Sally Lunn Bread

Several people asked for this recipe before I had even posted it online! This really is a great recipe, best one for sandwich bread I have ever made! Even toasted great! I will put pictures up later with another post. I thought I'd put this one up now since people seemed eager :)

This is a bread machine recipe. If you do not have a bread machine then you must do all the kneading and resting by hand. There are a few things I have done differently to get a wonderful loaf of bread that I never used to do.

The first is I proof the yeast. Put all the liquids in the bread machine. Add the sugar, add the yeast. Let it be for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then add everything else as you normally would and turn on the machine.

The second is since I don't have bread flour, I add 4 tsp of vital wheat gluten to every loaf (and take out 4 tsp of normal flour).

Because of these two things, I had a wonderful loaf the last several times and last night's was perfect!

This is for a 1.5 pound loaf.

1 egg plus enough water to equal one cup PLUS 2 tablespoons.

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp of sugar

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp of softened butter

3 cups of bread flour

1 tsp of bread machine yeast

Put everything in according to the machine - after proofing your yeast - then put it on a basic/white cycle. Use a medium or light crust setting.

Enjoy!

3rd New Moon Trailer

I promise, I have more food related stuff to post but I just HAD to post this.

It's true, I'm a Twilighter and i am beyond excited with each new trailer that comes out. Only 2 more months! This trailer is the best one I've seen yet!

Juicing

So basically I've been feeling really crummy for a long time. I tend to believe that most things that ail someone can be fixed if they figure out how they caused them in the first place - usually I mean things like colds or hormonal imbalances. I believe in mixing a holistic approach with a modern medicine approach.

I was looking around online and found an interesting page about juicing. I already have a juicer and I think I will begin to incorporate some of these recipes and see if I start feeling better. I will post what I will try next week just as soon as I get my menu figured out. Dennis is starting school on Monday and I'm already worrying about what to send him to school with for breakfast and lunch! This is a lot of planning!

Spaghetti and Beanballs

I had a bit of fun today with food. Today was our first day back from the Philadelphia area and I was in the mood to cook. I guess this is what happens when I come home to a kitchen with no dishes in the sink :)

Lunch was a macaroni and cheese dish that I concocted myself. I use mac and cheese from the box, substitute sour cream for the milk (makes it creamier) and then normally add black beans and diced tomatoes. I ran out of black beans and ended up using kidney beans. Quite tasty and filling!


Then for dinner I went with the beanball recipe from Veganomicon and had it with spaghetti. They we great! I was very surprised!


Next time I will fry them or possibly deep fry them. I only baked them this time because I wasn't in the mood to deal with oil splattering everywhere. I'm so full I don't know if I would have been able to fit in the salad and french bread that I didn't think of til it was too late.

Smelly Update

So after turning on an oven burner today, I discovered what the awful smell was.

GAS!

The house didn't light on fire, it wasn't overly dramatic, but I did stand there for a second trying to comprehend why a burner I did not turn on had just lit into a mini bonfire before I called for Shane. The smell did disappear immediately and hasn't returned.

After thinking over the last couple days and trying to remember exactly how long the knob had been just barely turned to on, I realized how blessed we have been. Because the smell was so awful we kept most of the windows in the house open. The windows were open so the gas didn't build up too much. This is good because we lit candles and let them burn for a long time trying to cover up the smell.

Yesterday I brought my Febreze candle into the kitchen to help with the smell and did take a moment to wonder why the flame got quite a bit bigger.

If the last couple days did not have such gorgeous weather outside, we likely would have kept the windows closed and turned the air on, circulating the gas and making our headaches worse. In which case, who knows what would have happened when I turned the burner on.

I'll say we were blessed.

Smelly Week

Sorry I haven't gotten a single post up yet! I put together my menu for the week but have been unable to cook any of it (except for the lasagna - that was easy). Unable you ask? I'll tell you. There is a weird smell in my house!

Can't find it so I think it must be in the walls. It is a horrible smell - like something died. It is the worst near the kitchen and I just can't bear to cook in there. I was ready to start with meal number 2 tonight but Shane made an executive decision (his very words) and we went out to eat instead.

We really have moved everything, pulled things out of cupboards, had the landlord come over. Have no idea where the smell is coming from. And its not like its closer to a wall or anything; more like it sort of hovers in the air in a general location. So I don't know how well my theory abut something dying in the walls holds up.

Anyhow, whenever the mystery smell DOES go away, I am ready with my list of dinners. Hopefully none of my ingredients go bad before then...

Monday
Lasagna. I choose to buy Stouffer's Veggie Lasagna - it's so dang good! Yummmm. Of course, if you were to follow my list, you could do whatever kind of lasagna you wanted, including making your own.

Tuesday
Stir Fry with rice. That was the plan for tonight. While out shopping I just couldn't find the bag of mixed veggies I normally get and thought i would just buy fresh veggies this time. It's not like it really takes any longer to cook it. I was thinking earlier today that I would make this with a sweet and sour sauce instead of the normal soy sauce drench.

Wednesday
Lasagna leftovers. This is only because there are three of us and we buy the party size Stouffer's.

Thursday
Burritos. Another super easy and fast dinner. I am not sure why it would take anyone longer than 20 minutes to make burritos. This is one of the easiest veggie dishes out there. Refried beans, lettuce, sour cream, CHEESE, olives - pretty much whatever you like. Heat the beans and pile on the rest.

Friday
Smothered Tofu with Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes. I made this dish for the first time last week and it was an instant saver. The sauce was really great - a bit on the sweet side but still great. I think the only change I would make is to marinade the tofu first.

Saturday
Alfredo Green Beans and Broccoli. Another really easy dish. Shane gave this dish its entrance to this family. who knew that alfredo sauce could taste so good with green beans and broccoli!

Sunday
Pierogies with Corn on the Cob. Pierogies are one of my favorite things. So tasty and filling. Yummm.

Anyhow, I thought to come up with a lot of easy dishes the first week to help motivate myself and make coming up with some more interesting dishes less daunting for next week. We'll be taking a quick trip up to Philly for the weekend, so this list might go on pause. We shall see. Hopefully the mystery smell goes away soon. At least it gives us motivation to move on to our own house when we get the chance again!