Bread Bread Who Wants some Bread???

Ok, I have been asked my my sister in law if I had any bread recipes that were hearty, whole grain types. And the answers is OH YEAH!!!  love using grains. In fact next month I am teaching a grains class at my church.  I am really looking forward to that. I love the added bite and texture grains add to bread.

 First you need some special equipment (that is if you are going from scratch) to mill your wheat. Freshly milled wheat flour is amazing and produces a great bread. I like using white wheat but feel free to use the red. Upon researching for this post I discovered there is quite a lot of fuss about the kinds of wheat people us in bread making and which mill is best down to the alkaline of the water for goodness sake! All I know is I grind the wheat and make bread out of it! Sheesh!

 I do buy some grains already milled. Flax seed is not recommended to be milled by my mill so I buy it pre milled (How many times can I say mill in a sentence!!) I also have a grain roller, the secret of my success, that helps me to up the amount of grains I use. It is awesome. setting one cracks the grain setting two rolls it (think rolled oats) and the third setting makes a course flour. The main tip in making a muti grain bread is to have a good base. what I mean is a good basic bread dough you can go crazy adding grains too. I add a few tablespoons of flax to my bread dough. I like mixing flours too. But I make sure to add extra vital wheat gluten to the dough so I get a good rise. It is a little tricky getting a good rise from multi grain bread. I don't use dough conditioners so I have to get the gluten going on my own. The way I do that is my whipping my bread dough. I take the yeast and water an let it hang out in the mixer bowl for 5 minutes. While they are doing there thing, I heat up the milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a pan to 115 degrees. I add the milk mixture to the yeast water. I add two cups of freshly milled wheat flour to the bowl along with my vital wheat gluten. Using the paddle I mix it for about a minute our until all of the flour is wet then crank it the high and let it whip for 5 to 8 minutes. I know it seems like a long time but it gets the gluten going. You can tell it's ready when the dough is very stringy-ish. Replace the paddle with the dough hook. This is the base I was talking about  At this point I feel free to start adding other grains to the dough. I like to add another 1 cup of flour (can be any gluten flour- barley, wheat, rye) and I add flaked/ rolled wheat or oats or spelt. I also like to add seeds. poppie seeds, pumpkin seeds, or sesame seeds. I run the mixer with the dough hook until the dough forms a ball around the hook and the sides of the bowl are clean. I rise the dough until double about 2 hours or more. the yeast needs time to do it's magic with such a heavy dough. When It's done rising I punch it down and roll it out flat as I can then roll it up like a cinnamon roll. I tuck the ends under an put in a loaf pan and let it rise until double, about an hour or so. Bake it at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or it reaches in internal Temp of 190 degrees.


Recipe-

3 cups flour  (fresh milled whole wheat, red or white)
1/2 cup water 115 degrees 
2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, or oil, or coconut oil, or shortening; whatever kind of fat you want (just not lard)
2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons sugar, or honey or agave or molasses
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
1 cup additional grains (rolled oats, spelt flakes, millet, rolled barley etc.)
1/4 cup seeds (optional)

In mixer add yeast and water. Let sit 5 minutes. In a small pan add milk, butter, salt, and sugar. Heat to 115 degrees. Add milk mixture to yeast water. add 2 cups flour and wheat gluten;  mix to combine. with paddle attachment, whip for 5 to 8 minutes. Switch out paddle for dough hook. Add at least 1 cup of flour and additional grains. let mixer go for a few minutes. turn off and add seeds. when the mixer is going again the dough will start to pull away from the sides of the bowl. if it is not, add extra flour, about 1/4 cup at a time. Once the sides of the bowl are clean and the dough it in a ball around the hook. remove the dough and place in a well greased bowl. cover and let rise in a warm, draft free place for about 2 hours or until doubled.
Punch down dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Roll out flat and then roll up kind of like a cinnamon roll. tuck the edges under and put dough in a well greased bread pan. cover and let rise until double, about an hour. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.


Sorry no picture of this but I hope to get one soon.

Dear Hona...

I recently asked my facebook fans to ask me some questions that I could answer here on the blog and I am pretty excited to announce a new feature to the blog... ASK HONA!!

So here are a few to get us started. If you have any questions for me feel free to ask in the comments below or on my facebook page.


From Kelly C.

Dear Hona,
Favorite sore throat home remedies? I've done popcicles, tea, ok so I need to drink more water...I've tried to get lots of rest and I'm pretty sure it's not strep but we'll see how my throat looks and how I feel in the morning.

Dear Kelly,
The best thing I have tried was a recipe given to me by my amazing mother in law. Take equal parts honey and lemon juice and mix in hot water and drink it. I do 1 tablespoon of each in 3 oz. of hot hot water. It really helps calm down a sore throat. Honey is an amazing substance and it has natural antibiotic properties which will help heal your throat.

Laura M. writes...
Dear Hona,

 Kason (my 3 year old) has always been a bit sensitive to dairy but now it looks like he can't have any at all! We get test results back soon so we will know how severe it is but we cook with milk and cheese a bit, any good non diary recipes or subsitutes?? Any good cheese subsitutes that are good enough to pay for and eat?

Dear Laura,
This is right down my alley! My oldest has a milk protien allergy and we have to sub. for everything. There are so many amazing products out there that have helps us with the switch. The natural food section has been a life saver for us. We use soy milk as a sub. in bread recipes, soups and pasta dishes. You can make a rue with soy milk as well. For sweeter things like cakes, muffins, and the like, we use amlond milk. Knowing alternate names of milk will help in you label reading. 

