Finally! Successful (whole wheat) Bread!

For the past 5 or so weeks I have been making my own bread. Usually it is pretty easy (with a bread maker). But when you only do 100% Whole Wheat and ditch the eggs and milk/dried milk, things can get fairly difficult. The bread still will taste good, but it's seemingly undercooked, overhydrated, too thick, and doesn't cut well. And, to top it off, a whole loaf is a mere 8 slices rather than 12+. The dense bread is nice but only sometimes - such as a one piece toast breakfast before a bike ride. But if you make a sandwich with that heavy of bread, it is a meal and a half. So after many, many loaves I finally made a loaf that rose perfectly and still tastes excellent.

Fluffy, Yummy, but not too Light. Just Right.

Here's the recipe - in order of typical placement into bread maker tray:

1 C Almond Milk
2/3 C Water (no specific temp)
2 T Smart Balance (Butter substitute)
2 T Agave Nectar
2 tsp Sea Salt
3 3/4 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) Active Dry Yeast

*To top it off with some added texture and flavor: (I highly suggest this step)
1/2 C Rolled Oats
1/4 C Sunflower Seeds

Put all ingredients in bread maker and choose correct setting ("Whole Grain/Sweet Bread" for mine!). Mix up ingredients just to be safe - see below. Set it, go for a 3.5 hour bike ride, then come home to wonderful fresh bread! Scratch waiting to cut it...that's far overrated. Although, honestly letting it sit for an hour does help overall. Nevertheless, I always cut off the top end and throw some MNB: Glorious Almond Butter on top of it.

I have had mixed results on my bread maker's ability to evenly mix the ingredients...thus, in order to assure everything is mixed, I pre-mix it with a fork until the dough has been somewhat mixed. Then I lick the fork and enjoy the flavor that is the bread even before it is cooked!

So in the rush of putting everything together, running some errands, then a long bike ride...I didn't take any pictures during the process! However, I have a couple after photos of the glory that remains.

Pretty great crust texture. A little crispier would be nice for me, but I think the masses will like how this turned out.

Glorious Almond Butters

This recipe is so delicious I want to keep it to myself. But it's way too simple to be anything near unique. Thus, I unleash upon you the best almond butter I have ever had.


Literally. It's insane. And it's far too easy.

And I got experimentive (not even a word, but it's completely applicable) and just thought "what would taste awesome?". This is pretty much what I continually think to myself. Whether I'm at a new restaurant, out biking, hungry, full, bored...

So I came up with Cinnamon Raisin Almond Butter.


But first: Sea Salt Almond Butter (sea salt is such a small addition, but it works absolute wonders. I was amazed)

Glory is just 10,000 revolutions of the blade away! So hit ON!

For just about 1C Almond Butter which equals 8x2Tbsp servings
2C Almonds (I suggest 4 Cups :) it'll make about 2C butter)
1-1.25tsp Sea Salt (I initially stated 1.5tsp - but I think that might be a little too potent for some. Start with 1tsp and g from there!)

Roast evenly spread Almonds on cookie sheet for 15mins @ 350F. Shift them around at least twice during the 15mins. Some of the almonds should slightly crack and change color a little. Once done, set aside to cool for 5-15mins depending on how anxious you are. Put in food processor and run 'em til they're smooth and slightly runny. When I first made my own butters, I got complacent at a "thick" consistency. Keep going. If it builds up on the sides. When you think it's all done, mix for another 3 minutes! Taste it, if you like saltier add some. But this recipe is a really well balanced amount...more and you will lose some of the almond taste...less and you aren't quite at the optimum.

Almost there. Scrape the sides and mix til the butter is warm from friction.

Now for the better stuff. Like better than Lipton "best stuff on earth" bogusness.

I once again suggest the more is more approach (similar to cycling training).

But here's the yield for ~1C.
2C Almonds
3-5Tbsp Raisins (Start w/ 3-4T, add more if the butter can take it and still be a good texture!)
2tsp Cinnamon (This is a good amount, you can add more - but taste it before you do...)

The result is absolutely glorious. It's cinna-money. If your raisins are really dry they could clump up the resulting butter. So, for dry raisins I suggest measuring your tablespoon, dripping water over it, then press them by hand to push out the water. This will give the raisins enough moisture, but will not make the almond butter runny. Too much water and you could get the oil/water separation...and you do not want that in this (or any!) almond butter.

This is 4C Almonds. Makes an overflowing 2C Almond butter here. And there's enough left in the FP to swipe up with your finger or some bread or to put on celery. Possibilites = endless.

Pizza: Thirve Style.

So, this one didn't turn out great. I'm hoping a better baking method will aid in making the texture turn out as good as the flavor. If you expect the dough-y-ness of a greasy, typical pizza you will be disappointed. This dough is made from beans and some flour. It's not supposed to be like typical pizza dough. No yeast, baking powder, or baking soda involved.

This recipe is taken pretty much from the book "Thrive", which is an awesome resource for healthful recipes that are delicious. This one in particular is the "Spicy Black Eyed Pea Pizza". I took some liberties with the original recipe. It consists of a garlicy and slightly spicy crust, a tomato-based sauce, and whatever toppings you could imagine adding! I made a double batch last - testing to see how the dough does after being frozen (I will be sure to let you know next week sometime). I'll be cooking it up tomorrow night for dinner!

Ingredients listed is for a single batch.

Crust/Dough:
1C Black-Eyed Peas
1C Cooked Quinoa
2 Cloves Garlic
1/2C Brown Rice Flour
3T Coconut Oil
1t Crushed Red Pepper
1t Black Pepper
A couple dashes of Crushed Chipotle Pepper (or use cayanne, etc)
~1t Sea Salt
1/4 to 1/2 C water

Combine all ingredients except water! Process in food processor until it forms into a ball. If it seems to not be forming/needs moisture, add water 1/4C at a time until it forms into a dough ball. Be patient, this takes a while...don't put in too much water or else your dough will be mush...and that would be bad news. PS: Taste the dough. It's delicious. I'm thinking if I can experiment this will make excellent pita bread!

Sauce:
1/2 Can (~1C) Diced Tomatoes
1 Clove Garlic (notice a trend here?)
1/2 medium-large Cucumber (probably ~3/4 Cup)
2T Olive Oil
1.5T Balsamic Vinegar
1 Roasted Red Pepper
5-10 Small Leaves of Basil (depending on preference)
1t Oregano
1t Rosemary
1t Crushed Red Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until evenly spread (takes about 2 seconds).

Toppings:
3 Medium Carrots, Sliced thin
1/2 Onion: I used yellow and sliced 1/4 thin, and 1/4 into "chunks" - the medley of textures/flavor distribution is quite nice
1 Green Pepper
1/2 Sweet Potato (microwaved for ~2min) sliced into very thin circles
Add spices/additional (hot) sauce as desired

I didn't take any pictures of the processing of the sauce or the dough. I wanted to get it done before heading to bed so I could make dinner super quick tonight!

Pre-Baking.

Cooking Instructions (which I did not): Preheat oven to 300. Lay dough flat on pre-sprayed 10"x15" pan 1/4" thick (or greased w/ coconut oil). Add sauce, then toppings. Bake for 40-45mins.

I cooked it quickly at a higher temp. The dough did not turn out well, sadly. But I think it would be wise to put the dough in for 15-20min, add the sauce for 5-10min, then put toppings on until it is finished baking.

The way I did it flavor was good, texture was pretty bad. But it looks pretty darn tasty.

Next time the crust will be prime!