~~wAy aWEsomE WheAt brEaD (UPDATE)~~

Over the past several years I have tweaked my whole wheat bread recipe to see if I could improve the process and fluffiness factor. And I was a little crazy about not "losing" a loaf of bread so we ate whatever I wound up with in this process. It wasn't so bad. Whatever was "brick" status just got popped into the toaster and well buttered! Ha ha.

Fluffiness is of utmost  interest because whole wheat anything seems to immediately call to mind an absence of this character. Being an individual who grew up on the Wonder Bread of the 70s/80s/90s it is a habit and expectation that is difficult to set aside! I know... I am weak. Honestly, I didn't want to complicate my recipe with a bunch of additives and make the process a pain in the hiney - whether it was an additional, potentially costly, ingredient or whether or not it was an item that was easily found. Well, after you see the comparison photo I think you will understand why this addition was so readily accepted!

Lecithin: derived most commonly from soybeans, is used in baking for its ability to moisturize, preserve and emulsify.

For no other reason than I just wanted to see what happened I went ahead and made two batches of bread: one the regular way, one adding lecithin. I noticed right away that when I added the lecithin that the liquids looked more mixed (emulsified) than without. Hmm. At the time I wasn't sure that was so great. After all, water and EVOO technically do not mix, right? Then during the rise time it appeared to be a little taller than the original recipe. And lastly, after baking there was a significant difference.

Here is the result:

See? Do I really have to indicate that the one on the right is the lecithin batch? And it was a lovely elastic texture that was closer to my preference. So - there you have it. Documentation/justification of the addition of LECITHIN to my recipe.

Here is my updated recipe:

2.5c warm water

1/4c EVOO

1/3c honey

1T red palm oil

(if you don't use red palm oil simply increase the EVOO to 1/3c)

2t salt

2T powdered lecithin 

(I tried liquid as well and it was identical results)

- mix for 4 minutes.

Mill:

2c hard white wheat

2.5c hard red wheat

- add to wet ingredients.

1 heaping tablespoon of dry yeast

- add to wet ingredients.

-knead in mixer for 6-8 minutes. 

(the bowl will be quite tidy and dough elasic-y)

Let the dough rise for an hour in an EVOO coated bowl covered. Then punch the dough down and divide into two pieces shaping it into two loaves and place in large bread pans that have been rubbed with EVOO. Allow to rise for an hour. Bake for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven at 350.

After the bread is baked let it sweat slightly for about 5 minutes and it should slide right out of the pans without any issue. If you notice that it's not coming out easily give it another five minutes. Otherwise you probably didn't oil the pan well enough. Oh well, just slide a knife down the sides and remember next time to be a little more liberal with the EVOO.

Don't leave the bread in the pans much longer than 10-15 minutes because it may get soggy. Let it completely cool on a rack to room temperature. You'll find that the top of the bread is crusty but as it cools it will begin to get more tender. I don't butter the top because that is my preference - no other reason. I keep my loaves in plastic bags and four loaves usually lasts my family of eight about a week.

Good luck and I'd love to hear from you!

~~mOVe oVeR cLAUssEN!!~~

I have always been a fan of Claussen brand pickles but with a large household it wasn't cost effective to keep them around at all. But I have stumbled across a combination of spices by chance (providence - wink wink) that has me giddy with excitement.

My grandmother made the BEST pickles. They were the *best* because they were what we were used to having for a pickle. They were simply pickle cukes, vinegar, salt, garlic cloves and fresh dill. All packed in a crock lined with muslin on the front porch. We would take the lid off, lay back the muslin, dig through a couple inches of fresh dill and garlic to find a treasure swimming beneath... mmmm... the memory is pretty vivid. I canned some pickles years later with my grandmother's recipe only to discover that processed cucumbers don't stay crunchy so that's where Claussen pickles came into the picture.

We had a big wave of cucumbers come on the past week or so and I had to figure out what to do. I didn't really want to dehydrate a bunch of them... I didn't think my year of dill dip was going to warrant such a task so with the previous memory in mind I searched the web for refrigerator pickles. I like to can stuff because it doesn't take up precious refrigerator/freezer space but in this case if I could find the right recipe I would be willing to make some concessions.

