It's Been Too Long!!!!

Wow it's been a long time since I last posted!!  It has also been about a month since I made bread!!  Can you believe that??  I am starting to get the itch again and hope to post something soon!!  Hang in there, I haven't forgotten about this blog!!

Sandwich Bread in the ROUND...

I needed to make bread today...as we have been out of good homemade bread for about 2 weeks.  I decided to try something my mom told me about.  She took a large round can (see pictures below) and used it as a bread pan, therefore ending up with a round loaf of bread.  I thought it would be fun, so I decided to try it.

It came out looking very yummy and I can't wait to try it!!

It's confirmed...another successful baking experience!!

Products

...Once upon a time there was a home baker who LOVED to make her own bread.  One of the staples in her household was her Everyday Sandwich Bread.  To make this bread, she chose to grind her own wheat berries into flour for the bread, therefore using the best ingredients.  The Mill that she ground her wheat in, for some reason made a VERY BIG mess EVERY time she used it.  She had already received some replacement parts that should have helped with sealing it up better.

 One day she was grinding a large amount of flour and the Mill made the biggest mess she had ever seen.  After calling the service department AGAIN and talking with a very nice man, the outcome is that the home baker would be receiving a BRAND NEW NUTRAMILL!!  Needless to say...this home baker will be singing the praises of and promoting the PLEASANT HILL GRAIN COMPANY http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/nutrimill.aspx for their outstanding customer service and willingness to stand behind their products!!

Signed,

A Very Happy Home Baker

 

Auntie Chelsea's Pretzles!

So my friend Jill and I were at the mall yesterday killing some time and we found ourselves hungry.  It was like 3pm and I didn't want to totally kill supper, so I stopped by Auntie Anne's Pretzel's and picked up a little bunch of their pretzel sticks.  I got to thinking...I can make these, so when I got home I google Auntie Anne's pretzel recipe and came up with THIS RECIPE.

I have not actually tried the pretzels yet, and I didn't have the big kosher salt to sprinkle on top, but I did brush with butter and salt with regular salt!  I will update on the taste in a little bit!!

...Ok, I'm back with an update!  The pretzels were FANTASTIC and I will be making again.  I think I baked them a little too long because they were more tough on the outside than i would have liked, but the flavor was GREAT!!

Vegan Cornbread Muffins with Lentils on the side!

We pretty much have some kind of bread option at every meal and tonight it was cornbread.  I wanted to make them vegan so guess who I called...my MOM!  She is such a good cook and has become really good at substituting dairy out of recipes.  These are very nice and light in texture and I will make them again.

1 1/2 t. Ground Flax seed
1/4 C Water
1 C Soy Milk
1/3 C Vegetable Oil
1 t. Salt
1 T. Baking Powder
1 C All Purpose Flour
1 C Cornmeal

Mix the first two ingredients together at least 1 hour ahead of time so that the flax gets real slimy and can imitate an egg. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all of the dry ingredients together and when ready to bake, combine wet and dry ingredients.  Pour batter into a greased 8x8 baking pan, or spoon into a greased muffin tin.   Bake 8x8 for 25-30 min, and muffins for 15 min.

Baking bread and what's for supper.

So today I needed to make bread and was thinking what I could do for supper that I could fit into my plan for baking.  Runzas came to mind. 

Runzas are a bread pocket filled with burger, onions, and cabbage.  They are SO good, especially spread with garlic butter just before devouring.

For the dough, use my Whole Wheat Bread  recipe, and when you are at the loaf forming stage, measure 10-12 1/4 lb dough pieces for the runzas. Form the rest of the dough into loaves and you have killed 2 birds with 1 stone.  Let the dough rest and raise while you make the innards of the runzas.

 

Saute:

Sm. Onion Chopped

3 Cloves Garlic Minced

1/2 Can Vegetarian Burger

Add:

1 Sm head Cabbage chopped

2 C Water

3-4 T Cornstarch

2 T Chicken like seasoning

1 t. Salt

Stir till thickened and cabbage is softening.

So here I have rolled one of the 1/4 lb dough pieces into an 8-10 inch round and put about 2/3C of filling in the center leaving space around the edge for sealing the dough together.

I have folded the dough over and pressed around the edges with a fork.  It is very important to not get any of the filling around the edge because the moisture will prevent the dough from sticking together.

You can see in the bottom left of this picture that I got too much filling in that runza therefore it would not seal. 

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 min or till nicely browned.

First pan out of the oven. 

And I had to dig in right away and get that garlic butter melting. 

 And in other news, I finally had to trash my dish washing gloves because they got a hole in the finger tonight while I was doing dishes.  But not to worry, I will be getting more!!

Vegetarian Chicken Noodle Casserole

So I know this is not bread, but I wanted to post it anyway because it is SO good and SO easy!!!

Vegetarian Chicken Noodle Casserole

Saute:
2 T Margarine
Sm. Onion Chopped
Add:
3 T Flour and brown lightly
Add:
2 T Margarine
1/2 C Silken Tofu and 1/2 C Water, Blend
2 C Water
3T 'Chicken like' seasoning
4oz can Mushroom stems and pieces
1 Can Fri Chik with broth
8oz Cooked Spaghetti

Bring to a simmer and add to a greased 9x13 baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour or till thickened and bubbly.