Strawberries--the taste of summer;-)

So I picked up some strawberries at the grocery store the other day--buy one get one free;-) After eating my fill of chocolate covered strawberries I went in search of another recipe-preferably for breakfast. This is what I found on allrecipes.com. I modified it a bit. I used spelt flour instead of regular flour--used half cup of whole oats, a Tablespoon of chia seeds, and applesauce instead of oil (same amount though). I also tossed in a few dark chocolate chips---YUM! I decreased the sugar to 1/2 cup. The batter tastes wonderful. It's in the oven now. I will update when it comes out;-)

1 cup fresh strawberries 1-1/2 cups and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 cup white sugar 1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 eggs, beaten 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Directions:

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1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.
2.	Slice strawberries, and place in medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar, and set aside while preparing bread mixture.
3.	Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl: mix well. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Stir in pecans. Divide batter into pans.
4.	Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out, and cool completely.

Water kefir--The experiment

Well...I've been thinking about kefir for a while and thought it would be neat to give it a try. Maybe make something similar to soda but much better for you;-)
So I ordered water kefir grains online and have started the growing process. I took a picture of the grains before I put them in a solution of sugar water. I'll give periodic updates on how it grows.

Update on the oatmeal cookies

So I made these oatmeal cookies today. Wow---I was amazed they actually turned out good! I used only 2 cups of oats and a real egg rather than egg substitute. I cooked them for 10 min since I like my cookies chewy rather than crisp. They didn't spread out much while cooking.
I am a bit surprised that the date sugar made it sweet enough. Quite a nice change;-) And they didn't taste like a date;-)
Anyway, I highly recommend this recipe--minus one cup of oats--for a nutritious snack;-) Yum! Photos to come........

I really like stuff with oatmeal in it---especially scones or cookies and even pancakes--not so much just plain oatmeal itself although that is pretty tasty. I came across this recipe online at Simple, Healthy, Tasty cookies and candies. I modified it a bit but haven't yet tried it. This is on my list for baking:-) I'll give you an update tomorrow.

3/4 cup coconut oil melted

1 1/2 cup date sugar

egg replacer for 1 egg

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups uncooked regular oatmeal

1 cup spelt flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

dash of cinnamon and/or nutmeg (optional)

Beat together the oil, date sugar, egg replacer, water and vanilla until creamy. Combine the remaining ingredients, add to the first mixture, and mix well. Drop onto greased cookie sheet like any cookie. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Be sure not to over bake or they will be crispy I like my cookies chewy. You may find you want to even bake them for less time! For variety, add chopped nuts, raisins, carob chips, or coconut.

Warm and tasty soup

Today was a great day in Seattle for being January. No rain and it was actually 'warm'! Well...50 but still!
We bought a cooked turkey the other day from Safeway on the way home from the mountain and we still had leftovers. Unfortunately, turkey is usually dry especially after a day or two. So I decided to throw it into some soup. I used this recipe as a base except added baby spinach rather than carrots or mushrooms (which I didn't have at the time). I also used light coconut milk. It was very good!!! I highly recommend it. This recipe came from Elana's Pantry website. Enjoy!!!;-)

Coconut Chicken Soupprint friendly recipe
3 cups chicken stock
1 fresh thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced into thin coins
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons agave nectar
6 ounces leftover chicken
1 cup mushrooms, rinsed, drained and sliced in half lengthwise
1 medium carrot, julienned
2 tablespoons lime juice
¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced

1. In a pot, bring chicken stock and ginger to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes
2. Stir in coconut milk, fish sauce, agave, chicken, mushrooms and carrot
3. Just before serving, stir in lime juice and cilantro
4. Serve

Healthy Doughnuts

I love breakfast--it is the best meal of the day. And I love baked things like scones and doughnuts. Unfortunately, it is difficult finding a 'healthy' version of either of these things. So, I decided to modify a baked doughnut recipe to see if I could come up with both a healthy and delicious doughnut. Here is the modified recipe I came up with:

1 cup sprouted spelt flour
1/2 cup date sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 tub (150 gm ) plain yogurt
1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For topping--small amount of sugar and cinnamon (Alternatively you could just drizzle honey over it)

Method :

1. In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
2. Combine the egg, yogurt, oil, lemon juice and vanilla and mix well.
3. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
4. Coat the tube pans with nonstick cooking spray. Divide batter among pans.
5. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
6. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
7. Dust with sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Soaking--an interesting concept

So I've been reading more about soaking flour or sprouting before cooking. It is thought that doing this results in a more nutritious form of flour since the flour is being broken down and the body can digest it more readily. Whether this is actually true or not scientifically I am not sure. It makes sense though to some degree. So...I gave it a try! I decided to make spelt flour tortillas. I've made something similar before but did not soak the flour overnight. Here is the recipe. I used 100% spelt flour and olive oil. I added 1 TBsp of whey from draining yogurt. The taste was not significantly different than non-soaked flour. So, the actual experiment is difficult to do---does it make a difference? I don't know. Was fun trying and not too much trouble. Enjoy! :-) By the way, this recipe was taken from the website Passionate Homemaking. You should check it out--nice blog from a Christian lady with some healthy recipes.

Oh, and by the way, I halved this recipe and it worked out well.

3 cups wheat flour (I used whole wheat pastry, also known as soft spring wheat grain, but would probably use hard white wheat next time. Due to its high gluten content, it would make it easier to roll out and prevent any risk of crumbly results, but you could also try spelt or kamut)
1 cup warm water
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup oil

If you would like to take advantage of the benefits of soaking, start with step 1, otherwise start with step 2.

1. Soaking Step: Combine all flour, water, oil and 1 Tbsp of acid medium (whey, kefir, etc). Soak 12-24 hours. Proceed to step 3.

2. Measure liquid ingredients into a mixing bowl.

3. Add baking powder and salt, kneading in the flour until the dough is workable but not too stiff. You will probably need to add some more flour. Let stand 10 minutes.

4. Shape into 8 – 10 balls and let stand 10 more minutes. Roll to form a 10 inch circle or use a tortilla press. The thicker the better, I found, otherwise it starts to fall apart!

5. Cook for 15-20 seconds each side in a slightly oiled griddle. (Do not brown too much otherwise they will get stiff and not fold very well).