Soaked Honey Wheat Bread

I think we’ve all recovered from stuffing our faces at Thanksgiving, so now we are back home and trying new ways to incorporate healthy, whole foods into our meals. I’ve always wanted to make my own bread and to stay away from the yucky additives. But, I also want to make sure it’s healthy and good for us by soaking the grains or using sprouted flour. Right now, I buy sprouted whole grain bread and feel good about the quality, but it is in a bag on the shelf at the store and isn’t cheap. I’m not sure I’ve made it to the point of continuously making our own bread, as other things are at the top of my priority list for now, but this recipe proved to be easy and good!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup room temperature water
• 1 Tbs yogurt
• 2 Tbs melted coconut oil (or other oil)
• 3 Tbs honey
• sprinkle of ginger
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 cups whole wheat flour

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix all ingredients together, cover, and sit out on counter overnight.
2. The next day, sprinkle 2 tsp yeast and 1 tsp salt on top of dough. Knead well. I used the dough blade on my food processor, watching to make sure it didn’t get too sticky. Shape dough into loaf and put into greased bread pan. Proof for 30 minutes.
3. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until internal temperature is 200°.

TIPS

• Remember, if you don’t eat the ends of the loaf, to save them and grind for your own, healthy breadcrumbs.
• If you like soaked grains, you might like these Soaked Whole Grain Banana Bread and Soaked Whole Grain Blueberry Muffins.
• I also love these Soaked Whole Grain Pancakes.

Tags: bread, grain, recipe, soaked, whole grain

Christmas Dessert Substitutions

First, let me say HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. I hope you had a good close to 2011 and are looking forward to a great 2012. I usually take desserts when traveling to visit relatives for a holiday. It’s just easier than prepping or cooking and trying to keep a vegetable or side dish ready to eat. This year, I tried something different. It’s not my grandma’s pecan pie by any means, but I think it turned out satisfactory. Yes, just ok. Now, I’m only judging from the reactions as I don’t care for pie myself, but overall it was all eaten and some even had it twice. I was told it was a little bitter (maybe the chocolate chips or the rapadura) and even a bit rich. And to some, just having the chocolate added made it just enough different to catch their attention. Anyway, I made this Shortcut Chocolate Pecan Pie from Lisa at 100 Days of Real Food with just a few minor substitutions. Check out her page for the original recipe and I’ll post mine with substitutions here.

INGREDIENTS

For the crust:

• I  cheated and used a spelt pie crust from Whole Foods

For the filling:

• 3 eggs
• ½ cup rapadura
• ¼ cup 100% pure maple syrup
• tablespoon melted butter, unsalted
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• cups pecans, chopped or whole
• ¾ cup dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, rapadura, syrup, butter, vanilla, and salt. Fold in the pecans and chocolate chips.
3. Pour the filling into the prepared crust and bake until pie is set, about 20 – 25 minutes.
4. Let cool for 5 or 10 minutes before serving.

Tags: dessert, grain, holiday, recipe, whole grain

WEEK 32: More From the Grill

Summer nights are just wonderful for grilling. And, what mom doesn’t love enjoying dinner outside with LESS CLEANUP? I do, that’s for sure.

Food Description

Pizza is one of my favorite foods ever. It just is. It’s wonderful. Well, to be healthier and know our ingredients, I’ve started making the dough, sauce, and preparing the toppings…all for the grill. Another wonderful thing is to pop something you might normally bake and freeze for the little ones onto the grill while you’re enjoying your meal and closing the lid.

Process

Pizza Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
{I used organic, canned versions of the above, but pureeing and making your own would be great!}
1 TBS ground oregano
1 1/2 tsp dried minced garlic
1 tsp ground paprika

DIRECTIONS
Mix all together.

Pizza Dough

INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm water
1 tsp raw honey
1 TBS yeast
2.5-3 cups flour (I use spelt or whole wheat or a mixture of both.)
1 tsp sale
toppings of your choice
shredded cheese of your choice

DIRECTIONS
Dissolve yeast and honey in warm water and stir. Set aside until frothy (7-10 minutes).
Pour yeast mixture into large bowl and add salt and flour (slowly). Mix together. Add more flour if needed to make dough consistency.
Knead 5-10 minutes.
Let rise for thicker dough.

