Poppy Seed Muffins

I modified these today. I've decreased the amount of sugar necessary and I've substituted whole wheat for the majority of the white flour. Next time, I'll try even less sugar until I can use as little sugar as possible and still be happy with the muffins. On a side note, I forgot to put the eggs in today and these muffins were still fine. I'll put the eggs in next time and then decide if they are even necessary.

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F.

1 and 1/2 cups canola oil
3 cups whole wheat flour, sifted
1 cup white flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
2 cups milk
2.5 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp almond extract

Mix all ingredients 'til lumps of flour are gone. Pour into muffin tins. Bake 20 - 25 minutes. I always bake about 10 minutes, then check them every 5 minutes after that til they are done. (when a toothpick inserted into the middle of them comes out clean !)

These are so amazing ! Love them !!! Perfect for breakfast ! Perfect to go in lunchboxes ! Perfect for an afternoon snack after school ! Perfect for dessert after dinner ! The options are endless !!

Makes 24 muffins.

Basil Zucchini Mini Muffins

 

I saw these over on Join in the Feast.  Have you been to that website ?  No ?  You should go check it out !  The author is a friend of mine ... a friend I haven't met yet.  I knew her husband way back when we were in highschool and "met" her  on line ... on facebook, I think.  I can't remember, it's been a few years now.

Anyway ... go check it out.  Join in the Feast is on facebook too ... you should LIKE it !

These muffins are so cute and tiny and so very very delicious.  They were a huge hit with the kids ! Here's the recipe ... I'm sharing with Laura's permission.

3/4 c flour
1/2 c wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp fresh-ground pepper
2 Tbsp softened butter
1 Tbsp sugar
1 egg
1/4 c buttermilk
1 & 1/2 c shredded zucchini
1/2 c finely sliced basil leaves

In a small bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and pepper.

In a bowl cream together the butter or shortening and the sugar, then beat in the egg and the buttermilk until the mixture is well blended.


Stir in the zucchini and the basil. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture, stir the batter until it is just combined.

Divide batter among 24 well-buttered gem tins (each 1/8 cup).


Bake the muffins in the middle of a preheated 400°F (200°C)oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean, turn the muffins out onto a rack, and let them cool.

The Ganache ....

Jono wanted to try making this Chocolate Ganache, Lavendar Cream and Raspberry Tart that we saw on Masterchef. We gave it a whirl. We liked it. Mostly. We changed the base to be whole wheat and it is delicious ... we've made it again for another tart that I'll share the recipe with you for soon !

We did not like the lavender flowers in the cream. Sort of tasted like someone had spilled perfume into the cream and you just wanted that perfumy taste to go away. It wasn't in every bite ... just the bites where you got a little flower petal !

We thought it was a bit too chocolaty. I know, I know ! How can something be too chocolaty ? It can ... when you are using dark chocolate. Also, the raspberries were a bit tart. We added some strawberries to it the second day and that was way nicer ! We think we'll also add banana next time !

So ... here's the recipe ... with our modifications ... click on the link above for the original recipe and a video from the show !!

240g good whole wheat flour, I sift mine
160g butter
Pinch of salt

300ml thickened cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 punnet strawberries, 1 banana

160ml cream
40g butter
180g dark chocolate, finely chopped

To make the dough ... this was so easy !! Put the flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor and blend until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add 1-2 teaspoons cold water and blend again until the dough just comes together. Tip out onto a lightly floured board or clean bench and form dough into a disc, enclose in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (if you do it too much longer than that it gets really hard to roll out ...) Roll pastry out to the size of whatever tart pan (or pans) you are using ~ I used a glass quiche dish ... actually, I used a tart pan but then the bottom popped out and the side of the pan burned me and I dropped it and lost the sides of my pastry so I transferred the half cooked pastry to a quiche dish !! ....poke the base with a fork, then place back in the fridge to rest for about 20 minutes.

