Do you have yeast?

I had an entire post written up, but it was too. aarghhh. I am so sick of hearing about the virus, I am tired of hearing people argue if it is or isn't as bad as influenza. Nobody can seem to talk about anything else.

So my question was. Do you have yeast? Um.. what do you mean? I mean, if you can't get bread at the grocery, you have to make it; and you need yeast to make bread. So do you have yeast? What kind?  There's a couple to choose from: commercial yeast (Red Star, Fleichman's, SAF) and sour dough starter.

Commercial Yeast

 Each one gives you the same general result.  A loaf of bread. Usually the commercial yeasts will almost always give you a great rise, fine crumb, and a way to make a sandwich. BUT if it is too old, or has not been stored correctly then it's not so good. Nobody likes ending up with a brick after using 3 to 15 cups of flour, plus sugar, fat, and the precious yeast to find out that it didn't work.

Commercial yeast is finicky. Store it too hot and it dies. Store it in the freezer and it lives. Make your bread with too hot of water or milk, kill your yeast. Use warm to cool water, yeast is happy. Too much salt will retard (prevent yeast from growing), too little and the yeast will over proof (rise) and your bread will be loose and crumbly.

Sour Dough

Sour Dough is what some of us bakers call perpetual yeast. It is easy to make, and you don't have to buy it. Yes you can find sour dough starters on ebay and etsy, craiglist and most likely facebook too. You can also make it yourself.
It can be finicky like commercial yeast, but once you have it going, it is a powerhouse. Again, you have to treat it right.

About day 7

I started this sour dough starter in February. I all of a sudden decided I needed a new challenge. I guess dealing with my second kid getting married and kiddos #4 & #5 saying they are getting married this year too! Dealing with health issues (don't go down the three steps in the garage incorrectly!) and trying to make sure everyone is getting the love and attention they need and want. Plus working on a quilt, and just feeling overwhelmed. So yes, let's start a new challenge!

No pressure. So I follow The Prairie Homesteader, and so I learned from her. I have made starter before, but that was before .. That was before our new normal.  So I needed a refresher course.  I followed her directions and made my starter. As you can see, it came out great.

 

I forgot to take pictures of each day, but if you look closely at the picture you can see tiny bubbles. It took about 7 days, and I made some yummy sour dough pancakes. I waited until day 14 until I attempted my first sour dough loaf. It .. worked.. but it was pale, and bland, and heavy and tight crumb. Nothing like I was expecting. I wanted big holes, I wanted it to be crispy on the outside and fluffy yummy on the inside. It was not. So I kept feeding my starter and using the discard for muffins and pancakes.

About day 14

I patiently kept feeding it and using the discard, giving discard away to a good friend. And now look at it. Look at those amazing bubbles. I found a recipe for sourdough bread. It is more labor intensive, it is worth it though. I also was educated by
amyinthekitchen.com about why my first attempt didn't work. I didn't do a float test. You can find this information on the website, and it isalso where I found the recipes I am working with right now to make sour dough bread. I already have a sour dough pancake recipe I like.

 And finding the recipe I liked a lot was on her other page, Little Spoon Farm. 
I tried making her recipe for "Beginner's Sour Dough Bread", and let me tell you.. It is yummy. It was more work than I was expecting, but it is worth it.

This picture of that recipe; it makes two LARGE loaves, and I think if I make that one again I will cut the dough into fourths, not just in half. Because the loaves were so big that it is too wide to cut easily. Yes I can remedy this by cutting across the loaf, and then putting the cut edge down and make half slices, but I didn't want to do that.
These loaves are BEAUTIFUL! And I made them!

 Isn't it pretty? Look how wide it is!  It is 8 inches, or a little more wide! This one I did the classic triple slash with the razor blade.

I will warn you, you need a brand new razor blade, the kind you put in a box knife, to make the slashes in the dough. I tried with a sharp kitchen knife and it just didn't slice through as good as a thin razor blade. I may even try using one of those double edge razors you get for old Gillette razors.

