Homemade Wheat Bread and Honey Butter

If I can make this recipe - anyone can! :)  The bread recipe makes 4 loaves and can be halved to make 2 loaves!

Homemade Wheat Bread
2 Tbsp. dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
5 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup oil
7 cups whole wheat flour (approx.)
8 cups white flour (approx.)

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water and set aside.  Dissolve brown sugar in lukewarm water; add oil, salt and half the amount of whole wheat flour and white flour.  Then add the activated yeast.  Mix well.  Then add the other needed flour (add 1 cup at a time until the dough leaves the sides of the bowl so the sides are clean).  Dump dough out on floured board or counter and let stand 10 minutes.  Knead until smooth and elastic, place in covered bowl until doubled in size.  Punch down.  Turn out and divide into 4 loaves.  Place in greased loaf pans and let rise until dough reaches top of pan and is well rounded.  Place in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45 minutes (30 minutes if you are using dark nonstick pans).  If cooking for 45, during the last 15 minutes loosely cover with foil to prevent from getting too brown, if necessary.  

Honey Butter
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup marshmallow cream

Beat butter until fluffy with electric mixer.  Gradually add honey and beat until smooth.  Beat in marshmallow cream at low speed.  Place in refrigerator to keep cold.

Asian BBQ Chicken

This is one of our favorite summer grilling recipes! The chicken always turns out flavorful and juicy! I got this recipe from one of my FAVORITE websites ourbestbites.com I LOVE all of their recipes that I have tried. If you have never looked at this site, go check it out!

Asian BBQ Chicken

1/4 C packed brown sugar

1/4 C soy sauce

2 T lime juice

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp curry powder

3-4 garlic cloves, minced (or you can use minced garlic from a jar)
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Combine everything but the chicken in a small bow. Whisk to dissolve the brown sugar. Place the marinade and the chicken in a zip-lock bag. Let it marinate for at least 4 hrs or overnight.

Preheat a grill (or an indoor grill pan or broiler). Spray the surface with cooking spray and cook each piece of chicken for 5-10 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of the chicken).

You can also double the marinade and reserve some to brush on the chicken as it cooks.

This goes great with rice, potatoes, veggies, you name it!

Southwestern Couscous salad

Is this allowed? Am I allowed to do this? We haven't been in the ward for a couple years now, but every once and a while I check in. So if I should be following some sort of recipe posting protocol PLEASE let me know.

But for now, since no one can stop me...I made this salad (thank you Whole Foods recipe index!) last week, and we loved it. I was on the hunt for a grain/legume dish that would satisfy our protein requirements without a meat ingredient. So here it is!

Serves 8
A quick, colorful summer side for a barbecue. Whole foods suggested a gluten free version using quinoa as a substitute for couscous.

AND I skipped the pepitas...apparently we don't keep those stocked in my pantry!

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/4 cup lime juice
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 zucchini, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup fresh corn kernels (from 2 ears corn)



Method
Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous, cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes; fluff with a fork. Toss couscous with remaining ingredients in a large bowl.

Thanks for letting me blog crash Mandarin Second Food Lovers, hopefully you enjoy!

Heather

Fudge Filled Squares

For those of you that were at the Relief Society dinner on Thursday, here is the recipe for the dessert that I had brought! They are pretty darn good and one of our families favorite desserts!

Fudge Filled Squares:

Chocolate Filling:

1 (12 oz.) pkg of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2 Tbs. margarine

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Melt together chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, margarine, and salt in a saucepan over low heat until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Set aside.

Cookie base and topping:

2 cubes/sticks margarine

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups oatmeal (quick oats or old fashioned work)

Beat together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla. Add flour, soda, and salt. Mix well. Stir in oatmeal. Press half of the mixture onto the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Spread chocolate filling evenly over the base. Sprinkle the reserved cookie base evenly over the chocolate layer. Press down slightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 mins or until golden brown (depending on how your oven cooks) Cool before cutting.

French Bread

This is the bread that accompanied dinner at last night's RS Progressive Dinner. I'm so glad so many of you liked it and asked for the recipe! It's very easy to make.

2 pkgs active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp)

2 1/2 cups of warm water

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp melted butter

7 cups flour

2 tbsp cornmeal

1 egg white

1 tbsp cold water

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl (I just let it sit in hot water for a few minutes). Add salt, butter, and flour. Attach bowl and spiral dough hook (or the regular dough hook, depending on what kind of mixer you have). Turn to speed 2 and mix about 1 minute, or until well blended. Knead on speed 2 for about 2 more minutes. Dough will be sticky.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning dough to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. (My trick to rising is to put it in the cold oven with a casserole dish underneath and then I pour boiling water into it. The steam keeps the oven nice and warm for faster rising)

Punch dough down and divide in half. Roll each half into a 12x5 inch rectangle. Roll dough tightly, from longest side, tapering ends if desired. Place loaves on greased baking sheets that have been dusted with cornmeal. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

With a sharp knife, make four diagonal cuts on top of each loaf. Bake at 450F for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Beat egg white and water together with fork. Brush each loaf with egg mixture. Return to oven and bake 5-10 minutes longer. Remove from baking sheets immediately and cool on wire racks.

**NOTE: It only takes me about 15 minutes to have my bread done, with a light golden color. So start with that time and adjust accordingly to your oven. I also never do the diagonal cuts on top, or the egg wash.

This bread is fantastic warm! And my sister-in-law, who gave me this recipe has also used it as a pizza crust with great results. Yum!

Easy Peasy Chicken

First, sorry no picture.
Second, don't hate me because it is so easy!
Ingredients
3-4 Boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 block softened cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup.
Mix softened cream cheese and soup together. Place chicken in crockpot and pour soup mixture over it.
Cook on high 4 hours or low 6 hours. Take chicken out, shred it and mix it back in. Serve over rice.
Add a green vegetable or two to your plate and dinner is served.

Ratatouille

It's not the prettiest looking dish, but my boys requested it after watching the movie. So I made it and we watched the movie too! It was fun to try and it ended up with a 80% approval rating! It's not for everyone, but I really liked it.

Heat 1/4 cup oil in a pan. I used my cooking pot. Add 2 large onions (or minced onion) and garlic salt. Saute for 5 minutes. Stir in 1 eggplant, diced, 6 small zucchini (I only used 1 large), 2 bell peppers, seeded and diced (I got creative and used yellow, red, and green), 1 summer squash, sliced, and 2 tsp salt. Add another 1/4 cup oil to keep veggies from sticking. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occassionally. Add 4 large tomatoes cut in wedges or 1 can stewed tomatoes, drained (I used a can of diced tomatoes, drained). Cook for another 15 minutes on moderate heat and season as desired. I sprinkled a little Creole seasoning for pizzazz. Makes 8 generous servings.

I used it as a side dish and shared with the neighbors. If you love the veggies; you'll love the ratatouille!