Stuff

I entirely neglected to make any resolutions this year.  In years past, it has been weight loss, getting fit, getting out of debt and the result has been, staying the same weight or gaining more, the same old same old for exercise and in as much if not more debt.  So, what's the point?  This year I've set my mind to seeking the will of God for me in this time in my life and to do it wholeheartedly <---- yes I just borrowed that from Sound of Music.  I'm praying for a positive way to do diffuse my anxiety and replace it with peace.  But I didn't set it as a resolution, because in my mind goals are for falling short and resolutions are for breaking.  So without so much as a blink, New Year's came and went without resolution or goal setting.

In Nov. I had mostly cleared the garage, selling things we didn't need and/or hadn't used in years, bringing in a tidy sum that we intended to use for Christmas, but ended up using on unexpected house repairs.  One item not in disuse that I sold was our second TV.  Now, I had been asking Dear Hubby for months if we could sell it because it was getting far too MUCH use and suddenly, finally, he relented!  I really could not believe it and I really could not be more happy it is gone.  There are no more or less disagreements about TV domination then there was.

What has totally amazed me in recent weeks has been my dear Husband's change of heart regarding frugality, letting stuff go, and no longer just sense of urgency about getting debt paid, but a determination to do so.  In the last two weeks, we garaged his dying car and cancelled cable TV. This was quite shocking to me.  See, in the past my husband's alter ego, Mr. Spendy, has often had his way with our money.  Providing the latest in electronic gadgets, the best in toys for our children and for himself, was Mr. Spendy's form of therapy.  And I am not totally in the clear here - my yarn habit and accrual of eBooks had gotten a bit crazy.  Mr. Spendy, it would seem, has been shelved in favor of Mr. Balanced - or at least that's what I like to call him ;)

In case anyone hasn't yet noticed, the economy is NOT getting any better.

Exercising the Pantry: GF Bread

Exercising the Pantry: 1 box of Gluten-Free Pantry Bread Mix - 2 loaves of bread.

1 box of Gluten-Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread Mix makes 1 loaf of bread. It is a rather generous sized loaf, rises nicely, great texture, neutral flavor, no complaints. Except the cost.... one box = $6 and that has gone up in the last  6 mos when I used to be able to get it for $5.29 a box.  Feeding a family of 7, one loaf does NOT go far, I'm lucky if the heel is leftover after lunch and if we have friends visiting, I inevitably have to make more than one loaf.   I seriously cannot afford to spend that much on bread.  Consequently we only have bread once every 2 weeks.

In case it's not common knowledge, while GFP bread mix is pretty like regular bread, nice brown crust that's not too hard, white center, etc and does have a similar texture, it's kind of devoid of much in the way of nutrition. Necessity being the mother of invention, I started thinking, how can I stretch this out and pack in more nutrition?  What do I have in the pantry?  Coconut flour, Chia seeds, and sunflower seeds.  Now coconut flour is a beautiful thing, it is full of fiber and has a good amount of protein, be aware that it absorbs almost twice the amount of water as regular flour does so plan accordingly if you use it to stretch some of your own pre-mixes. Chia seeds also have a ton of fiber and add protein as well, along with with adding a very slight nutty flavor (that you'd be missing from wheat if you're just switching to Gluten-Free) and are chock full Omega fatty acids.  Sunflower seeds (because my kiddo with allergies also can not do any nuts) add protein, healthy fat, and that nuttiness that I miss in multi-grain breads.  

The bread mix itself calls for the following:

1 3/4 of water or milk (or some combo of the two - the milk can be any type, soy, rice, almond, cow)

4 tbls of oil or melted butter (I have used sunflower oil, butter, and coconut oil - I prefer NOT to use the coconut oil if I can help it because I feel the texture is too dry)

2 whole eggs

This is what I add:

1/4 c. plus 1 tbl (approx) coconut flour

2 tbl Chia seeds ground or whole (I prefer to grind them myself in the coffee grinder - Chia is very volatile do NOT buy them pre-ground unless you just want the fiber)

1/2 C Sunflower seeds coarsely chopped (I do a few spins in the coffee grinder)

1 addl egg

1 addl tbl of oil

3/4 addl liquid (water or milk)

Assembly:

-Put mix, yeast, sunflower seeds, and coconut flour in mixing bowl and set aside.  

-In a separate microwavable mixing bowl, put in water/milk and oil/butter and heat to around 100 degrees - if you use cold eggs, 110 degrees

-In another bowl beat eggs (I specified 3 eggs, but you could use as many as 5 if you like) lightly - carefully add to warm water mixture

-Using egg bowl (or clean one if you prefer) add the Chia seeds (ground or whole) and mix with 1/2 c. of cool water, stir for about 30 sec. and set aside to let it set up

-Use this time to grease your bread pans - we're making 2 loaves - I found that butter works great for this because it won't melt into the bread while it's rising as much as coconut oil will and stays put unlike oil)

Ok, now that everything is ready, turn your mixer on low and rather quickly add the water/egg mixture and the chia seed mixture - turn mixer up to med-high scraping once and run it for about 3 min.  The consistency will be like cake batter.

Divide into two loaf pans and cover, let rise for at least 30 min, (I keep my house pretty cool in the winter so mine tends to take nearly an hour) and pre-heat the oven to 375.

Bake for 30 min. turning halfway through if your oven tends to cook unevenly like mine does.

When it's finished baking turn out onto cooling rack after about 5 min and then allow to cool considerably (we can never wait till they're completely cool) before slicing.