Sour-dough Banana Bread (Muffins)

I ended up with an extra 10 lbs of bananas today, and my new sourdough was ready to cook with.  So I did a search for sourdough banana bread and came up with this recipe.  Since I have had good success with other info from this site I decided to give it a go.  I didn't follow their recipe, but modified it and it turned out great!

1/2 cup pureed white beans
1 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
2  (scant) cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 cup sourdough starter (preferably whole grain start)
1 Tbl olive or coconut oil
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (I forgot to add these, I am sure they would taste great!)
1 tsp vanilla or 1 tsp grated orange rind (I also forgot this, but I am sure it would add to the flavor)


Blend the beans, banana, honey and molasses in the blender until smooth.  Pour into a large bowl (larger than you think) and add sourdough start, salt, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, vanilla,  nuts, whole wheat flour and oil. Stir gently until all ingredients are moistened.  
Put into greased 9x5 bread pan or muffin pan.
Bake bread at 350 for 50-60 minutes.
For muffins, preheat oven to 450.  Fill muffin cups all the way to the top. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon and sugar (I did only because I have had a bowl sitting on my counter for several months and I wanted to use it up).  Put into 450 degree oven, set time for 5 minutes then turn oven down to 350 and bake for another 20-25 minutes.  (I learned this tip here )  This may not be quite enough for 12 muffins, probably more like 9 if you fill them really full. 

Whole Wheat Pasta

I was lucky enough to grow up in a home where my mom made homemade noodles on a fairly regular basis. My little brother liked to come home from school and make them for his afterschool meal. They are really easy, once you get the hang of it. I love them because I can make them whole wheat and add yummy things like spinach to them.

Ingredients

2 c Whole Wheat flour (can be made with white flour as well If possible when using white flour use 1/3-1/2 of the volume of flour as semolina flour)

3 lg eggs (I use 3 T powdered eggs and 6 t water)

2 c fresh spinach (I add a few handfuls of baby spinach, the more you use the darker they are)

Extra flour and water to adjust consistency

Directions:
Food Processor (the easiest method)

Place four and spinach in bowl of food processor. Process until spinach is pulverized and mixed thoroughly with the flour.

   

Add eggs and process for about 1 minute. The mass should form one main ball, about the consistency of playdough. If it is just in little chunks add water 1-2 tsp at a time until it comes together. If it is too sticky, add flour 1 Tbsp at a time until it is manageable. 

If you don't have a food processor, blend the eggs and spinach up in a blender.  I don't know why but when I do it this way more the noodles loose more color (and I assume other goodies) when they are cooked, it doesn't happen when I pulverize the spinach with the flour.   Form the flour into a well and pour the egg and spinach mixture into the well. Mix the flour into the egg until a dough is formed Knead 5-10 minutes adding more flour or water if necessary.

Wrap in plastic wrap, or place in covered bowl and let sit 20 minutes. If using 100% whole wheat flour this is especially important to allow the flour to hydrate.

Then roll it out.  If you are especially strong, you can roll it out by hand.  I don't know anyone who can roll whole wheat thin enough by hand, but you can give it a try.  I run it through a pasta roller.  It is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets.  They are often found at thrift stores and garage sales, as well as most kitchen stores.   If you have a kitchenaid they make a roller attachement I have used, and I loved it.   You can also find motors for the regular machines but they can be pricey.  The motor (or Kitchenaid) makes it easy for one person to do by themselves.  Without the motor I would recommend 2 people. 1 to crank and 1 to feed the dough and catch it as it comes out.  For JR prom this was the "activity" we went to one young mans house and made pasta.  I think it upset he and his parents that I had actually done it before, but I was the only one out of a group of about 10 people.

Most pasta machines come with 2 attachements, one for making spaghetti and one for making fettucini noodles.  You can also just roll it onut in flat sheets for use in lasagna (no precooking necessary) or filled pastas.  I love to make ravioli's in bulk and freeze them for later meals.  

Once the pasta is rolled out you can add it to boiling water and cook 4-5 minutes, less if you roll it really thin.  

If you make more pasta than you can eat in one sitting, you can dry the leftover pasta.  I ALWAYS do this.  It only adds a few minutes of rolling out, but I will make enough for 4-5 meals all at once. I either hang it on wooden spoons or dowels to dry, and I recently started laying it out in my dehydrator to dry.  It only takes about 45 minutes in a dehydrator, and worked great.

