100% Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread for the Whole Week!

So this is my new favorite whole wheat bread recipe. Each loaf turns out large and beautiful, it doesn't slice crumbly, it's soft, but sturdy, and I love the little flakes of added oatmeal. There is one tiny little problem with this bread, though, and if you can help me figure out how to solve it, let me know. It really, really sticks to the bottom of the pan. I spray my pans with Pam, but that doesn't seem to do the trick. I think next time I'll try greasing and flouring the pans, like you would with a cake.

This recipe originated at allrecipes.com HERE, but I changed it from part-wheat/part-white to all whole wheat and I subbed one of the cups of whole wheat with vital wheat gluten. This made a big difference in the crumbiness of the bread. I also sextupled the recipe so one batch would last me all week. However, this bread is so good, 6 loaves usually only last 3 to 4 days. Here, look how pretty the dough looked while it was rising...

But not for long. The twins' favorite job is to punch it down. They're really good at it. Look at the glee...

Here are the loaves right out of the oven, on cooling racks...

And here, freshly sliced....So, so lovely...

Okay, enough with the drooling. Here's the recipe. Oh, one more tip. If you are using a Bosch to do the mixing for you, place all the wet ingredients in the bowl, turn it on with the bread kneader in place, then add the dry ingredients as it's spinning. This will decease the flour that's thrown out of the bowl, since this recipe nearly takes up the bowl's capacity. Enjoy!

Ingredients

7-½ cups warm water
2 tablespoons and 1-½ teaspoons active dry yeast
¾ cup honey
¾ cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons and 1-½ teaspoons salt
¾ cup nonfat dry milk powder
15½ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 cups quick-cooking oats

Directions

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. In very large bowl, combine warm water, yeast and honey. Let yeast dissolve for about 5 minutes.

2. Add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine, then knead on floured counter for about ten minutes, adding more flour if needed to form a soft ball that sticks to itself.

3. Place in a greased bowl, cover with moist towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.

4. Punch down and knead for one minute, then form into six loaves and place in well-greased bread pans. Cover with a moist towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, 30 to 45 minutes.

5. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until bread is golden brown.

6. Take out of pans and let cook on racks.

Complete Protein Garbanzo Pancakes

While riding in a van to choir practice with a friend, I learned about her garbanzo bean pancake experiment. I happen to have a very large supply of garbanzo beans, as I use them for the chicken substitute because of their texture, and when she mentioned that her family had no idea there was anything weird in the recipe, and totally loved them, I had to try it.

However, try as I may, I could never reach her thereafter to get the recipe, so out of desperation, I googled it and found something I thought would work. Upon putting it together in the blender, though, the batter appeared to be no thicker than milk, and I couldn't imagine how I could make a pancake out of it. We had just ground some whole wheat flour over the weekend, and the thought occured to me that if I added some, the pancakes would then contain a complete protein, plus hopefully be thickened up a bit. This worked like a charm, and the kids gobbled up the entire batch. I told the 15-year-old boy, a football player, that it was like eating steak and eggs for breakfast, but much better for you. He didn't buy it, but he did eat six pancakes and a few more with his lunch.

Thanks, Norma, for the inspiration! I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Ingredients

1 c. garbanzo beans
1½ c whole wheat flour
¼ c olive oil
1½ c. water
2 eggs
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Cook on a greased or buttered griddle until golden brown on each side.

NOTE: Pancake tops may not bubble when ready to be flipped, but the edges should start to pucker.

Sweet Corn and Raw Almond Chowder

Ingredients

3¼ cups fresh or cooked yellow corn kernels (from 4 large ears)
2 cups water
½ cup raw almonds
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small garlic clove
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1½ teaspoons chopped cilantro or parsley leaves
Freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. In a blender, combine 2¼ cups of the corn with the water, almonds, olive oil, garlic and salt and puree until smooth. If using a Vitamix, blend for a total of 5 minutes or until steaming. Otherwise, heat soup in a pot on medium heat.

2. Pour the soup into bowls. Garnish with the remaining 1 cup of corn kernels, the cilantro and a sprinkle of pepper, then serve.

MAKE AHEAD The corn chowder can be refrigerated overnight.

Got discounted Walmart gift cards?

I do, 20% off a $25 Walmart gift card, to be exact, in selected cities! So basically, when you go to Walmart, and you know you will, you'll get $25 worth of stuff for $20. So it's like I'm giving you $5 for free, because I love you so much. 'Cause you know you're going to Walmart anyways.

So, if you live near any of the regions below, just click on your city to order your card! (There are no catches, no surveys, no sharing with everyone on facebook, nothing like that, I promise.)

Albuquerque, NM

Atlanta, GA

Dallas, TX

Los Angeles, CA

Houston, TX

Denver, CO

Las Vegas, NV

Los Angeles, CA

Orlando, FL

Reno, NV

Salt Lake City, UT

San Antonio, TX

San Diego, CA

San Francisco, CA

Seattle, WA

St. Louis, MO

Tampa, FL

Have fun!

PSSST! To find great deals on fun stuff to do in your area, go HERE!

Quinoa Bean Pumpkin Pancakes

I came across this recipe at one of my favorite recipe sites, keyingredient.com. I adapted the recipe a bit, adding bean flour to the quinoa flour (you can make your own bean flour in a grain grinder or a Vita-Mix blender), and making my own sour milk using cider vinegar, as described below. These pancakes have an amazing 11 grams of protein per serving! Enjoy!

Ingredients
4 tsp cider vinegar
3 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup pinto bean flour
2 1/4 cup quinoa flour
2 tsp allspice
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree

Directions

Step 1. Combine vinegar and milk and let sit for ten minutes, until milk is curdled.

Step 2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.

Step 3. Mix all the wet ingredients in a large bowl, including the milk mixture.

Step 4. Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and mix well.

Step 5. Butter a skillet and pour on 1/4 cup portions. Cook until browned on each side. Pancakes will be moist in the center.

For Complete nutrition data go HERE.

We've got a Popsicle-Maker Winner!

All aligned correctly in the universe and, as per the laws of probability, the winner is of the Zoku Popsicle maker and Pops! book is......

Jb!

Congratulations! I normally don't say this for a giveaway, but Jb, you TOTALLY deserved this! You worked so hard tweetin' every single day and I am SOOO happy to be able to award you with this package!

Just send me a quick email with your mailing address (mom2my9 at gmail dot com), and I'll have it shipped off to you!

Congratulations again, Jb, and thank you so much to all who entered! If you'd like another chance to win a prize, come HERE to my newest giveaway!

I'm giving away a $50 Gift Certificate to Novica.com!

Jen at Whole Food Kids, 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven, 365 Days of TV-Free Toddler Time, Mega-Family Blogs, and life in mexico {and other places} a picture a day, is giving away a $50 Gift Certificate to Novica.com!

Novica, in association with National Geographic, is an innovative web store which enables artisans all over the world to sell their creations. Put your certificates towards the purchase of something like this...,

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