Coconut Oil Freezer Fudge

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup coconut oil (not rock hard)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa powder, very heaping (might as well make it 2/3 cup!)
1/2 tsp vanilla
two shakes of salt

Place all ingredients in food processor. Blend until smooth. Spread into a dish lined with foil that is oiled with coconut oil. (I used an 8x6 Pyrex dish, but you could also use a loaf pan, or whatever else you can find).

Put in freezer and let harden. Once it's firm, peel off foil and cut fudge into squares.

Go ahead and play around with the measurements on this. I often use equal amounts of coconut oil and butter, but it seems a little too oily to me that way. When I use less coconut oil, I taste the butter - which isn't necessarily desirable in fudge! Maybe unsalted butter would work better. I also didn't have any vanilla last time, and it still tasted great.

Recipe: Brownies

These brownies are moist, chewy, and decadent - just like brownies are supposed to be! The flour is not sprouted or soaked, but oh well. We can break the rules now and then. My brothers are roofing a church building this weekend so I sent a plate of these brownies with them for the hungry workers to eat!

Brownies
3 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1/4 olive oil (extra virgin, cold pressed, preferred)
1 1/2 cups granulated coconut palm sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups freshly ground wheat flour (any flour should work)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp salt.

Mix all together well. Spread batter in greased 8x8 inch pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool mostly before slicing into small squares.

Pumpkin Muffins and Waffles (optional gluten free)

Here's a yummy dual-purpose batter!

Pumpkin Muffins and Waffles:

Combine in large mixing bowl, and beat well:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/3 c. palm sugar
• 2/3 c. honey
  

(You can divide your sweeteners differently if you like, and even add in some molasses if desired. This is just what I had, in these amounts. Next time I will try omitting the honey, and using 2/3 c Palm Sugar and 1/2 cup of molasses.)

Add and mix well:

• 1 cup pureed pumpkin or squash
• 1 1/4 c. milk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted.

In the same bowl, on top of the wet ingredients, lightly mix together the dry ingredients. Then combine wet and dry together just until mixed.

• 3 c. flour (gluten free flour mix, if you want it GF)
• 4 tsp baking powder (make sure to use a GF brand if you're going for GF)
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

Now pour some of the batter into greased muffin tins, enough to make 12 muffins. Bake at 400*F for 20 minutes.

With your remaining batter, add:

• 1/2 cup of oil
• 1 cup milk, or as much as is needed to make a good waffle batter consistency.

Bake waffles according to your waffle iron instructions.

This recipe yielded me a dozen each of muffins and waffles.

Note: I ran out of xanthum gum to put in my GF flour mix, but the baked goods held together well. I'm assuming that it's because this was quick-rising dough, not yeasted. Is there anyone with more experience that can tell me if my assumption is correct, or why xanthum gum is sometimes needed and sometimes not? Thanks! ;-)

Updated bread tutuorial

As per Lindsay's comment, I updated my bread recipe to include a souring agent to enhance the soaking process. Check it out.

Coconut Chai Tea

Okay, so I know black tea isn't very good for you (anyone know if you can get Chai teabags in a base other than black tea?), but I just concocted this beverage last night and it is SO GOOD!!!!

Brew in mug (a great big one....):
1 Chai Spice teabag
Hot water

After the tea has steeped for a few minutes, add:
a generous portion of Coconut Milk
and a teaspoon (or two... yum!) of Coconut Sugar

And, wala, you have a Coconut Chai Tea Latte'. HEAVENLY!!!

Gluten Free Flour Mix

6 cups rice flour
2 cups corn starch
1 cup tapioca starch
1 tablespoon of Xantham gum

This is by far the best gluten free flour mix I've tasted yet. A family came over for dinner the other day and brought a GF gingerbread made with this flour mix. It was so yummy, and you would never have known it was GF.

Even if your body does not react negatively to gluten, I'd suggest you try using this flour mix in a few recipes now and then. As a general rule, our society way overdoes wheat in our diet. Our bodies weren't meant to be eating the same thing every day of our lives ~ we will do our digestive system a great favor by rotating grains occasionally. Try to "Go Gluten-Free" for a few days, even a week or month if you're really serious about it, and give your digestive system a break!

Thanks Chehalis Hills for the recipe!

Revision: Soaked Bread Tutorial

Alright, I made soaked bread again yesterday/today and I took pictures. So here's a more detailed explanation and a bit of a revision of my previous post about soaked bread.

Soaked Wheat Bread

Step One: Mix all together:

• 3 c. water
• 1 c. kefir (or buttermilk, thinned yogurt, milk with 2 tblsp vinegar or lemon juice, or other acidic agent)
  
• 3/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 c. honey
• 2 tsp. salt
• 14 c. freshly milled whole wheat flour ~ This batch has 1 1/2 cups of Rye flour as well, left over in the grain mill from what Mom had baked earlier .

Knead for a couple of minutes, then cover and let dough sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours.

I put mine it in the "warming cupboard" of our old wood cookstove.

Step Two: Once your dough has set for 12-24 hours, "proof" your yeast:

• scant 3 Tblsp active dry yeast
• a tablespoon or so of honey
• 1/2 c. or so of very warm water (but not hot)
  
• 1/4 c. unbleached white flour

Once it begins to bubble up, pour into dough and mix together well. This is easiest if you have a powerful mixer that can knead bread, but you can do it in a large bowl with your hands as well.

Your dough will probably be pretty sticky at this point, so add a cup or two of unbleached flour until it is a good consistency.

