Breakfast Granola

I like clean food. I like food that doesn't have a whole lot of extra ingredients that I can't pronounce. That always makes me nervous. And, once upon a time, I read Michael Pollan's book, In Defense of Food, and I really liked it. There's a part in there about how our grandmothers wouldn't recognize what we call food today as food. He specifically brings up yogurt. And I discovered that even plain yogurt sometimes isn't just milk and bacteria. So I started making my own yogurt. My first attempt (I blogged about it here) was a total bust. I had icky milk with yogurt aftertaste in a jar. I then borrowed the Home Ec teacher's yogurt maker and had amazing success! Knowing I have to return it at some point, I asked for one for Christmas. And I got it! Hooray!! 

I under cooked my first batch. oops. Oh well. Today I'm making batch #2 and I have high hopes!

The question becomes though: "What? Do you just eat plain yogurt?" Um no. Homemade yogurt is delicious and doesn't really need a sweetener, but it's, um, plain. So I searched Pinterest (God I love Pinterest!) and found some granola recipes. And I started making granolas. I made this one. And this one. And this one! And I started fiddling around with the recipes. Finally I came up with a recipe I like a TON. And I'm going to share it with you. 

Princess is stirring the granola!

Another nice thing about granola, besides how tasty it is, is that the princess can help! This is especially good because we've been kinda trapped inside our home since the beginning of the year. We didn't get the giant snowstorm that was in the forecast, but it's been really really cold. And my darling princess has a cold. I think when she gets older, it will be fun to have her help me all the time, but for now we're sticking to stirring the granola and helping to scramble the eggs for breakfast.

The Princess eating eggs that she helped scramble!

Yummy Breakfast Granola

An original Shazamer recipe

4 C Old Fashioned Oats

1 ½ C slivered almonds

½ C packed brown sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

¼ C canola oil

¼ C maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup sunflower seeds

½ cup dried apricots, chopped

Preheat oven to 300°F

Mix oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice together in large container. In a small bowl combine oil, syrup, and vanilla. Pour liquid ingredients into oats. Stir until well mixed.

Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread granola evenly on pan.

Bake 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Add coconut, stir, and bake 5 more minutes. When finished, mix in cranberries, sunflower seeds, and apricots and allow to cool completely.

Enjoy.

Honey Sesame Crescents

I'm thankful for those wonderful days in fall when the sky is blue and the sun is shining and it itsn't quite so cold outside. These days are perfect for some heavy duty house cleaning. So today I got all the windows washed. Now it's like that comercial on TV where the husband is snoozing in his easy chair and the wife washes all the windows and he wakes up and thinks he's in the wrong house. Of course, the problem arises when I moved the furniture to get to the window then I felt the need to dust. Or pull all the dead leaves off the plants. Or sweep, vaccuum and change the sheets. I will be especially thankful if my husband doesn't have a heart attack when he sees how clean the house is!

I'm also thankful on these bright and sunny falls days that I get to appreciate all the beauty of the colored leaves. And how nice it feels to have the leaves crunch underfoot.

The Dinner of Giving Thanks also had a lovely bread basket. I made the lavash crackers from that Daring Baker Challenge. This time I did manage not to eat them all by myself. Yay! I also made these really good Honey Sesame Crescents. I like crescent rolls and the idea of whole wheat sesame ones intrigued me. I thought they were really good and they weren't too difficult to make. I made them the day before though because they do take some rising time.

Honey Sesame Crescents

adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp lukewarm water

1/4 cup (3 oz.) honey

3 Tbsp (1.5 oz.) unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces

1 large egg, separated

1 1/2 tsp dark sesame oil

2 cups (6.75 oz.) whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 cups (6.375 oz.) unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

Heaping 1/2 cup (1 1/4 oz.) dried potato flakes

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/3 cup sesame seeds

Heat 2 Tbsp water to 100°F and add the yeast. Allow to proof for 5 minutes. Mix the yeast mixture with the rest of the water, honey, butter, egg yolk, oil, flours, salt, and potato flakes by hand or in a mixer until you have a fairly stiff dough. Cover and allow the dough to rise until it's quite puffy, though probably not doubled about 1 to 2 hours.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface. Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into a 9-inch round, about 1/2 inch thick. Brush the rounds with the egg white mixed with 1 Tbsp water. Then sprinkle each round with a generous 1 Tbsp sesame seeds. Cut each round like a pie into 6 wedges. Roll up each wedge, beginning at the wide end, and then curve the ends in to form a crescent shaped roll.