 This one with the weird face, I tried to get fancy with the razor blade, and when it was done baking, it looked a lot different! But wow did scoring the loaves with the razor blade help it rise better. I know it doesn't make sense, but it works. MY little one said the wavy slash was a snake, what you can't see is on the one end of that slash is looks like a little forked tongue coming out.

 Now look at how tall they are! 4 inches!  Holy cow!  And they are a little different in height because I used different size bowls to proof them in. They weighed exactly the same.


This bread is delicious. It does not have a strong sour dough flavor, which is good because two of my kids do not like the taste, but they are getting better with it. I am educating their palates.

I am so thankful for these two ladies who helped me to grow. I love learning, I love cooking, I love baking. I just hate cleaning up (just being honest). I am currently working on another recipe from Little Spoon Farm, her Sourdough Country Loaf Bread. This recipe only makes one loaf, but it was so easy now that I understand what I am doing, and so quick for me. The beginner's loaf seemed hard at first because it was the first time I was making the recipe. But next time I make the beginner's bread recipe I will cut it into four, and give it away along with some starter and the website so they can start this amazing journey.   

GF MINI LOAF

I found this by chance. It was supposed to be cooked in microwave, but since I don't believe in microwaves being safe, we bake it. And it works out great!  YOU need to use the GF flour mix recipe I have on the site, as it has the baking powder in it.

GF Mini Loaf

1 egg or 1 TBS flax meal AND 3 TBS water
3 TBS buttermilk*
1/3 cup gluten free flour mix
1 tsp. honey or sugar or agave

Combine wet ingredients first, then dry. Stir well. Pour into small loaf pan (SMALL, like one from a kids baking set). Bake at 375 for 20 minutes in the MIDDLE of the oven.

*you can use dairy free milk. Just add a tsp. of lemon juice or vinegar to make it "buttermilk" to make a total of 3 TBS of "buttermilk".

Depending on your flours, and liquids, and weather, the middle can sometimes be sticky, but we like the ease of this recipe, quickness of it, and the flavor can always be changed by adding dry herbs.

"McDonalds" Pancakes

Me: "Good Morning, what would you like for breakfast today?"
The Brood: "Pancakes"
Me: "What kind of pancakes would you like?"
The Brood: "McDonald's Pancakes"

McDonalds pancakes.. easy. Now I don't make these like the restaurant. I don't use preservatives, weird oils, and "white" flour. Originally I made these using a few tablespoons of cannery vanilla pudding, but since I am out of that, I just add some vanilla.

Now mind you, I don't use store bought flours. I know, I am weird. I make my own all-purpose flour. Yes I grind the grains myself. Remember you can use beans for oil, which I did today! The kids didn't notice a difference either. Give this recipe a try.

Our version of McDonalds Pancakes:

1 egg
2 TBS oil, or bean puree
3/4 cup sour milk (usually reconstituted powdered milk, and I put 2 tsp lemon juice in it)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 TBS sugar
1TBS baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 handful of oatmeal

Mix it all up and cook it on a hot griddle. Now for our family I did multiply this by 4. IF any leftover batter, then I store it in a jar in the fridge. Usually someone wants pancakes when everyone else is having eggs.

Deals to Meals

Are you having a hard time figuring out where to start your food storage? Or are you unsure of how to use all the food storage you have? Deals to Meals to the rescue!  These ladies have been working hard to show people how to use the food storage we are supposed to have. You do NOT want to stock pile food and then not rotate it and use it. You have to know how prepare it or you will starve when you finally need it.

