Fat Free Honey Whole Wheat Bread

There is nothing like home made bread...the smell, the taste, the warmth, the comfort! I purchased a bread machine from a departing friend a few months ago. That was the best chai, dessert, and round trip car ride I ever offered up in exchange! A friend recently referred to the bread machine as "the best small appliance ever invented." She's not too far off in that statement. The bread machine offers up a healthy, home made, warm loaf of bread without all of the mixing, kneading, rising, punching down, etc. I often like to use my bread machine to do all of the dirty work, then split the dough in two parts and put it into bread pans for a more traditionally shaped loaf of bread. Here is my current standby everyday bread recipe that my family tears through in less than a week's time! (And, yes, the picture is of the two loaves of bread that I made today.)

FAT FREE HONEY WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
(There is 1/4 c. of oil in this, so I don't really believe that it is 100% fat free.)

Ingredients:

2 t. yeast
2 c. warm water
1/4 c. vegetable oil (canola and olive work well)
1/4 c. honey
1 t. salt
1/4 - 1/2 c. ground flax seed (opt.)
5 c. 100% whole wheat flour (or a mixture of 3 c. whole wheat and 2 c. white)

Preparation:

Dissolve the yeast in 2 cups of warm water. Add a few drops of honey to enable the yeast to bloom. This takes about 10 minutes.

Bread Machine Preparation:

Put the remaining ingredients into the pan of your bread machine. Add yeast mixture. Choose bread machine settings according to your preference. I like the "whole wheat" option with a medium darkness.

Should you choose to remove the dough and bake in loaf pans, skip down to #8 in the steps of "Non-Bread Machine Preparation."

Non-Bread Machine Preparation:

1. While the yeast is blooming, get another large bowl and mix the oil, honey, and salt.
2. Combine the yeast and honey mixture.
3. Gradually add the flours and ground flax seed to the yeast/honey combination using a plastic spatula.
4. Once the dough has come together enough to be turned out, turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead the dough until it is smooth.
5. Put the dough into a bowl that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft free place until it has doubled in size.
6. Punch the dough down.
7. Shape the dough into two loaves and let it rise again.
8. Then lightly sprinkle the tops of the loaves with corn meal and sea salt. (This step is optional, but adds a nice flavor.)
9. Bake the bread in an oven that has been preheated to 375 F (180 C).
10. Cook until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Making Granola Bars

Why on earth would someone want to make their own granola bars? That's a very good question. The answer for me may simply be...because I can...and I like to know what's going into the foods that my family and I are eating. I started with a few recipes that I found on the internet. The one that I liked best was Playgroup Granola Bars from allrecipes.com. However, it wasn't quite as healthy as I wanted. So, I played around a lot and my family was forced to be the taste testers. Funny, I don't remember them complaining once!

Here is my recipe in its current state of development.

GRANOLA BARS

dry ingredients:

2 c. rolled oats
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. wheat germ
3/4 t. cinnamon
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. ground flax seeds
3/4 t. salt
3/4 c. chocolate chips (optional)

wet ingredients:

1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. honey
1 egg, beaten
2 t. vanilla
1/4 c. water

preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Generously grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.*

In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Mix well using your hands or a big serving spoon. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.**

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes in the preheated oven***, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.


*I use lady finger/eclair pans and spray them with non-stick spray. (note: I found the pans in Kuwait at the Sultan Centre in Salmiya.)
**I drop 1 tablespoon of batter into each mold of the lady finger/eclair pan. Then use my fingers to form the batter in each cavity of the pan.
***I have found that using the lady finger/eclair pans only requires a bake time of 15 minutes.

Speedy Spinach Lasagna

Does anyone remember making lasagna back when you had to boil the noodles first? That made the whole process of making lasagna lengthy. This recipe was an amazing discovery made by my mother-in-law. No need to boil noodles these days! This recipe is so yummy and so embarrassingly easy! You can glam this one up by using organic pasta sauce, a chunky vegetable marinara sauce, or whole wheat lasagna noodles.

SPEEDY SPINACH LASAGNA

ingredients:

28 oz. jar spaghetti sauce
2 eggs
15 oz. cottage cheese (or Ricotta)
1/2 t. salt
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach (thawed)
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
12 oz. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 pound uncooked lasagna noodles

preparation:

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add cottage cheese, spinach, salt, and 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese.

Lightly grease bottom of 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Cover bottom with a little sauce.

Layer noodles, half of the cheese-spinach mixture, half of the mozzarella cheese and half of the sauce. Repeat layers.

Sprinkle with 1/4 c. parmesan cheese. Cover dish with lightly greased aluminum foil.

Bake at 350 (175 Celsius) for 1 hour 15 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.