Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

This bread comes out just perfect - easy to slice, even in thin pieces, and holds together really well. It is so delicious!

Recipe from my dear friend, Jennie Christopherson (who has an amazing craft/food/etc. blog HERE that you should totally check out).

Ingredients:

2.5 c hot water (around 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit)

1.25 T yeast

2 t sugar

1 T salt

1/3 c extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 c sugar (or 1/3 c honey)

1.25 T bottled lemon juice

1/3 c flax seed

1/3 c gluten

5.5 - 6 c whole wheat flour

Directions:

- Mix together the yeast, water, and 2 t. sugar and let rise about 10 minutes (should puff up).

- Mix the salt, oil, sugar, and lemon juice together in a mixer with a dough hook.

- Add the yeast mixture and mix.

- Blend the flax seed in a blender or food processor until broken apart and fluffy.

- Add the flax plus enough whole wheat flour to equal 3.5 cups to the mixer.

- Add the gluten and mix.

- Continue adding an additional 2-2.5 cups of flour until the dough comes cleanly off the sides of the bowl as you knead it with the dough hook. Knead in the mixer about 10 minutes. The dough will be very soft, but will be elastic when pulled apart.

- Preheat the oven for a few minutes to lukewarm and turn off.

- Turn dough onto oiled counter top, divide, shape into loaves, and place in oiled pans.

- Let rise in warm oven 30-45 minutes until the dough fills in and reaches the top of the pans.

- Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes.

- Let cool 10 minutes in pans, then remove from pans.

Yields 2 large or 3 small loaves.

Radish Dip

So, this is the second week of our CSA (crop share association), and this is the second week that we've had an inordinate amount of radishes in our share.

I'm not really a fan of radishes.

But my friend clued me into this dip, and I'm thrilled about it.

1 (8 oz.) pkg cream cheese
8-12 radishes, washed and chopped in half
3/4 - 1 t. salt

Optional ingredients:
dill
garlic

1. Put radishes in a food processor and pulse until radishes are in teeny-tiny pieces....think crushed candy canes...it'll look similar. =)

2. In a bowl, mix the radishes with the cream cheese and salt (and optional ingredients, if you like) with a spoon or stand mixer.

Serve with tortilla chips, celery, cucumber....really, it's all delicious.

Banana Bread

I've been trying to alter my recipes to be a bit healthier (emphasis on "bit"). Today, I worked on making over my banana bread recipe, and I found it to be pretty satisfying....

Mix together thoroughly:
2 eggs, well-beaten
3/4 cup honey
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

In another bowl, combine:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix wet and dry ingredients together well and add:
3 bananas, mashed.

Divide evenly between 2 greased/floured bread pans and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

(Confession: I added chocolate chips...but don't tell).

Spinach Pasta Chicken Salad

Recipe given to me from BWeed (who recommended involving a lawyer to sort out who gets the leftovers...and it is that good).

Spinach Pasta Chicken Salad
Dressing:
1/2 C. oil
1/2 C. sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
3 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs seasoned oregano rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp grated fresh garlic

Salad:
1 sm package baby spinach
1 package bowtie pasta (cooked, drained, and cooled)
2-4 Tbs sesame seeds
1/2 C. sunflower seeds
1 can sliced water chestnuts
1 C. sprouts
3 chicken breasts (cooked, seasoned heavily with lemon pepper and cut into bite-sized pieces)

Mix dressing ingredients together, set aside. In large bowl, combine salad ingredients. Add dressing to salad and mix together. Enjoy.

**I topped each serving with a few chow mein noodles**
**I used olive oil instead of sesame oil (b/c I didn't have any)...still tasted great**
**I used 1/2 tsp of jarred minced garlic instead of grated fresh**
**I couldn't find seasoned oregano rice vinegar, so I used seasoned rice vinegar**

More Deceptively Deliciousness

Just tried this one out on a friend's recommendation, so good. I have heard it works well with strawberry or raspberry preserves as well.

BLUEBERRY OATMEAL BARS (WITH SPINACH!)
-Nonstick cooking spray
-2 cups old-fashioned oats
-1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
-1/4 tsp. baking powder
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
-3/4 cup Balance trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread, chilled
-1 cup low-sugar blueberry preserves (I used strawberry, yum.)
-1/2 cup spinach puree

Preheat oven to 375°. Coat an 8" x 8" baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and vanilla and stir to mix well. Add the margarine and cut it quickly into dry ingredients with two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal and is no longer powdery. Do not overmix—bits of margarine will still be visible.

