Sweet Sights of Autumn

Perfect 100% Whole Wheat Bread

One thing that I've found since I have begun learning to eat healthy, is that I am now enjoying cooking and baking! I've always been able to do it and I did it often enough, but I never did it for fun. Now it's fun! I think it's partly because the challenge of making something healthy that tastes really good is appealing to me. I love a challenge! I also love good tasting food. And especially healthy good tasting food! I've always made the bread for our family, and I was pretty hesitant about trying something 100% whole wheat and sugar free. I don't like the whole wheat taste and texture that comes through in many things(whole wheat pasta for instance), so I wasn't very optimistic when I tried this recipe from The Healthy Choices cookbook published by Keeper's at Home. However, I was totally blown away by how good it was! Okay, actually, it wasn't very good the first time because I forgot the salt. Go figure. Don't do it, it doesn't work. However, after I tried it again, I was sold! We use Prairie Gold whole wheat flour, which is a very fine 100% whole grain flour. It has some "whole wheat taste", but the texture is mostly like white flour. I do use 3/4 c flour when a recipe calls for 1 cup, but it turns out great for picky eaters like me. I've made this bread for coworkers and friends and everyone loves it--most people can't tell it's 100% whole wheat or sugar free. Here, for you to try, is the recipe for Perfect Whole Wheat Bread.  Note: This is for a Bosch mixer. I've never made bread without one, so I can't help you if you don't have one. One day I'll learn to make bread without one, but I love this recipe so much that I haven't risked it yet. Also, this hasn't been rising very high for me. I'm considering making a double batch and still making only five or six loaves. If you divide it evenly into loaves they get as high as a bread pan, but not much over. Update10/10: I made a batch this morning into three loaves, which worked really well. I've only been using about 9 cups of flour, so it turns out to 3 cups of flour per loaf, which is what my old recipe used, so I figured that's about right. Also, I've modified this recipe for use with regular yeast instead of instant yeast.

4 1/2 cups lukewarm water

3/4 c olive oil

1/2 c honey

1/4 c yeast

2 T lecithin(granules or liquid)

2 heaping T wheat Gluten

1 1/2 T salt

9-14 c whole wheat flour (I use mostly Prairie Gold, with some fine stone ground whole wheat as well)

Briefly mix together yeast and 1 c water in a small dish and set aside until bubbly. Put remaining water, oil, and honey in Bosch mixer. Mix briefly. Now add next four ingredients and yeast mixture. Mix briefly. Next add 6 cups flour. Mix well. Add 5 more cups flour, switch to the dough hook, and mix well again. Continue adding flour 1/2 cup at a time (while mixer is on speed 1) until dough starts cleaning side of bowl. Mix for 10 minutes on speed 1. Let set 5 minutes, put into a  large, oiled dish pan to rise. It rises best if you preheat your oven to 200 degrees, then shut the oven off, and set it inside to rise with a dish towel over top. Let it rise at least an hour. Once you feel that it is risen, divide it into 5 loaves and "spank"* each loaf as you put it into greased bread pans. Let them rise as high as you want them, then bake at 300 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans and let set on cooling racks. Lightly brush a stick of butter over the tops while they are still warm. Let them cool before putting into bags. Freeze until you want them and store in the fridge unless you're going to eat it really fast (As in, a day or two). To relive the moment of slicing that warm bread just after it's out of the oven, warm a thawed loaf for 1 minute to enjoy it's wonderful tastiness. Great with butter and honey, jam, apple butter, or anything else your heart should desire.

This will feel very different than your normal bread dough. The first time I made it I was sure I had flopped it. It's very elastic and unusual feeling. It also has a tendency to fall more than any other bread I've ever baked, so be careful when taking it out of the oven and pans.

*Slapping the tops with your fingers together helps eliminate air bubbles. You may also prick the tops with a fork for this purpose.

Now, enjoy!

Delighted

I'm very happy because this book is on it's way to my mailbox, courtesy of two Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks! This is how it works--you use swagbucks as your main search engine(it works just as well as google, yahoo, or anything else), and you accumulate swagbucks just for searching! You then redeem your
swagbucks for prizes or for gift cards! We've gotten a number of amazon gift cards simply just by using the search engine! There is a special promotion right now that earned me two amazon gift cards--a $10 value! I simply signed up for the free trial of Netflix, as promoted though swagbucks, and presto! Gift cards! After a week I canceled the trial, but I still have the swagbucks. If you're considering signing up for swagbucks after you've read this raving review, would you consider using one of my links to sign up so that they know I referred you? I would be delighted. =) You can go here: www.swagbucks.com/refer/Dorcas

One Month, One Hundred Gifts--September

I've been blessed by Ann Voskamp's quiet thoughts of blessing and gratitude at her blog, aholyexperience.com, and have decided to start my own list of One Thousand Gifts, little gifts from God for which I am grateful. I began this list on August 30th and it worked out almost perfectly to 100 gifts in this month. I thought this would be a nice habit to keep going--One Month, One Hundred Gifts. It was a blessing to read back over these as I typed them in, remembering God's goodness. So here you have, to rejoice with me, One Hundred Gifts.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Phil.4:4

1. Healing in my body—energy!
2. Fresh smelling crisp laundry
3. Possessions to give away
4. Listening to my best friend plead with God for the soul of another friend
5. Hearing the littlest boy pray for Cody and Nepal so grown-up like
6. Puppy dog kisses
7. Hearing them cheer me on when they knew I was trying hard

9. Refreshing sleep

10. The pink in the sky

11. Dancing in the rain

12. Running a quarter mile

14. Her excitement over losing 20 lbs

15. Hard times at work

16. Investigating the Word together

17. Discipline

18. Time to get everything done

19. Star gazing

20. The smell of fresh bread

21. Grace

22. Promises that I will find when I seek

23. “Tansha!!”

