My Sandwich Bread Recipe

I've been making this bread, which is what we use for sandwiches, toast, and other things, for about 1 1/2 years. I tried a couple different recipes, picked one to be the go-to, and then made some changes to suit our taste. I changed the method a little bit too, so it takes less time and the end product is the same.

I did a cost analysis on this bread a year ago and discovered it only costs $1.07 per loaf. Obviously costs for the ingredients and for pre-made bread from the store vary a lot depending on where you live, so it wouldn't be the same savings for everyone, but for me it's a quarter of the price of the bread I had been buying (though I almost always bought it buy one get one free, but it's still half of that). 

So for us this is a much cheaper, healthier, and tastier option : ) 

....And really, who can resist kneading a soft, warm, supple dough ball?

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 2 cups warm water, divided
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. molasses
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 cup oil of choice
• 1 egg
• 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp. cracked wheat
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups additional flour - I usually use white whole wheat, sometimes all purpose, and I've even just added more whole wheat

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Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes until frothy. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix remaining 1 3/4 cups warm water, honey, molasses, oil, egg, and lemon juice. Mix well. Add yeast mixture and stir.
2. Gradually add 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, beating well after each addition. Add the flax and cracked wheat and stir well.
3. Let stand for 20 minutes until mixture is very light. Stir in salt and the rest of the flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
4. Knead 10 to 15 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Put into a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Punch down the dough and split it into two pieces.
6. Form into loaves, make three diagonal cuts (1/2 - 1 inch deep) across the top, cover, and let rise 30 minutes.  
7. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

Sometimes I skip the cracked wheat and/or flax, I've added 1/2 cup oats, all honey or all molasses works, etc. Suit yourself! (and/or your family : )

I've had the best success with slicing when I wait a few hours after the bread is done to slice it. I usually let the loaves cool for about 10 minutes in the loaf pan, transfer them to a wire rack, and after they're cooled I wrap them with a towel so they aren't completely exposed to the air, and then I cut them a few hours later. It's much less crumbly on the outside this way. I store it in the freezer and then can easily pull off the amount of slices I need when I need them. I usually get about 16 slices from each loaf.

Despite the slicing suggestion, don't hesitate to cut yourself a fresh-warm piece of bread.

And have it with butter.

Menu Time

Monday - broccoli cheddar quinoa - I'm following the linked recipe except I'm not making them into cups, and because of that I won't add the eggs either. So I'll cook the quinoa, saute the onion and garlic, steam the broccoli, and then toss it all together with the cheese and serve it. (UPDATE: I ended up just throwing everything into one pot at the same time, except the cheese, cooking the quinoa as I normally would, and then tossing the cheese on top near the end. Much less work, one pot, and tasted great!)

Tuesday - pasta with sweet pea and pearl onion pesto and chicken

Wednesday - biscuits and gravy - Maybe with a juicy, ripe, Georgia peach? We'll see.

Thursday - tomatoes farcies (stuffed tomatoes) - This is a French dish that was requested by Olivier's girlfriend, Charlotte, who will be visiting for a couple weeks. I am combining a couple different recipes that I found, so if it turns out well I'll definitely post it. And we'll also be having cheesecake for Olivier's birthday : )

Friday - quinoa sausage balls - Marshall will be gone for the weekend, so I'm going to try out this recipe and see if I think he might like them. I hope the answer is yes because I will probably make enough for us to have them again from the freezer.

Saturday - herbed lentils and probably mushrooms - A common dinner for me when Marshall's gone. He likes lentils, but a big pile as a main dish isn't necessarily something he's crazy about....but I sure am!...Especially with a big pile of mushrooms right next to it!

Sunday - roast chicken, cheesy couscous, and whatever vegetable I buy at the market


I can't wait to stock up on all of my market favorites! Does anyone else get excited about grocery shopping, or is that just me?

Mistake #2

Remember THESE turtles?

They were delicious, they were beautiful, they photographed so well.....

But that's not the whole story...

Some of them looked like this.

After assembling them, allowing them to cool completely, and tasting them, we thought that the chocolate should be a bit thicker. The ratio of nuts to caramel to chocolate was slightly off. So we decided it would be a good idea to dip them into chocolate one more time. That would solve the problem and then they would be just how we wanted them.

Maybe by now you've figured out that coating them with chocolate a second time wasn't such a hot idea. Thankfully, we didn't have enough chocolate to coat them all twice. Because all of the double coated turtles were spotty and ugly. I will add that the thicker chocolate was a nice addition, but they're just so darn ugly and it didn't make a big enough difference for it to be worth it.

Lesson learned - I suppose double dipping doesn't work? Maybe air pockets? Any other ideas or advice so this doesn't happen again?

So I'm not totally sure what went wrong here. But the point is that not everything that comes out of my kitchen looks good, or even appetizing at all. 

I make mistakes too.