Check out their blog, from where to start on getting food storage, to recipes and meal planners, not to mention couponing. Head on over and check out Deals to Meals, and start learning step by step...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recently my cousin was diagnosed with Celiacs. My daughter and I have been gluten free for about 6 or more weeks now. I know how hard it is eating gluten free  because we have also been  corn free for 9 or 10 years. So here is our favorite recipe so far, on the gluten free trail. This is one of our favorite recipes that I adapted to GF. ALSO, we usually use half of the chocolate chips called for. These freeze great!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (Gluten Free)
1/3 cup oil or melted butter
1 cup brown sugar packed
2 eggs**
1 cup pumpkin
1 cup any combination of white rice flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, sorghum flour or bean flour
2/3 cup any combo of brown rice flour, almond flour, coconut flour, millet flour, buckwheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthum gum or guar gum (ONLY if making GF)
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Bake in lined muffin tins at 400 degrees for 10 to 20 minutes or until done, depending on your altitude and oven.

This recipe easily doubles, triples and quadruples!! Below are measurements for a large can of pumpkin :)

1 1/3 cups oil or melted butter
4 cups brown sugar packed
8 eggs**
1 large can of canned pumpkin or 4 cups
4 cups of fine flour (allpurpose OR combo of rice, tapioca, potato starch)
2 2/3 cups heavy flour (whole wheat OR combo of brown rice, coconut, almond, bean, millet)
4 tsp salt
4 tsp xanthum gum or guar gum (ONLY if making GF)
2 tsp cloves
4 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
4 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups chocolate chips

Bake in lined muffin tins at 400 degrees for 10 to 20 minutes or until done. Depends on oven and altitude.

**YES, you can use egg replacer. YES  you can use 1 TBS flax seed oil soaked in 1/4 cup warm water for a few minutes in place of eggs, works great!

Black Bean Brownies with Medjool Dates

Ok, three variations!! So read all the way down. Both of these are pretty low in fat, HIGH in fiber and protein!!  We love all of the black bean brownie recipes.  NOTE: you can use pinto beans or white beans instead!!!! 

Variation #1:

3 eggs

1 cup medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1 TBS vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 TBS oil or melted butter
1 (15oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease 8x8 inch pan.
In food processor, place dates, black beans and oil/butter and puree until smooth.
Add baking soda, vanilla and cocoa powder and again puree until completely smooth.
Allow food processor to blend for 3 to 5 minutes without stopping to emulsify.
Add eggs and mix well.
Pour batter into greased baking pan. Bake until slightly firm on top and edges pull away from the sides of the pan or toothpick comes out of center mostly clean (about 30 minutes).
Allow to cool and then frost as desired.


Variation #2 (lower fat):
 
3 eggs

15 medjool dates, pitted
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 TBS vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 TBS oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In food processor, chop dates, oil and black beans until smooth.
Add baking soda, cocoa, vanilla, and applesauce. Puree until smooth, allow processor to run for 3 to 5 minutes with out stopping.
Add eggs and mix well.
Pour batter into greased 8x8 pan and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out mostly clean.
Frost as desired when cool.
Makes 16.

Variation #3 (MY FAVORITE, BESIDES ORIGINAL)

3 eggs
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 tsp.- TBS real vanilla
1/2 cup baking cocoa
3 TBS oil
1/2 tsp baking soda OR powder
Dates
Granulated sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Using a 3/4 cup, fill it half way with chopped pitted dates, then fill the rest of the way with sugar. Place everything in the blender or food processor, EXCEPT chocolate chips. Blend until smooth. Add chips and blend just until they are broken up. Pour into greases 9x9 pan. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Frost when cooled.

Frosting #1 : Better Crocker Fudge Frosting (cut in half for bean brownies above!!!!)


1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/4 cup milk (cow, goat, rice, coconut, almond... whatever kind you like)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon agave nectar OR corn syrup
dash of salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix granulated sugar and cocoa in 2-qt. saucepan. Stir in milk, butter, agave nectar or corn syrup and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently. Boil 3 minutes, stirring occasionally; cool. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over brownies. Let cool.

Frosting #2:

1/3 to 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 to 4 TBS whipping cream

Combine and melt slowly. Pour over brownies and let set up for about 5 minutes before cutting.