Knead for 5 minutes in mixer, or 10 minutes by hand.

Put your dough aside and let it rise until doubled. Because your dough isn't warm, it will take several hours. To speed up the process you can put it in a warm room, near the fireplace or a heater, etc.Again, I put it in the wood cookstove. This time I needed it to be warm, so I put it in the oven part. Just make sure the fire isn't blazing too hot or your bread will bake!

Once the dough has risen, shape it into loaves or rolls, let rise again and then bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 minutes (rolls) or 30-40 minutes (loaves). Yields 4 loaves.






A note on flours: I like Prairie Gold Hard White, sometimes adding in some Hard Red as well. Hard Red Wheat is strongly flavored and dense, which adds a nice nutty touch to the bread but you don't want to use it exclusively. It should be mixed half-and-half with Hard White Wheat.

pardon the spilled wheat berries all over the floor... ;-)

We have used several grain mills throughout the years, currently we use a Kitchen-Tech:


I hope this has been helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. I'd be happy to help or receive critique! ;-)

Homemade Salad Dressings

My friend Ashley recently sent me some of her yummy salad dressing recipes. She gave me permission for me to post them on my blog so all of you can enjoy them too!

Ranch Dressing

2 cups mayonnaise

2 cups yogurt (or part sour cream)

1/2 cup buttermilk (omit if using all yogurt)

2 TBS lime juice (lemon works okay)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS each dried chives and parsley

1 tsp. dried dill weed

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Place mayonnaise and yogurt in a large container. Slowly stir in buttermilk to avoid lumps. Add remaining ingredients.

Thousand Isand Dressing

2 cups mayonnaise

1 cup yogurt

1 TBS lime juice

1 TBS each chopped onion and dill pickle

1 TBS honey

1 TBS ketchup

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients.

Dijon Tarragon Dressing (one of my favorites)

3 cups olive oil

1 cup lemon juice

1 TBS salt

1 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. tarragon

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. honey

Curry Fruit Dressing

(good with tropical lettuce salad containing pineapple, cashews, etc.)

2 cups yogurt

1 cup mayonnaise

Squeeze of lime juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. curry powder

1 TBS honey

1 TBS chopped cilantro

Soaked Wheat Bread

There are two ways that I make soaked bread. I'll put the "easier" version first, and then the die-hard healthy no-white-flour version at the bottom! ;-)

Soaked Wheat Bread

Step One: Mix all together, cover, and let sit at room temperature for 12-24 hours:

• 4 c. water
• 3/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 c. honey
• 2 tsp. salt
• 12 c. freshly milled whole wheat flour (I use Prairie Gold or Hard White, sometimes adding in some Hard Red as well. Hard Red Wheat is strongly flavored and dense, which adds a nice nutty touch to the bread but you don't want to use it exclusively. It should be mixed half-and-half with Hard White Wheat.)

Step Two: Once your dough has set for 12-24 hours, "proof" your yeast:

• 3 Tblsp active dry yeast
• a bit of honey
• 1/3 c. or so of very warm water (but not hot)
  
• 1/4-1/2 c. unbleached white flour

Once it begins to bubble up, pour into dough and mix together well. This is easiest if you have a powerful mixer that can knead bread, but you can do it in a large bowl with your hands as well.

Your dough will probably be pretty sticky at this point, so add a cup or two of unbleached flour until it is a good consistency.

Put your dough aside and let it rise until doubled. Because your dough isn't warm, it will take several hours. To speed up the process you can put it in a warm room, near the fireplace or a heater, etc.

Once the dough has risen, shape it into loaves or rolls, let rise again and then bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 minutes (rolls) or 35-45 minutes (loaves).

------------------------------------
Alright, now for the die-hard health-nut no-white-flour version!

~ In Step One, instead of 12 cups of flour, add more like 15 - enough flour to make a good dough.

~ In Step Two, your it will be very stiff at this point, and hard to mix the yeast in. So you will want to score the top of the dough with a knife, and then pour the yeast mixture on it and let it absorb for a few minutes. Then spend several minutes with your hands working it in. I suppose a strong mixer with dough hooks would do the job quite nicely, but I never have done it that way.

You shouldn't have to add any more flour after step 1, so all of your flour will be soaked.

This is how I have always made it in the past, but when I made bread yesterday I decided to try using a few cups of unbleached flour and it was so much easier! ;-) White flour from the store doesn't need to be soaked because it doesn't have bran in it, which is where the phytic acid is.

Apparently my experiment was a success: my brother took a bite of bread and said "Who made this bread? It's GOOD!"

Sorry I don't have pictures. My camera batteries were dead. ;-(


I'd love to hear from you: Is there another way y'all make soaked bread? I'm still learning about it and would love to hear your ideas!

A Candlelight Dinner

With my parents gone for the evening and the older boys at a Bible Study, the kids and I decided we needed to have some fun. So we planned a special candlelit dinner. The menu? Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream!

And why not? With fresh raw cream and natural peanut butter, there's plenty enough protein and quality fats to consider it a balanced meal! ;-)

Here's the recipe we came up with:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

3 c. raw (unpasteurized) cow's cream
1/4 c. unsweetened baking cocoa (next time I would up it to 1/3 for a little more richness and depth to the flavor)
1/3 c. honey
1/3 c. raw organic cane sugar
1/2 c. natural chunky peanut butter

Mix all ingredients together and freeze according to ice cream maker directions.