A Quick Menu

Tuesday - Cheeseburgers, broccoli, honey mustard and onion pretzels

Wednesday - Chicken paninis with onion cranberry marmalade, green beans

Thursday - Chicken dumpling soup

Friday - Quinoa n' black beans with pineapple (probably a side of broccoli)

Sunday - Baked French onion soup

Stay tuned for Mistake #2 and, if you haven't already read it, here's Mistake #1

Fruity Kale Salad with Chicken, Bacon, and Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

I've had a fear of raw kale salads ever since I heard about them. Okay, maybe not a fear, but I was definitely not interested in eating them. How could something so tough possibly be good in salad form? I love me some cooked kale, but the whole raw thing was not an idea I was goin' for. Then I found the method in the recipe below. It was a game changer.

The method I found involves sprinkling the kale with a little salt and massaging it until it becomes tender. Yes, massaging your kale. I thought this was just a trick to make me feel more of a bond with my kale and not want to throw it out even if it was horrible. But I was surprised! After lovingly beating up the kale for about five minutes I had a very different looking leaf. Darker for sure, more tender, and pleasant for consuming raw.

Isn't this beautiful? I love how throwing a bunch of wonderful produce together in a bowl is so delicious and healthy.

This is really more about the kale massaging than the actual recipe, however, I do know that this salad was great, and I highly recommend it. You could definitely skip anything you don't like or swap in some different nuts or fruit. I loved the combination of the kale with the sweet fruit and the salty bacon, chicken, and onions. It made for a nice balance of salty-sweet. 

The goodies don't look very prevalent in this picture but there were plenty of goodies. 

I don't generally serve salad as a main dish for dinner, but this one will definitely be back on our table. Marshall liked it, I liked it, and it's hard to beat health-wise....Maybe nixing the bacon would be beneficial concerning health, but when your dinner looks like the pictures above and below, I'm pretty sure a few bites of bacon won't be too harmful ; )

Fruity Kale Salad with Chicken, Bacon, and Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

Ingredients for salad:

6 cups kale, chopped and stems removed + 1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 lb. strawberries, quartered

1 apple, diced

2 - 4 strips of bacon

1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped 

1/4 of a red onion, sliced

1 small chicken breast, cubed, drizzled with lemon juice, and sprinkled with salt and pepper

Directions for salad:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Put all of the chopped kale into a large bowl and sprinkle on the salt. Massage the kale for a few minutes until it becomes dark green and tender. This step makes a huge difference for this salad. 

3. Bake the cubed chicken for about 25 minutes (this will vary a lot depending on the size of the chicken breast). 

4. Cook the bacon in a medium pan. Remove from the pan and strain on a paper towel. Leave approximately 1 Tbsp. of bacon fat in the pan and toast the walnuts for a few minutes. Remove the walnuts from the pan and saute the onions for a few minutes until tender.

5. Toss all ingredients together with the dressing and serve. I served this all at about room temperature. You can choose if you want the chicken/bacon warm, or the kale/fruit cold.

Ingredients for dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. poppy seeds
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp, freshly ground black pepper

Directions for dressing:

Add all the ingredients to a glass jar with a lid. Shake well until combined.

Adapted from THIS recipe

Summer Strawberries and Cream

I really don't know what to call this since it's a spin on a Danish dish called Koldskål, and I actually did a spin on the spin, so it may be very different than traditional Koldskål. But either way it's delicious! Since it is very different though I'm just going to call this Summer strawberries and cream. I'm specifically saying Summer strawberries, as opposed to Winter strawberries, because this should really be made with those delicious, in season, ripe strawberries that can mostly be found in Summer.

While we were in Germany and Denmark I kept hearing about this dish and it sounded so good. What's not to like about juicy strawberries and cream? Nothing in my book! Throw in some vanilla, lemon, and crunchy cardamom biscuits and we've got ourselves a delectable breakfast!....Or lunch. 

Summer Strawberries and Cream

Ingredients for the cream:

1/2 cup creme fraiche (sour cream may work but I haven't tried it)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)

1 - 2 Tbsp. maple syrup (or honey)

Directions for cream:

Stir all ingredients together. That's it! I let it sit overnight, but that was just because I didn't want to make it in the morning. However, that may help the flavors meld.

Ingredients for the lemon cardamom biscuits:

3 cups rolled oats
1 tsp. ground cardamom
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
zest of 1 lemon
½ cup sugar
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
3 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Flour for dusting (any flour will work)

Directions for the lemon cardamom biscuits:

1. In a food processor or blender, pulse the oats until you have a rough flour. Add the baking powder, cardamom, salt, lemon zest, and sugar. Blend for a few seconds to combine.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the applesauce, melted coconut oil, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the food processor and pulse until fully incorporated. The dough should be sticky and wet, but manageable. If it is too wet to work with add a little more oats or oat flour. 

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dust a large, clean working surface with flour. Empty dough out on to the floured surface and gather into a ball shape. Divide dough into quarters. Working with one quarter at a time, roll the dough into a log, approximately 10 inches long. Then slice the log into 1/2 inch pieces. Place them on a lined baking sheet.

