Rustic Bread

While at a church activity, a friend and neighbor gave a presentation on crock pot cooking.  At the end of her presentation she provided samples of several dishes including this bread which is simply AMAZING!!!!!!

Not only is it delicious, it is also pretty easy to make.  You will need the insert to your crock pot (the stone bowl) to bake it in.  Of course since you'll stick this in the oven, use aluminum foil instead of the regular pot lid (because the plastic in the lid is not oven proof!)  I've made it twice already :)  Give it a try, I promise you will love it. 

As you will see in the recipe, there's different variations.  The one I made (and pictured above) is Crasin White Chocolate.  If you try any of the other kinds, let me know how they turn out.

Here is the recipe in her own words!

INGREDIENTS & WAY OF MAKING:

3 c Flour

1/4 tsp Instant yeast (if you add other ingredients increase to 1/2 tsp.)

1 1/4 tsp salt

Mix above ingredients (if desired, this would be the time to add any spices, nuts, or other condiments to the bread) then distribute evenly.

1 1/2 c water (add an extra tablespoon if adding additional ingredients)

1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

Stir all the above until combined

1.  In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt.  Mix ingredients to distribute evenly.  Add vinegar to water.  Mix with flour mixture and stir until flour is incorporated.  Dough will be pretty stiff.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Let dough rise at least 12 to 18 hours at 70 degrees.  When surface is dotted with bubbles, dough is ready.



After the 12-18 hours of rest, place dough on floured surface, sprinkle dough with a light dusting of flour, gently knead dough 7-8 times.

Spray bowl with non stick spray.  Place dough inside, cover and let rise for about 2 hours until it has doubled in size.

After dough has been rising for 1 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 435-450 degrees for 30 minutes with a covered crock pot (don't place a lid with plastic on it inside) or dutch oven.  Oven and pot should be blazing HOT.  Pot needs to be 4- 8 quart.

When dough has risen for the 2 hours, carefully remove HOT pot from oven.  Dump dough out of bowl and into HOT pot.  Place lid on (I use foil with my crock pot) and bake for 27 minutes.  Uncover, and continue baking for an additional 6-10 minutes or until browned on top.  Dump bread out onto wire rack to cool.

VARIATIONS:

ITALIAN: add to one loaf 1 TBSP Italian seasoning, 1 TBSP dried garlic

PARMESAN/KALMATA OLIVES: add to one loaf 1 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup pitted Kalmata olives

CRASIN WHITE CHOCOLATE:  add to one loaf 3/4 cup white chocolate chips, 1 cup crasins

PECAN/CRASIN: add to one loaf 1/2 cup crasins, 1/2 cup pecans, 1 tsp cinnamon

GRAIN: add to one loaf 1 TBSP Millet, 1 TBSP Quinoa, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds.



Lime & Garlic Tilapia

Hungry and not sure what to make?  How about this delicious, super quick to prepare fish!

It turned out pretty tasty and I dished it up with some Spanish rice, salad and some pineapple salsa!

 

INGREDIENTS

6 Tilapia filets

2 Tbsp butter, melted

Minced garlic (about 1.5 tbsp)

2 limes

salt & pepper

Parsley flakes

 

Spray some PAM on a 9x13 baking dish.  Rinse the filets and pat dry with a paper towel.  Salt and pepper the filets and lay them on the greased baking dish.  Pour lime juice over each filet, evenly pour the melted butter. Spread some garlic on each filet and finally sprinkle some parsley flakes on top.  Bake in the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit (uncovered) for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

 

If you want to make some pineapple salsa just make some fresh salsa and add some small pineapple chunks!



 



Strawberry Pie

 

This was one of my recipe finds from Pinterest and I must say it's pretty yummy! 

Just add some whipped cream on the top when you are ready to serve.

 

You can find the original recipe here.  I made one little change to it which I will note here, I just reduced the amount of sugar it called for.  The pie is plenty sweet even with the sugar reduction.

 

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
3 oz box strawberry Jell-O
2 cups sliced strawberries

Pre-bake a 10" pie shell.

Line bottom with the sliced strawberries

Combine cornstarch, sugar and water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add the Jell-O and stir until dissolved. Pour over the strawberries and refrigerate until set.  Don't forget to top with whipped cream!!

