Homemade 100% Whole Wheat Bread

In my quest to eliminate or at least greatly reduce my white flour and sugar intake I have started making my own 100% whole wheat bread.  I have found that it is hard to find bread that is 100% whole wheat without any preservatives.  The brands that I have found are usually very dense and sometimes a little bit too hardy tasting.

I decided to start making my own so that I will know exactly what is going in to the bread.  However, as always, limited time is an issue for me.  So I found a recipe in the same 5 minute bread book that I posted about earlier.

I would post the recipe, but I do not want to break any copyright laws.  However, the bread has very few ingredients and is simple to mix and bake.  The only ingredients are whole wheat flour, honey, oil, yeast, milk and salt.

I mix up the bread and bake it on Sunday evenings, and then it lasts for the remainder of the week.  I have been experimenting with the recipe a little bit over the past few weeks.  I have added flaxmeal, whole flax seeds, oatmeal, and walnuts.  The flaxmeal I substituted for an equal amount of flour so that it would not change the ratio of dry to wet ingredients.  All of the other items I just added in addition to the regular recipe.  So far all of the additions have turned out fine.  The bread is a little bit dense, but has a great slightly sweet flavor to it.

I am hoping that I can soon start grinding my own flour rather than buying it in bulk from my local natural food store.

It is good with all kinds of toppings. . . 

PB&J, ham and cheese, 

chicken salad,
 

 avocado and cheese. 

 No matter what kind of sandwich, it makes for a great little lunch! 

Hmmm, I guess that I was feeling very orange today!  

- Laura

Canning with water baths

I have been afraid of doing anything other than freezer canning.  Seriously.  I thought that I would kill everyone with some horrible strain of botulism.  Even though rationally, that isn't very likely.

So, in order to put aside my fears I took a canning class yesterday afternoon.  It was fabulous!

I had NO IDEA that canning with a water bath was so easy!  I thought it involved all of this equipment

But, really, it doesn't.  So yeah, the jar lifter is nice, and a jar is good to have, but that is it.

We did a jam by simply following a recipe (be sure not to change them as they are made specifically for the right acidity).  We boiled the jars in a big pot with an old towel to keep them separated.  Then we boiled up some peaches and liquor, sugar, lemon and sure-jell which is the common pectin add-in.  We used a kosher pectin from fruit products, not anything scary.

I would recommend at least breaking out the old Better Homes and Gardens book to take a look at what some of the recipes are.

And then, you really only need a pot and some jars, seriously.  A jar lifter is nice by you can use whatever else you have around to get a decent enough grip.

Also, thanks to my friend Sarah for showing me this great food preservation website!

-Meghan