Bread....oh my, people really love their bread, don't they? I am totally committed to finding an easy, delicious, whole grain bread recipe. Why haven't I done that yet, you ask? I've been too busy perfecting my muffin recipe. Tomorrow, I will tackle bread. I promise. If you must buy bread from the grocery store, please read the label. If there are many ingredients, it's not what you are looking for. Remember, more ingredients=more processed. Ingredient #1 must be.....WHOLE wheat flour. Do not get fooled and buy a bread made from wheat flour. And for crying out loud, do not buy bread with enriched or bleached flour. It makes Heids McGhee nervous when people eat that stuff. And your bread needs to have at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.
If you MUST cheat on bread, and you happen to live near a Great Harvest Bread Company your life just got a whole lot easier. Here are the reasons why you should buy the honey wheat bread from Great Harvest.
1. They only use 5 ingredients in their honey wheat bread.
2. They grind their own flour daily.
3. The employees wear really cute shirts that say "professional loafer" and "flour power".
4. They say things to you like, "sweetheart, while you are waiting for me to slice your fresh baked bread, do you want a free sample of something?" And, when you say no thank you, they say, "are you sure, not even a small taste of a scone?"
5. It is, hands down, the best bread I have ever had. If you try it and don't like it, let me know. I want to know which of my readers are impossible to please.
Pancakes....my middle mini is a pancake lover. And my middle mini has big, brown eyes that can melt anyone, so when he comes downstairs in the morning rubbing those eyes and asking for a koala hug and pancakes, that boy is getting pancakes. I use this recipe for his pancakes, which I got from king arthur flour website.
1. Grind oats in food processor until fine, but not a powder.
2. Put the flour, oats, and all other dry ingredients into a mixer with a paddle. Mix on slow speed, and drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running.
3. Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks at room temperature, or indefinitely in the refrigerator or freezer.
4. Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup of buttermilk (you can use soured milk, but buttermilk gives noticeably superior results; a combination of half plain yogurt and half milk also will do), and 1 large egg. Don't worry if it seems thin at first: the oats will soak up the milk, and the mix will thicken a bit as it stands. Let the batter stand for at least 20 minutes before cooking.
5. Cook on a slightly greased griddle or a nonstick skillet.
SERVE WITH 100% pure maple syrup. Or fruit, fruit works too. My middle mini loves the syrup, though.
If you're reading that and thinking, "Heids McGhee, not happening. That's too much work in the morning", here's a solution.
Tortillas....these were a tip given to me by my friend Jennifer, whom I think could single-handedly run the marketing department at costco. I will say these are by far the most unprocessed tortillas I have seen with only 5 ingredients. However, ingredient #1 is wheat flour and not whole wheat flour. So, it's a tradeoff. These are raw tortillas, which means you have to cook each side for about 30 seconds on an ungreased skillet before you can eat them (it's so simple, you really don't even have to clean the skillet after you've used it...not that I have done that, but just saying...you could."
And, since these are at Costco, you can buy more tortillas than you could eat in a month for $7.
Crackers....the most unprocessed cracker you can find is Triscuits. Personally, I want to eliminate crackers from our diet, but my minis love crackers. And they usually pair them with hummus and cucumbers to make little sandwiches, so I do let them have Triscuits. I suspect they secretly close their eyes and pretend they're eating Cheez-its.
Cereal....we have covered breakfast already. And if I could just get everyone to change ONE meal a day, with breakfast being the easiest meal to change, I would be a happy Heids. But, some people insist, they need cold cereal. The only option out there for an unprocessed cereal is Post Shredded Wheat which I have a feeling after you have one bowl of that, you'll be whipping up a batch of my granola ASAP.