Place the rolls on the prepared baking sheets. Brush them with more beaten egg white, and sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds. Cover and let the rolls rise in a warm place until they've puffed a bit but are definitely not doubled in size, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Don't let them rise too long; If they do, they'll uncurl in the oven. Toward the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Uncover and bake the rolls until they're a light golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove them from the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buns

Fall has definitely hit. It's chilly outside. And this morning there was a cold looking rain. I wasn't going outside. Actually, I was trapped inside all weekend with a nasty case of the flu. The Brain, I think, was worried I was going to permanently meld with the couch. Fortunately, yesterday I took a turn for the better. And by last night I was back to my normal self. I even was back to yelling at the TV during the Rachel Maddow Show. And rooting for Warren Sapp as he hustled across the dance floor. I admit it. I'm a Dancing With the Stars junkie.

So at some point this weekend while I lay on the couch staring at my bookshelves, which are full of cookbooks, I realized that I do really have a bunch of cookbooks that I haven't cooked from. One of them is Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads. Now this book was a birthday present (that I picked out for myself) last year. And I just haven't planned ahead enough to make any of the breads out of it. So there I was with the time to plan and no real desire to cook. Yes I was definitely sick. But the thing is, I have a loaf of Zingerman's Whole Wheat Farm Bread on my counter that I've been slowly working my way through. I really didn't need any more bread.

But I did find a recipe in this cookbook / bread making manual for some Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buns. Fabulous! The recipe reminds me a little bit of the Julia Child French Bread Recipe. It's very long. But in the margins is a nice little commentary that gives the bread profile (Enriched, medium soft dough; delayed fermentation method; commercial yeast) and tells how many days it will take to make (2) as well as a breakdown of how long each step will take. So I feel like the recipe really wants me to succeed. I still haven't found any instant yeast and am seriously thinking I may have to pick some up online, but earlier in the book there is a little commentary that says if you want to use active dry yeast, that's fine, just increase the amount by 25% and hydrate in 2 oz. of the lukewarm water (about 100°F.) for 2 to 5 minutes. So I tried to do that. But then I ended up adding a lot more flour because the final dough recipe called for more instant yeast, but no additional liquid. So I did what I figure I had to do and added 2 ounces of water. I sort of figured that if I added the yeast without any extra hydrating it wouldn't do anything. If anyone has a better idea I'm open to suggestions.

As a result, I did have more than the 8 to 10 buns that the recipe called for. I got 12. And I think they are really good. The Brain came home for lunch and he thought they were like eating whole wheat bread. But to be fair, he took an end piece that maybe I didn't get the cinnamon and sugar all the way to the end on. And he took it without frosting. I took a bite of mine and went back and made more frosting to dribble on top. They aren't as sweet as say those sickly sweet deep-fried ones at the grocery store, but I think they're better than them. And really, this is the kind of cinnamon roll I could eat for breakfast with a steaming hot cup of coffee. And best of all, although hard to believe, these are low fat (only about 2g each), high in fiber (over 7g each!) and they're made with whole wheat flour exclusively so you could even convince yourself they're sort of healthy.

Time for a healthy breakfast!

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buns

closely adapted from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads

Soaker:

1 3/4 cups (8 ounces) whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp (.14 ounces) salt

3/4 cup (6 ounces) 1% milk

Mix all of the soaker ingredients together in a bowl for about 1 minute, until all of the flour is hydrated and the ingredients form a ball of dough.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature overnight (12 to 24 hours).

Biga:

1 3/4 cups (8 ounces) whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp (heaping) active dry yeast

3 ounces 1% milk (a little more than 1/3 cup)

2 ounces lukewarm water (about 100°F./ 38°C.)

1 large egg slightly beaten

Hydrate the active dry yeast in the 2 ounces of water and let stand for 5 minutes.

Mix all of the Biga ingredients together in a bowl to form a ball of dough. Using wet hands, knead the dough in the bowl for 2 minutes to be sure all of the ingredients are evenly distributed and the flour is fully hydrated. The dough should feel very tacky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then knead it again with wet hands for 1 minute. The dough will become smoother but still tacky.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days.

