The BEST Whole Wheat Bread

My doctor said: "Limit white bread consumption."
Not that easy.  

• We usually had a fresh baguette, as part of our dinner, two or three times a week. 
• I often made nice white breads in my bread machine to go with soups or stews.
• Spaghetti was served with  garlic bread made on fresh French or Italian loaves.
• There was always a loaf of Oroweat Potato bread in the freezer for toast or grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Hamburgers were served on white Kaiser rolls, and hotdogs on squishy hotdog buns!
• Even salads came with toasted croutons made from white bread!
• Sandwich anyone?  

But I was determined to make a change that I could maintain for the rest of my life.  OK, no more white bread ... 
Whole Wheat here we come!  
Not a hard change after all.  


I wanted to be able to make a good whole wheat bread by myself. In the RV, anywhere in the country! Preferably in my bread machine.


I did  little research and was lucky to come up with what has turned out to be the best bread ever!  I've been making one loaf about every five or six days. 
 It keeps well, and we have used every bit of each loaf.  The ends becoming croutons or bread crumbs. It toasts beautifully and I find one very thin slice satisfying with dinner.  


I think the nutritional numbers are about the same as Oroweat Double Fiber bread, 80 - 100 Calories, 18 - 20g carbs, and 4 - 5g fiber.  But the taste is much Better!  Less like cardboard.

This is a web image, but mine looks very much like this!

Before I get to the actual recipe I need to discuss one ingredient.  "Dough Enhancer."  I had never heard of it.  Neither Whole Foods, or Berkeley Bowl had it, so I made my first loaf without it.  

I had Googled it to find out what was in it (wheat gluten, lecithin granules, ascorbic acid crystals, powdered pectin, unflavored gelatin, nonfat dry milk, and powdered ginger) so I just used an extra tablespoon of gluten powder.  The bread was fine without it. 

 We have since found a source, Barry Farm Dough Enhancer on the internet.   It seems to make the bread a bit softer and moister. 

So, here is the recipe:

Bread Machine Recipe for 100% Whole Wheat Bread with Oats, Bran, and Flaxseed Meal

Makes one loaf, about 1.5 pounds

Dry ingredients - Mix all in a bowl before adding to the wet:

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup ground rolled oats (oatmeal ground in a food processor or blender, or use 1 cup whole oatmeal)

1/3 cup wheat bran

2 T flaxseed meal

2 T vital wheat gluten

1 T dough enhancer  (see note below)

1 tsp. salt

Wet Ingredients and sweeteners - Mix in measuring cup, or machine pan and stir before adding dry mix:

1 1/3 cup lukewarm water 

  (May need more water during first mix cycle)

1 T olive oil

1 T agave nectar or honey (see note below)

2 tsp. brown sugar

2 tsp. yeast (either Red Star Active Dry Yeast, or jarred yeast for bread machines.)

Settings: Whole Wheat Cycle, 1.5 pound loaf, Dark Crust

  

Follow directions for your bread machine. In my Breadman Bread Machine I put the liquid in first, followed by the dry ingredients that I mix in a separate bowl. Then I make a small well in the flour and put the yeast in that. I used the whole wheat setting on the machine.

Watch the dough while it goes through the first mixing cycle, and if it doesn't form a ball you may need to add either more flour or water, 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough should make a firm ball and be only slightly sticky.

In my machine, whole wheat rises three times.  After the second punch down, I take the dough ball out, remove the paddle from the pan so the loaf won’t have a big hole in the bottom,  and then put the dough back in to bake.

My bread machine takes 3 hours 40 minutes for the whole wheat cycle. 

The bread is delicious warm or cold, and also makes great toast. I keep it wrapped in a plastic veggie bag in a bread box.  It is table fresh for about three days and can be used for toast for up to a week.

It may seem like a lot of ingredients the first time, but the taste, texture and fiber content is worth it!  And it can be baked anywhere in the country, in your RV. 

How good will that smell?

HAPPY to have a project!

I have been really down in the dumps for the last couple of weeks.  After working so hard for the first five months of the year, I felt really at a loss because I had "hit the wall."

I started something today that will keep me busy and feeling useful for some time.  
I am entering our collection of favorite recipes into "my recipe box" on allrecipes.com.


