It’s A Long And Winding Road

January is Bread Machine Bread Making Month. The person I one day hope to be, bakes all of her own bread, healthy bread. Here is one of my favorite, “healthy as I can make it” bread recipes. I hope you’ll give it a try and make changes that will create your perfect bread.

Granola Wheat Bread

Ingredients

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cup milk
12 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
3 ¼ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup granola cereal
½ cup corn meal
½ cup oats
¼ cup slivered almonds

Directions

Mix together, in a large mixing bowl, 2 cups all purpose flour, salt and yeast. In a sauce pan, heat the milk, honey and butter just until butter is melted. Add it to the flour mixture and stir until just mixed. Add the beaten eggs, and mix until smooth.

Stir in the whole wheat flour and mix until smooth. Mix in cornmeal, oats, granola and almonds. Knead the dough, on floured surface, until a firm, smooth ball is formed. Use additional all purpose flour if needed.

Place the dough into a greased bowl and turn the dough so it is greased on all sides. Cover with a thin dish towel and place in a warm location until the dough doubles in size (about 1 hour).

Punch the dough down and divide it in half. Leaving on floured surface, cover and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Form each dough piece into a ball and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Using your palm, flatten them to a thickness of 5 inches. Cover and let them rise again until doubled (about 30 minutes). You can make crisscrosses on the top if you like. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Rub oil over the top of the loaves and place back in the oven to cook an additional 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on a wired rack.

This is my version of low calorie Christmas dessert.

Low Calorie Brownies
Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 splenda
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder, instant
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips or crunched candy canes
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease an 8×8-inch non-stick cake pan.
In a mixing bowl, combine the applesauce, vanilla, egg , and Splenda until they are
mixed. Add the flour, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, baking powder, and
salt. Stir until it is just combined. Pour it into the pan. Sprinkle the chocolate chips
over the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool about 5 minutes before cutting.
While they are still warm add a scoop of low carb or no sugar added vanilla ice
cream.

You may have had them for Thanksgiving dinner, drowning in brown sugar and marshmallow goo. Sorry, I know millions of Americans love them that way and look forward to them every year. However, I prefer them baked in the oven like a regular baked potato, split open with a dab of butter and seasoned with sea salt and pepper. If you’ve never tried them in this simplistic form - do, you might be surprised.

Like carrots, sweet potatoes have plenty of beta carotene, fiber, proteins and vitamin C. When I was a child, I remember my father used to eat them raw with a bit of salt. I’m sure they retained much more of there nutritional value than when they are cooked. Here’s a recipe I haven’t tried yet, but I will. Grate or chop the sweet potatoes in small pieces. Sauté them in extra virgin olive oil along with diced onions, red bell pepper, minced garlic and a drained and rinsed can of black beans. Sounds great as a Mexican dinner side dish. Or, try them cut up like fries and bake them in the oven.