About 2 hours before mixing the final dough, remove the biga from the refrigerator to take off the chill. It will have risen slightly but need not have risen significantly in order to use it in the final dough.

Final Dough:

Use all soaker

Use all biga

7 Tbsp (2 oz.) whole wheat flour

5/8 tsp (.18 oz.) salt

3 3/8 tsp active dry yeast

2 ounces lukewarm (100°F./ 38°C.) water

3 Tbsp honey

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

6 Tbsp brown sugar (or more to taste)

1 Tbsp ground cinnamon (or more to taste)

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

4 Tbsp 1% milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Hydrate the yeast in the 2 ounces of lukewarm water for 5 minutes.

Using a pastry scraper, chop the soaker and biga into 12 smaller pieces each (sprinkle some additional flour over the pre-doughs to keep the pieces from sticking back to each other.)

Put the pre-dough pieces in the bowl along with the 7 Tbsp flour, salt, yeast, honey, and butter. Mix on slow speed with the paddle attachment for 1 minute to bring the ingredients together into a ball. Switch to the dough hook if need be and mix on medium-low speed, occasionally scraping down the bowl, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the pre-doughs become cohesive and assimilated into each other. Add more flour as needed until the dough is soft and slightly sticky. (If you're using active dry yeast and extra water, you will need to add a bunch of flour).

Dust a work surface with flour, then roll the dough in the flour to coat. Knead by hand for 3 to 4 minutes, incorporating only as much extra flour as needed, until the dough feels soft and tacky, but not sticky. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest on the work surface for 5 minutes while you are preparing a clean, lightly oiled bowl.

Resume kneading the dough for 1 minute to strengthen the gluten and made any final four or water adjustments. The dough should have strength and pass the windowpane test, yet still feel soft, and very tacky. Form the dough into a ball and place it in the prepared bowl, rolling it to coat it with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for approximately 45 to 60 minutes, until it is about 1 1/2 times it's original size.

When the dough has risen, dust the work surface with about 1 Tbsp of the extra flour and gently transfer the dough to the floured work surface with a plastic bowl scraper (try not to rip or tear the dough). Roll the dough out to a 9-inch square approximately 1/2 inch thick. (My square turned out to be more of a 12-inch square). Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon sugar all over the surface (making sure to get the edges) and roll it up into a tight loaf. Slice the dough into 1 inch thick slices and lay them out, 1 inch apart on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Mist the top of the buns with pan spray, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for approximately 45 to 60 minutes, until the buns are nearly double in size.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (240°C.) Place the pan on the middle shelf, lower the temperature to 350°F (177°C.) and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking for another 10 to 15 minutes. While the buns are baking mix together glaze ingredients. The buns will be a rich brown and very springy when poked in the center. If they still seem doughy, continue baking.

Remove the pan from the oven and cool the buns for 5 minutes before glazing.

I'm a real American and I'm voting for Barak Obama. Although I do have the urge to point out that all you big city people aren't real Americans. You bunch of phonies! hee hee!

Bulgur and Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

So my math test is over. I have no clue if I passed or not, but it would have helped if I remembered the area of a circle. The Father's Day full of barbecues are also over. And I can finally get back to posting on a regular basis. Well, working around the little Ford Focus that had to be towed today (thanks to yet another common calamity with it). And Wilma the Knee being ornery. And my new Donut Fryer job that starts at 1am tomorrow.

But enough complaining. Tonight, I bring you a healthy dinner of Bulgur and Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce. The lamb just adds a hint of flavor to the bulgur flavored meatballs. There's also a pinch of cinnamon that reminds me of Lebanese cooking and growing up in Michigan. They really were tasty. They weren't quick or easy, but I felt good eating them and most of the time was spent chilling the meat/bulgur mixture and meatballs. So yeah, I'd make these again.

But now I have to go take a long nap before I can hop out of bed at midnight and say "Time to make the donuts!"

Bulgur and Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
adapted from Cooking Light

Meatballs:
2 cups water
1 cup uncooked bulgur
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground lamb
2 large egg whites
2 garlic cloves, minced

Sauce:
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup water
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

To prepare meatballs, soak bulgur in 2 cups water for 2 minutes; drain through a fine sieve Combine bulgur and next 7 ingredients (bulgur through 2 minced garlic cloves). Cover and chill 30 minutes. Shape lamb mixture into 18 meatballs; cover and chill 30 minutes.

