Well, the day that I said I was going to try and never buy a loaf of bread from the store again failed me slightly. I should've checked to make sure I had all my ingredients before I said that!! So, I had to buy one more loaf. I have since purchased my missing ingredient and I have, with a ton of help from my daughter, baked our first two loaves. It is really good although I would like to manipulate it a little so that I can get a crust that is a little softer. It isn't crusty per say, just a little tougher than we like. It is a honey wheat bread that even your 7 year old can make too. I will post the recipe as soon as I can. I have a sleeping baby on me at the moment so it won't work right now.
This recipe came out of my latest favorite book. It is called Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. It takes a recipe that is super simple and it makes 4 loaves at a time (mostly). There are a couple recipes that make less. You then put it in the fridge overnight and get it out the next day, let it rise and then bake. There is no kneading or rising to double (who can really figure that one out anyway) and then punching it back down and letting it rise again. You also make what is called a 'Master Recipe' and doctor it from there as to what you want. Really great book! One thing you have to have on hand for most of the recipes and the secret to their success is something called 'Vital Wheat Gluten'. I have found it at the Kalona General Store. Online it is cheaper, but I didn't check that price with shipping. I am guessing that it is available at New Pioneer Co-Op as well. I also found something called 'Wheat Gluten' at Stringtown in Kalona. I plan to try it as soon as my first box runs out.
If anyone would like a loaf to try and see what they think, PLEASE let me know. I would love to show you how easy it is to bake!
More secrets to come!!
Angi
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Day One
Well, I have decided after much debate that I would start a blog. I don't really need another thing to do (that may shock some to hear those words from me), but I think it is something I need to do. There are several things that I want to get out and debate and I think this will be the best place for it. I plan to give you an over view of my discoveries so that they may be a benefit to others.
So, for a little background information. I have been married to my wonderful husband Shane for 10 years. It hasn't always been easy especially with my stubbornness, but we have made it this far and have no intentions to quit any time soon. I have 4 absolutely wonderful children. Ashton is 9, Taylor is 7, Lance will be 4 in a week and Jett is 17 months. I homeschool during the day and am a photographer whenever time allows. I love crafting all kinds of things and would just create all day long if I could!
I now have stopped having children and am ready to get myself and house on track to good health. I really want to make sure that my children don't have to struggle or worry about their health. I started this journey to better health over a year ago starting with a visit to Christina at Bright Futures Chiropractic in Kalona, IA. I have read many books and watched many films. In due time I will share them with you.
Some people can just go and throw out all the crap in their cupboards and start new the next day, but I am not able to do that with this program. I call this a program for lack of a better word. I guess it could be a system, but never a diet. A diet is something you do for a little bit to get to a goal, but this is to change the way you eat forever. I am going to share what products I love and what works for my family to slowly convert them to good food. If you try and change everything at once you will be met with a bunch of resistance. If you change one thing at a time, the transition is WAY easier!! This will be about my many, many steps to make things easier.
I have changed many things so far and am working mostly off a 'Clean Eating' plan. Clean eating is basically the premise that you eat good whole foods with very little to no processing. There are many cookbooks out by Tosca and I have one of them that helped me to start on my journey. You can also join the facebook Clean Eating page and you can google all kinds of recipes. When I need a good recipe for something I google; clean eating lasagne recipe. The amount available is awesome.
I wondered how to get started on it all and so here is what I have figured so far. Step 1> Start working towards getting everyone in your family to eat 5-6 mini meals a day. This is tough for me. Where I come from we make a pizza and that is your supper. The whole supper, not part of it. We never at a salad with a slice or things like that. Lasagna, chili, spaghetti, all those are what we had, just a big bowl of that and nothing else. Now to try and convert everyone to eating mini meals that are balanced is a big step.
Step 2> Read labels and teach your kids how to do it. My kids like to see what is in their food. Our first major mission is to get rid of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Did you know that it is even in the loaves of bread that you buy in the store? Why? I have never used it when I make homemade bread! This is a mission that we are pretty diligent about. Now, we did just have Halloween and my kids do have treats. I seriously limit the amount of crap that they have and have decided that at the end of 1 month what ever is left will be thrown away.
I can really tell when my kids are eating right because their behavior will mirror that. My husband even came home the other day and noted how rambunctious there were being. He asked me what was going on and I said that they each had one small pixi stick about 6 hours before he saw them. I could still see small effects the next day. This has been the case on several occasions when I let them have too much.
Although there will be pitfalls and we don't always follow all of our rules we are making progress. We did eat at Wendy's last night and no, I didn't eat the salad! I made Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (yes, not a bit of healthy, but for some reason my kids love it) and I used unsweetened Almond milk. Blue Diamond Almond milk is the only one that I will EVER purchase. I have tried many and won't buy anything else. I use the vanilla sweetened for cereal and things, word of warning, it is pretty sweet though. We have tried the chocolate, but don't care for it. The prices on this are best at the New Pioneer Co-Op. I tend to shop at the one in Coralville, but they both are great. We also purchase their Peanut Butter that you can grind right in the store, what a great job for my son.
