Delicious Multi-Grain Bread

I will readily admit that I am not the best cook in the world. I cook more out of duty and expediency than love of cooking. Beyond that, baking is my nemesis. I get so frustrated when I bake because it rarely turns out as I wish. So I love the fact that I've become very proficient at making really great bread. I suppose it comes from years of practice. Perhaps my brownies would be better if I practiced making them more often.
Here is our family's favorite bread recipe. I got it from a friend, who got it from her mom, who got it from a Bosch store I believe. I'd been trying to make a bread with texture for a time and hadn’t been successful at finding a bread that had texture but didn't fall apart when cut and used for sandwiches. When I tried this bread I knew I HAD TO HAVE the recipe!

Super Multi-Grain Bread 
2 C hot water 
2/3 C 6,7 or 9-grain cracked or rolled cereal 
1Tbsp + 1tsp millet 
1Tbsp + 1tsp sesame seeds 
1Tbsp + 1tsp flax seeds 
1/3 C sunflower seeds 
2Tbsp vital wheat gluten 
1 Tbsp yeast 
1/4 C honey
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1/4 C oil 
2tsp liquid lecithin 
2tsp real salt 
3 C whole wheat flour 
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2tsp dough enhancer


Measure the first group of ingredients into a large mixing bowl or bowl of a bread mixer. Gently fold together with a spatula and then let the mixture rest for five minutes, until the yeast begins to foam. 
Then add the second group of ingredients. Begin mixing with a dough hook until all ingredients are combined. Add enough extra flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough begins to clean the sides of the mixer bowl. Knead for 8 minutes. 
At this point the dough enhancer can be added. Knead the bread for an additional 2 minutes. This dough does not need to rise twice. Just form the loaves or rolls straight from the mixer. 


Multi Grain Bread: Form dough into two large loaves. Cover and let rise until dough is doubled in size. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack.


Super Multi Grain Rolls: Form dough into 24 round balls, placing 12 rolls per large greased cookie sheet. Melt 2 Tbsp  butter in a cup. Using a sharp knife cut an X in the top of the rolls and pour a little melted butter on the top to fill the X. Cover and let rise until the dough is doubled in size, about 30-40 minutes. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter while still warm. Remove from cookie sheet to cool.

The recipe above is the original that I got from my friend. Depending on what I have on hand I have varied the ingredients with no problems Here are my variations:
I never have millet or sesame seeds so I never put them in. I do purchase ground flax seed and the multigrain cereal that I use already has the sunflower seeds in it.
I don't use the liquid lecithin or the dough enhancer. Neither did my friend.
I generally use 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 unbleached white. I have also used all whole wheat flour.
I always double this because I need 4 loaves for our family for a week. When I'm adding the flour, I add the initial 6 cups of whole wheat and then use the unbleached 1/2 cup at a time til the dough cleans the bowl.
I always knead it in the machine for 12 minutes. I like the light texture that results from the longer kneading time.

Here are some pictures to show the process. I have had my K-Tec mixer for almost 10 years. I've had to replace the drive shaft several times, but the mixer is still going strong. I really only use the mixer for bread and smoothies and use my KitchenAid for cookies and cakes and such.  I would not part with it unless I had a new one to take its place.  It is a woman's best breadmaking friend.

Here is the first group of ingredients soaking in the warm water. Notice the flax floating on the surface.

Here it is after soaking. Notice the foaminess and bubbles.

Sorry, not a great picture but you can see the dough cleaning the sides of the bowl here.

After taking it from the mixer I knead it a few times by hand til the dough is quite smooth in texture.

Here I have cut the dough into quarters.

                                      

These two photos show one 'quarter' kneaded and rolled into a rectangle, then each rectangle is rolled up jelly roll style and pinched shut. The ends are pulled over and pinched shut as well.

Here you see the loaves in the pans. I have one really nice Pampered Chef stoneware pan and 3 crappy aluminum pans that I'd love to replace. I keep using them because I like the size of them.

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Here is the bread risen and ready to be placed in the oven. 

And here is the final product. Fresh out of the oven and brushed with butter to soften the crust. Looks like this batch got left a bit long in the oven. Oh, well, that didn't stop us from devouring it. You can see that one loaf is already gone!

Crispy Almonds

 Well, I finally had some success with a recipe from the Nourishing Traditions book. Of course, it was one of the hardest recipes in the book. HaHa. I have been purchasing large bags of almonds from Sam's Club to have available as snacks. After reading NT, I worried that perhaps they weren't as healthy a snack as I had hoped. So I decided to try soaking and drying them.

 The 4 C almonds are simply soaked overnight in a mixture of purified water and a TBsp sea salt.

 Then, they are drained and dried in a dryer or oven set on a low setting til they are dry and crisp. 

They are delicious. They can be a bit squeaky, which the kids think is fun. This recipe is a keeper for our family. I store them in this cute jar and I've been amazed that they have lasted as long as they have.

My First NT recipe try

One of the first things I decided to try from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook was a lacto-fermented vegetable. Lacto-fermented foods are full of probiotics which are fabulous for our guts. 

They are also easy to digest because the digestive process has already begun on them. It is suggested to eat some lacto-fermented food before every meal to get our digestive system jump-started. 

So, I thought I would try the Ginger Carrots recipe. It was suggested as a good place to start since the sweetness of the carrots would balance the tartness of the lacto-fermentation somewhat.  

So I got all the ingredients and equipment ready and grated away! 

 Put in my ginger and whey, pressed the carrots to get the juice out and get the carrots under the juice. Sat it on my counter for 2 days then put it in the fridge. 

When I opened it, my kids said, "ew, that smells like bathroom cleaner." It was a pungent smell, but I thought it would still be edible. I put some on my plate and proceeded to take a bite. Guess what? 

It tasted exactly like it smelled. Not very appetizing. 

 I did finish off my plate, but later I ended up dumping the whole thing out. 

I don't know if I did something wrong and it went bad. I am thinking it may have just  been the ginger. I've never had it before so I don't know if that's how it smells and tastes. 

I am pondering trying it again and leaving out the ginger this time.  But I keep managing to put it off. 

I think perhaps it would just be easier to take a bit of yogurt before each meal. 

At least I know I like that.

Like most of my attempts in the kitchen it was a bomb. So discouraging. 

But I'm determined to not let it sideline me. 

I plan to keep trying things til something works right!

YUM!!

Baked Potato Soup
4 baking potatoes
2/3 C all purpose flour
6 C 2% milk
1 C cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 c sour cream
3/4 C chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled.

Bake potatoes, in oven or micro, til tender. Cool, peel and coarsely mash. Discard skins.Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, level off. Place in a large pan, gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over med heat til thick and bubbly (about 8 min)Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 C cheese, salt and pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.Stir in sour cream and 1/2 C onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or til thoroughly heated(do not boil). Ladle about 1 1/2 C soup onto each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 tsp cheese, 1 1/2 tsp onions and about 1 Tbsp bacon.
Yield: 8 servings

Made this for dinner tonight and it's so yummy. I thought you might like to try it. It's way easy. You can make it more diet friendly but using low fat or no fat cheese and sour cream.