk out of frozen waffles (like chemicals and articifial coloring) for vegetables, flavorful spices, and heart healthy oils. They come in flavors like sun-dried tomato (SO GOOD), spicy spinach, everything bagel, and sweet potato curry, and are vegan, gluten free, and paleo-friendly – but they don’t sacrifice taste.

I don’t have these dietary restrictions, but I’m a savory breakfast food-lover, so these waffles are right up my alley. Importantly for my pre-work breakfast creations, they’re as easy to prepare as Eggo waffles, but so much better for you.

Read my interview with Rebecca to learn how the idea of these breakfast game-changers came to be:

The market for paleo-friendly, vegan, veggie-based foods has exploded over the last few years. How does SWAP fit into that trend, and how does it stand out?

Quite frankly, the large majority of people are just sick and tired of eating crap. We now care where our food is coming from. We want to know it contributes to our health, prolongs our lives, improves our function and energy. SWAP fits into this trend because we’re taking what were once considered junk foods and ”swapping” the ingredients with little to no nutritional value for vegetables, giving you something that actually does good for your body.  Veggies in, junk out!

What inspired you to create Swapples?

An affinity for cooking, a need for convenience, a love for yuca (one of the main ingredients in swapples that replaces grain), and a long history of autoimmune disorders that required I remove all processed foods and sugars from my diet. The waffle part… that’s the fun in it. It’s probably because I was a mini Eggo addict as a youngin’.

What inspired you to start your own business?

That’s easy: I wanted to do what I love. When you get to work hard at something that you both enjoy and puts a smile on people’s faces…. it’s the most rewarding work there is.

Do you have plans to make any foods beyond waffles?

MANY. We’ve got quite the list of veggie-loaded products in the pipeline for the future – but hush hush for now 😉

What’s next for swapples? How can people find them?

swapples are growing fast throughout the DMV region, and will be invading dozens of more stores over the next few months (store locator can be found on our site). We’re also (drumroll please) starting online sales for large orders towards the end of this month/the beginning of May.

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Note (2/18/2017): swapples are no longer available online. Click here for a list of store locations!