Healthy, Real Food, Easy Honey Wheat Bread

As a wife and mom, eating healthy has always been important to me.  What my idea of eating healthy looks like has changed over the years as our lives have changed and I've grown and educated myself on what I believe is important for my family.

After being diagnosed with a rare autonomic dysfunction and heart disease in my 20s, I began researching and reading about what true healthy eating is.  I discovered that for our goals, it wasn't about the newest food fad or weight loss diet but about truly healthy food for nourishment, energy, and growth.

I realized we needed a more natural, homemade approach to our meals instead of the "sugar-free", "low-fat" processed foods marketed by the big food companies.  What I wanted was a sustainable mix of my Grandma's style and recipes combined with the current trends of local and/or organic foods and whole grains.  It was perfect, or at least the idea was perfect. 

There were some challenges and differences.  My grandma didn't home school, run a small chicken farm, she wasn't driving kids to martial arts, piano, and home school co-ops.  Life moves faster now.  She wasn't battling heart disease and dysautonomia.  However, she also didn't have the luxury of the Internet with amazing online resources to assist her. 

I'll not fib and tell you I have this "whole foods" thing wrapped up nice and neat.  What I will tell you is I do my best.  Do we have weeks when my body gives out on me and my dear, sweet, overworked husband gets stuck handling the meals?  Certainly!  Does he create real food, homemade meals from scratch after working all day and handling MY side of the responsibilities? Heck no!  Do we run late between our Thursday Co-op, chicken chores, and or mad dash to martial arts class?  Yep!  Do I panic and hit McDonald's (GASP!) sometimes when this happens?  Sadly, I'm guilty.  Do I let this hold me back any longer from trying to maintain a healthy, real food lifestyle on the other days? No way!

Life is life, it's unexpected and we just have to roll with it!  I have finally convinced myself that it's one step at a time and I can't take an all or nothing approach!  I AM learning ways to prepare myself and avoid those obstacles.  Cooking some of our favorite, whole food meals in double servings for freezing and taking advantage of our crock pot are two ways.

Finding my perfect, honey wheat, homemade, simple basic bread dough recipe and making it in triple batches is another way.  As a matter of fact, it's also my most tried and true tactic to keeping things "real."  I must admit baking my own bread was intimidating at first.  Rising?  Punching?  Yeast?  I was clueless in the beginning. 

That's why THIS recipe, my friends, has become my honest to goodness stand by.  When the Farm Chick Chit Chat ladies all decided we would have a bread bake off, I knew without a doubt, this was the recipe I would share. 
It's real food, easy to make, easy to freeze & bake later, tastes delicious (even after freezing it!), a great starter bread for your other rolls and recipes, and it's user friendly.  Can you tell I'm proud of my bread?  It's been a big hit here, at friends' homes, at baby showers, and with family's I've taken meals to.  I generally make three loaves at a time and that lasts us approximately a week.  I also send frozen loaves back to college with my baby sister every time she's home visiting and I know she's at least getting some whole grains in her diet.  I love it! Okay, are you convinced to try it now?  Let's bake some bread!


The Egg Basket's Honey Wheat Bread

 

In a medium size bowl combine:
1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 TBL milk
2 TBL Olive Oil (or coconut oil or any oil, I like the Olive Oil and it's heart healthy)
2 TBL Honey
2 TBL Brown Sugar
1 tsp Salt

 

In a large bowl, combine:
1 1/2 c. All Purpose unbleached flour
1 1/2 c. Whole Wheat Flour - + extra for kneading
1/3 c. Wheat Germ
3 TBL Flaxseed
2 tsp (1 packet) of Instant Active Dry Yeast

Create a well in the center and add your liquid ingredients.

Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 10-15 minutes).  You may need to add extra flour to the dough if it's too sticky but be careful to just add a little bit at a time.  Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease both sides and cover with a clean towel.

Let the dough rise until doubled in a warm, draft-free spot (about 45 minutes).  I let mine rise in the microwave (do NOT turn on the microwave!) I find I know it's draft free even if the kids are running in and out of the house and the kitchen!

 

Punch down the dough after it's doubled and knead until smooth.  Form into a loaf.  Place the loaf in a greased loaf pan and cover again.  Let the dough rise in the pan in a warm, draft free place again until almost doubled in size (about 30 minutes).  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.  If the loaf starts browning too soon, you may lightly lay a piece of aluminum foil over the top. 

