Soft Whole Wheat Bread!

100% Whole Wheat bread that is soft AND has a light texture! It does exist! I'd given up years ago on finding a recipe that I liked for Whole Wheat bread. It was a lot of work and mine usually, or I should say ALWAYS, looked and felt like a brick.

I usually just make homemade white bread because it tastes better. Lately, I've been wanting to find some healthy recipes since the kids eat pb&j so much.

A fellow Coastie wife shared this recipe, and it is fantastic! She said I could share it with everyone on my blog. As easy as this was to make, and inexpensive, I am going to skip buying bread all together anymore. I made two batches today using my bread machine's dough cycle. Then baked it in the oven.
I don't like bread machine bread. It tastes so much better baked in the oven, but you could just leave it in your machine the whole time.

Soft Whole Wheat Bread

1 cup water
3 T. butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. instant potato FLAKES (not buds or pearls)
3 c. Whole Wheat flour
2 tsp. yeast

Put all ingredients into bread machine and run the "dough" cycle.
Form into loaf, and place in greased 10x5 bread pan. Let rise for 1 hour.
The middle of the loaf will be about an inch over the top of the pan.
Bake @ 350 for 35 minutes.
 

Be sure to wrap the loaf with plastic wrap as soon as the loaf is cool. It freezes well, just thaw in the plastic wrap on the counter.

Cake!

Tonight was the last night of the first level of my cake class. I begin level 2 next Monday. It has been sooooooo much fun! Here is my cake that shows off several techniques that I have learned. Far from perfect, but I'm learning. I learned tonight that roses are not my friend, LOL. I added them to my list along with shell borders. I guess that just shows me what I really need to work on. Making things UNIFORM. It's hard!! But fun too.
My cake totally stood out, but I liked the color and think Aaron will too :) It was the only cake without pink roses. The boys are always excited the day after my cake class to sample stuff! I am only making one cake for level 2, a basket weave one.

Dress for Kaylee Bug

Kaylee has some really cute dresses, but she's outgrown a lot of them, and some of the others are too big, so I decided to make her one! I already had the little pattern, just needed some fabric. So I picked up several yards at Joann's in different prints to make her some dresses. Here is the first one I finished, a little jumper. I made it a 3-6 month size since she just moved up to wearing that size, and wouldn't you know?......It's too big! Pattern sizes are always different than store clothing, oh well! So yet, another one to grow into! Actually, she might be able to fit into it in a few weeks, so that's not bad! :)

Chicken Spaghetti

This is very simple and good!

1/2 lb. spaghetti, cooked, drained, rinsed (I used whole wheat)

2 chicken breast halves, cubed

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 T. oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

pepper

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 c. water

1 chicken bullion cube

parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Place in small casserole dish. Heat oil, add garlic and chicken, salt and pepper, and cook until chicken is done. Add chicken on top of spaghetti noodles.

In sauce pan, heat soup, water, and bullion. Bring to a boil and pour over pasta and chicken. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, if desired.

Makes 4 large servings.

Fruit Smoothie

We like smoothies year-around over here, although I'm sure that Jamba Juice is taking a hit during these colder months! We keep it simple. Frozen/fresh fruit and 100% juice. That's it! Usually, I'll do a combo. Frozen strawberries and mixed fruit with a fresh banana. Add it all to the blender, then fill the rest of the blender with 100% apple juice or whatever I have on hand. My favorite juice to use is pineapple juice. I buy it conentrated in the frozen section. If I have a yogurt that is about to expire, I'll add it too, but for the most part, we don't use dairy or sherbet. Just fruit and juice!

It tastes like a dessert to the kids, but is really a good helping of fruit (which they love anyway)! I made this for lunch today because I knew I needed to eat something healthy or else I'd fill up on the Chocolate Trifle from Brianne's blog! LOL. I made that last night and it was sooo good. It's just sitting there in the refrigerator calling to me everytime I open it!

Dried Oranges

In Kodiak, whenever Derrick would go on a long flight delivering supplies or training, the air crew was provided with a boxed lunch. The lunch always came with an apple or an orange which was usually a red delicious (nobody's favorite apple) and the oranges were hit and miss. One week he came home with several apples and oranges. I decided to try and dry them. They turned out great and I made a wreath! It's lasted over a year with no bugs or mold, and still looks great.