HOW TO COOK IN OVEN
(Adapt for your grilling on pizza stone or directly on grate. Use parchment paper under pizza placed directly on the grill, for easy transfers.)
Grease your pizza pan or stone with extra virgin coconut oil.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place kneaded dough on pan and spread. Add sauce, toppings, and cheese and cook for 25-30 minutes.
Blend olive oil and fresh garlic and spread with brush on the crust.

Grill-Baked Butternut Squash

• Cut lengthwise down the middle.
• Scoop out the seeds.
• Lightly coat the exposed flesh of the squash with butter or olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Add cinnamon and/or nutmeg to spice it up a little bit.
• Place cutside up on the grill and cook with lid closed until fork tender, about 1 hour.

What I Learned

I’ve made this quite a few times now and still haven’t quite perfected the soaking of the grains for the dough. It turns out quite chewy, but with a great taste. I’m still working on it, so if you have any tips, please share. You can also easily freeze this uncooked dough in freezer bags.

Reaction

The boys love pizza, much to my delight! It is something that I’m careful to cut into small bites, especially with the chewy dough, and this is not an easy task. The squash turned out well and I just stored it in the refrigerator. This made it easy to cut into bite-size pieces and warm up for a few lunches the rest of the weekend.

Summary

Homemade pizza is one of my favorites and personalizing it with your own toppings can give it that perfect taste your wanting. I love the yummy taste from the grill, but the recipe works well on the pizza stone in the oven too. We will continue to enjoy pizza this way through the fall and winter to come.

Tags: grilling, soak, tomato, vegetable, whole grain

WEEK 31: Grilling Greats!

We’ve been grilling and smoking a lot this summer. From whole chickens to steaks, burgers, and fish to pizzas and whole vegetables, the amazing food just keeps coming from our back patio. This weekend I tried something new and great!

Food Description

With Jonathan really enjoying the grill this summer, we’ve been able to have lots of leftovers for the fridge that are perfect for the weekend meals or lunch the next day. I don’t really know any details to tell you on how he does most of his grilling, but I can tell you it’s good. However, we have done some modified patty melts a few times that are just amazing. There’s nothing special here, but I thought I would detail out the ingredients and how we’ve put them all together. Keep in mind that some of these ingredients may sound a little detailed or odd since we’ve recently made THE GREAT CHANGE.

Process

Outdoor Grill Version Patty Melts

INGREDIENTS
1 onion, sliced in thin rings
butter
garlic powder
black pepper
sea salt
1 lb ground beef (grass-fed from our local farmer’s market)
8 slices bread (making your own from soaked grains would be great, but I use the Ezekiel brand or Trader Joe’s Sprouted Wheat Bread)
raw, white cheddar cheese (cut into slices for burgers)

DIRECTIONS
Sauté onions in butter in pan on top of grill (or on stove if needed).

Divide ground beef into even portions. Pat out fairly thin, slightly larger than your bread slices (they will shrink up). Sprinkle one side with sea salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. Flip and sprinkle the other side with black pepper and garlic powder only. Grill as you would normally and place cheese on top of patties at the end of grilling to melt.

Butter one side of each slice of bread and toast.

Place cheese on top of patties at the end of grilling to melt. Put burgers on top of plain side of bread. Spoon onions on top of cheese. Put another slice of bread on top of burger and onions, buttered side out. I like the buttered sides out so that I can enjoy the taste. Serve and enjoy.

What I Learned

I had been making these inside on the stove top with my cast iron cookware. But, with the recent heat and desire to grill outside, we moved to doing burgers on the grill. We love the patty melts so much, that we were able to move the exact recipe outside, onions and all.

Reaction

The boys love burgers and really enjoy the onions, too. We usually have sweet potatoes or baked sweet potato fries with them, so that’s always a big hit as well.

Summary

These burgers and all of our other grilled meats outside have just been wonderful! Jonathan is really getting the hang of grilling the grass-fed beef and of course we love a good smoked chicken and homemade pizza (post coming soon).

Tags: grilling, local, summer, whole grain

WEEK 30: Beautiful Breakfasts

This week was all about breakfast and trying out some new things. Some were successful. Some were not. One was so good that we also enjoyed it for dessert. Owen is now feeding himself well from a spoon and a fork. He needs some help with scooping and stabbing, but the rest is mastered. Wyatt is just starting to be willing to even hold the utensil for a few minutes of a meal. Both boys enjoy drinking water straight from a cup and getting about 5% in their mouths and the rest down the front of their shirts. This is a great outside summer activity!