To prepare sauce, heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 1 minced garlic clove; cook 3 minutes, stirring often. Add red wine; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes. Stir 1/2 cup water, cinnamon, and diced tomatoes.Add meatballs; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Banana Wheat Germ Whole Wheat Muffins

So I'm finally back home. Ok, I got home 2 days ago, but I'm finally now getting around to posting. Thanks everyone for your nice comments on the last post. The Brain has installed a railing on the basement stairs (Yay Brain!) and although I find my heart racing everytime I decide I have to go down them to do laundry I'm managing them just fine. Sure, I do grip the handrail. And yes I've already bumped my head once. But I'm going up and down them. Sometimes I just really really need to be self sufficient.

So anyhow, I got back and the house and garage were clean and my dog came for a visit and a good time was had by all. There were however two lowly very ripe bananas sitting in the fruit bowl that I hadn't managed to eat before I left. Now banana bread is lovely, but really it just makes me think of cake. And I do love cake, but I just wanted something a bit healthier. So I found a recipe from Bon Appetit and made it healthier. I reduced the sugar and I added some whole wheat flour to get some added fiber. I still wanted them to be really flavorfull so I upped the vanilla too. And the verdict? These are really really good! They aren't sweet, but the banana flavor comes through as well as the nuttiness of the wheat germ. And in case you're wondering, I used the Sparks website and found that with my alterations these tasty little muffins come to 135 calories, 5.9 grams of fat, 3.8 grams of protein and 1.9 grams of fiber. That's 3 of those points that some people count. Not too shabby.

Banana Wheat Germ Whole Wheat Muffins
adapted from Bon Appetit

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup 1% milk
2 large eggs
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners. Sift flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Stir in wheat germ. Combine bananas, milk, eggs, oil and vanilla extract in large bowl and whisk to blend. Mix in dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups and bake for about 25 minutes or until muffins are golden brown and springy to the touch.

Russian Black Bread Rolls

Sundays have become bread baking days at our home. This morning, hungover from 2 1/2 beers, I again decided to let my bread machine do the kneading. How did I get hung over from 2 1/2 beers? I'm a total lightweight. That and the Brain and I were at a benefit and the parish priests were walking around in togas. It was quite an event. So this morning, I was feeling a little sluggish and lazy. Hooray for the bread machine!

These rolls turned out delicious. They are dark and heady and slightly sour in the way that rye breads get. I took the dough out of the bread machine and shaped it into 12 little balls. At some point I did pretend to channel Julia and that delicious French bread. But that was just me being silly. I let them rise for another 30 minutes while the oven preheated. While they were baking they filled the kitchen with a delicious meaty aroma. I have to admit also that I took the very first roll out of the oven and split it open and slathered it with butter and ate it on the spot. I'd like to say they'd be delicious to make a tuna fish sandwich out of, or to sop up juices from a hearty stew (because it is yet again cold and raining here), but frankly I'm not sure there will be any leftovers tomorrow.

Russian Black Bread Rolls

adapted from The All New Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp dark molasses

2 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp caraway seeds

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1 1/2 tsp instant coffee granules

4 tsp unsweetened cocoa

2 cups bread flour

1 cup rye flour

1 package (2 1/4 tsp ) active dry yeast

Add ingredients into the bread machine according to your manufacturer's directions and set the bread machine to the dough setting (or knead by hand). Once the dough is ready, split into 12 equal pieces and form pieces into balls. Let rise for 30 minutes while oven is preheating at 350°. Once risen, spritz the rolls with water to encourage a nice crust. Then using a sharp knife cut a slit in the top of each roll. Bake for about 17 minutes or until when tapped the bottoms sound thumpy.

Multigrain Bread

Have you ever looked at the ingredient list for your standard loaf of bread? If you buy the $4 loaves of bread like Aunt Millie's light five grain that actually have whole grains and fiber it's not horrible. Although I'm curious what "DATEM" is and what exactly "resistant corn starch" is resistant to. If you have a husband like the Brain who is so sweet and actually goes out and buys a loaf of bread when you ask him to, but then doesn't really look at the label but goes for what's cheapest, then you may want to have a stiff drink before you look at the ingredients. He came back with wheat bread (just like I asked). But there was less than 1 gram of fiber per slice. And there were wild and bizarre things in this bread. Things like raisin juice. How exactly do you juice a raisin? And soy fiber which is mighty common in bread actually and makes me think of things like the stalk of the soybean plant. And then there's high fructose corn syrup and the chemicals I can't pronounce.

