the bottom of the food pyramid

We've been eating homemade bread lately

Homemade, by the breadmaker

The aforesaid breadmaker bakes a pretty great looking loaf, sometimes.
This particular time it baked a pretty great looking ball.
The sometimes globular structure produced by the breadmaker is readily pardoned for the ease of baking bread it supplies.
Looks aren't everything anyways.

here's is the recipe:
(from http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_wheat_bread)

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Yield: 1 loaf(1.5lbs.)

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon soy lecithin (if using granules, add to the water at the beginning)

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (replace 3 tablespoons of the flour)

3 cups (minus 3 tablespoons) whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

a pinch of citric acid (use sparingly)

a sprinkling of ginger

Instructions:

1. *Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.

2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening.

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

*If you have a bread maker, you can use the dough setting to knead it for you. Just put ingredients in according to order listed.

(i) heart cookies and crackers

While waiting for my honey to come home this Valentine's Morn, I baked these

Browned Butter Rolled Cookies

1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Adjust the oven rack to the upper third of the oven. Preheat to 350°F.

In a medium bowl whisk the flours, baking powder and salt.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook about 1 minutes, swirling the pan, until the butter turns a nutty brown. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the sugar and oil. Beat with an electric mixer 1 minute on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla; beat 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Divide the dough in half and press each piece into a disk.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Working with one disk at a time, roll dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut out cookies with small (about 2- to 2 1/2-inch) cookie cutters. Place the cookies about 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies in the upper third of the oven, 1 sheet at a time, 5-7 minutes until slightly golden on the edges (do not overbake). Let rest on cookies sheets 1 minute, then transfer with spatula to wire racks. Cool completely.

For a non-heart shaped project of late are two types of crackers: Multi-grain and Graham

Multi-grains in the works

finished product

I'd make these again!

Grahams in the works

finished product

This is my second time making these and I would make them yet again

Recipes:

Multi-Seed Crackerbread

2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole rye flour
1/2 cup whole yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup water - may not use all of it
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tablespoon flax seeds
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons very coarse salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cornmeal and salt. Drizzle in olive oil and mix to combine - it will be pretty lumpy looking. Add about 3/4 cup of the water and mix together until the dough comes together. You want it to be stiff, but not crumbly - if it is too dry, add a bit more water. Scoop out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until the dough becomes smooth and supple. Don't knead for 10 minutes like you would bread - you just want the dough to hold together well and be smooth. Divide into 8 equal portions and cover with saran wrap.

In a small bowl, mix together sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flax seeds, caraway seeds, rosemary, tarragon, thyme, salt and pepper.

Scatter about 1 tablespoon of the seed mixture onto your work surface - press one piece of dough into the seed mixture and begin to roll it with a rolling pin. Keep turning the dough as you roll it into the seed mixture - flip it over and add a bit more of the seed mixture if it begins to be too sticky. Roll the dough into whatever shape you can - you want to get the dough as thin as you can and have the seeds dispersed throughout the dough. Repeat with the remaining seed mixture and dough.

Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake until the top is golden brown - about 7 to 10 minutes. Start watching very close at the 7 minute mark as it can go from golden to too dark in a snap. Remove and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

(Changes I made to this recipe: added Pumpkin seeds because I had them and I think they are yummy, I didn't have whole cornmeal on hand so I used regular old non-whole cornmeal, and I skipped the taragon and thyme on account of not having them)

Homemade Graham Cracker Recipe

makes 36 2 1/2 inch squares.

4 T (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1 egg

6 T sugar

4 T honey (Some graham crackers use half honey and half molasses. You might consider trying that as a variation.)

1/2 t baking soda

2 t water

3/4 t salt

1 1/2 C graham flour

3/4 C all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the butter, egg and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.

Stir in the honey and blend.

Dissolve the baking soda in the water and add to the butter mixture.

Add the salt, graham flour, and all-purpose flour to the mixture and blend thoroughly. The dough should hold together and be manageable. If it is too "tacky" add a little more graham flour.

Liberally dust a surface with graham flour and roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. For convenience in handling, cut the rolled dough into three or four sections that will fit on your cookie sheet.

With a knife, score the dough, without cutting through, into 2 1/2 inch squares. Or shape them with a cookie cutter!