Food Description

Eggs and healthy grains are a great way to start out your day. Add in some fresh fruit and vegetables and you’ll really be off to a great start. We find breakfast an important meal in the day and really enjoy this time together before we all go about our days.

Process

Easy Breakfast Frittata

INGREDIENTS
1/2 onion, minced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
1/2 tomato, seeds removed and diced
4 large eggs
splash of milk
3 T fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Cook onion over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes or until translucent and soft.

Add garlic, mushrooms and saute for 2 min. Add tomato, salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Stir well.

Beat eggs well with a splash of milk and season with salt and pepper. Mix in basil. Pour eggs over veggies evenly and turn heat to low. Cover and cook about 5 minutes or until firm. Cut into wedges and serve.

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

adapted from Muffins that Taste Like Donuts

INGREDIENTS FOR  MUFFINS
1 3/4 cup Spelt Flour (or whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/3 cup Coconut Oil
3/4 cup Rapadura (or sugar)
1 whole Egg
3/4 cup Milk

INGREDIENTS FOR TOPPING
1/4 cup Butter
1/3 cup White Sugar (I used Rapadura)
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
Grease one standard size muffin pan with butter or coconut oil.

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Mix together oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Fill standard sized muffin tins with the 1/4 cup batter per muffin.

Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

Melt the butter in a bowl. Combine the Rapadura (sugar) with the cinnamon in another bowl. Shake muffins out of pan while still hot. Dip muffin tops in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.

Makes 1 dozen.

German Pancakes

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat, but bread flour may rise more)
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
pinch of salt
1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Melt 4 TBS butter in 8″ or 10″ cast iron skillet in oven to while preheating to 400°. (9×9 pan will work as well, or double recipe for 9×12 pan)

Mix all ingredients together.

Pour into hot pan, allowing butter to rise to the top.

Bake for 20-25 mintues.

Serve with pure maple syrup or your choice of toppings. Consider fruit or cinnamon in the mix or on top.

What I Learned

Breakfast has always been a favorite meal of mine, but I realized recently that we were having scrambled eggs and fruit way too often. It was time to change it up a little. Variety is good and breakfast is yummy.

Reaction

Both boys enjoy most everything at breakfast, so these have also been a big hit. The German Pancakes and Muffins were a true highlight to our week. We even enjoyed the rest of the muffins for a few after-dinner desserts the rest of the week.

Summary

These foods have been added to the weekly rotation as Jonathan would say. When I get that comment, then I know it’s good.

Tags: breakfast, egg, family, omega-3, recipe, whole grain

TIP OF THE DAY: Batch Grinding Grains

I save jars, clean thoroughly, and use for storing grain powders in the refrigerator.

Based on the information in Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron, here are some tips for grinding your grains, beans, peas, and legumes for making porridge.

• Use a blender or coffee grinder. Do not use a food processor.
• Start with small quantities and single grains.
• When you move to mixed grains, mix and store them together so they are ready to go when it’s time to cook.
• Mix 2 parts grain and 1 part legume (bean or pea) together for a complete protein.
• Store them in glass jars in the refrigerator.
• Prepare 1 serving with 1/4 cup powder in 1 cup boiling water. Turn water to lowest setting and whisk in powder, then cover for 10 minutes.
• Double or triple your recipe and refrigerate for 2-3 days for reheating.
• Remember that millet and smaller grains require more water, so only use 3 TBS per 1 cup of water.
• Get creative. Once your baby or toddler is old enough mix up the combination and add in spices.

You may also like these posts on grains and porridge.

Week 06: Healthy Grains
UPDATE: Porridge
WEEK 12: Bake Sweet Potato Fries (see porridge varieties section)

Tags: bean, grain, legume, porridge, whole grain

WEEK 23: More Healthy Grains

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This was another week for batch preparations and freezer storage. I focused mainly on healthy grains since I’ve been craving them myself and need some things in the freezer.

FOOD DESCRIPTION
Meals have continued as normal with more use of utensils and training to leave plates bottom-down on the table. I prepared blueberry muffins, pancakes, and banana bread for freezer storage. We’ve enjoyed the banana bread for sure and the boys love them all. I endeavored to so soak grains for all three with general success. This definitely makes much more dense breads than I’m used to baking and I need to keep trying and get more experience to get it all just right, but everything was tasty and edible.

