The Sprouted Wheat Loaves - Organic/Vegan

Back in the kitchen again after a few days off and threw myself into perfecting organic/vegan bread baking.  When you're not used to baking this kind of bread sometimes its hard to master.  Taking a regular bread recipe and changing it, to use not so much organic ingredients but vegan ingredients, can be a challenge in itself if you are not used to baking this way.  A lot of recipes I have call for milk in them, this one thankfully did not.  Using a vegan milk such as soy, coconut or almond can change the way the bread bakes.  It may not be a high loaf, sometimes it caves in the middle, or it may become to dense and doughy, like I said, a challenge.  

I found this old recipe I had tucked away for a few years, I switched out all the regular ingredients and used organic and/or vegan.  The secret to it's height, I added a dough conditioner/improver to the mix that I found on the King Arthur Baking website that's made from soy.  It worked wonderfully, my loaves had a great rise to them and were very light. No dense heavy bread this time, which is the way we like them around here, and great for sandwich making and toasting. 

Recipe Below.

Perfect high rise

Two lovely loaves

Great shape for sammies!

Nice and brown, the way bread should be.

Perfect inside and out.

Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients

2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast (I used Red Star)

1/3 cup organic honey

2 Cups Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour (I used One Degree)

1 teaspoon of table salt

1/3 cup canola oil

5 Cups Organic all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Organic Unbleached White Flour)

7 teaspoons whole grain bread improver (I used KAB)

Instructions

In the bowl of a mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.  Add the honey and stir until dissolved. Whisk the whole wheat flour together with the salt.  Add to the mixer bowl along with oil.  Attach your dough hook and mix on medium speed until all is combined.  Whisk together the all-purpose flour and the improver.  With mixer on medium speed, gradually add the white flour mix until all is combined, scrape bowl as you go along. Mix until a rough dough ball forms. 

Turn the dough out on to a lightly flour surface and knead for 10 minutes.  When the dough is smooth and somewhat elastic, form into a smooth ball with seams tucked under, place in a well oiled bowl, turning to coat it on all sides.  Place the ball smooth side up seam side down and cover with a damp towel.  Let it rise in a warm place until double in size, about 45-60 minutes.

I put mine in my oven with just the oven light on- DO NOT TURN YOUR OVEN ON!

Punch the dough down, shape it into 2 even loaves (I weighed mine) and place in two well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, lightly cover with plastic wrap. Allow them to rise until the dough is 1 to 1 1/2 inches above the rim of the pans.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Remember all ovens are different temperature wise.  The loaves should have an internal temperature of  190 degrees when fully baked.  Remove pans from oven.  Let the loaves rest in the pan for 5 minutes, pop them out of the pan on to a baking rack and turn top side up.  Cool completely.  Makes 2 loaves.

Blueberry Hill Muffins

Stocking up on the last of this season's blueberries, we go through a lot of berries in this house all year long.  Whether fresh or frozen, everyone here is always looking for berries to eat.  I just purchased 2 big containers of them at the grocery store, and before they disappeared I wanted to use some of them to make blueberry muffins.  These muffins are light, moist, packed with blueberries in every bite, and the secret, they're vegan.  Muffins are not just for breakfast anymore people, the worlds eating habits are changing, you can now eat them for a snack or dessert too, enjoy!

Recipe below.

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With just a few ingredients I made delicious muffins, and no mixer was required.

 I use this handy dandy tool for making perfect rounded muffins.

 Baking up just right.

 Makes 12 muffins, but I'm sure that will not be enough. Wow they look fantastic!

Let them rest for about 5 minutes in the pan, then loosen them a bit, and pop them out.  Look nothing stuck!

 Just the right size for snacking.   I love when blueberries burst open, they are so juicy!

 Couldn't wait for them to cool, so I broke one in half and shared it with my daughter.  We were taste testing to make sure they were good for everyone else to eat, hahaha.....and they were!

 Perfect little muffins, not overly sweet and they're vegan, a plus! Don't be afraid of the vegan label, all that means is I did not use dairy or eggs in the batter.

 Blueberry Hill Vegan Muffins

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Earth's Balance vegan butter, for greasing the muffin tin

2 cups unbleached flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

zest from 2 small lemons

3/4 cup cane sugar

1 cup almond milk

1/3 cup canola oil

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Thoroughly grease the muffin tin with the 2 tablespoons of vegan butter.  Be sure to coat every cup so the muffins do not stick, and remove any large clumps of butter.  

In a medium bowl,  whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest, set aside.  In a larger bowl, whisk together the sugar, milk, oil and vinegar, mix well.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined.  Do not over mix the batter, you will have tough muffins.  Gently fold in the blueberries with a spatula.  With a small ice cream scoop, fill each cup in the prepared muffin tin. You will have enough batter to make 12 muffins.

Bake until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of each muffin comes out clean, about 22 - 25 minutes depending on your oven.  Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Pop them out on a wire rack, turn them over and let them cool completely.

The Summer Peach

There is no better fruit, to me at least, than a fresh summer peach.  Juicy and packed full of that peachy goodness I know and love.  I bought a box of fresh peaches on my trip to Trader Joe's this week, and let me tell you, they are so juicy that you need a handful of napkins when you eat them, or the juice will run down your arm and all over your clothes!

I have a lot of recipes using peaches, pies, jams, etc., but again it's just the two of us, so I made a small fresh peach and fresh blueberry crisp with some of my peaches.  It smelled so amazing baking, I couldn't wait to eat it!  It was not too sweet for those minding their sugar intake.  Topping it with a small scoop of vegan ice cream, makes this dessert totally vegan, or top it with a scoop of regular vanilla bean ice cream.

Recipe below.

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  This peach and blueberry crisp was served after a vegan meal I made for dinner,
 Vegan Bolognese Sauce with Pasta (recipe on this blog 1/6/16), check it out.

I used 3 fresh peaches and 1 cup of fresh blueberries and started layering them in a small casserole dish.  

I made two layers with the fruit.

Now the crunchy part - Oatmeal, brown sugar, a pinch of salt and vegan butter.

Spread the topping over the fruit, cover to the edges and bake.  Easy and simple, that's how I like it!

    

In 40 minutes, this fabulous dessert! Sweet peaches and puffed up blueberries that burst in your mouth!

Peach and Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients

3 fresh peaches

1 cup fresh blueberries

3/4 cup old fashioned oatmeal, uncooked

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons Earth Balance Vegan Butter, cut into cubes

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a small casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Cut peaches in half and remove the stone.  Leave the skin on if you like or peel them.  Slice each half into 5-6 slices. Layer the slices on the bottom of the casserole dish, and sprinkle on 1/2 of the blueberries.  Make another layer of peaches and the other half of the blueberries.

In a medium bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, salt and vegan butter.  Break up the butter with a fork mixing it into the oatmeal and brown sugar until its crumbly.  Spread the top of the fruit with mixture and cover to the edges of the dish.  Bake for 35 - 40 minutes (remember all oven temps are different).  Makes 4 servings.

Vegan Bean Soup

I'm getting into this vegan/vegetarianism way of eating.  I'm going a little bit slow, easing into it, but I like it.  It's not hard to cook and eat this way but it is a little pricey, especially in the winter months when fresh fruit and vegetables are not in abundance.  But hey, some things you just have to get past and use frozen.  That is what I am doing, using frozen berries and fruit for smoothies and snacks for instance, and frozen vegetables for side dishes and soups. 

Soup was on the menu again this week, BIG snowstorm that dropped 26 inches of snow, that's a lot for the area where I live.  Had to make something hot to warm all my boys up after snow blowing and shoveling.  They were out there for hours and didn't completely clear it, but it's passable.  They were happy to see a hot bowl of soup and crusty bread when they came inside.  The little things in life.....

Recipe Below.

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Some of my ingredients to start my soup.  Fresh herbs, garlic and kale, but used canned beans, tomatoes, and vegetable stock.