I found this one and this one that were the basis of my rendition. There were others that were much more basic that gave me the encouragement just to try the counter top/refrigerator method but ultimately these narrowed the vast playing field of pickle making.

We don't grow pickle sized cukes and I think we let them get a little too large in general so I went ahead and cut them into deli spears and they packed quite lovely.

I only made a couple of jars because I didn't want a bunch of gross tasting pickles on hand if my recipe went awry. But only after the second day I was sure that my concoction was an overwhelming success!!

Here they are pickling away!!

Okay, so here is Settles Pickles (no more Claussen)...

Combine on stove top until all is dissolved:

2 quarts of water

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

I used large pickle jars that a friend gave me from her deli (I think they are about a quart and a half) and in the bottom of each jar I put:

2T minced garlic

2t dill seed

2 bay leaves

10 peppercorn

4 whole cloves

1/2 cinnamon stick crumbled

pinch of red pepper flakes

Pack your cukes in each jar and pour the *cooled* brine over the top to cover the veggie. Give it a gentle couple of flips to get all the spices moving around and let sit on the counter for four days giving them a flip occasionally. Then transfer into the fridge. I've read different accounts of how long they will last - any where from six months to a year. I'll just figure that you're wise enough to make that determination.

~tUrnINg tOMatoEs INto DuSt~

I decided to take advantage of a local co-op that was delivering Georgia peaches for a good price. I chose #2 grade for the cheapest option with references from other folks who were pretty pleased with their previous orders. So I plunged into 75 pounds of fruit with my mother-in-law working away with me to successfully process 47 quarts of peachy goodness. Then I decided to do it one more time because the deal was so enticing... only this time I went for an even hundred pounds! But the quality was far from the first and wound up with about the same amount of quarts and with the badly bruised stuff I strained and made Spiced Peach Honey.

The two days of canning did not include *one* photo. It was labor intensive in terms of the constant flow of steps and, well, I just was not in a prettified way to encourage my hubby or boys to click away. Vain... don't judge me...

All this is explain why I DIDN'T can tomatoes. Yup. I was burnt out and just didn't want to. But the garden was yielding an ample supply and we just *couldn't* let them go to waste.

So I checked out this video from Bread Beckers and decided that dehydrated tomatoes turned to powder sounded interesting and... easy.

We gathered up our Amish Paste Tomatoes from the garden and sliced them about what we would do for sandwiches and laid them in a single layer on my two dehydrators. I didn't bother to skin them or anything. Just gave them a good wash - that's all! After letting them go for about 24 hours (on the back porch - didn't want to smell it) I let them cool down to room temp and then pulverized them!

There they go! The smell of the powder was so lovely. There were five trays per dehydrator and I wound up with 15 total trays that gave me 3/4 of a quart of tomato powder.

Pizza Sauce: 1/4c tomato powder, 1/2-3/4 cup of water, 1/2t garlic salt, oregano/basil to taste.

Add to soups. Makes wonderful Spanish Rice according one of my foodie friends. Add to anything to add a little depth of tomato flavor and will thicken a little as it cooks. That pizza sauce would make a great dip as well, don't you think?

Here's a resource for using the tomato powder and I'm guessing this is not at all exhaustive online! Go ahead... pulverize away!!!

~~hOMemaDE lAundRY dETerGenT~~

I did it.

I made my own laundry detergent.

I watched this youtube video and decided that it looked easy enough. And, yes, it's safe for front loaders and septic systems according to various reviews that I read. (I should have kept track of them but I didn't so forgive me for the lack of specific reference here.)

I found every item that I needed at Walmart on the laundry cleaning supply aisle. Here's the cost breakdown for you:

Fels Naptha Laundry Bar                 .97
Arm & Hammer Washing Soda     3.50
Borax                                             3.38
Oxi Clean*                                  14.98
Subtotal                                       22.83
Tax                                                2.23
Total                                            25.06

This is the initial investment for the ingredients. *The Oxi Clean is an optional ingredient and I bought mine at Sam's Club so I wound up with the 11 pound box.

