I've gotten some requests for the bread recipe I use. =] This recipe was given to me by my mom, and I'm not sure exactly where she found it. I'm going to add a link to this post under 'Our Favorite Recipes' at the top of the page so that it's easy to find!
Honey Whole Wheat Bread
1/3 c honey
1/3 c oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)
2 1/2 c warm water
1 1/2 TBSP yeast
2 1/2 tsp salt
6-7 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 TBSP dough enhancer (vital wheat gluten)
Combine the warm water, yeast and 2 cups flour in mixing bowl. Allow to sponge (aka just sit there) for 15 min. Add the honey, oil, dough enhancer, salt and 4-5 cups of flour until the dough begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl. Do not make the dough too stiff (dry). It is common to add too much flour.
Knead 6-10 minutes in mixer until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Form dough into 2 loaves - allow to rise in a slightly warm oven till doubled. (30-60 minutes)
Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. You can tell if it's done by taking the loaf out of the pan and tapping it on the bottom. You want to hear a hollow sound. =]
I almost always half this recipe to make just one loaf. But you can always make 2 and freeze one for later! And one of the best parts (to me) is that you only let this dough rise once (in the pan) so it takes a lot less time to make!
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Pretty Food
I find so much inspiration in food. I'm not sure if I've ever shared this on here before, but I did a one-year Culinary program at our local community college straight out of high school. Three weeks after graduation from that program, I married my bestie. The program could use improvement, but it did give me a certain love for food. I worked in a few different food industry jobs before Ziva was born. One being an artisan bakery. We crafted beautiful, beautiful, delicious breads every day. We had a top of the line espresso machine. We made pesto from scratch for our sandwiches. I used a sheeter to make sure our homemade pastry dough had 88 layers of butter and dough.
Anyway, yeah that was a delicious job. Oh and just so you know, I'm drinking Pumpkin Spice coffee right now, which probably deserves a post of it's own, but "oh hey, September!" =]
Working the dough daily (my job was to refresh the starter - feed it flour and water - before I went home {they were mostly sour doughs}, then in the morning I mixed the doughs, let them rise most of the day while I worked on other projects, shaped the loaves, and put them into the fridge to retard so the night baker could bake them in the wee hours of the morning and they'd be fresh for customers at 7am) gave me a love for good bread, and a real sense of how the dough is supposed to feel/look/sound when it's slapping against the mixer bowl. I learned so much there.
I try really really hard to make our breads at home now, because I have that skill. It doesn't happen 100% of the time, but I do try. I have a go-to whole wheat bread recipe that I generally stick to because it comes out good and we like it, plus of course it's healthy!
What keeps me inspired to do this stuff? Pretty food. Clean kitchen. Full fridge.
We have our local farmer's market on Wednesdays, where we pick up our CSA and buy our raw milk. We also happened to get groceries yesterday. (I don't have a specific day of the week I always go, it's just kind of whenever we start to run out of food. lol.)
While putting away all the food, I just couldn't help myself. I had to grab my phone and start taking pictures. I love it when my fridge is full of healthy, delicious food, and it's what inspires me to feed my family well.
Food hangs out in various areas of our small, apartment kitchen. And seeing it out in the open is a happy sight too.
{oh, hey there!}
{rolled oats, raw almonds, ground espresso, steel cut oats, quinoa and evaporated cane juice}
Another thing that helps me to feed my family well is prepping things. Before I put away the kale and swiss chard from our CSA I chopped it and put it in bags. That way it's easy to prepare, and I've found it stays fresher that way. I like string cheese for a good protein filled snack, but I'd rather buy the block of cheese with the cheaper unit price. So when I open the cheese I'll slice the whole block into sticks or slices, then keep them in a baggie or sealed container so they're easy to grab. Just a couple things I do to encourage us to eat well!
Anyway, yeah that was a delicious job. Oh and just so you know, I'm drinking Pumpkin Spice coffee right now, which probably deserves a post of it's own, but "oh hey, September!" =]
Working the dough daily (my job was to refresh the starter - feed it flour and water - before I went home {they were mostly sour doughs}, then in the morning I mixed the doughs, let them rise most of the day while I worked on other projects, shaped the loaves, and put them into the fridge to retard so the night baker could bake them in the wee hours of the morning and they'd be fresh for customers at 7am) gave me a love for good bread, and a real sense of how the dough is supposed to feel/look/sound when it's slapping against the mixer bowl. I learned so much there.
I try really really hard to make our breads at home now, because I have that skill. It doesn't happen 100% of the time, but I do try. I have a go-to whole wheat bread recipe that I generally stick to because it comes out good and we like it, plus of course it's healthy!
What keeps me inspired to do this stuff? Pretty food. Clean kitchen. Full fridge.
We have our local farmer's market on Wednesdays, where we pick up our CSA and buy our raw milk. We also happened to get groceries yesterday. (I don't have a specific day of the week I always go, it's just kind of whenever we start to run out of food. lol.)
While putting away all the food, I just couldn't help myself. I had to grab my phone and start taking pictures. I love it when my fridge is full of healthy, delicious food, and it's what inspires me to feed my family well.