For the ganache, place the cream and butter in a pan and stir over medium heat until butter has melted. Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl, pour over the warm cream, then stir until the chocolate has melted.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line the pastry case with baking paper and pastry beads or uncooked rice (finally I found a good use for brown rice !!!) . Blind-bake for 7-10 minutes, then remove baking paper and beads and bake for another 5-10 minutes until just golden. Press down any bubbles that have risen up and let it cool.

Meanwhile, whip thickened cream with vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Pour the chocolate ganache into the tart shells. Spread evenly with the back of a spoon or palette knife. Top with whipped cream and then with fruit ...

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels w/ Cheese Sauce

When I found this recipe for whole wheat soft pretzels, I was pretty excited ! I love soft pretzels. These are pretty good. For sure they are much heavier than normal soft pretzels but that is to be expected with the whole wheat flour. They are best eaten straight away but Jono was also happy to eat them in his lunch the next day ...

I didn't change anything so I'll just copy and paste from Delicious Wisdom to whom all credit for this recipe is given !

Prep Time: About 2 Hours (mostly inactive)

Cooking Time: 15 Minutes

Yield: About 12 Pretzels


Ingredients:

1 Cup Warm Water

2 tsp of Dry Active Yeast

1 ½ Cups + 1 ¼ Cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

3/4 Tsp Sea Salt

3 Cups Water

2 Tbsp Baking Soda

Course Sea Salt

In a large bowl, stir yeast into warm water and set aside to dissolve for ten minutes. Stir in olive oil, sea salt and 1 ½ cups of flour. Once well combined, add remaining flour and knead for about 5 minutes. Place into a dry bowl, lightly cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour.

Divide dough into 12 equal portions and roll into balls. Roll each ball into a long snake-y piece and form into pretzel shapes. (see below) Let them rise for about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Bring water and baking soda to a simmer in a deep pan. Simmer pretzels in simmering water for about one minute, flipping halfway through. Place pretzels on a lightly greased baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, (you’re almost done now) and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Eat many of them warm because that's when they taste the best.

She serves her with mustard. I made cheese sauce ...

Cheese sauce is so easy to make ... You just make a white sauce and add cheese. Don't know how to make white sauce ? For one cup of white sauce ~ start with 2 TBLS butter. Melt. Slowly add 2 TBLS flour (I use whole wheat). Mix. Very slowly add 1 cup of milk. Mix til desired consistency. (you want it to thicken) Add salt and pepper. Mix. Add cheese. I used Havarti for this one. Probably 1/2 cup to 1 cup. Mix til cheese is melted. VOILA !

Whole Wheat Brioche Bread Maker Rolls

This one is made from the last of the dough .... I just rolled it into a ball and it came out like this.
The others were round ... but you'll see that in the coming cheeseburger recipe !!

My inspiration for this recipe comes from here.
Of course, I had to make it fit our unprocessed specifications ... here's how I did that.

1/2 cup milk
4 eggs, large, at room temperature (I just sat them in a cup of hot water for a few minutes)
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons powdered milk
1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 & 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (I sifted mine)
3 teaspoons yeast

Put all of the ingredients in your bread maker and run on the dough cycle.

Roll it out and cut or shape into whatever you like. I used large biscuit cutters to make hamburger buns ...

Let rise for 1/2 an hour in a warm place.

Brush the rolls with an egg wash of one egg beaten with one tablespoon of water.

Bake in a 350 F/ 180 C pre-heated oven until the bottoms are browned. I think mine only took about 20 minutes ...

Whole Wheat Foccacia

I just replaced the sugar and flour used in this recipe with honey and whole wheat flour and voila !

Water ~ 250ml
Olive Oil ~ 2 TBLS
Salt ~ 1 tsp
Honey ~ 2 tsps
Whole Wheat Flour ~ 3 cups
Yeast ~ 2 tsps

Add ingredients to bread maker in order listed and use the 'dough' setting.

Press dough into a lightly greased pan. I used baking paper.