You can also do variations adding fresh herbs or other vegetables.  The possibilities are endless.

Good Luck!

Western Grains Casserole and Lemon Chicken

Western Grains Casserole
(taken from the Feel Good Cook book which adapted it from the "Nut Tree Restaurant" in Vacaville, CA)

When we made this I halved the recipe, then it made 4-6 large servings.

4 cups brown rice
1 cup of grains (whole wheat, barley, rye or other whole grain or mixture of grains)
10 cups of water
2-4 cans of cut green beans (drained and rinsed)

Gravy:
1/2 c whole wheat flour
3 cups water
1 tsp. salt
3 Tb. healthy mayo (Vegenaise)
Pepper to taste

Steam grains and water in rice cooker. Combine gravy ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer until thick and bubbly, stirring to prevent scorching. When grains are cooked (about 30 min) fold in green beans and gravy mixture. Optional: sprinkle top with Parmesan cheese before serving.

Our personal thoughts: we wanted more green beans, I think it would work with an even higher ratio of grains to rice, the original recipe didn't call for pepper


Lemon Chicken
This was a good compliment with the rice dish.

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed (we actually used skinless thighs)
1 large onion, cut into thin wedges (like whole orange segments)
2-3 large carrots, diced
2-3 stalks of celery, diced

Sauce:
1/2 c whole wheat flour
3 cups warm water
1/2 Tb salt
1 lemon juiced
1 Tb each of honey, onion powder, and basil

Saute chicken and vegetables in olive oil in a large skillet (may need to add a cup of water to help keep chicken from sticking and aid in cooking the chicken). Meanwhile, blend sauce ingredients and when chicken is done pour over. Simmer until bubbly. Serve over brown rice.

Hamburger Buns

I am so sick of not being able to find good buns at the store, or having them cost more than the meat. So I started making my own in June. I tried a half dozen recipes with some success, but the ones I made this weekend were fabulous. Even my husband said they were great. He hasn't been a fan of my other tries, asking why we couldn't just buy hamburger buns...





5-6 cups of whole wheat flour
2 T yeast (I used regular old fashioned active dry yeast, but I'm sure any would do)
1/3 cup powdered milk
2 cups warm water (or substitute 2c. rice milk, soy milk or whatever for the water and pwd milk)
1/4 c oil
2 T honey
2 eggs
2 t salt
2 T dough enhancer

Mix the yeast, liquid and 3 cups of flour together. Dump everything else in and knead 10 minutes, or until gluten is well developed. The dough should just clean the sides of the bowl, but still be a little tacky to the touch. Let rise until double.

Form into buns. I made balls and flattened them. Preheat oven to 350. Let dough rise about 20 minutes then place in hot oven and bake 18-20 minutes.

This recipe made 13 good size buns. They held together beautifully and we nice and soft.

Ezekiel Bread

Ezekiel 4:9 "Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and ^afitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof..."

This was really good and easy if you do some prep ahead of time. I halved the recipe and got two large loaves, if I had a bigger mixer I would have made all of it. Note: You need a wheat grinder or find the mixture pre-ground.

In the grinder put in:
7 cups hard white or red wheat
1/4 c pinto beans
1/4 c soy beans
1 c barley
1/4 c lentils
1/3 c millet
1 c Rye ( we didn't have this so we used brown rice)
Mill at a medium flour.
Other Ingredients:
5 C hot tap water
1/2 c honey
1/2 c oil
1 1/2 T. real salt
3 T. SAF instant Yeast
1/2 vital wheat gluten
2 T. dough enhancer


After you have made your flour, in your mixer combine the hot water and 7 cups flour. Add oil, honey, yeast, salt and gluten and mix together. With the mixer running add flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead 8 minutes. Add dough enhancer and knead until mixed through. Shape into 4 loaves and let rise until double. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

* This recipe was designed for a Bosch but I used my KitchenAid. My husband made all the flour, but I only used half once I realized there way no way it would all fit.

* A few things about DOUGH ENHANCER; this is the first time I have bought it and it was great. Someone once told me that it was just vital wheat gluten, that is false. Dough Enhancer has soy lecithin, pectin and acidic acid among other things in addition to the wheat gluten. My husband would like us to try making it ourselves.

English Muffins

Since it's too hot to bake, I need to get my bread fix in other ways. These were surprisingly easy to make. I have wanted to make them for a long time, but I thought they would be too hard. I was wrong. I will be making these a lot from here on out. My kids loved them, and so did I.

