Foolproof Whole-Wheat Bread

This is the bread recipe my Mom used to always make when we were growing up. It is THE easiest bread recipe! It only rises once and you don't have to roll out the dough. Plus it is a great way to use up wheat that you might have in your food storage. This recipe makes 4 loaves. I usually half the recipe and make 2 loaves at a time. I will include both versions. Half recipe amounts will be in parenthesis. For best results try to grind your wheat right before you make the bread! So fresh! But if you don't have a wheat grinder (or wheat to grind) you can use store bought wheat flour, too.

Foolproof Whole-Wheat Bread

6 cups warm water (3 c. for half recipe)
2/3 cup oil (1/3 c.)2/3 cup honey (1/3 c.) 
2 Tbsp. Dough Enhancer (1 Tbsp.)
2 Tbsp. salt (1 Tbsp.)
2 Tbsp. instant yeast (1 Tbsp.)
10 cups wheat to mill in grinder-yields 16 cups freshly ground flour (8 c. ground flour)

Combine warm tap water and 7 cups (4 c.) freshly ground whole-wheat flour. Mix on low until well blended. Add salt, oil, dough enhancer, and honey. Continue to mix until well blended. Add 1 cup (1 c.) flour and sprinkle yeast over mixture. Blend thoroughly.

At this point, if making a full recipe, you may want to divide the dough in half and add flour and knead each half separately in mixer if yours doesn't have the capacity to hold the entire recipe of dough like mine. I also switch to my dough hook at this point.

Add whole-wheat flour until dough pulls away from the side of mixing bowl or is the consistency of cookie dough. (2-3 c. for half recipe) Flour amount will vary due to protein content of wheat. Stickier dough makes moister bread. Knead with dough hook for 6-12 minutes.

Oil hands. Mold dough into loaves on oiled counter. Place in pans that have been greased with shortening. (Pans greased with oil tend to stick.) Apply oil to the top of loaves if soft crust is desired. Cover loaves with towel. Let rise 1/3 in bulk for approximately 35 minutes in warm kitchen. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Remove from pans. Put on rack to cool. Optional: brush tops with butter. Yield: 4 loaves (2 loaves)

Creamy Portobello Broccoli Soup

I wanted to create a recipe that was as close to my Grandma's Cheese-Broccoli Soup as I could get, without the 2 lbs. of Velveeta cheese! (Because let's face it, that just can't be healthy!) I have to admit...this soup turned out better than I could have imagined! Soooo good and creamy! And the amazing part is that it doesn't contain any cheese or dairy! If you don't have portobello mushrooms then go ahead and use regular but don't leave out the mushrooms! If you'd rather not use the beef bouillon cubes then just use regular salt to taste. Also, I think a can of white Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained, could be good in this.

Creamy Portobello Broccoli Soup

SAUTE IN LARGE SOUP POT:
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large portobello mushroom, chopped

ADD:
6 cups water
4 Beef Bouillon cubes (or salt to taste)
Boil together until dissolved.

ADD:
8 oz. spaghetti, broken into fourths
Boil 5 minutes.

ADD:
1 (16-20 oz.) package frozen chopped broccoli
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

IN SEPARATE MIXING BOWL COMBINE:
4 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup cold water
Whisk until smooth. Gradually add 1 1/2 more cups of cold water. Stir until smooth. Add the flour mixture to the hot soup stirring constantly until well blended. This helps thicken the soup.

ADD:
2 cups non-dairy milk (such as rice or soy or regular milk if you prefer) This makes it creamy!
1/2 tsp. pepper
Cook 4 minutes or until broccoli and noodles are cooked.

Crab Pasta Salad

I made this recipe up for one of our 4th of July festivities. It was really good! I think I'd like to throw a diced cucumber in there next time. I don't like my salads very "saucy" but if you do you may want to increase the mayo and ranch amounts to 1/2 cup each (or more).

Crab Pasta Salad

1 package small-size pasta, cook as directed
8-12 oz. imitation crab meat, flaked
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1/3 cup low fat mayo
1/3 cup low fat ranch
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
salt and pepper to taste
baby spinach or salad greens
cherry tomatoes, halved

Cook pasta as directed. Rinse with cold water and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine mayo and ranch dressing until well mixed. Add thawed peas, onion, and salt and pepper. Mix gently with pasta. Add flaked crab meat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Serve on a bed of spinach or salad with cherry tomatoes on top.

Gran Gran's Chocolate Sheet Cake

This recipe is from my grandmother who we affectionately called Gran Gran. With a hint of cinnamon in the cake and thick, chocolaty icing on top...it definitely gets two thumbs up! Plus it only takes 30 minutes from start to finish-and that includes icing!

Chocolate Sheet Cake

In a small saucepan on stove:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/4 c. shortening (I usually just leave this out or substitute butter)
3 Tbsp. cocoa
1 cup water
--Heat until dissolved.

Combine the following in a separate bowl:
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon

Add:
1/2 cup buttermilk (or milk with 1 Tbsp. vinegar. Let sit 5 min.)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
--Mix together and add saucepan mixture. Bake in a sprayed sheet cake pan for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Ice with icing while hot.

Icing:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
3-4 Tbsp. cocoa
4 T. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup nuts, optional
3-4 cups powdered sugar
--Mix until very thick and creamy!