 Get the broth going and rinse the beans and kale.

 I strip the kale off the coarse ribs, too tough to eat, and then chop it.

 Throw in the beans and kale, stir it up and let it simmer for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours, and it's ready to serve.

 And here you have the Blizzard of 2016 mid way through the storm.  Stuck in the house for two days is not my idea of fun!

 Moving up the back door and it was still snowing, everything piled high and covered in snow!

 About halfway through the storm the hubby decided he would try and clear some of it.

 It's still snowing, could not get out of any doors!  This was after he used the snow blower the first time, covered again!

 Now the snow stopped and the real clearing has begun.

 What a mess, this is why they needed soup!  I think he's going to need a bigger snow blower.

Vegan Bean Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 large onion, diced

2 - 32 oz containers vegetable stock

2 cups water

1 - 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

3 carrots, diced

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, more if you like heat

1/2 cup farro (if you don't like it or have it leave it out)

4 - 15.5 oz cans cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups any fresh kale, rinsed, deveined and chopped, or use frozen

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and onion, cook until fragrant and the onions are tender, be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the stock, water, tomatoes, carrots, parsley, rosemary, crushed red pepper and farro. Stir to combine. Add the drained beans, chopped kale, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours stirring occasionally. Serve with grated cheese on top and a loaf of crusty bread for sopping up all the juices.  Makes 8 servings.

New Year, New Food

To kick off my New Year, I am leaning towards making some meals a little healthier.  I looooove food, so you know I can't give up all the good stuff.  But, I am going to try and make things lighter, better for all of us in this house.  Cooking this way is not hard, it's just that you have to be creative and willing to substitute ingredients in and out of a recipe.  That's not too hard, right?  The good thing about this dish I am getting ready to share with all of you, is that it's a pasta dish and who doesn't like pasta?  I switched out the meat and just used vegetables, a little wine and crushed red pepper to give it a little kick.  The family loved it, especially the hubby, he told me five times what a great meal it was!

Here is my take on a vegan/vegetarian Bolognese Sauce that I put together for dinner last night.   It's easy, and all in one pan.  The sauce is thick, rich, hearty and flavorful, and you will want to make it again and again.  Add whatever kind of pasta you like, I like linguine it's my favorite,  add some grated cheese (haha, who am I kidding, add ALOT of grated cheese!) before serving and um, um good!

Recipe below.

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A few main ingredients to start the sauce.

 Dice the carrots.....

 an Italian sauce is not complete without garlic....

 diced sweet onion....

 diced green and yellow zucchini for added taste and color....

 I used canned tomatoes, fresh basil, red wine and THE HEAT, crushed red pepper.

 All in one pan, doesn't get any easier than that!  Don't forget the fresh basil, there is nothing like the scent of fresh basil, it mesmerizes me.  Stir it all together....

 Drum roll please and here it is, cooking slowly (Rome wasn't built in a day), good flavor takes time to cook.

 About 1/2 hour before serving, get your pasta water going, cook the pasta and drain.

 Top that pasta with some Bolognese sauce and.......

 don't forget the cheese!  How awesome does that look?  Well, it tastes even better.

Vegan/Vegetarian Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients

3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

4 large cloves garlic, minced

2 large carrots, small dice

1/2 large sweet onion, small dice

1/2 green zucchini, medium dice

1/2 yellow zucchini, medium dice

1 - 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper, more if you like heat

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley, or use 1 tablespoon dried

10 fresh basil leaves, sliced (chiffonade)

1 tablespoon sugar, more if you like a sweeter sauce, cuts the acid

1/4 cup red wine, not cooking wine

salt and pepper to taste

1 pound cooked pasta

Grated Parmesan cheese (or use vegan cheese)

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, but do not brown it.  Add the carrots and onion and sweat them until tender.  Add the zucchini and cook for two minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, crushed red pepper, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, parsley, basil, sugar, red wine, salt and pepper, stir to combine.  Reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 1 hour. Toss with your favorite cooked pasta and top with grated cheese.