When the cost is broken down to a six gallon recipe it looks like this:

Fels Naptha Laundry Bar                 .97

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda       .25

Borax                                               .35

Oxi Clean*                                      .34

Subtotal                                          1.91

Tax                                                  .19

Total                                              2.10 = .35/gallon

Am I missing something here??? I paid over $12 for a gallon at Sam's!! And I choose the slightly more expensive brand because I don't want any added colors or fragrances. (Yeah, I ask the manufacturer to use less stuff in their product and they charge me more...)

Anyhoo... 

I didn't take photos of the process... it seemed silly to waste the time when the video has already been made. But I will post the recipe and directions if you don't require the visual of a video.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Ingredients:
Fels Naptha - one 5.5oz bar
Washing Soda - 1/2c
Borax - 1c
Oxi Clean (optional) - 1/2c

Grate the Fels Naptha and dissolve it on the stove in four cups of water. Don't let the water boil too much and it will require constant attention. Just keep working it until it's completely dissolved - no lumps.

Fill a 5 or 6 gallon bucket with three gallons of hot tap water. I measured it out and then marked the outside of the bucket for future batches. In fact, I wrote the recipe on the side of the bucket as well.

Pour the dissolved laundry bar in the bucket of water and stir to incorporate. Then, add each of the powders making sure that you dissolve each one *completely*. Easy schmeasy.

Cover it and let it cure for 24 hours.

So here's where you find me... I just uncapped the bucket and it's gelled and kinda cool lookin'. One person suggested breaking up the gelled consistency  by giving it a good stir but I took it a little further and used a drill paint stirrer. Funny, huh? The boys (and girl) were happy to assist with the power tools...

At this point I am saving my current laundry dispenser to refill and asking my neighbor if she would save hers for me as well. You are supposed to fill it half way with water and the rest of the way with the laundry detergent. It requires shaking before each use but I think if you blend it up ahead that it won't be so bad according to one review that I read. We'll see, huh?

Well, I guess this will have to be supplemented with reviews on the cleaning power it holds. I'll get back with you after a few loads of laundry. I do at least two a day so it won't be too long. And let me know of you try it too! Happy laundering!!!

~~tORtiLla fAil~~

The standard in my routine is to mill my wheat and make loaves of whole wheat yumminess for the family. I started out with making a couple of loaves at a time and have gone to FOUR now to accommodate the increased consumption. But I would like to branch out with more breads.  We use tortillas a lot so that seems like a good place to start, right?

No.

At least with the recipe that I had... It's not that they tasted bad but they were crispy and leathery at the same time - not at all pliable to make a burrito.

So, this batch went to an impromptu, made up concoction that turned out quite tasty!?

Pesto Chicken Pizzas

Spread pesto (I used my homemade goodness created with my husband's home grown fresh garden basil last summer) on the tortilla. 

Sprinkle chicken on that.

Put a few onions on next.

Slice some tomatoes kinda thin and layer them on next.

Then cheese... my husband doesn't ever like to skip cheese.

I sprinkled a little parsley flakes on top of the cheese to make it look "pretty".

Yeah. They were good. The leftover whole wheat tortillas? Not so much.

~~SUgar CAne NATuraL & nUtS~~

I am the coordinator for my area for Bread Beckers Co-op. We compile our orders to save on the shipping of grains, beans, honey and a host of other items. Quarterly orders are shipped to me where I commandeer the garage organizing individual orders to be picked up by the co-op members. All those white buckets of wheat and beans, wow, you should see the huge 50 pound bags!! Last quarter a 50 pound bag of sucanat was mistakingly left with us and we decided to buy it for ourselves. I'm not all together familiar with cooking with the sweetener so I need to get with it and learn!!

We filled one and a half six gallon buckets for easier access and safer storage.

Okay - so here's where we started...

