Bread Baking Basics and a Recipe, too.

Now, I am no bread baking expert.

I know this may come as a shock to some of you.

I was married for almost 9 years before I baked my very first loaf of bread.  No joke.  I was afraid of it.  "Too much work", I thought.  But I was wrong.  Surprisingly enough...it was a lot easier than I imagined it to be (especially if you have a mixer, like I do, that does all the kneading for you). 

In fact, for the past year now, homemade bread has been used almost exclusively in this house.  It took my boys a while to get used to the idea ("No more store bought bread?") but they are quite on board with it now. 

I thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes and some bread making tips (marked with "*"), which have become quite useful in the past year as I have learned and experimented with the "art" of bread making.

Simply Perfect Setpoint Bread

Medium Batch--4 loaves

10-12 cups whole wheat flour *1 (about 7 cups pre-ground whole wheat)
2 tablespoons dry instant yeast *2
1/3 cup high-gluten (80%) flour (optional) *3
1/2 tsp vitamin C powder (300 mg) (optional) *4
4 cups warm water (120 to 130 degrees) *5
1/3 cup vegetable/canola oil
1/3 cup honey or sugar
1 TBSP salt

Place 6 cups whole wheat into mixer bowl equipped with kneading arm.  Add dry yeast, gluten flour , and vitamin C.  Pulse to mix well.  Add water, and mix for 1 minute.  For lighter bread, turn off mixer, cover bowl, and let dough sponge (*6) for 10 minutes.  Add oil, honey or sugar (*7), and salt.  Turn on mixer, and quickly add remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, until dough forms a ball and cleans the sides of the bowl (you should be able to see the bottom of the bowl too).  The amount of flour needed may vary.  Knead 4-6 minutes (*8) in a mixer and 12-15 minutes, at least, if kneading by hand, until dough is smooth and elastic.

Lightly oil hands and counter top.  Divide dough into 4 equal portions. Shape into loaves (*9) and place into greased bread pans.   

Fast Rise:  While shaping dough, preheat oven to lowest setting (at least 150 degrees).  Once oven has preheated and bread is ready to go in turn the power off.  Place bread in oven, arranging pans with space between to allow heat to circulate freely.  Watch closely.  Let rise until almost double in bulk, approx. 20-30 minutes.  Leave bread in over and turn heat to 350 degrees.



Normal rise:
Leave bread in pans, uncovered, on the counter top until double, approx 1 hour (depending on the temp in your house).  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

 Immediately remove pans; let bread cool on wire racks.  For a soft crust, mist lightly with water from a spray bottle (*9) while still hot.  Or, lather tops in butter or shortening. 

Slice bread when cool.  Store in plastic bags in freezer, not refrigerator.

Tips/Notes:
 *1 Hard white wheat is best if grinding wheat for bread.  To assist in making the transition to 100% whole wheat bread, replace a fourth to half of the whole wheat flour with unbleached white flour.  Gradually increase the ratio as time goes on.

*2  There is a difference between instant yeast (and bread machine) and regular.  Regular yeast has to be cultured in warm liquid before being added into a recipe, instant (and bread machine) does not.
*3 High-gluten flour is a high protein (80%) flour available at most health food stores.  It adds volume and improves texture in whole wheat bread.
*4  Can add 2 TBSP lemon juice (with wet ingredients) instead of vitamin C powder for improved texture).
* 5  For improved texture, add 1 cup buttermilk or yogurt in place of 1 cup of the water.  (you can make your own buttermilk by placing 1 TBSP lemon juice in a 1 C measuring cup and then filling the remainder with milk).
*6  Not a necessary step because recipe calls for instant yeast BUT sponging dough makes lighter bread and reduces kneading time.  This is very important if kneading by hand.
*7 If diabetic or hypoglycemic, or you just want to, you  can substitute a natural sweetener for the honey or sugar, such as 1/2C to 3/4C unsweetened applesauce, or you can use Diastatic malt.
*8  Recipe says 7-10minutes of kneading in a mixer.  I've read that 4-6 is enough.  My mixer has a self kneading button and it only kneaded it for 3min and 27 seconds.  Look for a smooth and elastic (springs back when touched) texture.
*9  Place divided dough on an oiled (not floured) surface and pound dough to get the air out.  Shape into an oval shape and roll around until it reaches the desired length.  Pinch ends together in the center on the underside and place in bread pan.

I hope this helps some of you who are just starting out.  Experiment.  Have fun!

