Bread Machine Gathering Dust?

When I got my bread machine for free from Freecycle over a year ago, I was delighted. It was practically brand new. The original owner said that she only had used it once. I couldn't help wondering why someone would invest money in an appliance and then only use it one time. What I found out when I made my first loaf even after following the directions to a "T" is that the bread comes out resembling a piece of petrified wood, which is wonderful if you need a new door stop or a paper weight. This is probably what happened to the poor lady who shelled out perfectly good money for the machine. The secret I found was ignoring the recipe that came with the machine. I searched some of my favorite frugal type blogs for information. It turns out that buying wheat gluten and adding extra water are the key. You can buy bread machine flour, but really, it's just flour with wheat gluten added. It will cost you less to buy regular flour and add your own wheat gluten. Another big key to success is buying a bread slicer. Until I found one at a yard sale for 2 dollars, I never knew how easy and uniform it made slicing the bread, I'd never even heard of a bread slicer before. I would probably still be struggling with weird sizes of bread slices if I hadn't come across that particular yard sale. Now I'm able to make really healthy high fiber whole wheat bread with no preservatives for pennies anytime I want to. I recycle produce bags to wrap the bread in and keep it refrigerated. Here is my recipe:

Whole Wheat Bread

(Add to the bread machine in this order)

1 teaspoon if salt

2 tablespoons of sugar (it has to be sugar for the yeast to work)

2 tablespoons of oil

1 1/2 cups of hot water.

3 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, sifted, then mixed well with-

3 tablespoons of wheat gluten

1 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Before adding the yeast, make a little hole in the center of the flour with your finger and pour in the yeast.

Choose the whole wheat settings for a regular loaf of bread according to your machine. Enjoy!

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Super Easy & Not Just For Breakfast

I love yogurt, it's great for your digestive tract and like milk, it's the perfect balance of protein and carbohydrates, as long as you buy plain yogurt without the tons of sugar added to the flavored ones. Most of the time all I add is Splenda (No, I don't work for Splenda) and fresh fruit and sometimes a little vanilla extract. Sometimes I like to experiment, so I tried peanut butter. I buy non-fat yogurt, so this was a great way to add healthy fat. The peanut butter really added something to the texture and now this is something I would also enjoy eating as a dessert or as a quick, healthy, meal replacement. Add fruit like a banana and you have a good source of potassium too.

Peanut Butter Yogurt With Bananas

One cup of fat free plain yogurt

3 packets of Splenda or equivalent of preferred sweetener

2 tablespoons of all natural peanut butter

mix well-that it!

Add fruit, granola, sugar-free jam or anything you like.

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Pappa Al Pomodoro

This recipe makes your kitchen smell incredible! This is a Tuscan style soup which is so thick you can almost eat it with a fork. This can also be used in place of stuffing or as a side dish and is very healthy and high in fiber.

2 lbs. ripe red tomatoes, preferably on the vine, chopped

1 1/4 c. chicken or vegetable stock

1 packet of Splenda or 1 teaspoon of sugar or sweetener of choice

1/3 C. extra virgin olive oil

4 sprigs of oregano

4 sprigs of basil

4 slices of whole wheat bread

2 teaspoons of granulated garlic

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

*serves four

I wish I could say that I grew these, but they're the next best thing. I wait till tomatoes on the vine are on sale.

This is also the next best thing to growing your own herbs and the PS brand is less expensive than most.

Looks and smells like Summer, even though it's not even Spring yet.

Put the tomatoes, stock, Splenda, and 2 tablespoons of the oil in a sauce pan.

Add the leaves (roughly chopped) from the oregano and most of the basil, saving some for a garnish if you wish. Add salt and pepper to taste, then heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

Toast bread on a stove top grill (or just use a toaster) till deep brown. Transfer to a bowl and tear into small pieces. Sprinkle with granulated garlic and the rest of the oil.

Mash with a fork or a potato masher.

After 30 minutes the soup will look like this......

add the bread to the soup and stir over low heat for about 5 minutes till the bread has been evenly incorporated and the soup has thickened.

Serve hot, topped with a little (or a lot) of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and the reserved basil leaves.
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Paella

Pealla
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into pieces
2 teaspoons sea salt
4 teaspoons paprika
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3-4 pork chops, preferably boneless
2 onions, chopped
3 tablespoons of minced garlic
1 large can of stewed tomatoes
1 package of Mahatma brand saffron rice mix
1 cup of peas
6 oz. of green beans cut in half
1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained
20 medium sized cooked, peeled shrimp
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Add the olive oil to the pan. Add the chicken and the pork chops, season with 2 teaspoons of paprika and pepper and cook for 15 minutes, turning occasionally. remove from pan and set aside. Let the pork chops cool off if you need to remove any bones.

This is the rice I use for paella. I don't have to purchase saffron separately and this was on sale for only 99 cents, score!

I defrost the frozen peas and shrimp in bowls of cold water while I'm cooking. The cold water keeps them "refrigerated" while they defrost.

I leave all of the juices in the pan after removing the chicken and pork chops. Add the onions and garlic and saute' for about 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and remaining paprika

Add the chicken and pork chops

Stir in the rice

stir, stir, stir. Cook over high heat until bubbling fiercely, then reduce the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

add the strained, defrosted peas.

Add the drained marinated artichoke hearts.

Add the green beans

Stir,stir, stir. Continue to cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the rice is cooked and glossy but dry. (add cooked shrimp the last 5 minutes)

Serve paella straight from the pan.

My family really loves this, there are never any leftovers on paella night.


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Fresh Green Enchiladas

I love home made green salsa......

tomatillos, cilantro, green onions, and serano chili's.

First chop off the stems of one bunch of cilantro and give it a good rinse.

Into the processor it goes, process on high till minced well.

Chop the dark green ends of one bunch of green onions. Add to the minced cilantro and process on high again till well minced.

Chop the rest of the onion and set aside.

Clean one serrano chili, (these are very mild) completely de-seed and pull out as much of the white membrane as possible. Dice and add to the processor. Wash your hands before touching your eyes.

Tomatillos look like a green tomato with a green papery cover, if you're not familiar with them.

Pull off and discard the papery cover and stem and dice them up seeds and all.

Add the tomatillos to the rest of the mixture and process on high till smoothly minced. Add 1 teaspoon each of sea salt, granulated garlic and cumin. Add some red pepper flakes to taste if you want it hotter.

I used 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, diced.

I like to use whole wheat tortillas, which are low carb, high fiber.

Add some diced chicken and jack cheese.

Roll them up and line them into a square baking dish.

Cover them with the fresh green salsa.

Top with jack cheese and the remaining onions. Bake 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Sooooo good!

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Disney Faux Treats

These are some adorable faux Christmas goodies displayed in a Disneyland store window. These give me some ideas for decorating real food. Although...The faux find is calorie free........

Cute, cute, cute!

Love the banners too!

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