Black Bean Brownies

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 eggs
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 tsp. vanilla (I never measure vanilla.. I just pour some in)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Lightly grease 8x8 square baking dish
Put all ingredients except chocolate chips in blender. Blend until smooth. Add chocolate chips and blend just a little to break them up a tiny bit.
Bake in preheated oven on middle rack until the top is dry and edges start to pull away from pan, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Frost with favorite frosting.

Frosting #1 : Better Crocker Fudge Frosting (cut in half for bean brownies above!!!!)


1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/4 cup milk (cow, goat, rice, almond, coconut... whatever kind you like)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon agave nectar OR corn syrup
dash of salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix granulated sugar and cocoa in 2-qt. saucepan. Stir in milk, butter, agave nectar or corn syrup and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently. Boil 3 minutes, stirring occasionally; cool. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over brownies. Let cool.

Frosting #2:

1/3 to 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 to 4 TBS whipping cream

Combine and melt slowly. Pour over brownies and let set up for about 5 minutes before cutting.

How will your food storage taste??? Appetite fatigue?

Imagine, you have to live by eating off your food storage... hmmm... 365 days of wheat, rice, honey and dry milk... yuck!  What will you flavor it with? How will you change the taste? First off, you can change the wheat, you can grind it fine for flour, crack it with your grain mill for cereal, and sprout it for eating or making . Wow, three different things you can do with the wheat to change the texture. With your rice, you can use it as is, grind it fine to make a flour, or grind it like corn meal and have cream of rice !!!  Unless you know how to make natural sourdough, or natural sprouted wheat dough, you won't be able to make bread with your wheat !! 

I know the basics to start with are wheat, rice, dry milk and honey; but honestly, unless you use it daily or weekly, if you really have to try to all of a sudden survive on this you will get major intestinal upset! Not kidding, people not used to eating wholewheat will get diarrhea which then causes dehydration. Not a good option. So start using your whole wheat now, get your body acclimated to the wonderful grain.

Powdered milk does and will go rancid. Is the powdered milk in your storage whole, half fat or non fat, instant or regular? It truly makes a difference. I suggest non fat, it keeps the longest.

Honey, yes it can and will crystalize, no big deal really, you will just have to cut it out of the jar or jug. It happens when the honey loses moisture, but it does not mean it is bad!!  Infact honey is a natural disenfectant. Did you know you can put raw honey on a cut and it will help prevent it from getting infected? The trick is finding true raw honey.

Rice... most of the rice I canned at the cannery is parboiled which = par gross!!! The texture is nasty, the flavor is dull, and the nutrients are lacking. If you want full nutrient rice, then you would need to get brown rice, problem is, brown rice is high in natural oils and hence goes rancid faster than white rice. AND brown rice, unless you are used to the flavor, is hard for some to like. 

Ok, so far we only have the 4 things in our food storage.. How will we change the flavor? What will we make? How will we cook it?

Changing the flavor can honestly be changed by how you treat the grain. Get a family grain mill (you won't regret it) and you can now make flour, cracked wheat, and farina (cream of wheat). Did you know if you sprout your wheat the nutritional value goes up exponentially and it changes from a starch to a vegetable?  Yup, very true, what a bonus. Easy to do, grab a clean peanut butter jar, or glass jar, put your 1/2 cup of wheat in there, soak in room temp water for about 18 hours, then drain. Rinse the grains 3 times a day for about 2 to 3 days or until you have little tails about 1/3 the length of the wheat kernal. Now you can grind it up fine and make sprouted wheat bread. OR grow it until the tail is 2/3 the length of the kernal, cook up and you have a nice chewy grain to eat. OR let it go until full length of kernal, and dry it and grind it fine and you have demalt (great way to get a good rise out of your yeasted breads).   I will post a recipe for sprouted wheat bread in a bit.  Ok, cracked wheat is a common cereal, easy to do in your family grain mill, set your mill so it cracks the wheat or breaks it in half. Cook 1 part wheat to 2 or 3 parts water depending on how you like it. Boil until all liquid is absorbed.  Go a little further and set your mill to grind the wheat so it comes out like corn meal or cream of wheat, ta da, a different textured cereal.
Want a different taste? Instead of using water to cook your wheat cereals, use milk.. Yup, good ol' fashioned porridge!!  yummers
Turn your rice into pudding. How? Make up your milk, and cook your rice in the milk. As it absorbs the milk, it releases natural sugars which will help to thicken up the milk..So use a ratio of 1 part rice to 3 parts milk.
You can also do something really fun with left over farina or cream of rice cereal, pour into 13x9 pan and let cool, you will want it atleast 1/2-inch thick. When cold, cut into squares and fry up in your cast iron pan, serve with a light drizzle of honey... of course you can only fry it if you have some fat..but that is an entire other blog post.  You could also cover with gravy if you happened to cook up some meat and were able to make gravy.