Food hangs out in various areas of our small, apartment kitchen. And seeing it out in the open is a happy sight too.
{oh, hey there!}
{rolled oats, raw almonds, ground espresso, steel cut oats, quinoa and evaporated cane juice}
Another thing that helps me to feed my family well is prepping things. Before I put away the kale and swiss chard from our CSA I chopped it and put it in bags. That way it's easy to prepare, and I've found it stays fresher that way. I like string cheese for a good protein filled snack, but I'd rather buy the block of cheese with the cheaper unit price. So when I open the cheese I'll slice the whole block into sticks or slices, then keep them in a baggie or sealed container so they're easy to grab. Just a couple things I do to encourage us to eat well!
What do you do to keep your family eating healthy food?
Monday, April 2, 2012
catching up
Ahh it's been a busy Monday. I feel like I was in the kitchen all morning, and well, I basically was.
Saturday afternoon, we were sitting on the couch as a family. The hubs reading to Ziva and me listening and knitting. His dad had come down to drop off a bed they wanted to get rid of for my sister and as soon as he walked in the door, Z started throwing up. =[ (Not at all related to seeing her grandfather.) =P Poor baby was so nonchalant about vomiting that I didn't even hear or notice while I was sitting right next to her. The hubs turned around and said, "Ummm..." and pointed, and I used her dress to catch. (Sorry, TMI!)
The rest of the afternoon she hugged me and ran a fever. The hubs & Grampa went out to fetch some herbal teas and a temporal artery thermometer. (Which makes life a lot easier with a sick toddler!) I felt so bad for my poor little lady, but, I did enjoy the cuddling, I'm not gonna lie. It's been a loooong time since she would simply lay on my chest (make that, entire body, now) with no monkey-business. So yeah, I'm a mean mom who got a tiny bit of pleasure out of my child being sick. So sue me. =P
We ended up staying home from church Sunday just to make sure, and by the evening she was pretty much back to her normal self. I don't think her appetite is 100% back yet, and she sounds a little raspy, but all in all she's acting fine.
Anyway, what does this have to do with being in the kitchen? Due to caring for a sick child, lots of dishes that didn't get done Sunday night, and some baking was in order.
I try really hard to make from scratch as much as I can. I bake bread at least once a week and we don't usually buy processed snacks for the hubs to bring to work so I have to keep snack type things stocked up too. We do this to save money, and to control the ingredients that go into our foods. Plus, we only have one car, so if we're out of something I can't just run down to the store.
(I was pretty tired this morning so I didn't get up and help him with his lunch. I hope he found some food.)
This morning I made whole wheat bread and some chocolate chip cookies made with whole wheat flour and chickpeas. I'm trying to come up with a wide variety of recipes for things with 100% whole wheat flour - if you have any that you use, please share!
Oh, did you notice that rack of square things behind the bread? It looks like giant slabs of peanut butter fudge, doesn't it? Well it's not. Care to take a guess?
Saturday afternoon, we were sitting on the couch as a family. The hubs reading to Ziva and me listening and knitting. His dad had come down to drop off a bed they wanted to get rid of for my sister and as soon as he walked in the door, Z started throwing up. =[ (Not at all related to seeing her grandfather.) =P Poor baby was so nonchalant about vomiting that I didn't even hear or notice while I was sitting right next to her. The hubs turned around and said, "Ummm..." and pointed, and I used her dress to catch. (Sorry, TMI!)
The rest of the afternoon she hugged me and ran a fever. The hubs & Grampa went out to fetch some herbal teas and a temporal artery thermometer. (Which makes life a lot easier with a sick toddler!) I felt so bad for my poor little lady, but, I did enjoy the cuddling, I'm not gonna lie. It's been a loooong time since she would simply lay on my chest (make that, entire body, now) with no monkey-business. So yeah, I'm a mean mom who got a tiny bit of pleasure out of my child being sick. So sue me. =P
We ended up staying home from church Sunday just to make sure, and by the evening she was pretty much back to her normal self. I don't think her appetite is 100% back yet, and she sounds a little raspy, but all in all she's acting fine.
Anyway, what does this have to do with being in the kitchen? Due to caring for a sick child, lots of dishes that didn't get done Sunday night, and some baking was in order.
I try really hard to make from scratch as much as I can. I bake bread at least once a week and we don't usually buy processed snacks for the hubs to bring to work so I have to keep snack type things stocked up too. We do this to save money, and to control the ingredients that go into our foods. Plus, we only have one car, so if we're out of something I can't just run down to the store.
(I was pretty tired this morning so I didn't get up and help him with his lunch. I hope he found some food.)
This morning I made whole wheat bread and some chocolate chip cookies made with whole wheat flour and chickpeas. I'm trying to come up with a wide variety of recipes for things with 100% whole wheat flour - if you have any that you use, please share!
Oh, did you notice that rack of square things behind the bread? It looks like giant slabs of peanut butter fudge, doesn't it? Well it's not. Care to take a guess?
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