Whole Wheat Bread

I love having the smell of fresh baked bread in my house and there are few things as satisfying as eating  a fresh piece of bread with melted butter all over it.  I must admit I am not a huge fan of the kneading involved in making bread from scratch but I found a recipe that looked simple enough that I decided to try using the bread hook on my stand mixer instead of doing it by hand.  It worked well and raised very nicely.

Whole Wheat Bread

2 1/2 cups very warm water

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp oil

1 tsp salt

1tbsp instant yeast

2 cups white flour

3 cups whole wheat flour

1. Stir together the water, lemon juice, honey and oil in a bowl.
2. In a large bowl stir together the flours, salt and yeast.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir until combined.
4. Either knead for 10 minutes or use a bread hook on a stand mixer for about 5 minutes.
5. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and allow to double in size (about 45 minutes to 1 hour).
6. Punch the dough down and form into loaves (makes 3 regular sized loaves).  Place the loaves in well greased pans and allow to rise for 30-45 minutes.
7. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Carrot Bran Muffins

Like everyone, I seem to go in vegetable phases and recently we have been eating a lot of carrots whether it is raw, cooked or in baking.  Today I decided I would try to use up some bran I have had in the pantry for a while and since my horse is on a diet I thought making carrot bran muffins for me to eat would be a perfect way for me to save him the calories.  Lucky for me, Libero does not have a computer and I am pretty sure he can read.  He would not be happy to see that I made muffins instead of spoiling him.

I love having a muffin stash in the freezer because they are so handy for a quick snack or breakfast on the run.  Since I have a new born quick food that is easy to grab is a necessity.  The recipe was quick to prepare (a must at the moment) and tastes great.

Carrot Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup bran

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup butter milk

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tbsp molasses

1 cup raisins

1 1/2 cups grated carrots

1. Mix together the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl combine the buttermilk, oil, molasses and eggs.
2. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until everything is just moist.
3. Fold in the raisins and grated carrots.
4. Divide the batter into muffin tins. (Makes about a dozen).
5. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Raspberry Montreal Marinade

I know it may be a little early for some people to think of barbecuing but in our house it is more of a year round thing.  I love being able to cook meats easily with not much fuss for clean up.
This great tasting marinade makes a big batch so you can keep it in the fridge or freeze it in smaller portions for later use.  You can use a home made steak spice mix or go for the easier store bought variety.  It goes well with many different types of meats and taste nice on potatoes too.

Raspberry Montreal Marinade

2 cups olive oil

1/2 Montreal steak spice

1/3 cup honey mustard

1/3 cup raspberry vinegar

1. Whisk the ingredients together.
2. Marinate the meat for at least two hours before grilling.

7 Up Cake

My grandmother made this cake once when I was growing up and a couple years ago I decided to try to find the recipe.  When I finally got around to making it, I was very happy that it was as tasty and moist as I remember.  I don't usually like posting recipes involving packaged mixes but I thought this could be an exception.  It is too tasty not too and it is nice to have easy things on hand for last minute guests.

7 Up Cake

1 box vanilla cake mix

2 small boxes lemon pudding

4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 can 7 Up

1 tsp vanilla

1. Put the cake mix in a large bowl and add the pudding. Mix these dry ingredients together well.
2. Add the eggs and beat well.
3. Add the oil, 7 Up and vanilla.  Stir to combine.
4. Pour into a pan and cook at 325 for 40-45 minutes.
5. Allow to cool and ice if you would like.

Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

I love using balsamic reductions on different vegetables.  I wanted to try something new with asparagus the other night so I decided to try it with a balsamic reduction.  The asparagus was amazing and the remaining reduction is being saved to use again tomorrow night for a salad or on some other vegetables.

Baked Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce

1 bunch asparagus

salt and pepper

cooking oil

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 400.
2. Break the woody ends off the asparagus and toss with oil, salt and pepper.
3. Place in a baking dish and bake for 12 minutes.
4. While the asparagus is in the oven, melt the butter in a saucepan.  Once it has melted add the balsamic vinegar and the soy sauce.  Bring it to a simmer and allow it to reduce while the asparagus is baking.
5. Pour the reduction over the asparagus just before serving.

Cocoa Puffed Wheat Squares

Sometimes the easiest recipes make the yummiest treats.  This is easy to through together at the last minute and has always been one of my favourite guilty pleasures from childhood.  Strangely enough I always thought they would be hard to make.
I remember having it as a snack at an ex's parents house and asking his mom for the recipe.  I was surprised how easy it was to make and it is pretty easy to clean up after making it too.
Growing up we would always have rice crispy squares but I always hated having to scrub the pot afterwards to remove the marshmallow goo.  As long as you soak this pot, it is really easy to clean.

Cocoa Puffed Wheat Squares

8 cups puffed wheat

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/3 cup corn syrup

1/3 cup butter

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1. Measure out the puffed wheat into a bowl.
2. Combine the other ingredients in a saucepan on the stove.  Melt the ingredients together over medium heat.
3. Pour the chocolate syrup over the puffed wheat and stir with a spatula until the puffed wheat is coated.
4. Using a spatula press the puffed wheat into a 9x9 inch greased pan.