PROCESS

• Banana Bread A very dense, tasty bread from soaked grains.

• 3 cups whole wheat flour (or use spelt or kamut)
• 2 cups whole, plain yogurt (or use buttermilk or kefir)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

1. Mix the flour and yogurt together in a large bowl and cover in a warm place to soak overnight 12-24 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350°
3. Add remaining ingredients to soaked flour and mix well.
4. Put in well-buttered 9×4 loaf pan.
5. Bake for 1-1.5 hours or until toothpick comes out clean from center. 

• Blueberry Muffins Healthy muffins from soaked grains. Recipe makes about 18 muffins.

• 3 cups spelt flour (or use whole wheat or kamut)
• 2 cups yogurt for soaking (or use buttermilk of kefir)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1-1/2 cup rapadura or sucant
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 TBS melted butter or coconut oil 
• 2 cups blueberries

1. Mix the flour and yogurt together in a large bowl and cover in a warm place to soak overnight 12-24 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 325°
3. Add remaining ingredients to soaked flour and mix well.
4. Pour into well-buttered muffin pans, filling cups about 3/4 full.
5. Bake for about 45-60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center.

[Ingredients for banana bread and muffins. Bowls in the back with grains soaked overnight.]

• Pancakes Dense, chewy, healthy pancakes from soaked grains.

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (or use spelt or kamut)
• 2 cups kefir for soaking (or use buttermilk of yogurt)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 TBS melted butter 
• 1 cup water

1. Mix the flour and kefir together in a large bowl and cover in a warm place to soak overnight 12-24 hours.
2. Heat skillet or griddle to medium heat.
3. Add remaining ingredients to soaked flour and mix well. Adjust water amount as needed to desired consistency
4. Pour to desired size on griddle. I used a 1/4 cup for each pancake and was able to cook 4 at a time.
5. Watch for bubbles to form and flip. Don’t mash or flip more times.
6. Remove to cooling racks.
7. Serve with butter and maple syrup. You could do fruit butters, nut butters, raw honey or berry syrups as well. Consider fresh fruit as a topping or get fancy and mix in some nuts or berries into the mix. Or, consider adding a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg in the fall and winter.

 [This recipe made 20 pancakes. Try another pancake recipe here.]

WHAT I LEARNED
Soaking grains makes much more dense breads that take longer to cook than expected. I’m also going to fly through some ingredients learning to make all of these tasty concoctions and will need to find a place to buy some things in bulk. You can mix up your whole grains and your soaking agent on any of these recipes. You can also do various combinations. Mix and match and learn what you like best.

REACTION
The muffins were a little bland and I plan to try a new recipe with rapadura soon. The boys love the pancakes and they were so easy to make. Jonathan and I both enjoyed the banana bread, but it was a little undercooked.

SUMMARY
This was a first step on a new journey of making homemade soaked breads.
Please share your thoughts or ideas.
::

Tags: grain, healthy, whole grain

TIP OF THE DAY: Olive Oil

Tags: ideas, pasta, process, whole grain

Brain Boosting Nutrients

During the first 36 months of life, the brain is growing at an amazing rate as he/she learns out how to think, react, and problem-solve. Of course, developmental activities are key, but what goes into the body is just as important. Foods that contain antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and complex carbohydrates are all particularly important in brain health.

Antioxidants are nutrients to protect your toddler’s brain from normal wear and tear.

• Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries
• Other fruits and vegetables — the more brightly colored, the more nutrient dense. 
• Nuts, seeds, and nut/seed butters

Make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with peanut butter enriched with omega-3s and use sliced blueberries or strawberries instead of jam or jelly. Or, try stirring fresh berries into plain yogurt; or make a smoothie with the same ingredients and some milk in the blender. Add some tahini or other seed butters to porridge or spreads for bread and toast. Remember to also use these opportunities to add some healthy extras.

Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids are healthy fats and the fillers in breast milk and fortified baby formulas. They are crucial to brain and eye development and help with mood-stabilization.

• Salmon, scallops, shrimp (Try this recipe.)
• Walnuts
• Flaxseed
• Omega-3 enriched eggs and yogurt

Make salmon fillets for dinner or put salmon salad (you can prepare it as you would prepare tuna salad) on whole-grain bread for lunch. Bake some flaxseed cookies (post coming soon) for a treat or add flax to your oatmeal or porridge. Scrambled eggs are super easy and a kid favorite.

