Fall is for Baking (Pumpkin Preferably)

I love pumpkin bread! I love almost anything pumpkin! I should limit my wheat and gluten and some things were amazing that I've made gluten free and others come out like soggy mush  I was very concerned about the fall and my pumpkin bread but I have found a good recipe!!  It uses almond flour/meal. It is very moist and a little grainier tasting but over all a winner. Tim ate three slices last night and I'm enjoying some with my coffee.....do yourself a favor and double the recipe and make two loaves (you can always freeze one). Oh and this is SUGAR free as well. It can be made with honey or maple syrup which everything has sugar in it so if I can limit that as well its a major plus! Happy Baking~Happy Fall!

http://spinach4breakfast.com/gluten-free-pumpkin-bread/

PS I have another recipe thats more involved I will try that one as well and let you all know how it goes.

Also look for gluten free baking supplies online. In the stores they are painfully expensive. I use www.luckyvitamin.com a lot and get stuff in bulk supply. They have tons of baking stuff.

White and Red Pizza

White and Red Pizza

DOUGH:
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 cup ice-cold water
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
about 5 ¼ to 5 ½ cups bread flour

I personally like the recipe for my hummus tart for pizza crusts best found from Ecurry (PS this is my one of our favorite recipes)
OR

CRUST:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup + 2.5 tablespoons olive oil (I have used Rosemary Infused Olive Oil)

1/4 cup + 1.5 tablespoons  very cold club soda (use a little bit more or less to make a soft but non sticky dough)

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Dried herbs, (optional) – any kind you like


White Sauce: from Food.com

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
• 1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. 1
   Heat butter in a small saucepan. Add flour and stir until thoroughly mixed.
2. 2
   Slowly whisk in milk, adding gradually. Stir in remaining ingredients. Will thicken upon standing.
   
   
   Notes: I did a mixture of all purpose and wheat flour. I also put half in the frig and let the other half rise at room temperature covered with a towel. 
   
   
   
   
    Veggies:
   
   
   1 Red Bell Pepper
   1 Onion thinly sliced
   1 Cup of Grape tomatoes cut into quarters
   1 Cup of peppadews sliced *(the pepadews make this pizza. They aren't so common here but they are delicious. I know most whole foods carry them)
   
   
   
   Mix all together in a bowl
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   -Preheat oven to 400 or 500 depending upon which crust you are using. 
   -Roll out the cruse the desired thickness (if using hummus tart crust pre bake crust then assemble) 
   -Add sauce
   -mix all veggies in a bowl and the spread evenly over the pizza
   -add cheese til your hearts content. 
   
   
   If using the hummus tart bake for an additional 10 minutes
   If using the tradition dough preheat over to 500. Bake for 10-12 minutes. 
   
   
   
   
   
   Please enjoy :) 
   
   

Wholewheat Sunflower Bread

Please make this. Thank you!

Whole Wheat Sunflower Bread:

4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tps fast yeast (I used 1 tsp but could have used the whole 4oz packet. I will do that next time) {The water the yeast is disolved in shouldn't exceed 110F.}
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 1/4 cups warm water

1. Grease and lightly flour bread pan
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast, salt and sunflower seeds. Make a well in the center and gradually stir in 1 1/4 cups warm water. Using wooden spoon, mix vigorously to form a soft, sticky dough. The dough should be quite sticky so don't be temped to add any extra flour.
3. Cover the bowl with a damp dish bowl and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 45-50 min or until doubled bulk.
4. Preheat over to 400F/200C. Turn out the dough on a floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes- the dough will still be quite sticky.
5. Form the dough into a rectangle and place it in the prepared loaf tin. Sprinkle the top with sunflower seeds. Cover with a damp dish bowl and leave to rise for another 15 minutes.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden. Leave in dish for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack.


Notes: Use a whole 4oz packet of the yeast. I found the dough to be more dry and added about 2 cups of water total. I would follow the recipe and then add more if you feel its needed. 

Day ONE

If you haven't seen the documentary fat sick and nearly dead I'd suggest you watch it. I think its pretty remarkable. Around my area it seems like everyone is juicing. People at work, people at church, etc, etc. I got my grandmother old Champion Juicer over the summer and have been juicing everyday since (Well almost). 

See there it is it all its glory with a HUGE pile of apples! Although I'd like to think she was about to make a juice, I'm pretty sure it was an apple crumb pie which would throw any focused juicer off the path!


Tim is going out of town this week so me and another girl in the office decided to do a juice fast. I am very excited! Today is day one. I, however am not giving up coffee...Don't judge! 


Here is the website with great recipes, a support team, and they even have a test you can take to see which reboot you should do. I'm just juicing for 7 days so here is to day one! :) 

Spicy Lentil Soup

Spicy Lentil Soup Served in an Acorn Squash

Soup:

2 Cups Lentils

1 Onion

2 Garlic Cloves

2 Tablespoons Oil

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder

8 Cups Vegetable Stock

4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

4 Celery Sticks

Salt and Pepper

Wash Lentils and cover with cold water to soak while preparing rest of ingredients. Peel onions and chop finely. Crush, peel and chop garlic. Heat oil in large pot and saute onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Add chili powder and curry powder and cook until fragrant. Add stock and tomato paste to pot. Drain lentils and add to pot. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until lentils are tender. Wash and slice celery finely. Stir through soup. Season with salt and pepper.

Acorn Squash (Optional):

Before preparing soup, preheat oven to 400. Cut small acorn squash in half. slice diagonals in squash and sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil. Roast in over for 30 minutes. (prepare enough halves for number of people eating. You can remove skin or leave it in tact. If leaving in tact its a good idea to loosen squash from skin with knife or fork. 

Bobotie

One of our favorite South African Dishes:


Bobotie
2 onions, chopped
2 lbs. ground beef
1 slice bread
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 C golden raisins
3 tbsp. chutney
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. turmeric
juice and grated rind of 1/2 lemon
6 almonds, quartered
1 egg
4 bay leaves

Preheat the oven to 350. Saute the meat with onions until brown. Pour off grease. Soak the break in half of the milk then mash with a fork. Combine all the remaining ingredients except the egg, remaining milk and bay leaves. Spread the mixture in a greased casserole and tuck in the bay leaves here and there. Bake for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaves. Then beat the egg with remaining half cup of milk and pour over. Return to oven for another half an hour. Serve with steamed rice and chutney.
I baked mine for an hour and then put it in the oven to reheat when I and the boys got home from work. I did not add raisins either..oops! I didn't serve mine with rice, like EVERY recipe says to because I didn't have any. Instead we had mixed veggies with curry spices and such....and chutney of course! What to do when Mrs. Balls Chutney is....make your own!

CHUTNEY:
2 cups diced peeled ripe mango (about 2 mangoes)
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation
To prepare chutney, combine first 9 ingredients in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until most of liquid evaporates and mixture is thick, stirring occasionally.

Day 15

Some of the guys used my car to get coffee and they brought me back a latte and it was most delicious! It was from Coffee Tree Roasters. So I went into work early today. I went in at 1pm. It made the day go by really quickly. After work I went to the gym and ran for 3.5 miles. I was very proud of myself. I still can not get my TomTom to work! Arr! I did a few things and then Tim came home. We were both pretty tired so after he ate we went to bed. Nothing too exciting. Its cold, rainy and gray......I am ready for some sunshine, or maybe another latte will do :)