Whole Grain Cornbread

It is fun to make cornbread. I love to make it with wholegrain flours too. It was a great addition to the layered cornbread salad that I made.

Ingredients

6 T melted coconut oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 T honey
1 1/2 C buttermilk (I used 1% milk and added 1 1/2 T vinegar let sit for 5 to 10 min)
1 C cornmeal
3/4 C whole grain flour (I used spelt)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Directions Bake at 400 degrees

1. Beat together oil, eggs, honey and buttermilk in small bowl. Set the bowl aside.
2. In a medium bowl stir together the remaining ingredients.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until all combined.
4. Pour into greased square pan. I love to cook whole grains in stoneware.
5. Bake about 25 min or until done.
6. Take out and  rub coconut oil on top and let cool. Then serve.

Chocolate Zucchini Quinoa Bread (Gluten Free)

So do you have a lot of zucchini from your garden. This is a great healthy way to use it. It is even gluten free. Today I should be finishing up the quinoa recipes for the book. It has been interesting learning about all the things I can make with quinoa. The book is going to be gluten free for those of you who are trying to eat gluten free. It will be coming out around the first of the year. We will keep you posted. It will have a large assortment of recipes.  It is a great way to use up some zucchini without a lot of sweetener. Hope you have a great weekend.

Ingredients

1/3 C coconut oil
2/3 C honey
2 eggs
2 C grated zucchini
2 T cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 + 2 T quinoa flour (You could replace w/  a different wholegrain flour)
2 T cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla

Directions Bake 350 makes 1 loaf

1. In a bowl beat together oil, honey, eggs, and zucchini. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl pour in all the dry ingredients and stir with a wire whisk.
3. Combine the two mixtures together into one bowl. Just stir until all combined.
4. Pour into greased loaf pan. Place in preheated oven. Bake about 50 min. or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Cool a few minutes and then take out of pan and cool on cooling rack.

* You could put in a square pan or muffin pans instead of loaf pan.

Hawaiian Whole Grain Mango Bread

 So we were in Hawaii last week. It was so nice to be warm. One of the fun things we heard about there was they have mango bread. I didn't have any there but as excited about making some when I got home. This is what I came up with. It is delicious and moist and you will love it. The mango is a wonderful addition to the bread. The texture of this bread was wonderful. Read here about some of the benefits of eating mangoes. This bread would be a great addition to your breakfast or anytime of the day. Have a wonderful Valentine's weekend! Tell those you love that you love them. :)

Also want to mention it is Britney's 30th birthday today. She is my partner on this blog and also my beautiful oldest daughter that has brought so much joy into my life as well as my husbands. It was so wonderful to have her on Valentines. I will never forget the first time of holding her. My dream of being a mother had come true. She had big beautiful eyes that were ready to see the world as soon as she came out. She is now a mother too. She has brought 3 beautiful little grandsons into our lives. Life is sweet. I am so glad to be her Mom and have her as a friend too. I love you Britney!     

Ingredients
1 1/4 C spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 C coconut oil
1/2 C honey
2 eggs beaten
1 C mango puree
1/4 C unsweetened shredded coconut
*optional 1/4 C chopped nuts and or raisins (I didn't add them)

Directions Heat oven to 350 Grease an 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" loaf pan 
1. Pour measured flour, soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a small bowl and whisk it until it is all combined.Set aside.
2. In another small bowl pour in measured oil, honey, eggs and mango puree. Beat together until all creamy 1-2 min.
3. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Stir with a spoon until all combined. Fold in the coconut.
4. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Place on the counter and let rise about 10 min. So the baking soda and baking powder can do their job.
5. Place in oven and bake until toothpick comes out clean. About 40 min.
6. Take out of pan and let cool on a wire rack.  Enjoy! Happy Birthday to Britney today. I love you!
 
                   

Wholegrain Pumpkin Cake or Bread (low sugar)

Pumpkin Cake or Bread

Halloween is coming up fast. This month has flown by for me. If you read our blog very often you know that I am a big fan of pumpkin. It has such a wonderful flavor. I love all the spices that go into pumpkin treats. I don't just eat them in the Fall. I love them all year. I was interested to learn that heating up pumpkin with the spices before you mix it in with the other ingredients can make the pumpkin taste less tinny and a fresher pumpkin taste. I put that to the test with this pumpkin and really liked it. This recipe could be used as a bread or cake. I had a pumpkin cake mold and so I thought it would be fun to use it. I also cut down the oil and the sugar from the original recipe. It tasted great. It was a wonderful treat for my family.