Complex Carbohydrates are fiber-rich whole grains. They are crucial to the brain’s functioning as its main source of fuel. Remember that sugars are simple carbohydrates, lacking fiber, which are absorbed very quickly, causing fast energy highs and even faster lows. The fiber in complex carbohydrates slows the body’s absorption of energy, allowing the brain gets a nice steady fuel supply.

• Whole-grain breads, pastas, crackers, cereals
• Whole-grain pancakes, waffles
• Brown rice

Yummy whole-grain cereals and oatmeal are great for breakfast. Keep expanding on your porridge creations. Be sure to make sandwiches with whole-grain bread and use whole-wheat pastas for those yummy dishes.

Please share your thoughts and ideas.
::

Tags: antioxidants, berries, brain, carbs, flax, nuts, omega-3, porridge, seeds, whole grain

WEEK 08: Pancakes

This has been a great post-birthday week. The boys have been a little wacky on napping, but we really are enjoying our second year! They’ve added wheat germ, tomatoes, and pancakes to their list of firsts this week and liked every bit of it.

FOOD DESCRIPTION
I finally put the ingredients that I bought for healthy flour to work this week and made some whole grain pancakes. I didn’t introduce syrup or any toppings although real maple syrup, butter, fruit jellies, peanut butter, and other spreads would be great. We also didn’t do these for breakfast, as I’m not so inclined to get up that early yet, but rather had them for lunch. I some times get the question about “when” and I will tell you that I always think ahead when planning my day, or especially something new. I put the boys down for their morning nap and went right to work making pancakes and preparing other small fruits and vegetables for meals in the refrigerator and freezer.

PROCESS

• Whole Grain Pancakes I made the pancake recipe from page 330 of Ruth Yaron’s book Super Baby Food, including the Super Flour mix from page 289. It was an easy recipe, mixing dry ingredients and adding eggs, milk and oil. I followed the recipe exactly and made them four at a time on my skillet. I moved them to cool on wire racks (after tasting one for myself, of course). Once they were cool, I kept one aside for lunch taste test and packaged up the rest with wax paper in a freezer bag. Be sure to let your pancakes bubble all the way on the first side before flipping. Also, watch for your skillet to get too hot as you’re cooking. It’s often the right temperature to start, but soon gets too hot and your pancakes will come out looking brown. Don’t mash them down or keep flipping them over as they will get tough.

PANCAKES
Mix in this order:
2 cups Super Flour
2 teaspoons baking soda (or baking powder)
2 lightly beaten eggs
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons oil (or melted butter)
Healthy Extras (I did not add any, but plan to next time around.)

SUPER FLOUR
2 tablespoons soy flour
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoons brewer’s yeast
(put all of the above in a two-cup dry measuring cup)
Top off the measuring cup with whole wheat flour.

Don’t overbeat the batter. Heat your skillet until hot and just a few drops of cold water jump and sizzle. You don’t want them to just lie there or evaporate instantaneously. Pour about 2-3 tablespoons of batter on the pan. Cook until the surface is filled with bulbbles. Flip and cook the other side 1 to 2 minutes more. Do not continue flipping or press down on the pancake or it will be heavy and tough.

• Spinach & Tomato Sauce With the addition of tomatoes this week, I decided to blend some together with spinach and garlic powder. This made a yummy sauce that I’ve served as a puree on a spoon and plan to mix with some whole wheat pasta for a single dish meal as well.

WHAT I LEARNED
A great way to have pancakes ready for breakfast is to make a batch ahead of time and freeze them for up to 3 months. They can heat in the oven or toaster oven for just a few minutes or just a few seconds in the microwave. To keep them separated and fresh when frozen, I placed 3 of them on a folded piece of wax paper. I had 4 of these groups to freeze, making 12 total pancakes in my freezer bag. See the example below.

REACTION
The pancakes were a great finger food addition to lunch and provided a nice, healthy alternative to bread, bagels, or crackers. I felt great about the ingredients and both boys liked the taste and texture.

SUMMARY
I’m excited about these new pancakes and look forward to thawing and serving for breakfast with a yummy topping soon!

Please share your thoughts or ideas.
::

Tags: breakfast, flour, recipe, tomato, whole grain