New Year= New Goals!

Happy 2013! I hope everyone had a great holiday season filled with family, friends and of course FOOD! What is the holiday season without all that delicious food? Now that the new year has arrived so have new goals and resolutions. My main goals for this year is to eat even less processed foods and to cut out even more sugar and white flour. Another thing I really want to get into is juicing. Of course I would need to purchase a juicer first but that is only a minor detail! Once I start my journey I will share my juicing thoughts and recipes along the way.

I know that many people have resolutions that involve food and exercise. So my first recipe that I'm going to share for the new year is homemade bread. I have been making bread for about a year now and I really enjoy it. The benefits of homemade bread without any preservatives and high fructose corn syrup outweighs the time and precision needed to achieve a perfect loaf. Take a Sunday afternoon and set aside some time. You can make several loaves which you can freeze and defrost as needed in the following weeks. Give it a try! I know it can be intimidating working with yeast but once you've got it down you will be able whip a few loaves in no time!

A few notes about ingredients:

The following recipe uses white whole wheat flour. This flour has all the benefits of 100% whole wheat flour with a more mild and light flavor. Once you master this recipe we can move on to baking 100% whole wheat bread. *You cannot substitute whole wheat flour for white flour. Whole wheat bread is a different recipe!*
I also use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast. When using instant yeast you only need to allow the dough to rise once instead of twice. This will save you an hour of rising time! If you are going to use active dry yeast you would need to follow a different recipe.
Two ingredients that you can leave out are the whole ground flax seed meal and vital wheat gluten. You can purchase these both at your regular grocery store. Market Basket carries them both. Look for them with the other Bob's Red Mill products. The flax seed meal adds fiber and omega 3. The vital wheat gluten is helpful for baking breads made with course, whole grain flours and cereal. It basically helps with the rise and elasticity of the dough. It is also 75% to 80% protein! Bonus!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of white whole wheat flour (I use King Arthur Flour)
• 3 tablespoons of whole ground flax seed meal
• 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
• 2 teaspoons of instant yeast
• 1/2 cup milk (skin, 1%, 2% or whole)
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup water
• 4 tablespoons of melted butter

Directions:

1. Add all dry ingredients to your stand mixer and give it a quick mix.
2. Melt the butter and warm all liquid ingredients to about 110 degrees. Usually this is about a minute and a half in my microwave.
3. Add liquid to dry mixture. 
4. Turn the mixer on to the number 2 setting. 
5. Mix until all ingredients are combined.
6. The dough will start to form into a ball. Be patient! 
7. Once the dough ball has formed it should start to "clean" the sides of the bowl. If the dough is sticking you may need to add more flour. Only a a little at a time. If the dough is to dry add a little warm water.
8. Once the ball is formed and is the right texture set a timer for 7 minutes. 
9. Allow the dough to mix for the full 7 minutes!
10. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface and shape it into an 8 inch log.
11. Place the log into a lightly greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan. Cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap.
12. Allow the bread to rise for about an hour until it's crowned about 1" above the edge of the pan.
13. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 35 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven and cool on a rack before slicing. You can also rub a little butter on the crust when it's still hot. This will make the crust a little softer.
14. Store in a plastic bag at room temperature.

The bread should be consumed within a week. This bread is great for sandwiches and toast. I hope that you will be willing to give homemade bread a shot! You won't regret it! As always let me know how you do! Happy baking:)

Mother's Day Brunch

I hope everyone had a fantastic Mother's Day! All mom's deserve to be celebrated for all they do for their families 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It's a full time job for sure but it's totally worth it! This year I hosted a Mother's Day brunch for my mother-in-law and my mom. We had a total of ten people coming for brunch so I had to figure out what I could make to serve that many people. I also wanted to make items that I could prepare the night before which would allow me to relax on Mother's Day and not have to stress out before people arrived, especially since guests were arriving at 10:30. Here is the menu that I decided on.

• Yogurt Parfaits
• Vegetable Egg Souffle
• Baked Apple-Cinnamon French Toast
• Zucchini Bread
• Buttermilk Blueberry Cake
• Fruit
• Bagels and Cream Cheese
• And of course COFFEE!

I was able to make the zucchini bread and blueberry cake the day before. The french toast is supposed to be prepared and left in the fridge for 8 hours so I prepared that the night before. I chopped all the veggies for the egg souffle the night before and put them in the fridge in a zip lock bag so they were ready to go the next morning. These dishes were great for the brunch but would also make a great weekend breakfast. Check them out and give them a try. As always let me know what you think!

Vegetable Egg Souffle

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen eggs
• 3 cups of milk
• 1 bell pepper, slice
• 1 bunch of asparagus, chopped (reserve a few stalks for the top of the souffle)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 bunch of broccoli, chopped
• 2 cups of shredded mild cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Saute or microwave veggies to soften.
2. Beat eggs in a large bowl.
3. Add veggies, cheese, mustard and salt.
4. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish.
5. Top with asparagus stalks.
6. Bake covered for about 50 minutes. Uncover and bake for 20-30 minutes longer or until done.