Ingredients (I doubled this recipe for this big cake. This recipe makes two loaves)


15 0z can of pumpkin (Cook till equals out to 1 1/2 C after heating it)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C honey
1/4 C coconut oil
1/4 C buttermilk
3 eggs
2 C spelt flour or whole grain flour of your choice
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking sodaoptional* powdered sugar and water drizzled on top

Directions  Heat oven to 350


1. Place on stove a large pot. Turn to medium heat. Pour in pumpkin and spices and stir. Helping to reduce the water out of the pumpkin. It should take about 3-5 min.
2. Take off the heat. You can mix the rest of ingredients into the pot. Stir in the honey, oil. and milk. Stir until blended.
3. Stir in the eggs one at a time. Blend well.
4. Pour in the dry ingredients. Stir just until all blended. Make sure all of it gets mixed in at the bottom. 5. Pour the batter into a greased pan. This recipe will make 2 loaves.
6. Place in hot oven. Bake 40- 50 min. Toothpick will come out with only a few crumbs on it when done. Take out of the pan or pans and let cool. 
7. Optional* You can mix about 1/2 C powdered sugar and a couple tablespoons of water until it gets to the desired consistency. Drizzle over the top. Serve. (I love eating it warm) Happy Halloween!     
    

Whole Grain Pita Bread

This was a way to enjoy pitta bread with some whole grain added to it. It could be used for a lot of different uses. One of my favorite ways to eat them is filled with chicken salad. Yum! 

Ingredients:
2 C White flour
2 1/4 C wheat flour
2 T yeast
1 T salt
2 T olive oil
1 C water

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, yeast, and salt. In a mixing bowl, mix together oil, water, and  2 Cups of flour.
2. Knead in the remaining flour until all combined.
3. Put dough in oiled bowl. Cover with a towel for at least 3o minutes or up to a couple hours.
4. Knead the dough 10 minutes or until it is nice and smooth.
5. Place the dough back into oiled bowl. Cover and put in a warm place and let sit until double.
6. Divide into about 12 balls of equal size.
7. Roll each ball into a circle about 1/2 inch thick, Keep them covered as you roll out remaining dough so they don't dry out.
8. When all the dough is rolled out. Heat up a frying pan on medium high heat. Cook on first side about 20 seconds. Then turn over and cook the other side about 1 minute.
9. Serve them hot.         

Whole Grain Cinnamon Roll Bread

Ready to put in the oven.

I love my children!

This one too!
We loved having him come visit!

This is what life is all about. Family! I love my family. Mothers Day is one of my happiest days of the year! My husband and children spoil me. The other part I love about it is that it is a wonderful time for me to reflect on the joy of being a mother and wife. The top picture is of my 6 children that live in by me. :) The bottom picture is my son when he visited recently. Our family continues to grow as we also have a daughter- and son-in-law and two darling grandsons. It is amazing to look at these pictures and see my children growing up. They are my children as well as my dear friends. :) I hope you had a wonderful weekend enjoying your family too.    

One of my favorite kinds of bread is cinnamon bread. When you go to the store to buy it is so expensive and not very healthy. So I came up with my own whole grain pull apart bread.. It was easy to make and got gobbled up fast. It is a great way to get your family to eat whole grain bread. :) Nice to enjoy wholegrain goodness.


Ingredients:

I used this recipe with a few changes. You could just follow this recipe and it would work great! I just wanted to experiment using different grains.

• 6 C hot water
  2/3 C honey
  2 1/2 T sea salt with iodine
  2/3 C coconut oil
• 3-4 T lecithin granules (Dough enhancer I bought them in bulk)
  2 T plain yogurt
  3 T yeast
  ground  5 cups of white wheat, 3 C spelt, 2 C buckwheat, 2 C oatmeal (you could also use the original recipe's whole wheat)
• butter
• cinnamon
• brown sugar

Directions:
1. Follow the mixing directions. Knead for 10 min Then let rest for 5 to 10 min.
Divide into sections 3 sections for bread and then a section for cinnamon roll bread.You could make another section or two cinnamon bread. I will be doing that next time I make it.