This has been a long time coming, because I'm a bread junkie and because I'm really trying to get back to eating more natural foods, well less chemicals anyway. We don't have a bakery in our county, or I think the next county up, that makes anything close to artisanal bread and bolstered by the success of the Julia Child French Bread, I've decided to make my own bread. I have to admit though, I sort of cheated on this one. I have a bread machine, which I love. And I have The All-New Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook, which I also love. Mostly what I like to do is make the dough in the bread machine and then transfer it to a loaf pan and bake it in the oven. It has something to do with being OCD I'm sure, but the idea of bread in those funny bread machine loaves freaks me out. Seriously. It's creepy. The bread machine is a great convenience though. I know that I can throw all the ingredients in it and then find something else to do for 2 hours. Like try to walk around the block. And I can come back and have perfectly made dough. Yummy dough when I use recipes from this book though.

So expect more bread in the future. Don't get excited, I'm not turning into Breadchick Mary, who is awesome and has tons of bread on her site. But on occasion I'll be sharing a loaf or two. I may even get daring and make the sourdough starter Mary posted about. And yeah, they won't all be bread machine recipes. But I promise not to use any resistant corn starch, or soy fiber. Or raisin juice.

And if you're curious, I have decided that the whole scariness of the hard plastic water bottles and chemicals leaching into my water has sufficiently scared me into recycling my beloved Life is Good water bottle and splurging on this beautiful aluminum SIGG bottle. I know, I know, aluminum and Alzheimer's. But this Swiss beauty has a "ground breaking interior liner" that is "100% effective against leaching". Even the paint on the outside of the bottle has been tested. And, though the mouth is much smaller on this bottle, it's surprisingly comfortable to drink from. Hooray!

Multigrain Bread

adapted from the All-New Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook

makes 2 loaves (16 servings)

1 1/4 cup water

1 egg

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 tsp salt

4 Tbsp honey

1/3 cup flax seeds

3 Tbsp yellow cornmeal

3 Tbsp rolled oats

3 cups bread flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 Tbsp rye flour

1 package (2 1/4 tsp) dry yeast

All ingredients should be at room temperature. Liquid ingredients should be approximately 80 degrees F. Add ingredients in the order specified in your bread machine owner's manual.

Select dough option.

Remove loaf from bread machine after it's second rise. Pat the dough into a rectangle and cut into 2 pieces. Fold the top third of the dough down onto the rectangle. Fold the bottom third up onto remaining dough. Flip the dough so the seam side is on your lightly floured work surface. Tuck the ends of the rectangle under so it will fit in a standard loaf pan. Repeat with the other rectangle. (I only made one loaf and as you can see it's a little on the ridiculously huge side of life.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover the loaves and set in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes. Place the loaves in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. The loaves should be golden brown and have a hollow thumpy sound when tapped on the bottom. Place the loaves on a rack to cool.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 154 calories, 5g protein, 27g carbohydrates, 2g fiber, 3g fat, 21mg cholesterol, 29mg potassium, 274 mg sodium.

Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Quinoa

Today was the first day of physical therapy. It's amazing how in 2 weeks my leg has shriveled to downright puny. My therapist and I had a long discussion on what I could and couldn't do and although I'm sure she thinks I'm chomping on the bit to get back to athletic life, she also says that a metric century (62 mile bicycle ride) in November is a "realistic goal". Yippee! Being the third knee surgery I was pretty scared she was going to tell me that rehab was going to be more conservative. But all my random leg lifts on the couch have apparently done me good and she said that she's pleased with my strength and happy with my range of motion. I can now bend my knee a whole 96 degrees. That's better than I thought I could do! So between chapters of the Cider House Rules I'm flopping around like a fish out of water doing my exercises. I will be strong again!

But what does this have to do with food? Not a whole lot. I'm still eating food the ladies in town are making. I really have to get the recipe for the cube steak that came over on the weekend. It's seriously yummy. But today's recipe I made a while back and is really really healthy. It even contains a food my mother considers as one of my special fancy foods. Quinoa.