Ingredients:

1/2 c Yogurt

1 c warm water

1T yeast (I used regular active dry yeast)

2 c whole wheat flour.

Mix these together and leave to rise until doubled, or overnight.

The longer you leave them, the more sour flavor will develop. I used cold water and left mine overnight, I didn't think they were at all sour.

Add to this mixture:

1 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1/3/4 cup whole wheat flour.

Knead for twice as long as you would usually knead bread dough for. The dough should be sticky.

Let rise until doubled.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/2" thick. Cut into rounds.

Dust both sides with cornmeal. Let rise until double. If you let the dough sit overnight it might take up to 2 hours.*

Cook on a 400 degree griddle for 5-8 minutes per side.

*This is where I messed up. I put them on the hot griddle as soon as I rolled them out. I realized my mistake about a minute later and pulled them off to rise for a little bit. Even though I can't follow directions they still turned out great.

These are easier than making bread. They take a little planning, but not much actual time. Next time I will try using warmer water to see if I can create more of a sour flavor.

Easy, Versatile Whole Wheat Bread

This is by far the easiest whole wheat bread recipe I have ever found. I loved it so much I went through my cook book and threw out all my other bread recipes. The next night we used this recipe for pizza dough and it was excellent. I look forward to trying it for rolls, bread sticks and cinnamon rolls. (With Pizza dough I recommend that after you roll out your dough that you place it in your pizza pan and bake it a few minutes before you add toppings.) Picture

Best Yet Whole Wheat Bread

Hand Method: Yep I still don't have a mixer ;) (yields 2 loaves)
1/3 Cup honey

1/3 Cup extra virgin olive oil

2 1/2 Cup Warm Water

1 1/2 Tablespoons Yeast

2 1/2 teaspoons Real Salt

6-7 Cups Fresh Ground Whole Wheat Flour (I used hard white wheat)

1 1/2 Tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten

Combine the warm water, yeast, and 2 Cups of fresh whole wheat flour in a large mixing bowl. Allow to sponge for 15 minutes. Add the honey, oil, dough enhancer, salt and 4-5 Cups additional flour until the dough begins to clean the sides of the mixing bowl. Do not allow the dough to get too stiff (too dry). Dough should be smooth and elastic. It is a common mistake for the beginning bakers to add too much flour.

Knead the bread by hand 7-10 minutes or until it is very smooth, elastic, and small bubbles or blisters appear beneath the surface of the dough. If you are kneading by hand, be sure to add the minimum amount of flour to keep the dough soft and pliable by using a tsp of oil on your hands and kneading surface.

Form the dough into 2 loaves and put in greased loaf pans or 5-6 loaves balls if making bread bowls and place on cookie sheet. Allow to rise in a slightly warmed oven or other warm place until doubled in size (about 30-60 minutes).

Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Bread is cooked through when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, and when the top and sides are a golden brown color.

This Bread Recipe is VERSATILE! Use it to make cinnamon rolls, pizza, bread sticks, and more.

(This is where I found the recipe- this woman's website is fun to look at for food ideas.)

Easy, Healthy Family Meal #2- Pita Pockets

We loved this, even my picky two year old ate most of hers. To get her to eat one bit is a challenge so 4 bites means she loved it. My husband said this was the best Pita Bread he's ever had. I had to agree with him.
It took a few hours to make, rising and that, however you could put it in the bread maker. I am going to try that next time. You would put it on the dough setting and the ingredients in this order; water, sweetener, oil, salt, flour, yeast.
As quoted from the site I found the recipe on:
"Why make your own pita when it's readily available at supermarkets? One bite of these, fresh and warm from the oven, will tell you exactly why. The dough is simple to make, and because the dough rounds are thin, they bake in less than 5 minutes. But if you don't have time to make your own, store-bought pita can be warmed, wrapped in foil, in a preheated 350°F oven."

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 3 hr

Servings: Makes 8 (6-inch) pita loaves.

1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon honey
1 1/4 cups warm water (105–115°F)
3 cups whole wheat flour (can use a mixture of milled flax, bran)
3 Tb vital wheat Gluten
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Could add thyme, or sesame to dough
Cornmeal for sprinkling baking sheetStir together yeast, honey, and 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

While yeast mixture stands, stir together flours in another bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup flour mixture into yeast mixture until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Stir in oil, salt, remaining 3/4 cup warm water, and remaining 2 1/2 cups flour mixture until a dough forms.

Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, working in just enough additional flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball and put in an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough and cut into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball. Flatten 1 ball, then roll out into a 6 1/2- to 7-inch round on floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Transfer round to 1 of 2 baking sheets lightly sprinkled with cornmeal. Make 7 more rounds in same manner, arranging them on baking sheets. Loosely cover pitas with 2 clean kitchen towels (not terry cloth) and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.

Set oven rack in lower third of oven and remove other racks. Preheat oven to 500°F.

Transfer 4 pitas, 1 at a time, directly onto oven rack. Bake until just puffed and pale golden, about 2 minutes. Turn over with tongs and bake 1 minute more. Cool pitas on a cooling rack 2 minutes, then stack and wrap loosely in a kitchen towel to keep pitas warm. Bake remaining 4 pitas in same manner. Serve warm.

FILLING: So Delicious!
2 1/2 cups, cubed, cooked chicken breast (about 1 lb)
1 c matchstick cut carrots
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp dill
1 8oz can crushed pineapple draine
8 romaine lettuce leaves

Cook chicken. Combine all ingredients, except lettuce. Fill a half Pita with mixture add lettuce and enjoy. So easy and we loved it.

Wheat Bread -that does not resemble a brick

Today it was so much fun to have Christy and Kim came over to make bread with me. (Sorry no picture again, we ate all the bread.)
Here is the recipe that we made:
Put in your mixer:
4 cups of water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup oats or 6 grain
3 cups whole wheat flour
mix until smooth and bubbly, then add:
2 Tablespoons Saf yeast
2 Tablespoons Dough Enhancer
1/2 c gluten flour - if your flour is wimpy and doesn't rise
mix again until smooth, then add
2 Tablespoons salt
4-5 more cups flour depending on what you need
Add flour last, a little at a time. Stop adding flour when the dough pulls away from the edge of the bowl, and you can start to see the bottom of the bowl as the attachment goes around.
Then let it mix for 10-12 minutes. The dough will be soft and smooth and the bowl will be clean.
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees - then turn it off.
Divide dough into three, and shape with hands into loaves. Place in greased loaf pans and set in oven to rise for about 30 minutes. After it has doubled in size, turn the oven on to 350 degrees and bake for 35-45 minutes until it is golden brown. Turn out of pans, brush top with butter and let cool on a rack. Yummy!

The Fluffiest Whole Wheat Pancakes Ever

This is my other favorite pancake recipe. And if you can't imagine anything made with whole wheat being fluffy, you have to try these.

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
4 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1/3 cup oil
4 egg whites

Mix the four, baking powder, salt and sugar together. In a seperate bowl, mix the egg yolks, milk and oil together. In yet another bowl beat the egg whites until stiff. Add the egg yolk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together. Then gently fold in the egg whites. Cook on a hot griddle. Serve with syrup or jam.

These pancakes are so so so yummy. It is a lot of work not to mention 3 bowls to make them. So, sometimes I cheat and I don't beat the egg whites. And I usually have a freezer bag of this mix in my freezer with powdered eggs and dried instant milk so all I have to add is water and oil. Either way, they still taste good, but the egg whites make these pancakes unbelieveably fluffy and soft.

Multigrain Pancake Mix

I have two favorite pancake recipes, this is one. I found it here.

This is my version:
10 cups of whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour (find this at the health food store - make sure you get the flour, the actual buckwheat is like putting little rocks in your pancakes - don't ask how I know this)
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cups oatmeal (put it in a blender or food processor until it is powder)
2 cups buttermilk powder
5 TBL baking Powder
2 TBL baking Soda
1 cup sugar
2 TBL salt
1 cup whole powdered eggs

Don't be afraid of the buckwheat! It is so good for you - see here. Mix it up all ingredients in a big bowl with whisk. Put it in a container or ziploc freezer bag, store in the freezer. No need to ever buy bisquik again. - and this is so much healthier and doesn't have that nasty aftertaste! Write the instructions below on the outside of the bag so they are handy.

To make pancakes:
1 cup pancake mix
2 TBL vegetable oil
Enough water to get the consistancy you want (around 2/3 cup)
Cook on a hot griddle as usual.