4. Bake the biscuits for 10-12 minutes until just turning golden on the bottom. Then turn the oven off and let the cookies sit in there until the oven is cool (this step helps dry out the biscuits). When completely cool, store biscuits in an airtight container. These should be made ahead of time since they have to sit in the over for quite a long time. 

To Serve: Serves 4

1 lb. strawberries, sliced, quartered, or halved
1 batch of cream
Lemon Cardamom Biscuits, whatever amount desired 

Place sliced strawberries in each bowl, pour over the cream, and drop the biscuits in either crumbled or whole. Serve immediately.

Original recipe (not traditional Koldskål, but the spin off I found) found HERE.

This is so fresh and Summery tasting! Don't be intimidated or turned off by the long ingredients list and detailed directions. This is so delicious and special that it's worth taking the time to make it! And it really isn't that hard or time-consuming.

So what are you waiting for?! Oh wait, I suppose you're waiting for the strawberries....Next time you walk into the grocery store and smell the strawberries just by walking past them, then it's time to get to work.

A Reverse Menu

I normally post my menu for the upcoming week, but since I didn't post a menu last week I am going to give you the previous week's menu now. And since I'm headed to the Midwest tomorrow I won't be posting another menu for a couple of weeks. However, I do plan to share a couple of recipes. No promises, but I'm not planning to ditch the blog for the next two weeks. We'll see what I can do.

So here's what we ate last week:

Sunday - pasta with sweet pea and pearl onion pesto and chicken -- This recipe needs a bit of tweaking but it has great potential. When I figure out the right adjustments I'll post this.

Saturday - pierogies, brats, green beans

Friday - 4th of July cookout -- brats, Japanese sweet potatoes, creamed corn (courtesy of Caitlin -- SO good!), and dirt cups (courtesy of Erin -- thanks for fulfilling my request : )

Thursday - creme fraiche curry chicken pasta

Wednesday - kale salad with chicken, bacon, strawberries, walnuts, apples, red onion, and lemon poppy seed dressing -- I found a method which makes raw kale salads yummy! I have never been interested in raw kale before because it's so tough. But you just wait ; )

Tuesday - blueberry pancakes and bacon -- I've posted a link to this blueberry pancakes method before, but if you haven't taken the time to watch it, please do. I use my go-to pancake recipe (simple pancakes), but I use the method linked above. It takes blueberry pancakes to a whole new level.

Monday - honey lime sweet potato tacos

4th of July cookout

Left to right: Marshall, Rachel, Erin, Blake, Sam, Caitlin

Erin and Blake were some our first friends in Atlanta. They're moving in July, and this was our last chance to hangout. Erin and Blake, thanks for helping to acquaint us with this city. We value your friendship and hope to see you again! : )

Honey Lime Sweet Potato Tacos

I present to you my current favorite quick, easy, healthy, delicious dinner!

Honey Lime Sweet Potato Tacos

These are so flavorful and yummy. They are also quick to throw together. Depending on your oven, the longest part may be preheating it. They only take 20 minutes once the oven is hot.

Roast your sweet potatoes, saute your onions and garlic, throw everything together in a pan to simmer for a couple of minutes.....

.....toss it on a tortilla with your favorite toppings, and....

...voila! Dinner is served.

The cheese we had with these both times was farmer's cheese and, though I think many other cheeses would go well, this one was particularly nice. Marshall added creme fraiche and I added either a chipotle sauce (as pictured) or salsa. I liked both but I preferred the chipotle sauce.

You can't eat these expecting to taste a beef taco. If you do expect that you will be disappointed with the taste and the texture, but if you choose to appreciate them for what they are - a delicious new way to eat a whole lot of spiced up nutrient-rich plants wrapped up in the goodness of a warm tortilla - you will enjoy them. 

Marshall likes to have his with different toppings than a normal taco (farmer's cheese and creme fraiche instead of cheddar, sour cream, and salsa) because it makes them taste like their own thing and not a taco gone wrong.  He likes these and so do I! Definitely a keeper here.  

Honey Lime Sweet Potato Tacos

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2-3 Tbsp. favorite cooking oil, divided
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small yellow onion, diced - about 1 cup
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 (14.5) oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup frozen yellow corn
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
• flour tortillas
• Toppings to serve: sour cream/creme fraiche, cheese (farmer's, mozzarella, monterey jack, etc.), chipotle sauce, salsa, avocado, or anything you can think of!

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and add the sweet potatoes, 1-2 Tbsp. oil, cumin, paprika, coriander, chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste, then toss to evenly coat. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 - 20 minutes until tender, tossing once halfway through.

• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat remaining 1 Tbsp. oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent and tender, about 5 - 6 minutes, adding in garlic during the last 30 seconds of sauteing. Reduce heat to medium-low, add in drained and rinsed black beans, corn, honey, and lime juice. Heat until warmed through. Toss in roasted sweet potatoes and serve on warm tortillas with desired toppings.
• Recipe Source: Cooking Classy