2. Roll out the section for cinnamon bread in a rectangle about a 1/4 " thick. I brushed on a thin layer of butter and then a small amount of brown sugar and cinnamon. Rolled it up tight. Then I cut them into 1/2 to 3/4 ' pieces with a serrated knife.

3. Grease a loaf pan. Place the cinnamon rolls close together on their sides. Cover with a towel  and let raise till double.

4. Bake in 350 oven for about 20 minutes. Make sure it cooks all the way in the center. You can brush some butter on when you take it out. Let it cool on a cooling rack. Serve warm. You could add raisins or nuts when you put on the sugar and cinnamon.      

Perfect Light Whole Wheat Bread

I love seeing the way the light hit the bread. Light is such an amazing thing. I love light and the beauty that it brings to things. My life is filled with light. My favorite is a blue sky day with lots of sunshine. :)

It is my baby's birthday today. He isn't a baby anymore. He is taller than me and turning 16 today. We went through some serious health issues with him when he was 2 weeks old. We are so very glad that he had more to accomplish in this life and got to stay. He blesses our lives by his example. (As do each one of my children.)

The years just keep going by. My family that is living at home is shrinking too. My daughter is graduating in a couple weeks and moving on to great adventures. We are excited for her. That will leave us with only 1 child home out of 7 children. I am lucky because 5 of them live close by, so we get frequent visits which we enjoy very much. We have a treat for a couple days having my oldest son visiting from San Diego. It feels like a family reunion. (We wish his sweet wife could have come too.) It is wonderful to see each  child get their wings and fly and accomplish great things. One of my daughters gave me a sweet card when she graduated that had butterflies on it that said. "Thanks for the wings." I have always said to them that my parents gave me wings to fly, and I want them to have wings too. I will admit that I do shed some tears each time we move to a new chapter but, I do try to enjoy today and the great things that are happening. I am at the stage of life now where my children are my teachers. I learn more from them than they learn from me. I love that they have a great time together, and choose to spend time together on their own. That is success. They are my friends as well as my children. I have a wonderful husband that is my ice cream in my sundae of life. (I should say my wheat in my bread of life :).  He is so very good to me. Life is just good!  My life revolves around my family.  

So back to the bread. I made this yesterday and it was fantastic. I actually just used whole wheat this time. I will have to try it with some mixed grains next time. My husband loved it. I hadn't been as happy with some of the bread I had made lately, but this was wonderful! It was light but not too light. It just had the perfect mix. :) I hope you enjoy it too!  

Ingredients:
6 C hot water
2/3 C honey
2 T sea salt with iodine
2/3 C coconut oil
5 T lecithin granules  * Optional (Dough enhancer makes bread lighter)
2 T plain yogurt
3 T yeast
14-15 1 /2 C  Whole wheat flour (about 10 C of wheat kernels)

Directions:
1. If possible grind the flour right before making it. Fresh flour is always better and healthier.
2. Pour the water, honey, salt, oil, lecithin, yogurt. Blend together in the bread mixer. 
3. Pour in 2 cups of flour and knead for a couple minutes,  and then add the yeast.
4. Continue to add the flour one cup at a time until the dough no longer is on the sides of the bowl.
5. Knead the dough 10 minutes on high.
6. Then let the dough rest 5 or 10 min.
7. Then I weigh the dough according to my pan sizes. I made 2 -1 1/2lb and 2- 2lb and a mini loaf.
8. Pound each section on to the counter to get the air bubbles out. I put some oil on my hands.  Roll each section  into a ball and put int the pan. I push it down in and push down on the sides to make it a little higher on top.
9. Place in oven set at 170 degrees. Let the dough rise until it reaches 1 inch over the top of the pan.
10. Turn the oven up to 350. Leave the bread in the oven. The bread should be done in about 25 min.
11. Take out of the oven. Rub some butter on top if desired. Cool on cooling racks.
12. Enjoy today!