24. Marjorie’s cheerful smile

25. Hugs at the table

26. Child training ideas

27. Their patience with me

28. Lessons children teach

29. Breaking free from my addiction

30. Rodeo sounds

31. The freedom to live as God directs

32. The security of God planning and shaping my days

33. The safety of a friend whom I can tell my hardest struggles, and know that they will still love me, pray for me, and protect my heart.

34. Raindrops

35. Tea in polka dots

37. Butterfly kisses and Eskimo hugs

39. Squeals of delight in a ball game

40. Friends showing up unannounced

41. Swinging in the moonlight

42. Seeing my breath in the air

43. Ball games

44. Wanted ads

45. An extra day at home

46. Sore throat

47. My failures

48. Death

49. Promise of the Spirit

50. Runny nose

51. Talk with Mom

52. Surprise smiles

53. Pink sunshine and lemonade

54. Heroes

55. Singing on the bus

56. Getting dumped

57. A break from work and stress

58. Quiet campfire conversations

59. Peace like a river

61. Change

62. Possibilities

63. Brother-friends

64. Best friends

65. Mommy hugs

66. Grouchy people

67. Messy rooms

68. Sock feet and squeaky floors, bare feet and stars

69. Picture perfect moments

70. A new friend

71. Sanctuary

72. Towels on the line

73. Pictures of me and the littlest boy

74. Curls in their hair

75. Wood stacked for winter

76. Being together with a little boy

77. Late night frustrations

78. Cold toes

79. A new morning

80. A sister’s growth

81. Hard choices

82. Impossibilities

83. Froggies and raindrops

84. Stillness

85. Desperation for the Spirit

86. Promises of perfect peace

87. A soul that is alive

88. A good night’s sleep

89. Contentment

90. Each breath

91. Lessons

92. Fall colors and falling leaves

93. Loss of control

94. Weakness

95. Autumn smells

96. Crickets

97. Joy in His presence

98. Pain in my shoulders

99. Kittens and boots

100. Dissapointment

180

Please take a half hour of your time to watch this film on the similarities of the Holocaust and abortion by Ray Comfort and then visit the website and pass it on. Viewer discretion advised, there are some graphic holocaust images.

Reading wishlist...

I really do love to read when I get the chance. I have a whole bunch of books I'm really wanting to read in the future, but these are top on my list.

Kisses From Katie by Katie Davis The book description briefly recaps the life of this young women that has so inspired me. (For the story of how she has impacted my life, go here.)

"What would cause an eighteen-year-old old senior class president and homecoming queen from Nashville, Tennessee, to disappoint her parents by forgoing college, break her little brother’s heart, lose all but a handful of her friends (because the rest of them think she has gone off the deep end), and break up with the love of her life, all so she could move to Uganda, where she knew only one person but didn’t know any of the language? A passion to make a difference. Katie Davis left over Christmas break her senior year for a short mission trip to Uganda and her life was turned completely inside out. She found herself so moved by the people and children of Uganda that she knew her calling was to return and care for them. She has given up a relatively comfortable life—at a young age—to care for the less fortunate of this world. She was so moved by the need she witnessed, she's centered her life around meeting that need. Katie, a charismatic and articulate young woman, is in the process of adopting 13 children in Uganda, and she completely trusts God for daily provision for her and her family. "

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp I've been so inspired and refreshed by Ann's quiet thoughts on her blog. 

From the Amazon description: In One Thousand Gifts, Ann invites you to embrace everyday blessings and embark on the transformative spiritual discipline of chronicling God's gifts. It's only in this expressing of gratitude for the life we already have, we discover the life we've always wanted...a life we can take, give thanks for, and break for others. We come to feel and know the impossible right down in our bones: we are wildly loved--by God. Let Ann's beautiful, heart-aching stories of the everyday give you a way of seeing that opens your eyes to ordinary amazing grace, a way of being present to God that makes you deeply happy, and a way of living that is finally fully alive. Come live the best dare of all!

 Grace for the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman I just found out about this book, but it looks really good.

Amazon description: Many of us believe that we are saved by grace--but for too many, that's the last time grace defines our life. Instead of clinging to grace, we strive for good and believe that the Christian life means hard work and a sweet disposition. As good girls, we focus on the things we can handle, our disciplined lives, and our unshakable good moods. When we fail to measure up to our own impossible standards, we hide behind our good girl masks, determined to keep our weakness a secret. In Grace for the Good Girl, Emily Freeman invites women to let go of the try-hard life and realize that in Christ we are free to receive from him rather than constantly try to achieve for him.

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