Cover and stand in warm area for 30 min or til doubled in size. (I always fill the sink with hot water and stand my doughs on top of that to make it warm ... works well)

Remove cover, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with rock salt.

Bake in pre-heated oven 200C (400F) for 30 (mine only took 20 minutes) minutes or until golden brown.

Mexican Chicken Quesadillas

These were so simple.
I just spread a whole (not cut up) whole (not white) wheat flour tortilla with
leftover Crock Pot Mexican Chicken, avocado, rice and mozarella cheese.
Top with another whole whole wheat flour tortilla.
Toast in sandwich press.
DONE !!

Frozen Whole Wheat Tortillas ~ The Verdict

The kids tried the frozen tortillas tonight ! I made Mexican Chicken Quesadillas ! I'll post the (very simple) recipe soon !!

But for now ...

I wanted to find out what the kids thought of the tortillas. I didn't want rehearsed (you may think it is rehearsed when you listen to it ... but I PROMISE it isn't !) answers from them, I just told them to answer my questions ... and they did. Jono got all shy (and soft spoken) because I told them it was going on the blog ... and Alia got silly ... because the camera was on !

Sorry the video is sideways ... I totally spaced it until I was already mostly done recording. I thought about doing it again but then the answers would have been rehearsed and I didn't want that ! I hope you can just deal. Turn your head sideways ... or your computer monitor !! :)

Without further ado ... from the mouths of my babes ... the 'verdict' ...

Edited to add ...

On 24 June linked to Food on the Table's "No Whine Wednesday"

Here's the Chicken Quesadilla Recipe.

And the Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla Recipe.

Whole Wheat Flour Tortillas ~ Video Tutorial

Over the weekend, I made a huge batch of whole wheat flour tortillas and froze them ! I cannot wait to try them out of the freezer. I have high hopes that they will be WONDERFUL and make my unprocessed life much easier !! Having a supply of tortillas ready and waiting to be used .... bliss !

I did have a few issues with the dough. Turns out I had made a typo in the recipe when I posted it here and had been adding twice as much water as I should have been ! The cool thing though is that this is a very forgiving recipe and I was able to just add more flour ... knead it a bit and still make the tortillas !

(Ready to go into the freezer)

I took this little video while I was making them to show you how simple it is ! It takes a little bit of time to make as many as I made but they should last us a good while before I need to do it again !!

Donna's Buttermilk Biscuits {but} Whole Wheat

My friend Donna gave me my first ever biscuit recipe a few years ago. I used to make them quite often. I've been trying to find a good whole wheat dinner bread roll but I'm just not keen on kneading and rising time and all that ... I need quicker and less effort for the life we lead ! I am so glad I decided to give this recipe a bit of a tweak to fit in with our whole unprocessed journey because these biscuits are the answer to my dinner roll dilemma !! They are quick, easy and most of all TASTY !!!

Here's my modified recipe ...

If you want to use white flour, just use 2 cups flour.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 TBLS gluten flour - put it into a one cup measure and then fill the cup the rest of the way with whole wheat spelt flour. Does that make sense ? (If you eat gluten free, maybe try the whole 2 cups with the whole wheat spelt flour !)
1 TBLS baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1 cup buttermilk

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in the butter. Do you know how to cut butter in ? I will have to show you another 'favorite gadget' next time I make these. I never knew how to cut in butter ... nor did I know about this gadget til I made these the first time. So ... you cut in the butter til the butter is pea size. Then add the buttermilk. Put it onto a floured surface. I sort of push it down to 1/2 inch thickness and then use my biscuit cutters (also had to buy those to make these the first time !!) and put the cut biscuits onto baking sheet (I line mine with baking paper). Bake in 400F/200C oven for about 15/20 minutes ... depending on your oven. Mine seems to run hot so I check them after 10 minutes, they usually take 15 but I always check because burned biscuits are not so nice. I just break one in half and make sure they are not wet in the center ... that's my best way to tell you how to check !