Remove the bread from the oven and let it rest in the pan for a few minutes.  After that, remove it to a wire rack and cover with a cloth.  It's best to store your bread in a cloth bag. 

For Freezing-
Make your dough, allow it to rise the first time, punch the dough down and knead it until elastic as above but instead of placing it in a loaf pan to rise a second time, add it to a freezer bag.  Try to get all of the air out of the bag, label it and place it in your freezer.  When you're ready to use the bread, take it out of your freezer the night before, place it in your refrigerator to thaw and rise the second time and then bake it as above.  It's that easy! 

I'd love to hear back from any of you that try the recipe and any tips, tricks you may have!  I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does!

Love & Blessings!

Tiffany

Farmers Love

Farmers maintain a special relationship with their livestock.  We provide for them, care for them, pat them, hold them when they're sick, help them from their shell when they're stuck during hatching, help them birth their calves, foals, be there as needed.  It can be our lively hood, hobby, or provide sustainable, healthy food for our friends, family, and neighbors' tables.  It's also more than that. 

There's a mutual love and respect for God's green Earth and beautiful creatures.  It can be hard to explain until you feel that warm earth in your hands with the sun beating on your back as you work your gardens and crops; or when you hear your first "I laid an egg" song from a pullet you've raised from hatch or even conception and your heart swells with pride.  You might do a happy dance in the  middle of the field or yard, you may call your father or grandmother and give them that smile from their own farmyard memories.  Just a warning, my friends, once you've felt it, there's no going back!  You're one of us, a farmer, a caregiver, a provider, and there's no going back!

Along with the companionship and nourishment we receive comes a lot of responsibility and strong commitment.  The sense of that varies in different degrees from farmer to farmer but to maintain a successful, healthy farm it must be there in good measure.  It doesn't matter if your farm is on a 1/4 acre lot in a city or on 100 acres in the country, any farmer worth their salt must have that something that drives them to get up at the crack of dawn or rooster's first crow and get the work done. In terms of livestock, we all know there's feeding, watering, providing medical care, housing, and safety from predators and harm.  It's hard work and a lot of it but it's oh so worth it!  We're always learning, striving for improvements, talking to each other, and working some more! 

We're starting a series on The Egg Basket blog about taking care of the poultry on our farm- the chickens.  I'll be blogging about some recent events that set us back, made us catch our breath, and realize just how much this farming thing means to us.  We've had to work harder than ever to save our little chicken farm and get it running back on track in the healthy, sustainable way we feel God intended and with that learned some things on care and health and a lot more things on what's important and how to protect ourselves and our flock. 

I want to share those things with our readers and friends.  I want to be real and not hide our challenges.  Things go wrong on a farm, things break, you meet less than honorable people, predators test your boundaries.  What we've learned is it's important how you handle the challenges and prevent them from happening in the future. 

We don't want to hide the hardships or the struggles from our readers.   We want to share them, discuss them, and learn from each other.   If our difficulties can assist or prevent another farm family then why not share the knowledge we've accumulated? 

When I was a little girl it was common to watch as other farmers came by my father's farm to talk about the cattle or the drought or come asking for help to round up a stallion that had jumped the fence.   There is a community of folks in farm life, the only difference is now we're not limited to our next door neighbors.  Thank God because now it's hard to always have neighbors that have the farm love that I mentioned above.

 Not everyone understands the need for small scale and family farms and the sense of joy and accomplishment that comes with them.  We do have the Internet and our circle of online friends and co-farmers to share with so that's what we intend to do!   Stay tuned to learn what we learned the hard way and I pray it may help you with your own flocks.

Love & Blessings,

Tiffany  

Pears, Jam, & Canning

Pears, Jam, & Canning
 Farm & country people seem to be kinder and more relaxed than others.  It's a gentler kind of pace when you're involved with nature the way country and farm folks are.  It's easier to be in touch with the Lord when you spend your days admiring his glory in the simplest of things.  Nothing against anyone who lives in a big city, I'm not trying to get a list full of frustrated comments from anyone.  I'm sure you'll are good people too! :) I'm just speaking of my own personal experiences.  As of late, I've been touched by generosities and kindness from others around me and it lead my heart to this post.  It was outlined to be a post on pears and canning... and I WILL get to that :) but when my heart needs to spill over about some good, I just go for it!