I was making some of my annual Spiced Nuts for Christmas goodie-giving and didn't realize that I had very little sugar. But wait!!! I have FIFTY POUNDS of sucanat!!! I wasn't sure if the sugar could be replaced but if it could... oh, the possibilities!

~~~~~~

SPICED NUTS

1/2c sugar (or sucanat)

1/2t salt

1t cinnamon

1/4t ground cloves

1/4t nutmeg

2T water

1/2c walnuts

1/2c pecans

Butter cookie sheet. Combine sugar with spices and water in small pan. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture forms soft ball when dropped in cold water. Stir in nuts. Remove from heat. Stir until no longer glossy. Spread thinly on cookie sheet and allow to cool completely. Store in air tight container.

~~~~~~

I had enough white sugar to do a normal batch. Then I got out the sucanat and replaced the sugar. I was a little concerned that the heat of getting it to the soft ball stage might go wrong and it was beginning to look a little darker than the sugar batch. So I took it off the heat a little sooner than usual and finished up the steps.

The top pan below is the sucanat batch and the bottom one is the sugar batch. Can you see a slight color difference? It tastes the same to me. And my husband agreed. So, how about that?

~~goOOOood MoRnin' gLorY mUffINs!~~

{UPDATED 10/11}

I should know better than to do this but I have this "thing" about using new recipes on dinner guests and potluck Sundays. The practical side of me is screaming, "Don't do it!!" And although I've had few occurrences that I was unable to salvage that day is bound to arrive!!

That said - I tried this muffin recipe on my special gals at CBS. And it was well enough received that I thought it was worthy of posting. I got the recipe here and it just sounded yummalicious!! I didn't use the ground flaxseed only because I didn't have it but it still turned out wonderfully. {update - I got some of that flaxseed and although there wasn't any taste/texture difference I'm sure the nutritional benefits went up.} I think they would probably even freeze well if you wanted to double it. FYI: I did make some minor changes to the original recipe to suit my preferences.

MORNING GLORY MUFFINS

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups grated carrots

1 apple chopped

1 cup craisins 

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup ground flaxseed

2 eggs

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  

Whisk together the eggs, honey, applesauce, oil, and vanilla. These are the "wet items".

In a large bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground flax seed. This is the "dry items".

Combine the carrots, apple, and craisins.

Chop nuts. I just wanted to show what an awesome job this kitchen tool does with nuts (and so many other foods). It's called a Vidalia Chop Wizard and I got it at Target. It is absolutely fabulous! I have replaced my Pampered Chef Food Chopper with this and have *never* been disappointed!!

Whisk the dry items to the wet items together until it is moistened.  Now pour that yummy smelling batter onto the fruits/veggies mix along with the nuts and combine well.

This is such a pretty batter, huh?

I like to use the Pampered Chef Large Stainless Steel Scoop to fill the muffins cups. It keeps the cups tidy (avoids burnt spots where batter was dripped), and they are uniform scoops so they are all evenly baked. And if you are maintaining portion control this scoop holds three tablespoons of batter.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes and let cool (if you can wait that long) on a rack.

This yields about 2 dozen muffins and each muffin is three Weight Watcher points.

~~heAlTHieR sIDe Of a tREat~~

This zucchini bread recipe I found (and adjusted just a little) has become a hit in my house. We have a back yard garden and a remote garden (at a friend's property) and the zucchini has been pouring in. The neighbors turn off their lights when they see us coming with an arm full of the harvest... no, just kidding. So far they have convinced us that they are enjoying it. I froze some too. I shredded it and measured out two cup baggies full so I can make this recipe over the winter. It's soooooo good warm right out of the oven....

ZUCCHINI BREAD ANJI'S WAY

2c whole wheat flour

2/3 c all-purpose flour

1t salt

1t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1T cinnamon (I am liberal with this... mmm)

3/4c egg substitute (or three egg whites) 

1 whole egg

1c sugar

2t vanilla

1/3c EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil for those of you who have 

never seen the hyper Rachel Ray on Food Network

2/3c unsweetened applesauce

2c zucchini, peeled, grated

1/2c walnuts

Heat oven to 350. Grease two bread pans.
Sift together first six items. Set aside.
Combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, EVOO, applesauce and zucchini.
Add dry items to wet.
Fold in nuts.
Divide batter between bread pans and bake for 45 minutes (or until an inserted knife comes out clean).
Each loaf makes ten servings - and that's a pretty good sized serving... you'll see!!