Quoted from http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html#badingredients

-milk solids ("curds")

-Whey
-casein (sodium caseinate, most commonly)
-lactose (sodium lactylate, frequently)
-lactalbumin and other names that begin with lact
-galactose (a lactose by-product) Most people with milk allergies will have no trouble with galactose
-protein (often "high protein" or "protein enriched" version of another ingredient, such as wheat) The added protein in foods (particularly "high energy" foods) is often milk protein.
caramel coloring. Many kinds of caramel coloring use lactose, a milk sugar, to help get that rich color. When in doubt, do without.
-Recaldent. This ingredient, found in some Trident brand chewing gums, is milk-derived.

there is even more info on their site.
I have not bothered with non dairy cheeses. In my opinion they taste gross and are very expencive. And most have milk protein in them anyway. For some great recipes get some vegan cook books. They are always 100% non dairy! Here is a good site to get you started- http://foodallergies.about.com/od/dairy/tp/dairyhub.htm

I know that is alot of information all at once but I thought the better you understand the better choices you can make right!  I find cooking from scratch and not using processed foods keeps dairy out of our food.




Christina S. posted this question...

Dear Hona, 
 I'd like some tips on preparing meals for freezing. It seems like my pancakes and potato dishes always get frostbitten.


It sounds to me like moisture is getting into your food. First when you are done cooking the food you want to freeze make sure it is cooled all the way. If the food is still warm when put into the freezer they will produce condensation that will freeze into frostbite on your food. I suggest getting a vaccum sealer. I like Ziploc Freezer System. It gets all of the air out and keeps the food fresh for a long time.


Keep those questions coming and look for more ASK HONA posts in the near future!!

FACEBOOK CONTEST!!

Head on over to my facebook page and enter the contest For a chance to win a set of recipe cards filled with some of my favorite recipes!! Good luck!!


Click here!!

Dinner Challange weeks 3 and 4

It just occurred to me that I never posted the last two weeks of my dinner challenge! The baby has been growing a ton and has been eating pretty much non stop for a few weeks now so my time has not been my own!


Week 3
Pineapple Chicken, Veggie Lo Mien, Brown rice and egg rolls
*Sweet potato peorgies, green salad and fruit tray
Hamburgers, potato salad, veggie sticks (carrots, celery, cucumber)
Ham, funeral potatoes, green salad, cranberry sauce, cucumber limeade punch, rolls (this was Easter Dinner!)
Sloppy Joe's, Green beans, Jello
*Matzo ball soup, salad and canned peaches
Chicken nuggets, frozen peas, macaroni salad

Week 4


Pizza bake and salad
Chicken sandwiches, potato salad, green beans
Steak Fajitas, Spanish rice, and apple slices
grilled chicken breast, broccoli with red peppers, garlic roasted potatoes
*Millet loaf, green salad, rolls
Cincinnati style chili, noodles, kidney beans, salad
*roasted zucchini and tomatoes with homemade egg noodles


*- vegetarian meals

I did it!! 4 weeks, one month all different meals. It was so fun and if I had a bigger food budget I could have been even more creative!! Did anyone else try the dinner challenge?? If not I highly suggest you try it.


Happy cooking!!!

Meatless Monday Dishes

I love meatless mondays! It is so much fun trying out new recipes. Today I thought I would share with you what I had today for my meatless monday.



For Breakfast I had whole wheat blueberry pancakes with almond butter and apricot preserves. Not too pretty looking but oh so good!

For lunch I made this awesome salad. It is spinach, goat cheese, pecans, and raisins with Italian dressing.

I also had buttered homemade egg noodles with cracked black pepper and some goat cheese.

Yes, I did make those noodles myself but that is the subject of another post! I am LOVING doing Meatless Mondays! For dinner I was all set to make black bean and oat burgers but had to run an errand and left the hubby to fend for himself, he made Alfredo. What did you have???

Taco Ring

Taco Ring!!

This is a huge family favorite. It is so simple and easy, as you might have noticed I have been focusing on family favorites that are quick and simple. I guess with a very new baby and so little time that is my own, Simple is about all I've got at the moment!

1 pound ground Turkey

1 small onion diced

1 green bell pepper diced

1 cup salsa

1 package cresent rolls (pop in fresh kind)

1/2 cup shredded chedder cheese

In a skillet, brown the turkey, onions and peppers. When cooked add salsa. On a piza stone or baking sheet arrange dough in a ring with large sides in the middle. Arrange meat mixture around the dough and fold over ends of dough. I do it at an angle and press the corners to the side, kind of making an inner ring so the meat stays in place. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Once out of the oven, sprinkle cheese on top. Serve with a green salad and my spanish rice.

Yummy!!

Pizza Bake

Pizza Bake-

2 cups Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
1 can pasta sauce
1 small package pepperoni
1 cup sauteed onions and bell peppers
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix Bisquick and milk until it forms a dough. divide in half. Take first half and drop into a greased 9x13 pan by the spoonful. layer on half of the pepperoni, peppers/onion mix, cheese and sauce over top the dough. Repeat with the other half of the ingredients topping with sauce. Bake at 400 for 30 mins or until hot and bubbly in the middle. make sure dough balls are baked all the way.


This is super simple and oh so yummy!!!