Harvest Bread

This bread has everything that reminds me of autumn: pumpkin, spice, and apples.  It made my house smell soooo good and it tasted just as good.

Harvest Bread

2 Cups flour
1/2 Cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
15 oz can pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 apples pealed, sliced and diced (or shredded)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Topping
2 tsp white sugar
2 tsp light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease 3 small loaf pans.

Combine flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices in a bowl.

In another bowl, cream sugar and butter.  Beat in eggs, pumpkin and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture, stirring until just moistened.  Stir in apples, raisins and walnuts. (I didn't add the walnuts in mine)  Spoon the batter into the prepared pans.

Bake the loaves for 45-50 min. or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Meanwhile, place all the topping ingredients in a small bowl and stir to blend.  Set aside.

When the bread comes out of the oven, sprinkle with the topping.

Let stand for 15 minutes, then remove from the pans and let cool on a wire rack.  Makes 12 servings

*This will also make 24 muffins.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Tongan Pie

 This is a yummy recipe from my friend and neighbor Gen.  Definitely worth making and super easy to make!  This actually makes a lot so I suggest you half the recipe unless you have a big group to feed.  Also, for the jam I used my home made strawberry freezer jam, but I don't see why you couldn't use any flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

6 c flour

6 tbsp baking powder

1 c sugar

3 sticks (1.5 cups) softened butter

Milk

Strawberry jam

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl, add milk a little at a time until you get somewhat of a slightly sticky consistency (like pie dough).  Roll out dough into rectangles about a half inch thick (mine where pretty large over all, I had a lot of dough). Spread jam on top and fold.  The picture below gives you a better idea of how it was folded, but essentially all you are doing is bringing one side to the center, and then fold the other side on top of that.  Place pie on top of a lined cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes at 365 degrees fahrenheit (edges should be light golden).  Let pie cool down for a bit and enjoy!!



Whole Wheat Bread

This recipe is my Mother-in-law's and it's really yummy.  I was not a fan of whole wheat bread, but this bread is delicious.  I've been grinding my own wheat whenever I make it to use fresh flour and this is becoming a weekly thing.  My girls and husband LOVE bread and this is turning out much cheaper than bread from the store.  Hope you like the recipe as much as we do.

Note:  I usually only make half of this recipe and make 5 small loaves

Mix together:

7 cups   whole wheat flour

2 tbsp yeast

5 cups warm water

1 1/2 cups powdered milk

Once those ingredients are mixed, cover your bowl and let rest for 10 minutes.  You'll see that the dough will start to rise up a bit.

After 10 minutes add the following to your mix:

2/3 cup oil

2/3 cup honey

2 tbsp dough enhancer

1 cup Vital Wheat Gluten

4 cups flour

2 tbsp salt

Mix for 10 minutes

Let rise, punch down.  Let rise.  Use oil instead of flour to make loaves.  Makes 5 large loaves or 10 small loaves.  Once you've rolled and placed your loaves in the pans, cover and let rise.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

So the other day I was really craving some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  Unfortunately, I felt a little guilty making them after looking at the ingredients and seeing how much sugar it called for.  Since I really badly wanted the cookies, I went online to see if I could find a "healthier" version of these cookies.  Lucky for me I found a recipe and I LOVED the result.  The recipe called for very little sugar and whole wheat flour.  I had just made some whole wheat bread early that day, so I had freshly ground flour on hand. 

The recipe is from a blog called "a foodie stays fit: a tale of two loves" and the recipe can be found by clicking here HERE, or just scroll down below.

Healthy Pumpkin Cookies That Don’t Taste Healthy

RECIPE

• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbs. vanilla
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. milk
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine pumpkin, sugar, applesauce, egg and vanilla and mix well (we’ll call this the WET mixture)
3. Combine by whisking: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt in a separate bowl (aka DRY mixture)
4. Dissolve baking soda in milk, then add to WET mixture
5. Gradually add DRY mixture to WET and mix until just combined
6. Fold in chocolate chips
7. Grease cookie sheet and use an ice cream scoop to measure out
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes until they no longer look wet
9. Let sit on pan for 2 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool

They really are delicious and don't taste healthy at all!!!!!   Enjoy!