And I did the nutrition facts on this recipe and it came to 139 calories, 7g fat, 2g fiber per slice. Not too shabby, huh? Since I use so much whole wheat flour it raises the fiber content to combat the fat. The all purpose flour always helps a recipe "lighten" up and it didn't take much to do that.

The one thing to be careful about is to not skimp on the zucchini and do not over bake. This will keep the bread moist - I don't care for sawdust bread and when the oil is reduced it happens easier.

~~a LiTTle Bit Of FriED heavEn~~

I noticed that I don't fry a lot of things for meals. Not because I'm being purposefully healthy but because it's a mess and I always have a bit of a crisis in making sure none of the grease at clean up goes down the drain. But my husband always says, "Anything is better fried."

Anyway, I had a few sweet potatoes and thought I'd make a mess. Here comes the slicing mandolin - no, I did not get these lovely, thin, uniform slices with my knife skills.

And then the real mess begins... the hot oil... I used vegetable oil because it has a higher temp capability without burning. I didn't know this was the case with oils - I just thought oil was oil. In days past I would have just used my EVOO and thought that fried "whatever" tasted bad. Now I know. And my arteries are wincing at this discovery.

Just a little pinch of salt and I'm slappin' hands so we would have some with our dinner! Mmmmmm!

~~wAy aWEsomE WheAt brEaD~~

I HAVE TWEAKED THIS RECIPE AND HAVE DOCUMENTED THESE CHANGES/ADDITIONS IN A NEW POST - MAKE SURE YOU CHECK IT OUT.

2 1/2 cups warm/hot tap water
1/4 cup EVOO

1 T red palm oil (if you don't have this increase the EVOO to 1/3 cup)

1/3 cup honey 

(baking with raw honey cancels out any nutritional benefit so pasteurized honey is practical in cost since raw honey is significantly higher - my friend who is a nurse and her husband was a master bee-keeper counseled me on this)

2 t kosher or sea salt

500 mg vitamin C (crushed)

I put all these ingredients in my Kitchen Aid (with the wire whisker attachment) and let it incorporate for about 4-5 minutes. Change to the dough hook attachment and add:

Mill:

2 1/2 cups hard red wheat berries

1 3/4 cups hard white wheat berries

(or about 5 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour - I used Bob's Red Mill before getting my mill)

1 (heaping) T of yeast

After allowing to mix for a minute or so on low, I set the mixer on high and let it knead for six minutes. This might seem arbitrary but I discovered that the glutens in the flour needed to be process long enough and yet not too long so that the bread isn't crumbly or a brick. The mixing bowl should be fairly clean as the dough has come together in a nice ball.

Then I take the dough out of the bowl and form it into a pretty ball, spray the mixing bowl (don't bother cleaning it), and return the ball into the bowl to rise for an hour.

After that hour punch down the dough and form into two loaves and allow them to rise another hour in sprayed loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

I used to allow only one rise but the flavor and consistency of the double rise loafs were significant enough that I felt that it was worth the extra hour.

Don't allow the bread to stay in the pans too long after taking them out of the oven because condensation will form and make the crust soggy. And I tried putting butter on the tops and it kinda messed up the top of the loaf and didn't keep well for the week. 

~~yUmmY GoLdeN grAnoLA~~

My husband really likes granola and I found a few recipes and came up with this concoction. It - is - good! I like it because it's simple and tasty. For the more seasoned granola maker this would be a nice base for all sorts of possibilities. For instance, I added flax seed to one recipe but my husband said that they stick in his teeth so we opted out of that nutritional addition.

Our favorite way of eating it is over vanilla yogurt topped with my strawberry freezer jam. And a dear, dear friend introduced us to a hot oatmeal topping as well. Thanks, LA!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine in a large bowl:

6 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup almonds - chopped

1 cup each of raisins and craisins

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon of salt

In a saucepan melt together:

1 1/2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup honey

Pour mixture over dry ingredients and coat well.

Put some parchment paper on two cookie sheets and then spread the mixture between the two pans. Bake for 30 minutes stirring each pan every ten minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.