Set aside about half of the oat mixture; press the rest firmly into the pan. Bake until lightly browned at the edges (but not fully baked), 13 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the preserves with the spinach puree in a small bowl.

Spread blueberry mixture over the partially baked oat layer, then sprinkle with reserved oat mixture. Bake until topping is slightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Set the pan on a rack to cool completely before cutting into 12 bars. (You have to let them cool completely, so the spinach flavor can disappear.)

HOW TO PUREE THE SPINACH
-Prep: No prep at all for baby spinach. For mature spinach, fold leaves in half lengthwise with the stem outside, then strip the stem off the leaf.
-Cook: Steam for 30 to 40 seconds, or cook in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of water for about 90 seconds, or just until wilted.
-Puree: In a food processor or blender for about 2 minutes, until smooth and creamy.

Deceptively Delicious

Tori asked about this cookbook so here is my opinion. I really, really (see how much) like this cookbook. It has some great recipes in here, plus it made me get into the habit of throwing in some vegi purees into whatever I am making, whether I am using their recipes or my own. And if the idea of steaming, then blending/pureeing your own vegetables is holding you back––buy some baby food and you can throw that in instead. The steaming/blending thing is time consuming but really easy. I get a whole bunch of vegis to do at once and get the job done once my kiddo is sleeping. I have a tupperware container for them to store in my freezer and when I need one for a recipe I usually just throw it in a bag of warm water to defrost on the spot.
Here are some recipe titles (sorry, no time to type them all right now) we have tried and liked, just to give you an idea of what here; there have been none we have not liked.
*French Toast (w/ banana or pineapple or SWEET POTATO or PUMPKIN or carrot or butternut squash puree) plus flax seed
*Scrambled Eggs (w/ cauliflower puree)
*Pancakes (w/ sweet potato puree)
*Blueberry Lemon Muffins (w/ yellow squash)
*Chicken Nuggets (w/ BROCCOLI or spinach or sweet potato or beet puree)
*Mashed Potatoes (w/ cauliflower puree)
*Turkey Burgers (w/ CARROT or cauliflower puree)
*Quesadillas (w/ butternut squash puree)
*Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (w/ SWEET POTATO or BUTTERNUT SQUASH puree)
*Tacos (w/ sweet potato or CARROT or butternut squash puree)
*Chocolate Pudding (w/ avocado) ––let this one cool or else it does like avocado and not choc.
*Frozen Yogurt Pops (w/ berries)
*Chocolate Chip Cookies (w/ chickpeas) ––this has been posted previously

I think the book is totally worth it. Check it out.

Deceptively Delicious

I got the Deceptively Delicious cookbook for Christmas and have really enjoyed the recipes I have tried out so far. My almost two year old daughter has been putting up a fight with vegis lately, so this is a way I can get her to eat them. We have tried recipes for tacos, pudding, cookies, french toast, and more. There may be a lawsuit or something regarding this book, so get it while you can. Here's the recipe for chocolate chip cookies with chickpeas; as you can see from the last photo, they were a hit. You don't even notice the chickpeas.
**Note**I ended up with 36 normal sized cookies, not 24 as the recipe suggests.
(Photo credit: recipe and photo scanned from cookbook)
Click on recipe to enlarge

Pulled Roast with Cilantro Sauce

My first recipe!!

For the crock pot roast: I pick up a huge pork butt (ha ha) or rump roast. Both are awesome - the beef tends to be much cheaper. Put in the crock pot. Pour over it a mixture of 1 1/2 c. salsa and 1/3 c. brown sugar. Cook all day on low (turn it on high for the last hour or so, I think it makes the meat easier to shred)

For the Cilantro Sauce (see how I'm capitalizing it because it's so tasty??)

in blender blend up until very smooth:
3 tomatillos, husked, washed and quartered
1 pkg buttermilk ranch salad dressing packet (the powdery stuff)
1/3 c. - 1/2 c. buttermilk (always just do the vinegar and milk trick and that works great)
1 c. FRESH cilantro
1 c. mayonnaise
1 clove garlic

When I eat this, I put a bunch of the Cilantro Sauce on a tortilla, then put on the meat, then put on cheese, black beans, rice etc. I usually use half the sauce to start with and freeze the second half to use later (it makes a bunch). The leftovers are FABULOUS!!

Elephant Stew

Ok, I lied. One more recipe.

1 medium elephant
2 rabbits
Brown gravy
Salt and Pepper

Cut elephant into bite sized pieces. Cook over kerosene fire at 460 degrees for 4 weeks. Add gravy, salt and pepper. Serves 5 -630. If more stew is needed add rabbits. However, this is an emergency measure only because most people don't like hare in their stew.