We have five three ring binders with clippings from various food sections and magazines that we have collected over many years.  Many have become our favorites.   Last year I tried to scan them, but was not happy with the results.


In the past I tried entering them onto another recipe site, but found it very cumbersome and didn't get very far.

In the last few months I have been getting a daily email from allrecipes.com with a "daily dish," and have saved some of them to "my recipe box" on the site.


I look up things on allrecipes.com often.  In fact the bagel recipe came from there.


Today I decided to explore the site a bit more, and ended up creating folders and filing the 40 or so recipes I had saved. 


 Then I found the feature that allowed me to enter my own recipes and the project was born.


I entered a half dozen this afternoon.  I will be going thru the binders and only entering the ones I want.  I will mark them and then let Craig go thru the binders and see if I missed any he wants.


You can go back and add pictures if you want.  It should be fun to do that.  


I think this will be a good project no mater what the future brings.  Since I got my laptop, whenever I am using a recipe from the web, I have put it on the counter and worked from the screen  rather than printing it out.   


At Christmas, when I was at my daughters, she displayed her recipes on her ipad. 


Technology is good if you can get used to using it. 


So i'm happy again.  Oh, and I got a new order for another signature animal head for a new shop, The Black Unicorn.  That makes me happy too!

Homemade bagel review

Craig said he thought the homemade bagels were quite good.  The one he tried last night, baked 5 hours before, was the best, as good or better than from the bagel shop.

The one that was par-baked and then finished with 10 more minutes in the oven was next best, and the one that I just refrigerated over night and baked was a bit "wet" inside.  All had a good texture and flavor.

For Donna K, I think they were less work than the Strawberry Shortcake you just made!  If we were closer we could trade!

Wish my diet would allow doughnuts.  I'd try to make some!

Next time I go to the store I'll have to look for a nice fresh pineapple.  I want to try making one on the grill like Jerry and Suzi did.  Looked very taste, and fruit is good for you!

Happy Holiday Weekend everyone.

Remember to give all those weekenders extra smiles.  You are the lucky ones. They have to go to work on Tuesday.

Home made Bagels

Last week heyduke50 showed a picture of some bagels they had baked in the RV convection oven.  He has not yet posted a recipe, but I waned to try making some too.  I found a recipe for home made bagels using the bread machine for mixing, and decided to give it a try. 

It was really a lot easier than I expected. 


The recipe I used said it would make nine bagels.  I divided it into eight.  I think getting the sizes equal will take a bit of practice.

 I always use the full recipe when I'm trying something new.  
Next time I will try making a half recipe resulting in four fresh baked bagels.


This time I am also doing a couple of "baking option" experiments. 

 These bagels  are fully baked and were quite yummy.

 The bottom two of these bagels  have not been baked and will be covered,  put in the refrigerator, and baked tomorrow.  
The top two  have been baked for 15 of the 25 minutes.  I will also refrigerate them and bake them  bit more tomorrow.


I think it would be nice to be able to mix them and let them go thru the first rising, shaping, boiling and topping the night before, (about a hour and a half time). Then bake them for breakfast the next morning. 
  
The recipe I used is at bagels. 


I'll let you know tomorrow how the delayed baking and Craig's taste test went

Dragon Fruit

Today was a busy Saturday as usual, but we decided to play hooky in the afternoon and drive up to Berkeley (about 45 miles) and go to our favorite store , Berkeley Bowl.

The store deserves it's own post, and since I took some pictures I will write one tomorrow!

Anyway, being adventurous eaters we bought something we had never eaten before.

A Dragon Fruit

A dragon Fruit.  They are red and about the size of a large pear.

When we got home, I Googled "Dragon Fruit" and found that they grow on a cactus like vine and are pollinated by bats.

The serving instructions were to cut it in half and spoon out the pulp,  then cube it and return it to the skin as a decorative bowl.

It was really quite good.  It tasted something like a kiwi fruit, and would be an interesting addition to any fruit salad.

 According to the web article they are very good for you, and high in vitamins, fiber, and all that stuff.

Well, Evelyn, something else for you to look for on your travels.

We also bought a  cherimoya but it has to ripen before we can eat it.  


If we can't have adventures on the road, we will just have to have them in the grocery store.