Sweet Words: My 3 year old grandson was over yesterday and asked for a slice of this bread. He is a VERY picky eater so I was thrilled he wanted something healthy. So I cut him a slice and asked him if he wanted butter or jam on it. This was his reply. "He said, No, this is very special bread this doesn't need butter or jam." He knew how to make grandma smile. The world would be such a sad place without children. (I agree with him I ate a piece yesterday with nothing on it and it tasted so good. :)    

Mixed Grain Pumpkin Bread (Low gluten)

It is a wonderful time of year to eat pumpkin bread. I have made lots of variations of this bread through the years. I really liked adding yogurt to the bread, it made it very light. It was a nice moist bread as well. It was nice to use a combination of 4 different grains in it too. I always have room for pumpkin bread. :)

Ingredients:
3/4 C kamut
3/4 C spelt
1 C oat flour
1 C quinoa flour
1 T and 1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp pumpkin spice
*I grated in 1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg optional
2 eggs
1 C honey
1 1/2 c canned pumpkin
6 T coconut oil or another oil
1 T vanilla

Directions:

1. Whisk all the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl.

2. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, honey, yogurt, pumpkin, oil and vanilla together. (I did it by hand)

3. Fold the dry ingredients into the wed ingredients. Stir until combined.

4. Pour into greased loaf pans. Makes 3 small or 2 medium size loaves

5. Bake at 350 for about 30-40 min. Watch the bread so it doesn't over cook.

Whole Grain Turkish Flatbread

This is what the dough looked like after it had rested in the bowl for 20 min.
This is the loaf prior to putting it into the oven.
This is the loaves after they came out of the oven.
This is a slice of the bread. It had a nice texture.

I was having a birthday party for my grandson that was turning 3. It is amazing how time flies by. It doesn't seem like it has been that long since he was born. I thought it would be fun to make a new kind of bread for the occasion. I opted to make it all whole grain, but you may choose to add some white flour. I also added a variation of adding some yogurt to give the whole grains a little lift. I was pleased how it turned out. The only change I would make is I sprinkled a coarse salt on top, and next time I would not do that. It's already salty enough. There a lot of fun kinds of breads to make. It got me excited to try some other kind of breads.

Ingredients:
7-8 C whole grain flour*( ground 3 C spelt, 3 C Kamut and 1 C brown rice I had about 1 C left)
1 T sea salt with iodine
2 T yeast
2 T plain yogurt (optional)
3 C warm water
4 T olive oil
Parmesan cheese, olive oil and dried basil to garnish or ?
water bottle filled with hot water

Directions:

1. In a bowl mix the flour and salt together.

2. In your bread mixer with the dough hook on, mix the yeast, water, together for 2 min. Wait 2 min and then mix again. Then add the oil and yogurt and mix again for 2 min.

3. Pour in half the flour so the dough is smooth, then add the rest of the flour, mix on medium speed, till the dough pulls away from the bowl. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky. Let the dough rest in the mixer 10 min.

4. Beat on low another 3 min to make the dough smoother and to to make it more elastic.

5. Put 1 T or 2 T in the bottom of a large bowl. With a rubber scraper. Scrape the dough out of the bowl and pour into oiled bowl. Then turn the dough over so there is oil on the top of the dough too. Cover with plastic. Let the dough rise 20 min. It should start to get puffy.

6. Then pour about 1 T olive oil on a hard surface pour out the dough on to it. Stretch the dough into a rectangle shape 3 times longer than the width. Fold the dough into thirds. Then turn the dough and do the same process again.

7. Put the dough back into the bowl, add more oil if necessary so the all the dough is covered with oil. Cover with plastic. Let the dough double about 30 min.

8. Then pour the dough on to an oiled surface again. Divide the dough in half. We each section, have the smooth side on top. Make the dough into a rounded mound by folding the dough into the center. Go all around the edge folding it in. Then cover with a towel 5 min. Let it rest.

9. Being careful not to deflate the dough, stretch the dough and pull into a rectangle. Put parchment paper on the cookie sheet or cooking spray. The loaf should be the length of your cooking sheet. Oil the top and cover with plastic. Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Let the dough rest 20 min until puffy.

10. Put the rack in the center of the oven and fill spray bottle with hot water.

11. With your finger tips make indentations in the dough 1 inch apart. Brush on olive oil and garnish of your choosing. Being careful not to deflate the loaf.

12. Put the pan in the oven, then quickly spray the oven walls with the water and shut the door quickly. (I cooked both loaves at the same time. It will depend on your oven if you are able to do that. )

13. Let cook 5 min open the oven again, spray the oven walls again. Shut the oven door quickly and turn down the heat to 400 degrees. Bake about 20 more minutes or less. Until a nice golden color. Inside temp should be about 200 degrees.

14. Take out of the oven and slide on to a cooling rack and let cool. Enjoy!

* You can use some white flour if you choose.