Milk and Honey Raisin Bread

This bread is amazingly delicious, made with whole grains and low in sugar. It is perfect lightly toasted with some butter on it. It is from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., & Zoe Francois. I love this cookbook for a couple reasons. First, I love carbs! And second, the recipes are healthy and easy to make. You make large batches and can bake however much you want at a time. Most of the doughs will keep for 10-14 days. There is also no kneading, so I just put all the ingredients in my big mixer and then let the dough rise in that bowl. You read that correctly, NO KNEADING! The recipe for the Milk and Honey Raisin Bread will make 2 large loaves. You can either bake both loaves at the same time (which I did and then froze one) or you can bake them as you want them. This dough will keep for 10 days in the refrigerator.

4 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast, or 2 packets
1 tablespoon salt (increase or decrease to taste)
1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
2 cups milk
2 cups lukewarm water
1/3 cup honey or agave syrup
2 large eggs
3/4 cup raisins
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) for brushing the top
Raw sugar for sprinkling on top

1. Mixing and storing the dough: Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt and vital wheat gluten.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients and mix them with the dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). You might need to use wet hands to get the last bit of flour to incorporate if you're not using a machine.
3. Cover (not airtight), and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
4. The dough can be used immediately after its initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate it in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 10 days.
5. On baking day, grease an 8 1/2 X 4 1/2 inch nonstick loaf pan. Dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a 2 pound (cantaloupe size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.
6. Elongate the ball into an oval and place it in the loaf pan; your goal is to fill the pan about three-quarters full. Allow the loaf to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 90 minutes (or 40 minutes if you're using fresh, unrefrigerated dough).
7. Thirty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, with a rack placed in the center of the oven.
8. Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top crust with egg wash, then sprinkle with raw sugar.
9. Bake for about 45 minutes, until richly browned and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time.
10. Remove the bread from the pan and allow to cool on a rack before slicing and eating.

Minestrone Soup

I love soup. There are so many different soups that I love so much, I could eat soup every day. But I have a hard time finding a variety of soup in a can that meets all my nutritional guidelines. For starters, many soups have a chicken or beef broth base, and being vegetarian, it's a no go. Then I have to filter out anything with MSG (monosodium glutamate), corn syrups and hydrogenated oils. Not to mention trying to find something that is nutrient dense and tastes good. So my solution is to make my own soup. I like to make large batches and freeze it in single portions for convenience. Most of us don't have the extra time each day to spend hours in the kitchen, so having a quick, easy, nutritious meal in the freezer leaves no excuse for you to even be tempted by the drive-thru.
Here is a recipe for the minestrone soup I made today. The original recipe is from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook (which I got at Borders for around $6!), but as usual, I didn't follow it exactly. So here is what I did.

Minestrone
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: about 1 hour

1 can kidney beans
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 tomatoes, peeled* and chopped
3 Tablespoons chopped parsley
9 cups vegetable stock
1 cup carrot, chopped
1 turnip, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 zucchini, sliced
1/2 cup sliced green beans (I used frozen)
1 cup macaroni elbows
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese, for serving

1. Heat oil in a pan, add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft.
2. Add the tomatoes, parsley, beans and stock. Simmer, covered, over low heat for 30 minutes. (The original recipe said to simmer for 2 hours, but I didn't have that much time!)
3. Add the carrot, turnip, potatoes, celery and tomato paste. Simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes.
4. Add zucchini, green beans and macaroni elbows. Simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes, or until vegetables and pasta are tender. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with shavings of Parmesan cheese.

*To peel tomatoes: Cut a cross in the bottom; put into boiling water for 2 minutes. Plunge into cold water, remove and peel.

Helpful Tip: When I find a recipe that sounds good, I will make a little shopping list of all the ingredients I need. That way, when I decide to try it, I am ready to grab it and hit the store. If you have little ones, you know that when it's time for grocery shopping, it's a get in, get out event. You don't want to waste time looking up recipes or racking your brain to figure out what you need.

Pita Bread

Here's a recipe for my whole wheat pita bread. We love dipping it in hummus, but there are so many things you can use it for. You can spread peanut butter and jelly on it too. My mom gave me this recipe; she uses it for pizza and breadsticks. I just substituted whole wheat flour for white flour and evaporated cane juice for white sugar. It's so easy to make, and I can let it rise as long as I need to, so I will mix it up when I have 20 minutes and then I'll usually bake it at night after Joy is sleeping. I double the batch and freeze half (after baking and slicing). I use a pizza stone to bake it on so it's done evenly and the bottom doesn't get too crispy.

1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons organic sugar - evaporated cane juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons organic olive oil
3 cups whole wheat flour

Combine yeast, water and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes. The yeast will bubble, that means it is still good. Add remainder of sugar, salt, oil and slowly add the flour. Knead well. Cover and let rise for at least 20 minutes. Divide the dough into 2 parts and roll out about 1/2 inch thick and let it rise for another 20 minutes. I will usually spray olive oil on it and sprinkle with garlic and a little salt. Then bake for 10 minutes or until done. It might have air bubbles, so I try to cut it as soon as it comes out of the oven. This keeps it from crumbling too much later.

Note for picky eaters:
You can do 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 cups white flour or half and half. White flour gives it a little fluffier and smoother texture, so for the picky little ones (or big ones) try mixing the white and whole wheat flours.