And ENJOY the fruits (warm tasty bread with melty butter and jam on it) of your labors.

"Angry Birds" Cake

 
Yeah...we're pretty big "Angry Birds" fans around here. The "fever" became even hotter when we got the kids Angry Birds: Knock On Wood Game and Angry Birds plushes for Christmas.  Now we can't seem to get enough of them.

(I've become quite the master builder and they the master "knock-er-down-ers)

So it didn't surprise me too much when Little Red picked an "Angry Birds" cake for his birthday a few days ago.  

We googled and pinterested (Yep.  I make up my own words) and didn't come up with anything this cake decorating rookie thought she could manage.  Everything was made with fondant (including the characters), which I DO NOT do (I can barely handle store bought tub frosting), so I had to come  up with something else.  I packed all 4 of my XY's into the car and headed to Winco with this particular card (which Little Red picked out from the game) as inspiration.

Shopping for ingredients becomes a difficult task when you have a child with nut allergies (birthday boy) so we had to get creative.  The original plan was to use Little Debbie Nutty Bars (which I would still recommend using if you can) but turns out they are manufactured in a plant with tree nuts (he's deathly allergic to cashews) so we had to strike that plan and find another solution. We settled for these instead:

Now...for the birds/pigs.....  

We scoured the bulk section and decided on these:

It took a bit of time, manipulation, and a tooth pick, but I was really satisfied with the results.

The pigs

black and red bird

yellow birds

pigs:  green Tootsie pop, Tootsie rolls
black/red birds:  Tootsie pops, Tootsie rolls, sprinkles (for eyes)
yellow birds: dots in center (to form Tootsie roll around), Tootsie rolls and sprinkles (for eyes)

Now for the cake:

I used a regular 9 x 13 sized cake (you could definitely go bigger) and frosted and textured it, with the back of a frosting knife.  You could also try coloring coconut and sprinkling it on top (I didn't because my kids don't like it).

Add some regular ol' kabob skewers to stabilize the structure (if using Nutty Bars you may not need these...just a bit of frosting to hold it together)...

 even from the back

and WALLAH!

  ANGRY BIRD CAKE!

Now....I have to say that I would STILL recommend using the Nutty Bars if you can.

Cream filled cake pieces were just not as stable (even with the skewers) as I would have liked them to be.

After falling over three times, from the sheer weight of the structure, 

we decided to let it rest.

 The kids thought that was pretty cool too.

("Just like in the game")

Whew...thank goodness.

The best part about it...

the entire thing was edible (unlike nasty fondant).

The birds/pigs were the kids favorite part.

and when they're happy....I'm happy.

It was a really fun project/cake.  I wouldn't hesitate doing it again.

So what do you think?  Any ideas on what I could have done to make it more stable?  I'd love some feedback!

Amish Friendship Bread

This is what I gave out for frugal neighbor gifts this year and, I must say that we, ourselves, have been enjoying it (every 10 days...he he he) ever since.

It's the gift/recipe that just keeps on giving and giving and....you get the idea.

What I like most about it is that it's cheap, it's flexible and it always turns out very tasty.

AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD

IMPORTANT NOTES:  Do NOT use ANY type of metal spoon, bowl, whisk, or beaters...

(see note* below).

DO NOT refrigerate

Batter will rise, bubble and ferment...

if using a plastic bag, let air out as needed.

STARTER:

1 pkg active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees)

1 cup sifted flour

1 cup white sugar

1 cup warm milk (110 degrees)

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes.  Stir well.  In a 2-quart glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine flour and sugar.  Mix thoroughly (or flour will get lumpy when milk is added).  Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture.  Loosely cover the mixture with lid or plastic wrap...or place in a plastic zip bag.  The mixture will get bubbly, let air out as needed.  Consider this Day 1 of the 10 day cycle, or the day you received the starter.  For the next 10 days handle the starter as follows:

Day 1- make or receive the starter, do nothing

Day 2- Stir starter in bowl, or if starter is in a plastic bag, mush the bag

Day 3- Stir or mush bag

Day 4- Stir or mush bag

Day 5- Stir or mush bag

Day 6- Add 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk.  Stir to mix or mush the bag.