Homemade Ice Cream

We always try to make a batch of homemade ice cream on the 4th of July. The recipe we use is a custard-style made with eggs. So very rich and creamy! We always have it with Grangran's Chocolate Sheet Cake. Mmmm...

Homemade Ice Cream

*4 Quart Recipe*
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
5 cups milk (use whole milk for ultimate creaminess)
4 eggs, beaten
4 cups (1 quart) whipping cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla (I usually put more!)

Combine sugar and salt in saucepan. Gradually stir in milk and beaten eggs. Stirring constantly, cook for about 5 minutes or until eggs are cooked to make a custard. Transfer to a dish (I usually use a shallow pan like a 9x13 so that it cools faster.) Cool completely in refrigerator, about 2 hours. Combine whipping cream and vanilla in large bow; add chilled custard, stirring with wire whisk to combine. Freeze according to instructions on ice cream freezer.

« Verrines » (glass cups) of white chocolate mousse and strawberries

One of our favorite dessert. And as our boy, Nathanaël doesn't like the mousse, we could it them all !!! Easy to do. Just make sure that the bowl of cream is cold enough to have a good whipped cream (chantilly). Perfect dessert for summer! You could do it with rasperries or other fruits that you like!

« Verrines » (glass cups) of white chocolate mousse and strawberries

6,5 ounces of white chocolate
14 ounces of strawberries
¾ cup of liquid cream
8 leaves of mint

1- Put the liquid cream in a bowl, at least 1 hour, in the fridge
2- Melt the broken chocolate. Put it in a bowl.
3- Beat the cream in a whipped cream (Chantilly).
4- Mix half of the whipped cream with the chocolate to obtain a homogenize texture. Add delicately the rest of the cream.
5- Put the mousse in glass cups and let them a night in the fridge.
6- The day after, wash and cut the strawberries. Divide them in the mousse and decorate with leaves on mint.

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Verrines de mousse au chocolat blanc et dés de fraises

Ingrédients :
180g de chocolat blanc
400g de fraises
200 ml de crème fleurette
8 feuilles de menthe

1- Placez la crème, dans un saladier, au moins une heure, au réfrigérateur
2- Faites fondre le chocolat cassé en morceaux. Versez-le dans un saladier
3- Battez la crème fleurette en chantilly ferme.
4- Mélangez la moitié de la crème fouettée jusqu’à l’obtention d’une texture homogène. Ajoutez délicatement le reste de la crème.
5- Répartissez la mousse dans des récipients transparents. Placez une nuit au réfrigérateur.
6- Le lendemain, lavez et coupez les fraises en dés. Répartissez les dés de fraises sur la mousse et décorez d’une feuille de menthe.

Black Bean Rice Burgers

Feel like a different kind of burger? These are a great alternative. I got this recipe from my sister, Amy. Very simple and very good! You HAVE to make the sauce to go on the buns. That's what makes them even better! This is one of our favorite meals. I use a smaller measuring cup and we can get 6-8 burgers out of this recipe. Normally you would get 3-4 using the 1/2 cup scoop.


Black Bean Rice Burgers

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 egg
1 cup cooked brown rice
2 Tbsp. + 1/4 cup salsa
1 small onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
lettuce and tomato
1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
sliced cheese, optional

In a mixing bowl, mash beans with fork. Add rice, onion, egg, salt and pepper, and 2 Tbsp. of the salsa; mix well. Using a 1/4 or 1/3 cup (or 1/2 cup if you want a bigger burger) measuring cup, drop onto sprayed, preheated skillet or electric skillet. Flatten slightly. Cover. Cook on low to med-low heat for 4-5 minutes. Flip with a sprayed spatula. Can be fragile. If they fall apart just pat back into shape. (Try to avoid flipping more than once. The secret is to slow cooking to avoid having to turn too often.) Cover again. Cook until firm and brown. Place sliced cheese on burgers to melt, if desired.

SAUCE:
In small bowl, combine 1/4 cup. sour cream and remaining 1/4 cup salsa. Spread generously on toasted hamburger buns, both sides. Assemble with lettuce and tomato. Enjoy!

Fruit Pizza

This fruit pizza has a snickerdoodle crust with a cream cheese topping. We usually put a variety of fruits on it but this time we did a more patriotic theme using blueberries, strawberries, star marshmallows, and sprinkles. I never make the sauce that goes on last but I'll include it in case you want to. Lining your pizza pan with foil helps the pieces come out better. You can also make this in a rectangle cookie sheet and cut into square pieces instead of triangles.


Fruit Pizza
Crust:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. cram of tartar
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Cream butter, sugar, and egg. Add remaining ingredients. Bake in round pizza pan at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden.

Topping:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 T. pineapple juice (optional, If you aren't using pineapple on your pizza, the topping works just fine without it.)

Cream together. Spread over cooled cookie crust. Arrange fruit over top: pineapple, strawberries, grapes, kiwi, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, mandarin oranges, etc. Cover with fruit sauce if desired.

Fruit Sauce:
Strain remaining pineapple juice and thicken with a little cornstarch.

I guess it was good! Notice the right side is missing some crust. I think we have some cookie snatchers on the loose!