Brantley Gilbert is a country singer (for those who don't know him) and one of my newer favorite country songs is one of his, it's "Country Must Be Country Wide."  Some of the lyrics go like this,

"It ain't where, it's how you live
We weren't raised to take, we were raised to give
The shirt off our back to anyone in need

We bow our heads before we eat
Before we start our day,
before we fall asleep
'Cause in God we trust and we believe

And we see what's wrong
And we know what's right

And old Hank, he said it all
When he said country folks can survive"

Now, I know I look silly grinning all stupid to myself driving my mini van but anytime this song comes on, this part right here strikes a chord with me and I sing loud and stupid and grin all big! :) Maybe seeing me look dumb will brighten someone's day.  I don't know- I just can't help it!

I was browsing the Farm & Garden and Free section on our local Craig's List last week.  I was hoping to find some materials for our next chicken coop or a show quality white Silkie or Silver Ameracauna roo.  What I found instead was a free post for pears.  (see, this is how kindness and pears merge, I told you I'd get there!) 

Evidently some nice family has a pear tree in a field and there's more pears than they want or need.  They posted this ad that if anyone was willing to pick them, they could come do so for free.  Well, I'm all over that.  It sounded like something fun to do with the kids, I've been wanting to learn to can lately, and it's FREE!  When we finished up piano lessons last Saturday, I took the kids on over there. 

It was only one tree but there was more than enough for us (and did I mention it was FREE?  I mean most local orchards charge just to walk onto their fields!)  They even left their long fruit picker out there for visitors to borrow for picking.  How kind is that?  Like I said, country folks helping each other.  We're helping by keeping the mess out of their yard, cutting back on grossness in their mower and bees, and they're allowing us to have free, fresh pears! Just like Brantley's song!  Is it in your head yet?  I'm singing it while I blog!

We had a great time, I think the kids just wanted to play with the long fruit picker mostly but we got the job done.  There were tons of perfectly good pears already on the ground so the girls and I gathered those up first so Chance could be the man and get some of the high ones.  Then everyone had to have a turn with the fruit picker.  You know how kids are so fascinated with anything on a long stick! I was just giddy with myself for such a great score, and for teaching the kids a bit about community. :)

So, now we have this huge mess of pears and I wanted to do something with them.  I've NEVER canned before so I was nervous and there are SO many things out there about it.  I think I've pinned dozens (check out my pinterest boards here).  As I'm discussing this on the Farm Chick Chit Chat Facebook page, one of the other sweet ladies offered up her latest recipe for Apple Pear Jam!  Did I tell you farm folks' kindness is good?  So, my farm chick, sweet friend Janet from over at Timber Creek Farm sent me her Apple Pear Jam recipe to try and the kids and I got moving on it!

Can I first say the directions for canning read MUCH more tedious than they actually are?  I was floored that I can read the classics, edit with photoshop, program all of our electronics, but had to read the canning directions like 10 times!! If it's your first time canning, hang in there.  It's so much simpler than it actually reads.  I'm not sure if it's suppose to scare you or what. :) My dear friend said this morning, "It just seems tedious!" Boy, that was the perfect word for it!  However, now that I've accomplished my first set of canned jam, the next time will be so much easier.  I'm trashing those directions from the Ball labels!

Here's Janet's recipe:

Ingredients
2 cups peeled cored and finely chopped pears
1 cup peeled cored and finely chopped apples
6 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup bottled lemon juice
6 ounces liquid pectin (2 pouches)

Directions
Crush the apples and pears in a large heavy bottom saucepan. and stir in the cinnamon. Thoroughly mix sugar and lemon juice with the fruits and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
Immediately stir in pectin. Bring to a full rolling boil and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat, quickly skim off foam and fill hot sterile jars leaving 1 inch of headspace.
Wipe jar rims, and cap the jars.
Process for 5 minutes for 4 ounce jar, 10 minutes for 8 ounce jars in a boiling water canner. **

Yield: 7 - 8 half pint (8 ounce) jars

I was all good until the "Processing" part came in.  Then I became nervous and looney.  It's not that hard, however!  Make sure you put your jars in hot water while you're working.  In hindsight, I would have started those soaking when I began the recipe but I didn't know and waited too long so I had to wait on those. I also didn't realize I should have had the water in my canning pot (or stockpot) simmering while I was cooking. 