Refrigerator Bran Muffins

1 c hot water
3 cups bran cereal (I use raisin bran or what ever I have on hand. I have even used mini-wheats...)
1 c chopped dates or raisins (I have used craisins on occasion)
Pour hot water over cereal and raisins. Let stand while you prepare the remaining ingredients

Mix together (Blender is suggested, I'm too lazy and I dont want to clean it so I just wisk everything together):
1/3-1/2 c oil
2 c Buttermilk or Yogurt
2 eggs
1/3-3/4 c sugar or honey

Combine:
2 1/2 c Whole wheat flour
2 t soda
3/4 t salt

Now combine all three sets of ingredients, just until mixed. Then don't stir it again
Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes
The batter can be stored in the fridge, for up to a month, for fresh muffins anytime .
If you are super lazy like my I skip the first step and mix everything together the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight and then bake. Works great.

Wheat Berry Dinner Rolls

I made these rolls try to another way of using wheat. Sprouted wheat is unbelievably nutritious, and it's easy to do.
1 2/3 c water
2 T powdered milk
1 C sprouted wheat berries
1 ½ T yeast
1 T brown sugar
1 T oil
1 T salt (I used ¾ T salt since this seemed like a lot to me)
5 cups whole wheat flour
Put wheat berries, milk and water in blender. Blend briefly on med speed. Pour over yeast and sugar in a large bowl. After the yeast has bubbled up add the oil, salt and flour. Cover and let rise 10 minutes. Knead dough again briefly and shape. Let rise until doubled. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. on greased pans sprinkled with cornmeal*. Makes 24 rolls.To make as freeze and serve rolls, after double bake at 275 for 30 minutes. Cool on pan 15 minutes then remove from pans and let cool completely. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks or freeze. To brown rolls heat oven to 450 and bake thawed rolls 20 minutes.
*Note I use silpats on my pans instead of greasing them
Also, just a word to others who are as inexperienced as I am. You only need to sprout about 1/3 cup of wheat to get enough for this recipe. I sprouted a whole cup of wheat and ended up with
enough to quadruple the recipe!
Here are directions for sprouting wheat
Soak at a ratio of 4:1 (4 cups of water to 1 cup of wheat) for about 12 hours.
Rinse and drain. You can then transfer them to a sprouter or use a mason jar with cheese cloth over the opening.
Rinse every 12 hours for 2 days, or until the little sprout tails are as long as the grains of wheat, then use in your favorite recipe or refrigerate up to 2 weeks.

If your wheat doesn't sprout it may be because of the way it was stored. Wheat that has been treated will not sprout. This includes wheat that has been stored with oxygen packets. I would recommend getting some fresh wheat and trying again. If you like it I would try and store half of your wheat without oxygen. I have had success sprouting wheat that was at least 30 years old. If you can't get your wheat to sprout you could make wheat berries by boiling your wheat, I usually just put mine in the crock pot overnight with the same ratios as you used for soaking. Any extra water can be drained off, and if cooking in the crock pot you can skip the soaking step.
If any of this doesn't make sense please let me know and I will try to clear up any confusion

All About Wheat

Why Store Wheat?

Wheat is one of the most versatile and nutritious foods you can store and it also stores the longest –Making it a perfect staple for your long term food storage. However, if you do no experience with wheat, and have no intentions on learning, then it would be a waste of your money to buy wheat. If you want to learn, good news! It’s easy to get started using wheat! Wheat can be eaten whole, ground into flour, popped, and sprouted. If you are storing wheat, make sure you have wheat grinder. A good hand wheat grinder will cost around $60. An electric wheat grinder ranges from $159 to $300+.

How Much to Store?

For a one year supply, it is suggested that you store 300 lbs of grains per adult. It is also suggested that 150 lbs of this should be wheat. You can include other grains such as oats, cornmeal, barley, rice and pasta to make up the other 150 lbs. As usual, store what you and your family like to eat.

How long will it last?

When properly stored in an oxygen free container, wheat will last 30+ years. (see the beginning of this section for the effects of time on the taste and nutrition quality of food) Flour will store for 3-5 years.

How to store?

For best results, store wheat or flour in tightly sealed plastic or metal containers. Keep in a cool dry place. Do not store directly on concrete floor or near any moisture. To guard against hatching of insect eggs, treat with dry ice: On top of an almost full five gallon container, place ¼ lb dry ice on a piece of craft paper (not to touch food.) Press lid down gently so some air can escape. After about 20 to 30 min, check to see if the dry ice has completely evaporated, remove material and seal container.

Where to get it locally:

Lindon Home Storage Center
Lehi Roller Mills

Honeyville Grain