Best whole wheat bread EVER!!

     Right before I got my fantastic new kitchen aid I decided to venture into bread making. I wanted to make all of our bread and stop spending so much on store bought. I tried two or three different recipes, and they were all ok, but not amazing. When I tried this one I was sold!
     It's 100% whole wheat, but still light and fluffy. It's dense enough that I can cut it thin, but not so heavy that it feels like a stone in your stomach like some of the other ones I tried! It has a lot of ingredients, but one of the things she does is when she makes one batch, she then mixes all the dry ingredients for a few more batches into Ziploc bags. Then when your ready to make more you just get your yeast ready, add the vinegar and butter and dump the mix in. Easy peasy! I've been making this for about a month now and I still think it's worth all the effort. I'll link to her video too so you can see how she makes it if your not familiar with bread baking. It helped me a ton! Also I usually double this because my family goes through two loaves of bread in a week.
     Making it by hand was tough, but not impossible. However, with a mixer to do all the work for you this recipe is down right simple! Just one more reason to love my hubby! :)

Easy whole wheat bread (1 loaf)

slightly adapted from everydayfoodstorage.net

1 1/4 cup warm water

1 Tbs active dry yeast
1/4 C 1/3 cup brown sugar
2 3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C wheat gluten
1 tsp salt
2 Tbs nonfat non instant dry milk
1 Tbs butter
1 Tblsp vinegar
1/4 C potato flakes (NOT potato pearls)

1. Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment (like kitchen-aid) for 12-15 minutes.
2. Let rise until double, 1-1 1/2 hours.
3. Punch down, roll out into a rectangle. Roll up like a jelly roll and tuck under the ends. Place in lightly greased bread pan and let rise again until double.
4. *Place in cold oven, turn to 350 and bake for 38 minutes. If your not sure if its done, turn onto wire rack and tap the bottom. It should sound hollow.

Here's the video link.

*I don't follow her baking time and temp. I got this from another blog. Melony from melskitchencafe.com has a ton of tips and tricks on her blog. She hasn't failed me yet. She said that no matter what bread recipe she used she always bakes it this way and its always perfect. I've done it the way the recipe calls for and the way Melony suggests and I like the latter much better.

Summer Garden Vegetable Soup

I found this recipe yesterday and since I had all the veggies it called for sitting in my fridge just begging to be used I decided we'd give it a try. I truly love all the colors and textures and flavors in this soup. It was like a symphony in my mouth. Jared's not a huge fan of veggies, but even he liked this one. Definitely on the dinner rotation through fall!

Summer Garden Vegetable Soup

from www.melskitchencafe.com

3 med zucchini, chopped into bite sized pieces
4 med tomatoes, chopped into bite sized pieces
2 Tbs minced fresh parsley (I didn't have any on hand, so I didn't add this)
1 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbs fresh)
2 Tbs butter
1 med onion, chopped
1/4 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 C chicken broth
1 tsp lemon juice
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
1 1/2 C frozen or fresh corn kernels
1/4 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add zucchini, basil, parsley and onion and saute, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the flour, salt and pepper. Stir and cook for one minute.
3. Gradually add chicken broth, stirring constantly until fully incorporated. Add the lemon juice and mix well.
4. Bring the soup to a simmer, stirring to prevent sticking, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the zucchini is tender but still has some bite to it.
5. Add the tomatoes, evaporated milk, and corn. Bring the soup to a boil and reduce heat to med-low. Cover the soup and simmer until the corn and zucchini are tender. Stir in cheese just before serving.

Minestrone Soup

This is one of my favorite soups of all time. I love all the veggies I can include and since I keep every thing kind of chunky the kids can pick out the things they like and don't like which is an upgrade from not eating at all!

Minestrone Soup

2 T Olive oil

2 Potatoes cubed

5 Carrots, chopped

4 stalks of celery leaves and all, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4-6 cloves of garlic depending on your tastes

1 15 oz can of kidney beans

1 sm can tomato paste

1 lg can petite diced Italian tomatoes

2 cans or 2 C chicken broth

4 C water

2 T chopped fresh basil

2 T chopped fresh oregeno

1 T salt

2 C cooked shell pasta

Heat olive oil in large soup pot over medium heat. Stir potates, carrots, celery, onion and garlic into pot. Mix in tomato paste, beans, tomatoes, broth and water.. Season with basil and oregano and salt. Cook and stir 30-40 minutes, or until veggies are tender. Stir in cooked pasta and heat through.

Savory oven baked chicken

I originally started this blog as a way to organize my favorite recipes and be able to exchange them with my mom a little easier. However, I have been a huge slacker and pretty much forgot about this blog unless I needed a copy of a recipe. Then I lost one of my favorites that I got from my MIL. It was the only copy I had and I make this one ALL the time! Luckily I had emailed it to my mom so I dug around my sent mail until I found it. That got my tail in gear! I will probably post a ton of recipes over the next few weeks because I want to get them all down to prevent this close call with disaster from happening again!

Savory Oven Baked Chicken

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I usually use 2-3 and cut them in half so they aren't as thick and will cook faster)

2 T finely chopped parsley, basil or oregano

1/2 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1/2 C dried bread crumbs

2 t finely chopped or pressed garlic (I usually do 2-4 cloves, but I really like garlic)

1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 C butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375

Combine bread crumbs, parmesan, parsley, pepper, and salt in shallow bowl.

Combine butter and garlic in pie plate ( I usually put the pie plate in the oven while its preheating until melted)

Dip one breast at a time into butter mixture; then crumbs mixture, turning to coat evenly.

Place chicken in un-greased 9X13 pan. Drizzle with any remaining butter mixture.

Bake 25-35  minutes, or until chicken is lightly browned and juices run clear when pierced with a fork.