 

This is how I would do it the next time:
Canning 101 with the Jam

Go ahead and set your jars and lids (not the bands though) in the hot water (I just filled my sink up with hot water and set them in that) and get your canning pot about 1/2 full of water and simmering with its top on while you're making the jam.  The jars just need to be warm so you don't bust them when your hot jam hits the glass. 

Make your jam according to the recipe above. 

 

Once it's finished, I took one jar at a time out of the hot water and set it on my counter.  I used my funnel to ladle jam into the jar leaving the "correct headspace", basically just leave an inch at the top of the jar without any jam.  Now, at this point, I was SUPPOSE to remove air from the side of the jar.  I didn't see any bubbles on the side of the jar.  I figured it might be necessary for a thicker recipe but this jam was pretty good and liquidy so I didn't do this.  I won't PROMISE you I did it the "right" way- it was my first time- but ours turned out okay :) so you decide! If you want to be a good girl and do it the right way, just take a spatula and run it around the inside of the jar between the jar and the jam a few times and make sure there aren't any air bubbles.

Wipe the mouth of the jar well with a damp cloth.
Set the lid on top so the seal is in line where it's suppose to be.
Screw the band on evenly and tightly.

 

Now, do that with all of your jars until you've used all of your jam (minus what you have to lick because you just can't wait to try it and then of course, what you have to let the kids come lick because now you have to show them what a cool mom you are!)

Once all of my jars were done, I set them on my canning rack (I just had to google the name of that) and gently set them down into my simmering pot.

Increase the water to boiling and then put the top on.

Boil them for the amount of time in the recipe.  I used 8 oz jars so mine boiled for ten minutes.

After ten minutes, I turned off the heat and removed the lid to the pot. 
LET THEM SET THERE LIKE THAT FOR 5 MINUTES.
Evidently, if you take them right out they can crack and that was a big thing on all of the directions I read- let them set in the water to cool in that some for 5 minutes.

Then we took them out of the pot and set them on a kitchen towel upright on the counter and there they set for 24 hours. 

The next day, check to make sure they've sealed and you've just canned your jam!!

 

I was so excited to have been successful at this!  You would have thought I'd won the Pulitzer or something.  There was just something comforting about all of those jars full of ooey gooey delicious, local fruit that I processed with my own hands with the kids that makes me feel good!  Country folk can survive, right?  Maybe that's what it is but the whole experience just gives me a warm fuzzy!  If you try canning this recipe or another, let us know, we'd love to try new recipes now that we think we have the hang of it and we'd love to hear how your first experience turned out! 

Love & Blessings! 

Tiff  








 



Read more: BRANTLEY GILBERT - COUNTRY MUST BE COUNTRY WIDE LYRICS

Homemade & Fresh! Farmer's Market Spaghetti Sauce

Homemade & Fresh! 
My Farmer's Market Spaghetti Sauce!

I've been wanting to make fresh pasta sauce for my family for what seems like forever!  I was intimidated by it, my husband LOVES his Ragu but I'm trying to cut out as much of the processed food as I can from our family's diet (without him killing me!)  The way to do this in MY family with my dear hubby and with my homeschooling schedule is to keep moderation in mind!  One step at a time is key here!  I use to have the "all or nothing" approach to our meals.  I would have a few days of healthy meals then we'd run late to a martial arts class or from piano or have a doctor's appointment and be forced to stop for fast food.  That one trip would totally throw me off my my game and I'd give up and just go right back to the same old same old. 

It's so important when making these lifestyle changes and transitions to remember everything in moderation!  Life happens, folks!  If I must get fast food on Tuesday, then I'm still doing a better service to my family by serving them unprocessed whole foods on Wednesday and Thursday than by giving up the cause altogether.  This was difficult for me at first.  It seems silly but I felt a bit like a hypocrite, talking up whole food eating and then hitting McDonald's the first time a child was sick.  Then I realized I'm not a hypocrite but HUMAN!  We are human ladies (and gents if you do the cooking and shopping;))

I'm a chicken farming, gardening, landscaping, homeschooling, blogging, taxi-driving, doctors appointment attending, housekeeping, cooking, hugging, loving, praying, dog and cat feeding & cleaning, turtle care giving, sewing, decorating, upcycling, walking, cardiac patient, medical decision making, martial arts and piano helper practicing, party organizing and giving, shopping for the whole house, God loving, Christian wife and mom!  Oh, and in my spare time I also enjoy chatting with my friends, dating my husband, crafting, reading, spending time with my extended family, target practice, walks with my dogs, and pinning on Pinterest!