Quinoa isn't a new food. It's actually an ancient food from South America. The leaves are edible, but good luck finding them in a grocery store out here in North Central Ohio. Or really I'm not sure where you can find them. Maybe in New York City. Or probably South America. Anyway, I digress. Quinoa, pronounced keenwa, is a pseudocereal because it's not a grass. The ancient Incas called it the "mother of all grains". We eat the seed part of quinoa and it's a complete protein, meaning it has a balanced distribution of all the amino acids. This makes it a very good meal for vegetarians. Quinoa also is gluten free, which is important to a whole lot of people. (thank you wikipedia)

Quinoa also comes in different colors. The white kind is most readily available in larger supermarkets. The red kind tastes a little nuttier than the white kind. Quinoa is also very easy and quick to cook, but they should be rinsed several times before cooking to remove their natural coating of saponin. If the quinoa isn't rinsed the saponin can make it taste soapy and that's no good.

This Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Qunioa recipe I found on Epicurious.com and it really makes a tasty dish. For people who need meat, this makes an excellent side dish. I ate it for lunches as a nutritious and tasty meal all in itself. It's the kind of dish I feel good eating, because it's so tasty and yet I know I'm doing something excellent for my body. Like growing my muscles.

Oh and those 62 mile bike rides are really more like a string of 6, 10 mile bike rides (yes, plus 2 miles) with rest stops with Gatorade, fruit, and Snickers bars in between. And you get all day to do it. Well a large portion of the day. They're a lot of fun and really not that difficult to do. Usually if you get a flat tire or something, other bikers will stop to help you and there's a support vehicle that keeps circling the route. The American Diabetes Association, in most states, has a Tour de Cure every summer that has a 62 mile (100km) option that I did once near Grand Rapids, Michigan with the Queen Geek and had a tremendous amount of fun. They do also have shorter routes too. These bike rides are a great way to support a terrific organization, spend a healthy afternoon, and eat Snickers bars guilt free. What I'll do for a guilt free Snickers bar....

Spiced Carrot and Zucchini Quinoa

from Bon Appetit

4 cups water

2 cups quinoa, rinsed well, drained

2 Tbsp dried currants

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into small cubes

2 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut into small cubes

1 Tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine first 4 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa is tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add carrots; saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini; saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in paprika and cinnamon. Add quinoa to skillet; toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper.

Rye Beer Bread

Emboldened by my success with the Julia Child French Bread, I decided to give another yeast bread a try. I wanted to try one from the beautiful King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook that my wonderful mother-in-law gave me, but first I have to find some instant yeast. So I played around on the Internet and found this recipe for Beer Rye Bread from Sunset.

It's really good. The taste of the beer is subtle, but it's there. I used Bass Ale because it was the closest thing to a Belgium style ale as we've got. I think if I had a good Belgian ale, this bread would be just that more delicious. As always quality ingredients make quality products. But please, it's not like I used the Michelob Ultra in the beer fridge. That would make an interesting beer bread for sure.

The texture of this bread is dramatically different than the Julia Child French Bread. Where Julia's bread was sticky as dough and air bubbles consistently popped up on the surface. This dough was stiff. I had a hard time telling for sure when it was rising even. Julia's bread has such lovely holes and a light and chewy texture. This bread is dense and has a thick and hearty texture. Please don't misunderstand me though. This bread would be ideal slathered with butter accompanying these beans, or with no butter and a hearty soup. It would also be excellent with a slab of onion and some liverwurst.

Call me nutty, but I think I just got hit over the head with my German heritage. I don't mind, I'm munching away on my bread.

Beer Rye Bread

from Sunset

1 package active dry yeast

1 (12oz) bottle Belgian style ale

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

1/4 cup melted butter

1 1/2 Tbsp caraway seeds

1/4 cup molasses (not blackstrap)

1 Tbsp coarse Kosher salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups rye flour

Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp. water)

In a mixing bowl, combine yeast with 1/2 cup warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in beer, brown sugar,butter, caraway seeds, molasses, 2 tsp salt, and 1 cup of each flour. Beat well, then gradually add remaining flours until dough is stiff and no longer sticky.

Turn dough out on a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to grease the top and bottom. Cover, put in a warm draft-free place, and let rise until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Punch dough down, divide in half, and shape halves into balls. Put balls on a large baking sheet, cover, and let rise until almost doubled, 45 to 60 minutes. Brush loaves with egg wash and sprinkle each with 1/2 tsp salt. Cut a cross in the top of each loaf with a very sharp knife.