This recipe is fairly easy when everything is prepped ahead of time. It is also easily adaptable because you can use whatever vegetable you like or have in your fridge! 

Baked Apple-Cinnamon French Toast

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of nonfat milk
• 2 cups pasteurized liquid egg whites
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 bag of sliced whole wheat bread
• 1 cup of chopped dried apple rings (3 ounces)
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp confectioner's sugar

Directions:

1. Whist milk, egg whites, honey, vanilla and salt in a large bowl.
2. Trim crusts off 8 slices of bread and set aside. Cut the crusts and remaining bread into 1 inch pieces. Toss the cut bread with dried apples, raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. Coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Transfer the bread mixture to the pan. Lay the reserved crustless slices evenly over the top of the casserole, trimming to fit. Whisk the milk mixture one more time, then pour evenly over the bread. Press the bread down with the back of a wooden spoon, making sure it's evenly moist. Cover with parchment paper, then foil, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Bake the casserole, covered, for 49 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until puffed , set and lightly browned, about 29 minutes more. Let stand for 10 minutes; dust with confectioner's sugar and serve with maple syrup if desired.

This was the first time I tried this recipe and it was really good! Best part is that it is a healthy version of baked french toast. Everyone loved it! Let me know what you think.

Yogurt Parfait

Ingredients:

• Chobani Vanilla Non-Fat Greek Yogurt (or yogurt of your choice)
• Granola
• Mixed berries

Directions:

1. Layer yogurt, granola and fruit into parfait glasses or other pretty glasses.
2. Serve and enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups white sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini

Directions:

1. Grease two 8x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in zucchini until well combined
4. Pour batter into pans.
5. Bake for 40-60 minutes or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on cooling rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tsp lemon zest or more
• 7/8 cup* plus 1 Tbsp sugar**
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

*7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp

**This 1 Tbsp is for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Grease a 9 inch square baking pan. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. Let cool at least 15 before serving.

Try out these recipes for your next family get together or weekend breakfast and let me know what you think! Happy Mother's day to all you wonderful mothers!

Homemade Bread

I have been so terrible about blogging lately! Sorry about that, but I have been trying to perfect the art of fresh baked bread. One of my New Year's resolutions was to start making my own bread. After I read the following article I felt validated!http://health.yahoo.net/experts/eatthis/5-grossest-foods-supermarket
I always tried to choose healthy bread at the grocery store but I spent so much time reading the list of ingredients and still didn't know what half of them were. So this is how my bread making journey began! After much trial and error I have become comfortable enough with this process to share it will all of you.

I started with unbleached white flour and white whole wheat flour (I always use King Arthur Flour).  I also began by using active dry yeast. The first few loaves were successful but then all of a sudden the loaves wouldn't rise anymore. Frustrating to say the least. I also tried to make whole wheat bread but was unsuccessful twice for different reasons. Then I began to use instant yeast and ever since I have been happy with the results. Here is the recipe that I have had success with. It is adapted from the King Arthur website.

Classic 100% Whole Wheat Bread

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 agave nectar ( you can use honey or agave for a sweet loaf, molasses for a darker loaf with an old-fashioned flavor)
• 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons of instant yeast
• 1/4 cup of Baker's Special Dry Milk or nonfat dried milk (I have been using the dried milk. The bakers special can be ordered on the King Arthur site or Amazon. When used it produces a larger rise)
• 1 1/4 tsp salt

1. Combine flour, yeast, salt and dry mild in a mixer bowl. Mix with the dough hook to combine.
2. Meanwhile, heat water, vegetable oil and agave nectar in a small pan over low heat. Warm mixture to 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. *It is important to measure the temperature with a thermometer when using instant yeast. If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast. If it is too cold it will shock the yeast and your bread will not rise. 
3. Add the water mixture to the bowl and mix on speed 2 until dough starts to form. 
4. Add more flour 1/2 cup at a time being sure to mix completely before adding more flour. 
5. When the dough is no longer sticking to the bottom of the bowl and the sides of the bowl are cleaned, knead in the bowl on speed 2 for 6-8 minutes.
6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes. There is no need to punch the dough down before moving on to the next step.
7. Lightly grease your workspace ( I use my large cutting board) and rolling pin. Roll the dough into a  8-9" rectangle. Roll the rectangle into a log and pinch the ends to seal. Tuck the ends under and place the log into a greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan. Cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap. I usually place the plastic wrap on the cutting board since I had just greased it when rolling out the dough. This easily greases the plastic wrap just enough.
8. Allow the dough to rise for 1-2 hours or until the center had crowned about 1" above the rim of the pan.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake the bread for 35-40 minutes.
10. Remove bread from the oven and place on a rack to cool. If desired, rub the crust with a stick of butter for a soft, flavorful taste.
11. Cool completely before cutting. Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature.

Voila!! I know that the thought of making your own bread might be intimidating but I encourage you to try. You won't regret it... I promise! My family has been enjoying homemade bread for their sandwiches, toast and as a snack! It's just that good when it's homemade! So give it a try and let me know how it goes. Good luck and happy baking!

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-100-whole-wheat-bread-recipe