This is what I did today

Made 6 loaves of whole grain bread dough, 4 that were promptly frozen and two that were immediately made into hoagies:

And then I got a wild hair up my ass & decided to make wholewheat tortillas. Here’s a snap of the finished product:

Baking Fool

Or perhaps just a fool. Here’s a recipe for peanutbutter oatmeal cookies that I adapted:

Cashew Butter Oatmeal Cookies w/ Dark Chocolate

* 1 c butter, softened
* 1-3/4 c sugar
* 1-2 tsp vanilla
* 1 tbl molasses
* 1 cup cashew butter
* 2 eggs
* 3/4 c unbleached flour
* 1/2 c whole wheat flour
* 1/4 c flax meal
* 2 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 c rolled oats
* 1/2 c dark chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter, sugar, molasses, vanilla and cashew butter until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time until well blended. Mix flours, flax meal, baking soda and salt. Add to creamed mix & stir until mixed. Mix in the oats and dark chocolate until just combined. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until just light brown. Don’t over-bake. Cool and store in an airtight container.

I am still letting the butter soften so I have yet to see how these taste, but I have high hopes.

edit: Small adjustment to the dark chocolate addition…1/2 cup is plenty (and all I had). Also the amount of butter I have been using in my the recipes has been bugging me so I am going to try to make the next batch of cookies with 1/2 butter, 1/2 yogurt cheese (just drain yogurt in a colander lined with a coffee filter for 12-24 hours) and see how they turn out.

Mixing food genres

Punjabi Eggplant + Whole Wheat Pita Chips = heaven.

Plus it’s spicy enough to break a sweat out on my upper lip. Good times.

Just like that

With one line like “you’re lookin’ at me like I just finger-banged your cat…” and I am hooked on Californication. Sometimes insomnia is a bitch, but it’s an absolute delight when you have an entire season of filth pouring from David Duchovny’s mouth to view.

Holy crap it’s Challah!

SO I embarked upon a new baking adventure tonight. Challah. Here’s the recipe I used, thanks to Lestlie for sending it my way:

* 2 cups unbleached flour
* 2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 package yeast
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 2 eggs for dough
* 1 tsp. salt
* 1 for egg wash

Measure flour, sugar, and salt into big bowl. In separate bowl, pour 1 cup of warm water, add the yeast, and let it soak for 5 minutes. Add 1-1/2 cups flour mixture to the water, beat, set on top of stove with a dishtowel covering it. Let this alone for 1/2 hour. Add two eggs, beat, then knead in the rest of the flour mixture for about 10 minutes. Let rise again for about an hour.

Okay, punch down the dough, knead it on a floured board for about 3 minutes, cut it in half,
and these pieces in thirds (I actually did one big loaf). Make three “snakes” with each and braid, pinch ends, tuck under. Let rise again for an hour and 15 min (I did mine for two hours as per the original recipe and it fell flat from being over risen, shant be doing that again), while covered with a dish cloth. Brush gently with an egg wash (1 egg and 1 tsp. water), bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce to 375 degrees and continue baking until a nice crust forms and it looks perfect.

Right after braiding:

Fresh from the oven:

During this whole process I watched two episodes of Weeds and several episodes of Secret Life of a Call Girl. I recommend both, btw. I was saddened that my loaf fell flat, but this was the first one I tried and I know better for next time. I also found what looks to be a fabulous recipe for a delicious whole grain bread, so this Sunday I will be making some of that. The recipe makes 6 loaves (ye cats!), but I know I can just bake one and then freeze the rest of the dough balls prior to rising. I am actually looking forward to making it, the kneading is very relaxing and a bit of a mini-workout. I am still in awe that I am making bread and liking it. Years ago when I tried it I thought I’d never attempt it again. Next thing you know I will be making my own bagels. Now those I have made before and let me tell you, it’s a REALLY long process, but well worth it. Time to go hunt down that old Betty Crocker cookbook bagel recipe…

Stop. Meme Time.

I cannot seem to stop posting today so here you go with another one, this time a meme that has been making it’s way around the blogosphere:

The concept:
1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food? right now? (that’s sushi btw. I know it resembles ice cream. It so is not.)
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is one word that describes you?
12. What is your flickr name?

Wow. That was fun to do and interesting to see what photos popped up for each answer. The results:

Again with the foodage and recipeeeing

So, I decided to post one of our favorites on here and it’s not much of a recipe since it involves opening a can of this, a bottle of that and a packet of whosis. But here it is anyway, and while I write this I have a distinct feeling I have posted this before…if so I apologize:

Three Bean Chili

1 can of chili seasoned beans, do not drain
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of kidney, great northern or pinto beans, drained
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup of salsa (I am partial to Herdez’s medium)
1/2 packet of William’s chili seasoning (the kind that seasons two pounds of meat)
2 tsp ground cumin (because we likes it muchly)

Open, drain what should be drained and dump into a cookpot. Simmer for about an hour. Serve.

Simmering product looks like this:

So cheap, easy, filling and loaded with fiber…just like your mom!* Did I mention it was cheap too?

*this was added as a tiny homage to AJ who likes to add ‘just like yer mom’ to sentences sometimes, and who reads my blog. *wave*

Maybe I am biased…

but as my children grow into adolescence I am astounded by how freaking handsome they are becoming. They were always cute, but that puppy stage is fast waning. *sigh* Soon I will be planning for graduation days.

A photo diary

Okay, once again I am embarking upon a weight-loss/exercise/lifestyle change regimen and am snapping this photo a a start to a sort-of photo diary of my progress. I am sick & tired of not being in shape, etc. So here we go with pic one:

Let’s move past the goofy smile & silly hair, shall we? Okay, I will fess up, I love wearing my hair that way and refuse to stop. I know it’s silly, and I know it’s childish…sue me.

Photo Op

For some reason I could not get the photo to show in my last post so here you go, a pic of some of those cookies, cooling: