Best Basic Bread Recipe

 

1 cup warm water

1 package traditional rise yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

3 cups warm water

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons salt

If you have a thermometer it's the easiest way to check to see if your water temperature to rise yeast is just right. 

Tips for proofing traditional yeast:

1 packet or 2 tsp. yeast - I always use traditional yeast so I proof it using 1 cup warm water with 1 tsp. of sugar.  It's really handy to have a candy thermometer so you can be assured of having the right temperature (105F to 115F) to proof your yeast. If you don't have a thermometer use the wrist test - pour a bit of water - if it's comfortably warm it's likely going to be okay for the yeast to rise properly.

1. Warm the water to around 105°F (40°C) to 115°F (45°C). 
2. Pour water into bowl.
3. Stir in sugar.
4. Sprinkle in your yeast.
5. Wait for 5–10 minutes.  After that time, the yeast should be causing the water to bubble on the surface. If it doesn’t bubble at all, your yeast is no longer usable. If it only bubbles slightly, you may still be able to use it if you give your baked goods more time to rise.  

Use about 10 cups of flour (approximately 1100 grams) - mixture of half whole wheat and half all purpose flour for 3 loaves of bread.

Once yeast has risen (about 10 minutes) mix it into your other liquids. Stir in your first 5-6 cups of flour. I get out my electric hand beater as I don't have anything heavier duty than that. It works fine for initial mixing of the first 5-6 cups of the flour. Mix in remaining flour using a wooden spoon. Turn out onto counter and knead.  Put into a greased bowl - grease top - cover with a plastic or cloth wrap.  Put into oven using oven light as heat source - let rise until doubled in bulk - about 1 hour.

Divide into 3 equal pieces - put into 8 x 4 pans.  Grease tops lightly.  Cover with a cloth and let rise about 45 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 F  and bake for 25 minutes.  Turn out onto wire racks to cool. Once bread is cool cut a few slices and make yourself a peanut butter and jam sandwich!  It's definitely one of my top favorite foods of all time and I'll be 69 this year so it's quite a long time!!  I've been a peanut butter and jam addict for nearly 63 years! LOL!!  I don't think I'll be cured anytime soon!! I put the sun sticker in the photo because it was another bright sunshine filled day here in rural
East Central Alberta!  It's been a great winter for blue skies and lots of sun so far!!

Best Peanut Butter Chocolate Cereal Square

3/4 cup peanut butter  (180 grams)

1/2 cup golden syrup (175 grams)

3 cups cheerios (120 grams) 

90 grams chocolate chips

FOR VERSION #2

same ingredients as above plus another 35 grams chocolate chips and one teaspoon of margarine

Melt peanut butter and golden syrup over low to medium heat until liquid and a little bubbly.  Take off heat - add chocolate chips.  Stir in 3 cups cheerios.  Turn into a greased 8 x 8 glass pan - my current favorite grease is coconut oil! Chill - cut into squares!

VERSION #2

For a little extra chocolate boost - melt another 35 grams of chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon margarine in microwave.  Pour over cheerios that have been packed into pan using back of spatula.  Use back of spoon to spread it evenly around.  Chill.  Cut into squares.  Best kept in fridge and take out for a few minutes before you plan to indulge!  

Best Banana Oat Muffins

 

1.5 cup soymilk plus 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar 

2 medium bananas (fresh or frozen) (about 200 gm for peeled/frozen (slightly thawed)

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoons honey

2 cups minute oats (180 grams) 

2 tablespoons tapioca starch or corn starch

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1.5 tsp baking powder plus .5 tsp. baking soda

2 tablespoons hemp hearts

60 grams raisins (about scant 1/3 cup)

Preheat oven to 375F.  Makes 10 large size muffins using 1/3 cup batter per muffin.  Makes 12 regular size muffins using 1/4 cup batter plus about 1 teaspoon per muffin.

Put apple cider vinegar into soymilk and stir till curdled.  Stir in one tablespoon of oil, mashed bananas and honey.

Prepare muffin tin - either use nonstick parchment paper or grease each well with coconut oil. 

In a large bowl measure in your 2 cups minute oats along with flour, tapioca starch OR cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, hempseeds and raisins.  Mix together very well making sure no lumps of baking powder or baking soda remain.  

Pour in all the liquid ingredients - soured soymilk, oil and bananas into the dry mixture.  Mix together. Fill each well of muffin tin with about 1/3 cup batter each. If desired:  Sprinkle tops with a mixture of about 2 tsp of hemp hearts and 1 tablespoon of coconut sugar.   Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Let sit for about 5 minutes - turn out onto cooling rack

Best Black Bean Soup

Onions: (2 medium size)  (1 3/4 cups)  (200 grams)

Garlic, 4 cloves

Green peas, frozen (3/4 cups) (118 grams)

Carrots, raw peeled:   (2 3/4 cups) (3 large carrots)  (323 grams)

Potatoes, raw peeled: (1 3/4 cups) (1 very large potato) (386 grams)

Tomatoes, 1 can  13.5 oz size  (about 5-6 fresh tomatoes)

Dried onions, minced (2 tablespoons)

Sundried tomatoes (2 tablespoons)

Spinach, frozen (85 grams)

Black Beans, refried (Eden) - 1/2 cup

Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base - 1 Tablespoon)

Mushrooms, 4 large fresh (put in last) 

Heat up about 1 cup of water in a large pot (recipe makes about 10 cups of soup).  Dice onions and put into sizzling hot water. Salt the onions.  Let soften for a bit stirring often - add water as needed to keep onions from sticking.  Add your favorite spices.  I used turmeric, garlic powder, cumin, curry powder, salt and pepper.  Add in your garlic, dried minced onions and frozen green peas and continue to add water as needed. Dice your carrots into size you like (prefer small dice for soups). Add to pot with some more water.  Peel and dice the potato along with your can of tomatoes and frozen spinach (my spinach came in little rounds which I had let thaw on counter for a bit and then chopped them up a bit before putting into pot). I presoaked sundried tomatoes for a few minutes and then whirled most of them in blender with 1 cup of water along with the fresh mushrooms. Makes a bit of a slurry but adds great flavor to soup.  I had frozen my refried black beans into 1/4 cup cubes so I put them into the pot of hot soup and they melted quickly. Taste your soup for level of spice and saltiness you like. One tablespoon of Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base was sufficient for this big pot because all the ingredients combined make for a very nice flavor.

MAKES TEN CUPS OF DELICOUS SOUP! 

Best Burger Buns 2022

 

We needed the best burger bun to go with the best black bean burger so here it is!  If you like them all to be identical in size the food weigh scale is your best friend!  Each burger bun above weighed 84 grams before cooking. 

1 packet or 2 tsp. yeast - I always use traditional yeast so I proof it using 1 cup warm water with 1 tsp. of sugar.  It's really handy to have a candy thermometer so you can be assured of having the right temperature (105F to 115F) to proof your yeast. If you don't have a thermometer use the wrist test - pour a bit of water - if it's comfortably warm it's likely going to be okay for the yeast to rise properly.

1. Warm the water to around 105°F (40°C) to 115°F (45°C). 
2. Pour water into bowl.
3. Stir in sugar.
4. Sprinkle in your yeast.
5. Wait for 5–10 minutes.  After that time, the yeast should be causing the water to bubble on the surface. If it doesn’t bubble at all, your yeast is no longer usable. If it only bubbles slightly, you may still be able to use it if you give your baked goods more time to rise.  

Whilst the yeast is proofing heat up about 1.5 cups of your favorite milk - I prefer Edensoy or Natura Original Soymilk for baking.  Melt about 2 tbsp. of  solid margarine  - add to warmed milk. Add 2 tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. of salt to your milk mixture. Check temperature for warmed milk as well to make sure it's about the right temperature to add the proofed yeast.  Should be around 95-100F when you add proofed yeast.  

Pour warmed milk mixture into a large glass or stainless steel bowl - stir in the proofed yeast. Add in 40 grams of oat bran (about 1/2 cup).  Stir in 1 cup whole wheat flour (120 grams) and 1 cup whole wheat bread flour or more whole wheat (120 gm).  I don't have a stand mixer so I use my hand mixer and use that to blend all ingredients together.  Beat for a few minutes.  It helps to develop the gluten so you don't have to knead it manually as long.  At this point you probably have to add the remaining flour in by hand.  Will need about another 2.5 cups of white unbleached flour to get a nice flexible dough to knead.  I used about 244 grams but it's going to vary depending on the brand of flour and how humid it is that day!  

Turn onto a flour surface and knead for about 3-5 minutes. Make into a nice ball and place in a lightly greased bowl and grease top of your dough lightly as well.  Cover with a cloth or plastic  wrap and find a nice warm spot to let it rise for about 1 hour. I like to put my oven light on and let it rise inside the oven.

To shape your dough into buns roll into a log and divide into 12 equal portions. This is where food weigh scale comes in handy again.  I used about 84 grams dough per bun.  Place buns on a lightly greased cookie sheet (I like Nutiva Coconut Oil as it doesn't burn like some oils can). Lightly grease tops of buns with same oil. Cover with clean cloth.  Let rise on counter for about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Each bun is about 200 calories and contains 3.4 gm fiber, 3.3 gm fat and 6.9 gm protein if using types and amounts of flour I used in my recipe.

Best Black Bean Burger 2022

Black beans  (cooked and drained)  1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups (about 214 grams)

Mung Beans (cooked and drained) - 1 cup (about 100 grams) (optional - these burgers are good with or without mung beans but I like the extra nutrition they provide plus a bit of extra texture. My favorite brand of mung beans are Bio-Bud Sprouted

1 package tofu - 454 gm size (medium firm - pressed to release liquid or use extra firm and grate) See photo below for an easy to put together tofu press! Just make sure to gently wrap your block of medium firm tofu in a piece of cloth or paper towel before you place it in your sieve. I find that the Sunrise Red Label tofu is readily available in Canada. They have lots of good tips and recipes on their website.

Rice, cooked (brown short grain sprouted by Lundberg is perfect but any rice will work) - 1 cup (about 154 grams)

Oats, Minute or Quick - 1 cup (about 100 grams)

4 large mushrooms (approx. 200 grams) -  2 grated raw through mixture. 2 diced and sauteed.

Onions - one medium onion ( (about 135 grams)

Garlic - 4 cloves (small ones) but adjust to your own preference

Spices plus more to mix into raw mixture before cooking:

Bull's Eye Original BBQ sauce - 2 tbsp.

Ketchup - 2 tbsp. 

Mustard - 1 tbsp. 

Braggs Liquid Amino - 2-3  tbsp. 

Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base - 1 tsp.

Dehydrated Minced Onion - 2 tbsp.

Garlic Powder and Chili Powder (to taste) - I used about 2 tsp. of each

Saute onions in water till softened and lightly browned. Add 100 grams of finely diced mushroom and cook with onions until they are lightly cooked. While onions are cooking put your other ingredients together. I like to grate the tofu on rough side of grater and than incorporate into black beans. Use potato masher at this point to smash up black beans somewhat (it's fine to have several black beans left whole as well). Stir in the oats and all the spices plus other ingredients.  Let it sit for a bit to let oats soften and soak up some of the liquid ingredients. Cut up your raw garlic - finely minced and add in (do not saute garlic).  Add your cooked onions and mushrooms along with the rice and mung beans (if you decided to use the mung beans).  Mix all together well using your hands - taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or grease lightly (use something that doesn't burn easily - I really like Nutiva Coconut Oil).  Scoop out 1/2 cup of mixture to form each burger.  This recipe should give you about 10 burgers of 1/2 cup mixture each (approximately 130 grams each if you use food weigh scale which I now really like to do for a lot of my cooking/baking).  Put your burgers in the oven and set timer for 35 minutes.  Take them out - flip them over gently and put about 1 tsp BBQ sauce on top of each burger and spread it to cover the top.  Put back in oven and set timer for another 25 minutes. 

Each burger is about 170 calories and contains 4.5 gm fiber, 3.4 gm fat and 9.2 gm protein!  Pair this burger with one of my Best Burger Buns and you'll be enjoying a very nutritional veggie burger that will give you a food energy value of 371 calories,  7.9 grams of fiber and 15.9 grams protein!

CHRISTMAS 2020 - MAKING CINNAMON BUNS!

Today seemed like a good day to revisit an favorite old memory and one of my favorite treats - homemade cinnamon buns!! They are really so easy to make and use such a small amount of ingredients that it's very cost effective!! If you don't have raisins on hand - anything else you have will probably be fine (such as chopped up apple or dried cranberries or just plain cinnamon and sugar is delicious too)!  Currently the price for a beautiful homemade cinnamon bun from one of my favorite cafes in Edmonton Sweet Pea Cafe and Playhouse – Fun for kids, and Parents is $5!  Totally worth it if you want only one!! But we're currently a household of six so we do need to budget where we can!  The original recipe I posted in November of 2011 is still the best so I'll just send you to the link! https://veggieprairiegirl.blogspot.com/.../this-old-house...

I will post some new photos though as I took some nice close ups to entice you to try your hand at these!!