November Cook at Home Challenge

[treehugger]

My first attempt at baking whole wheat bread was not much of a success; I'm not sure what you could call the loaf that I ended up with! Heavy like a brick, dense, crumbly, but smells and almost tastes like bread. It wouldn't even hold up to the toaster very well! However, I will NOT be deterred and will try again. I guess it didn't rise enough, or I didn't proof the yeast correctly? Any thoughts? Maybe I need a better recipe! Help!

Well, I am no expert (only been baking yeast bread since about May) and I would need to see your recipe, but I have learned a couple of things about whole wheat bread.

1) the structure depends on kneading to build the gluten (which isn't as automatic with whole wheat because the "sharp" grain cuts the gluten). So, it needs more kneading. Are you doing it by hand or in a mixer? Apparently, it's easier to develop gluten in a mixer, which is what I do).

2) Some people add extra gluten (product is called Vital Wheat Gluten) to whole grain breads to combat the above. I haven't tried that yet and have still made some successful loaves though.

3) Take a look at the recipes at King Arthur Flour (I swear I don't work for them, even though I am always mentioning them). They have several different 100% ww bread recipes to choose from. Most (or all?) use "special" ingredients like powdered milk and potato flour (or instand potato flakes) to add softness and body to ww bread. This has worked for me.

Good luck and keep trying and just make croutons or bread pudding with the mistakes!

Kara

[lhamo]

We had a huge Thanskgiving buffet dinner last night courtesy of my job -- kids went back for three servings at the dessert bar! But they had a good main meal, too. Decided to do low-key Thanksgiving dinner at home tonight. I'm going to roast a chicken and some cauliflower, as turkey is ridiculously expensive here and we really don't need a whole turkey for four people. I'll bake some sweet potatoes and I'm thinking of experimenting with a ricotta pie (either spinich or asparagus, if I can find the latter). And maybe an apple pie for dessert.

Kids are at school (they don't get thanksgiving off), DH has gone on an errand and I am enjoying wonderful peace and quiet at home on my day off after a series of three 12-18 hour work days. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!

lhamo

[Kat]

We went back to using cash for eating out, so we have been doing well eating at home. It helps that I created an "overflow" envelope fo rthe extra money at the end of each week and told DH when it reaches $85, he can buy a nice bottle of scotch ;-)

Anyway, I made homemade hash again with the leftover roast. I also made beef stroganoff and honey chicken stir fry. Cereals for breakfasts and leftovers (DH) or salads (me) for lunches.

Made pumpkin muffins and green bean casserole to take to our family's Thanksgiving today...

[babr]

DH AND I WERE SHOPPING AND HE SAW READY MADE PIZZA CRUSTS And oops left the caps on; anyway i said i could make pizza dough! so that is what i will be working on today; and we are helping our budget as dh is eating out less; taking more foods that i cook up into the office! yyou know how that adds up

off i go to cook

[Stella]

I came back from trip #1 totally ready to eat home cooked food again.

Last night was stir fried chicken, broccoli, carrots, spinach and bean sprouts with brown rice. This morning I'm making banana strawberry toasted coconut oatmeal and for lunch we'll have a tomato, spinach, olive and feta quiche. Dinner is Chinese chicken salad. We're having edamame for a snack.

[Rosemary]

Sunday: homemade baked beans (way less sweet than canned!) with pork chops, salad.
Monday: kale, potatoes, and chicken sausage 'eintopf' (one pot: German peasant fare and a comfort food favorite of mine) with roasted squash sweetened with dried apples for dessert
Tuesday: salmon cakes, salad, and this recipe, modified with a lot less oil and more beans:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/s...ipe/index.html
Wednesday: chicken with mushrooms and steamed cabbage
Thursday: black bean and butternut squash chili with broccoli salad
Friday: leftovers

[Anne Lee]

Sun: Frittata
Mon: Hamburgers, sweet potato fries
Tues: Chicken alfredo
Wed: Vegetarian chili
Thurs: Dinner out/Deacon Christmas party
Fri: Tacos!
Sat: Roasted chicken