Come on! What was I thinking?  So I finally gave myself a good smack, pulled my head out of the sand and hit this whole foods eating thing head on!!  That's how it's done sister! <3

So, after trying several recipes from books, blogs, pins, and magazines, I THINK I've come up with a recipe that works for our family.  It's fresh and I purchase all of the vegetables from the LOCAL farmer's market other than my onion which I am super proud to say came from our garden!  Having any part of a recipe or meal come from our little garden excites my kids and gives me a headstart on them liking something! hee hee ;)  I'm HOPING by mid summer all of the veggies will come from our backyard but so far we have an onion or two and strawberries good enough for our chickens.

 Please feel free to use this recipe to make homemade sauce for your family, tweek it, add to it, take away from it, whatever makes it work for you and your family.  It's sustainable and whole foods friendly and buying local not only helps the environment, small mom and pop businesses, and local farms but it also makes it much more nutritious for you and your lovely families!  If you happen to like it enough (I'm humbly stating this TRUST ME ) to want to use it or even blog or pin about it yay! That makes my day but please just note the source :) :) We all need to share the love, right?

Farmer's Market Pasta Sauce

1 green pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic
2 cups chopped mushrooms
4 large chopped tomatoes (I like mine really red and ripe from the market)
2 cans (6oz.) tomato paste
1/1/2 cups of water
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup + 1 tsp. raw, organic honey
3 TBL of parsley
 2 TBL fresh basil (or 1 1/2 tsp. dried)
1 TBL fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp rosemary

Saute veggies with about 3 TBL of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) over medium heat until cooked well.  I usually put my mushrooms in last and put my peppers and onions in a bit before until the onions are soft.  Add your chopped tomatoes and stir and cook about 20-30 min gently until the tomatoes liquify.  I like to continue stirring often.  Add in your tomato paste and water and stir.  Add in the remaining ingredients and stir.  Cover up your sauce and simmer it over lowered heat for about an hour, sometimes if I'm gardening I'll even simmer mine up to two hours but come in and check and stir it. 

For meat sauce,
Brown 1 pound of organic ground turkey (or beef depending on your preference) in a skillet.  Season with sea salt and black pepper to taste.  I like good seasoning, it brings the flavors together!  Drain the fat from the meat and add the ground cooked meat to your pot of sauce.  Stir well, cover and heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often.

For spaghetti,
I simply boil whole wheat spaghetti noodles with a bit of EVOO and sea salt according to the package directions, drain, and then serve to my family topped with the sauce and organic parmesean cheese (local if possible.) 

For an entire meal,
I throw this spaghetti with some boiled farmer's market broccolli (add a bit of fresh garlic to your water when boiling the broccolli and it's YUMMY) , some homemade bread, a spinach salad and we are done! Easy, peasy weeknight meal full of healthful flavor and energy!  I LOVE summer ripe tomatoes and this is just one easy way to take advantage of them!

That's it, you're done!  It seems pretty easy, doesn't it?  I know, it surprised me too! The trick for me was simply adjusting the spices and seasoning.  Most all of the recipes I found contained sugar and I wanted to avoid the white, processed sugar but my dear hubby prefers a little underlying sweetness to his sauce.  The honey did just trick for us.  If it's not your perfect sauce, start with the honey and/or salt.

For Later,
This sauce also works deliciously with my homemade lasagna!  I'll post that recipe later this week so while you're at it, double the recipe (it works I do it all of the time) and put 1/2 in a jar for lasagna later in the week or freeze in a freezer bag for a healthy fast food night!!

For the whole foods cooking ideal, fresh herbs are best, especially those grown in your own backyard or on your windowsill.  These are something anyone can grow, even in a city apartment and the flavor can't be beat!  My kids LOVE to go pick herbs for dinner :)

I hope you try it and love it, or at least like it! If you try this recipe leave me some comments below! I'd truly love to hear from you!

Blessings,
Tiff