We had a bag of oranges that weren't the best, so I decided to dry what was left of them today! I've made them two ways. With silica gel, and without. For apples, just use the baking method. Before placing on the rack, soak in lemon juice water. For citrus, you can bake or use the gel/baking method. It helps dry the slices without browning them. Baking works just fine, I tried the gel method because Derrick got me some silica gel. It is typically used for dried flowers and citrus fruits...and keeping your shoes and purses dry (those little packets that say DO NOT EAT, lol).

To make with gel, lay sliced oranges on a thin layer of silica gel. Bake @ 200 for 6 hours or until the gel turns white. Turning midway. The silica gel helps the oranges dry faster without baking as long or browning.

To bake, place a single layer of oranges on a rack over a baking sheet (to collect juice). Bake @ 175-200 for 8+ hours, turning midway. If oranges start to brown, turn oven down as low as it will go (usually around 150) until they are dry. I used this method for making my wreath last year.

When I did my apples and oranges for my wreath, I sprayed them with a clear coat of acrylic spray after the slices were dry and had a chance to sit out overnight. This helps them last longer in case there was any moisture left in the fruit. String them with wire, add a cinnamon stick, some bay leaves, a little raffia and hang!

I've also used orange slices with raffia to add to a gift. I wrapped the present in brown paper, used raffia like curling ribbon, then strung it through the orange slice.

Potato Stamping

Preschool was cancelled due to "inclimate weather". Second time in two weeks. ARE YOU SERIOUS? It was lightly snowing today, no accumulation! This place drives me nuts like that, but that's not what I am posting about, lol. Stepping off my soap box...back to crafting!

I wanted to do something active with the boys today since we weren't going anywhere. They watched a movie this morning and played with toys while I organized and cleaned out the kid's dressers. So I decided to paint penguins with them.

We used potatoes as stamps. For the penguins, we used 1 large potato, and one small. I cut the large potato in half, then carved notches for handles. The boys each got 1/2 of the potato.

They painted and/or dipped the potato, then stamped it onto the paper. We used the back of Christmas wrapping paper. I covered the kitchen wall with it. They used the larger potato for the black penguin bodies, and the smaller potato, dipped in white, for the bellies. I cut out a small section out of the larger potato when we were finished with the bodies and used it for flippers.

They worked as a "team" to paint the eyes. Dallin did the white part (using the back of a foam brush) and Aaron did the black part of the eye with a Q-tip.

Then Aaron made the beaks, and Dallin made the feet using Q-tips dipped in yellow and orange paint.

Here is one that Dallin free-handed with a brush, not using potatoes.
This one has a peg-leg (Dallin said so) :)

Afternoon Painting

The boys had fun painting this afternoon, Aaron especially. I just grabbed a stack of copy paper, kid's paints, and brushes. I think Aaron made 6 paintings total.

We did brush painting...

Foam Stamps (Spiderman ones)...

...and "print" images. That idea came from my sister-in-law's blog. Very fun. She does homeschool with her kids, and is always doing fun things with them.

Oven Wedges

These are very easy to make and healthy too! I found this on Allrecipes.com and only changed a few things. To see the origional, click here. Don't pay any attention to the picture on the website, they must have uploaded the wrong one. Several reviewers said that the wedges don't turn out like the picture, I'm not the only one!


6 large potatoes
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt (kosher)
pepper
parmesean cheese

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients; stir to coat. Place in a single layer in an ungreased shallow baking pan.
Bake, uncovered, at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and lightly browned. When potatoes have been in the oven for 25 minutes or so, sprinkle parmesean cheese on top and finish baking.

We served it with raw veggies and Grilled chicken florentine (a variation that Derrick came up with from the one I posted on my blog).

Fimo Wall-E

Derrick took Dallin to see "Bolt" this afternoon. Dallin has been dying to see it since Aaron and I went last week. Yesterday when they were talking about going, Aaron wanted to go again. I told him that he needed to stay home with me since he might still be sick. He said that he would bring his blanket, juice, and puke bowl with him to the theater, LOL. I don't think so. He wasn't too happy about that, but came to terms with it this morning and was fine with staying home. So we did a little activity.

We used FIMO dough and made a little Wall-E. Aaron made the trash that he is holding between his arms as well as some "batteries" on the back that he said Wall-E needed :) I love FIMO dough. It comes in all sorts of bright colors and is easy to work with. Bake @ 265 for 30 minutes and it lasts forever! After it was baked, I added some details with a permanent marker. We've made all sorts of little things from FIMO. It is a little spendy, but holds up great to being dropped etc. We use it for little projects that the boys want to play with over and over. Anything else can be made from salt dough or play dough and just thrown away. After Wall-E was cool, we played "Hide Wall-E" and took turns hiding him in different places in the living room.