Day 7- Stir or mush bag

Day 8- Stir or mush bag

Day 9- Stir or mush bag

Day 10- Follow these instructions

If in a bag, pour the contents of the bag into a non-metal bowl.  Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cup flour and 1 1/2 cups milk.  Stir (with a non-metal spoon or whisk).  Measure one cup batter into four 1-gallon zip bags and give away, along with a copy of the recipe.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Add the following to the remaining 1 cup batter:

3 eggs

1 cup oil (or 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce)

1-2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 large or 2 small boxes instant pudding**

1/2 cup milk

1 cup sugar (some recipes don't call for this)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

Grease two large loaf pans.  In a small bowl, mix together, an additional, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon.  Dust the greased pans with 1/2 of this mixture.  Pour batter evenly into the two pans and sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the top.  Bake 50-60 minutes.  Cool bread until it loosens evenly from the pan (about 10 minutes).  Serve warm or cold.  

*NOTE:  Because of the starters extremely acidic properties, the use of metals can cause a chemical reaction that messes with the fermentation process and basically kills the yeast (not to mention contaminating the starter).  There are some arguments as to whether clean, stainless steel can be used for the starters.  I don't use it.  I do, however, use my stainless steel beaters after the starters have all been divided up and placed in bags and I am prepping the rest of the ingredients for baking. 

**You can use any flavor pudding you want.  Try using one small vanilla and one small banana cream.  Try one large chocolate pudding plus add 2 TBSP cocoa powder for super yummy chocolate bread.  The possibilities are endless.  You can find lots of varieties (like lemon poppyseed, banana or apple) on allrecipes.com .  

Today I tried 1 small box butterscotch and 3 boxes chocolate pudding...then added chocolate chips (pictured above).  SO YUMMY!

Helpful Hint (I got this idea from my mom):  When giving away to others, it's always nice to include the date of your starter (day 1), the date they will need to add ingredients (day 6), and they date they will bake (day 10).  like so:

Remember that if you keep a starter for yourself, you will be baking it every 10 days.  If you get tired of the cycle....give all the starters away and make some for yourself again when you are well rested and ready to go again.  :)

Happy Baking and Making Friendships!

Super Tasty Refried Beans (without lard)

After cooking up your pinto beans, see How To:  Soak, Cook, Measure, and Store Dry Beans, (or if you are a big cheater and choose to open up a few cans of pinto beans instead), drain, saving some of the cooking (or canned) liquid.

Smash beans, using a fork or masher, until they reach desired texture.  Add cooking liquid (or canned liquid for all you cheaters), a little at a time, and stir until beans reach desired consistency.  (I like mine pretty thick and textured.  Some like them very smooth and somewhat liquified...you decide.)

Now for the good stuff.

Although I think this recipe is really a "to taste" kinda recipe, I have put together a general guideline.

(recipe adapted from Cooking with Food Storage Made Easy by Debbie G. Harman)

Super Tasty Refried Beans

1 1b (2 cups) dry pinto beans, cooked and mashed (3 cups if using canned)
1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp chili powder
3/4 tsp to 1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp salt  (only add to taste if using canned beans)

(My suggestion would be to start with the lower measurement and add to according to taste)

Mix all ingredients...taste for perfection...and enjoy!

My whole family thought they were SOOOOO good!

As evidence (from G-Mcbabe),  "Wow, these LOOK grosser than the store bought beans but they taste WAY BETTER."

Thanks "G"....and they're cheaper too.

I cooked up 3lbs of beans (6 cups) and got nine 1-1/2 cup portions out of them (or the equivalent of about 9 cans) for around $3.00 (and you can absolutely get them for even cheaper...especially if you shop in bulk).  That is about $.33 cents a can.  NOT BAD!  Tell me the last time you got canned refried beans for $.33 cents a can...even with coupons.  I can't.  Which is why I went this route.  

 

Here I have them portioned out and ready for the freezer.

See How to:  Soak, Cook, Measure and Store Dry Beans for storing information.

I hope you like this $$ saving, low fat recipe.  I DO!

How to: Soak, Cook, Measure and Store Dry Beans

Beans, beans, the magical fruit......  Ha...just kidding.


We've all heard of the "rice and beans" diet.  You know...what you eat when money is "tight".  Why?  Because it's cheap  frugal.  And...when combined, rice and beans make a complete protein...which is very important, nutritionally, if you are cutting back and/or out on animal proteins.  Plus...beans have lots of fiber.  Good for the body too.


Up 'til now I have been buying canned beans (which you can get for pretty cheap if you watch for good sales)...but, have discovered that cooking them myself is a whole lot cheaper (something about labor costs...he he).