Prick each square a few times with the tines of a fork.

Using a spatula, place the sections of scored cracker dough on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake on the first side for about 15 minutes, then turn the cracker over and bake for another 6 or 7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool on racks.

(Changes I made to this recipe: I ground some whole wheat flour and used that alone instead of white/graham flour, the first time I made them I used regular whole wheat flour alone)

new kitchen help

his name is remington
here is what was cooking that day

Cranberry Orange Muffins (adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Makes 12 muffins

1½ cups white whole wheat flour
¾ cup quick-cooking rolled oats
¼ cup buttermilk powder or nonfat dry milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon orange zest (finely grated orange peel)
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
2 large eggs
⅔ cup (4.67 ounces) sugar
¾ cup milk
⅓ cup sour cream

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick vegetable cooking spray.

2. Whisk flour, oats, milk powder, baking powder, and orange zest in a large mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk egg until broken up. Add sugar and whisk until combined. Whisk in sour cream and milk.

3. Add cranberries and nuts, if using, to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add milk mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together. Do not overmix.

4. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack.

Looking over this recipe, I am not remembering adding dry milk... O well.

Were they good? Eh. If you like cranberry-orange muffins, then I would say, yes (pretty enthusiastically too)! If you prefer a good banana nut or pumpkin muffin, like me, these aren't going to be top on your baking list. Anyway, if you want some, I have a dozen or two in my freezer.

Curiousity (trys to) help the budget

I wondered how people used coupons to save bundles and wanted to know how to too. So, I went to a CouponSense meeting. That night I signed up, subscribed to the paper (I try to get at least 2 each Sunday), went to Walmart to get an organizing system (actually Pete did almost all the organizing) and have been pretty hooked on great deals ever since.

A couple days ago on a grocery trip I did 2 transactions at Fry's (my new favorite) and 1 at Albertson's.

I ended up with this for... ...$9
(tax included)

We, the Jack's, are still watching to see if the CouponSense subscription is worth the dues money (about $15 a month) but, the more weeks I have been a member the more I see it paying off.

and it's fun getting smokin' deals

pumpkin season here we come

Unbaked 100% whole grain pumpkin cornbread with pepitas

Here it is baked
Here we have an unbaked pumpkin scone "log"
Here it is cut...

...and baked!

One thing that makes cold(er) weather a little more bearable is people's tendency to break out the pumpkin recipes - here we have two

Pumpkin is not the only positive ingredient in these baked goods - both were made with 100% genuine whole grains (King Arthur's White Whole Wheat and Bob's Red Mill Cornmeal)

The cornbread has a really good taste. A little dry (all the "liquid" in it is pumpkin!), yes, but a really good taste. For those who enjoy putting butter on their cornbread anyways
(and who doesn't) this cornbread would be just the thing.
The consistency while making it was pretty weird - I pretty much ended up "kneading" it by hand to mix in the pepitas and never had a chance to follow the directions, "Pour into pan". My method was more like, "Pick up orange dough ball and smoosh into prepared pan" -
whatever works.

I only tasted a bit of the scone (these are for a pumpkin event in a few days) but the bit I did taste was really great (and they don't even have icing on them yet - not that they are at all lacking in another less-than-nutritionally-desirable substance: butter).

I found these recipes here (changed the recipe to white whole wheat flour and 100% whole grain cornmeal) and here (changed the recipe to white whole wheat flour)

Amazingly easy, uncommonly healthy (especially for scones)

that's pumpkin for you

parting is such sorrow

An incident on our road-trip rendered a life ending injury to our dear camera.

Thus causing a long period of silence.

flba (feed the local bears, anonymous)

Camp(ing) - a time and place of relaxation - hunger is known to abound. Here are a couple of meals that are perfect for any camping trip. Quickly made, little cleanup, warm food. All you need is a heat source (be it a camp stove, fire, etc.), a skillet, and something to stir/roll with

Example one: canned chili skillet. best if eaten directly from skillet
(optional cheese added when removed from heat source)

Example two: skillet bratwursts (with mustard). best eaten with knife
(great breakfast food accompanied by raw oats/milk/honey)


next time you go camping, don't leave your skillet behind