I will tell you how I see things I hope you add your comments. I am only writing things from my point of view, so never take offense as I mean none. I hope to share products with you and tips to make things go easier. Please ask questions if you have any. I will also share some of my favorite recipes too.
So now that this is Day 1 of my Blog I will say I am out of bread from the store. Now this to most of you just means that I should go get more, but to me it is a chance to change things. I plan to not buy bread at the store ever again. Yes, my goal with the help of my new book is to never buy bread again. Let's see if we can do it! I have so much to say, but this is already getting longer than I wanted it to. Tomorrow I will have more to share.
Thank you,
Angi
So, for a little background information. I have been married to my wonderful husband Shane for 10 years. It hasn't always been easy especially with my stubbornness, but we have made it this far and have no intentions to quit any time soon. I have 4 absolutely wonderful children. Ashton is 9, Taylor is 7, Lance will be 4 in a week and Jett is 17 months. I homeschool during the day and am a photographer whenever time allows. I love crafting all kinds of things and would just create all day long if I could!
I now have stopped having children and am ready to get myself and house on track to good health. I really want to make sure that my children don't have to struggle or worry about their health. I started this journey to better health over a year ago starting with a visit to Christina at Bright Futures Chiropractic in Kalona, IA. I have read many books and watched many films. In due time I will share them with you.
Some people can just go and throw out all the crap in their cupboards and start new the next day, but I am not able to do that with this program. I call this a program for lack of a better word. I guess it could be a system, but never a diet. A diet is something you do for a little bit to get to a goal, but this is to change the way you eat forever. I am going to share what products I love and what works for my family to slowly convert them to good food. If you try and change everything at once you will be met with a bunch of resistance. If you change one thing at a time, the transition is WAY easier!! This will be about my many, many steps to make things easier.
I have changed many things so far and am working mostly off a 'Clean Eating' plan. Clean eating is basically the premise that you eat good whole foods with very little to no processing. There are many cookbooks out by Tosca and I have one of them that helped me to start on my journey. You can also join the facebook Clean Eating page and you can google all kinds of recipes. When I need a good recipe for something I google; clean eating lasagne recipe. The amount available is awesome.
I wondered how to get started on it all and so here is what I have figured so far. Step 1> Start working towards getting everyone in your family to eat 5-6 mini meals a day. This is tough for me. Where I come from we make a pizza and that is your supper. The whole supper, not part of it. We never at a salad with a slice or things like that. Lasagna, chili, spaghetti, all those are what we had, just a big bowl of that and nothing else. Now to try and convert everyone to eating mini meals that are balanced is a big step.
Step 2> Read labels and teach your kids how to do it. My kids like to see what is in their food. Our first major mission is to get rid of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Did you know that it is even in the loaves of bread that you buy in the store? Why? I have never used it when I make homemade bread! This is a mission that we are pretty diligent about. Now, we did just have Halloween and my kids do have treats. I seriously limit the amount of crap that they have and have decided that at the end of 1 month what ever is left will be thrown away.
I can really tell when my kids are eating right because their behavior will mirror that. My husband even came home the other day and noted how rambunctious there were being. He asked me what was going on and I said that they each had one small pixi stick about 6 hours before he saw them. I could still see small effects the next day. This has been the case on several occasions when I let them have too much.
Although there will be pitfalls and we don't always follow all of our rules we are making progress. We did eat at Wendy's last night and no, I didn't eat the salad! I made Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (yes, not a bit of healthy, but for some reason my kids love it) and I used unsweetened Almond milk. Blue Diamond Almond milk is the only one that I will EVER purchase. I have tried many and won't buy anything else. I use the vanilla sweetened for cereal and things, word of warning, it is pretty sweet though. We have tried the chocolate, but don't care for it. The prices on this are best at the New Pioneer Co-Op. I tend to shop at the one in Coralville, but they both are great. We also purchase their Peanut Butter that you can grind right in the store, what a great job for my son.
I will tell you how I see things I hope you add your comments. I am only writing things from my point of view, so never take offense as I mean none. I hope to share products with you and tips to make things go easier. Please ask questions if you have any. I will also share some of my favorite recipes too.
So now that this is Day 1 of my Blog I will say I am out of bread from the store. Now this to most of you just means that I should go get more, but to me it is a chance to change things. I plan to not buy bread at the store ever again. Yes, my goal with the help of my new book is to never buy bread again. Let's see if we can do it! I have so much to say, but this is already getting longer than I wanted it to. Tomorrow I will have more to share.
Thank you,
Angi
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