It's really not as hard or time consuming as I imagined it to be...in fact, it's SUPER easy and not an inconvenience on my time at all.


So, I thought I would share what knowledge I have on the subject.  All in the name of $$ SAVING.

ALL ABOUT BEANS

Quick tips:

-Most beans will rehydrate to triple their dry size so be sure to start with a pot large enough to accommodate.

-Rinse and sort, removing any rocks, dirt, or discolored beans.

-Before cooking, soak dry-packaged beans to help soften and return moisture to the beans and reduce cooking time.

SOAKING METHODS:

Preferred HOT SOAK and QUICK SOAK methods - For each pound dry beans (2 cups), add 10 cups hot water; heat to boiling and let boil for 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat, cover and set aside for at least one hour (quick soak) or up to 4 hours (hot soak).  One useful hint about hot soaking, is that it helps dissolve some of the gas-causing substances, making the beans easier to digest.


CROCKPOT METHOD-   Soaking not necessary; see instruction on how to cook below.


TRADITIONAL OVERNIGHT SOAK- For each pound dry beans (2 cups), add 10 cups cold water and let soak overnight, or at least 8 hours.


COOKING DRY BEANS

STOVE TOP- Drain soaking water and rinse beans; cook in fresh water (8-10 cups).  In general, beans take 30 minutes to 2 hours to cook depending on the variety.  Check bean packaging for specific cooking times and instructions.  To test if beans are done, bite-taste a few.  They should be tender, but not overcooked.

CROCK POT - Place rinsed (soaking not necessary) beans in the crock pot.  For every cup of dry beans place 4 cups water in the crock pot (1 lb, or two cups, will require 8-10 cups water), making sure the beans are completely covered.  Cook on high until tender (3-4 hours), or cook on HIGH for one hour, then turn to LOW and continue cooking overnight (6-8 hours).  To test if beans are done, bite-taste a few.  They should be tender, but not overcooked.


ADDING FLAVOR while cooking-  Spice up beans while they cook.  Seasonings such as garlic, onion, oregano, parsley or thyme can be added to the pot while beans are cooking.  Add acidic  ingredients, such as tomatoes, vinegar, citrus juices, only at the end of cooking, when the beans are already tender.

Add salt only after beans are cooked to tender.  If added before, salt may cause bean skins to  become impermeable, halting the tenderizing process.

COOLING - While cooling, keep beans in cooking liquid to prevent them from drying out.


CANNED BEANS
Canned beans are a great convenience since they are already presoaked and precooked.  Always drain and thoroughly rinse canned beans before adding them to a recipe (a MUST in our house...does wonders for cutting down on flatulence).


STORING BEANS:

Uncooked beans can be stored in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dry area.  If kept for more than 12 months, beans will lose moisture and may require longer cooking times.  However, their nutrient value is NOT lost with age.


Canned beans may be stored up to 12 months in their original sealed cans.

Cooked bean may be refrigerated in a covered container for up to five days and may be frozen for up to six months.


MEASURING BEANS

One 15 oz can of beans = one and one-half cups cooked beans, drained

One pound dry beans = two cups dry beans

One pound dry beans = six cups cooked beans, drained

One cup dry beans = three cups cooked beans, drained


Most of this information was provided to me by my mother...who got it from the American Dry Bean Board (www.americanbean.org).  I got help with the crockpot instructions from ehow.com.

"Cream of" Soup Recipe

I happened upon a really good deal for stocking up on Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom soup today (thanks, Happy Money Saver).

I, of course, headed on over to Fred Meyer to pick up a stockpile.  :)

But...also of interest, was a comment by one of her readers.  She left a recipe for homemade (gluten free) "cream of" soups...which is said to be super cheap to make. 

I'm always interested in cheap....I thought you might be too.  So...here you go.

Homemade "Cream of" Soup (gluten free)
1 cup cold milk
2 TBSP corn starch  
1 1/2 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper

Place cold milk to a small sauce pan.  Add cornstarch and whisk until well blended.  Stir in butter, salt and pepper.  Heat to boil (on low I would imagine), stirring frequently.  Simmer on low for an additional minute (or until it reaches desired consistency).

To make "cream of mushroom" add 4 oz can of mushroom pieces, drained, "Cream of chicken" add 1/2 cup diced chicken,  "Cream of celery" add 1/2 cup chopped and sauteed celery, etc....

Recipe is equivalent to one regular sized can "Cream of" soup.

(Thank Lora---whoever you may be)