Bake at 375° for 35 to 40 minutes, spraying occasionally with a water mister, until crusts are well browned and loaves make a hollow sound when tapped. Transfer loaves to rack and let cool.

Makes 2 loaves, 12 slices per loaf.

Per slice: Calories 144 (17% from fat); Fat 2.7g (sat 1.3g); Protein 4.1g; Cholesterol 14mg; Sodium 271mg; Fiber 3.2g; Carbohydrate 27g

Please Sir, I'd Like Some More

I am a lucky girl. I have a great mother in law. I know I've let this be known several times, but really, I mean it. Back in early January, she asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told her I wanted a bread baking book or some athletic socks. She tried to get me an artisan bread book a friend of hers had, but she could only find it used. Instead, she gave me the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook. I Love it. Really. Madly, deeply, love it.

See, I'm a fairly big dork. And I love to read cookbooks. I look at the recipes and the descriptions and I imagine how it would taste and whether the Brain would eat the recipe and whether I could get the ingredients here. Sometimes I try to imagine how fattening things are and whether my butt could really take any more expanding. But being that this is really a crazy fantastic cookbook, it has the nutrition information for almost all of the recipes.

As of right now, I've managed to get through the breakfast section. While things like quinoa pancakes look unbelievable, I'm not sure where I'd manage to get some quinoa flour out here in Nowhere, Ohio. Especially with this snow/ freezing rain blend we've gotten today. I did pick up some quinoa in Michigan this weekend, but I don't know if I can make my own flour. But I digress. In the midst of this baking book, there was a recipe for porridge.

Porridge? Porridge brings to mind cold and rainy weather and orphans and tasteless gruel and musicals about poor people. Or at least it used to for me. This was the most amazing breakfast EVER. I haven't wanted a second helping of breakfast since I was a kid and my mom once in a while bought a sugar cereal, like Graham Crackers, or Honey Nut Cheerios. Not only was it delicious, but it was packed with fiber and whole grains. The porridge, not Honey Nut Cheerios. I happened to have almost all of the ingredients on hand too. I didn't have the exact fruits the recipe called for, and I only had about 1/4 cup of heavy cream for the Maple Cream. But really I don't think the Maple Cream is necessary. Don't get me wrong, it was soooooo good. It was rich and tasty and made my eyes roll back in my head. But the porridge with the fruit would be a very good breakfast with just a sprinkle of brown sugar. Way more healthy too.

And the porridge was a great way to start a day with such miserable weather. It even kept me full through shoveling. Too bad I forgot to pack my own lunch. Such a healthy breakfast did make me feel better about going next door to the local coffeeshop for a brownie for lunch though. And oh yay! I get to have leftovers for breakfast tomorrow! The Brain didn't want any. Silly man.

Irish Oatmeal with Dried Fruit and Maple Cream

from King Arthur Flour's Whole Grain Baking

2 servings

1/2 cup steel-cut oats

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tbsp dried prunes, chopped (about 3)

1 Tbsp currants

1 Tbsp golden raisins

2 Tbsp craisins

The night before you want to serve the porridge, soak the oats in enough water to cover them plus an inch. The next morning, drain the oats and place them in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups water and the salt. Bring the oats to a simmer over medium heat and simmer, stirring, until they're tender, about 10 to 12 minutes total cooking time. Stir in the dried fruits and let the porridge sit for 5 minutes. To serve the porridge, divide the oatmeal between 2 bowls and serve with a sprinkle of brown sugar and the maple cream (recipe follows).

Nutrition Information per serving (3/4 cup porridge): 39g whole grains, 190 cal, 3g fat, 6g protein, 37g complex carbohydrates, 5g dietary fiber, 271mg sodium, 269mg potassium, 64RE vitamin A, 2mg iron, 31mg calcium, 184mg phosphorus

Maple Cream

Yield: 1 cup, 8 servings

1 cup heavy cream

1 cinnamon stick

1 small strip orange peel

1 star anise

1/4 cup maple syrup

Combine the cream with the cinnamon stick, orange peel, and anise in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick, orange peel and star anise, and whisk in the maple syrup. Increase the heat and simmer, stirring, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes more. Serve with porridge.

According to the cookbook this cream "keeps well in the refrigerator, and a quick zap in the microwave warms it just enough to serve."

They didn't give the nutrition information for the Maple Cream.