So now after this looooong post about how to use some of the basics my question remains, Could you really handle eating only wheat, rice, honey and powdered milk for 365 days with nothing else?  Think hard, I doubt it. Infact I think many of you would starve from either getting sick from eating things you aren't used to, or starving from refusing to eat it.. again..and again.. My point???? 

Add to the basics. Herbs can really go a long way, and if you buy them from the bulk bins you can get them for cheap. Great herbs to get???? Thyme, rosemary, marjoram, minced dried onion, minced dry garlic, oregano, basil, poultry seasoning, SALT, pepper, chili powder, paprika, celery seed, dill, ground CINNAMON (has health benefits too!!!!), nutmeg, juniper berries, alspice berries, vanilla, ground ginger, ground cloves (health benefits!!), bouillon cubes.. Spices are there to keep the palate from getting bored. You can also dry your own veggies to add: zucchini, carrots (blanch first!), potatoes (blanch first), peppers, oranges, orange peel, lemons, lemon peel, limes, lime peel, apples, bananas, raisins, peaches, pears.. Dried fruits and veggies take up less room than canned, can be rehydrated and used, or simply eaten as is, but remember to drink plenty of water.
So there you have it... what has been on my mind now for over a month. If you only have the basics, will you get appetite fatigue?

Blackberry (or any fruit) Cobbler

Ok, first let me say this is yum! I got this from a friend a long time ago, and it is a cherished recipe. I miss her dearly.

Filling:
6 cups blackberries, rinsed or frozen  (or any berry or fruit)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
Mix berries, sugar and flour and place in 15-inch dish.

Batter:
2 cups flour
1 cup plus 1 TBS sugar
1 TBS baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
8 TBS (or one stick) butter, melted
1/4 tsp nutmeg (or cinnamon depending on fruit)

Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Add milk and butter; beat until smooth. Spoon batter over berries, make sure you spread it out and don't have any fruit showing. Combine 1 TBS sugar and nutmeg. Sprinkle over batter. Bake in center of oven for 1 hour until bubbly and cake is cooked through.

All Purpose Flour

Here is my recipe for All-Purpose Flour:

I use a 4:1 ratio.. mostly.

4 cups soft white wheat
1 cup kamut
1 cup triticale
1 cup oat groats (not rolled!)
1 cup barley
1 cup rye (if I have it)
1 cup raw buckwheat
1/2 cup cheap white rice

I mix these grains then put them through my grain mill on the finest setting. I use cup for cup in place of store bought all-purpose flour.   If I don't have any of the 1 cup or less grains then I just go with out them. No big deal. Usually all-purpose flour is made from just barley and soft white wheat. But I like to get more grains in there. Occasionally I will throw in a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of lentils too.. Just to add some protein.

OR try this one as I know alot of those grains are not easy to get. Again, I use a 4:1 ratio

4 cups soft white wheat
1 cup barley

DEALS WOW!

I so love my DK Market!!  Send hubby to pick up some dried hot chilies and then I remembered I was out of bananas. And boy am I glad I was on the phone with him!  He got 15 pounds of bananas for me. I am so happy I could pee my pants! But I won't :)  What will I do with these bananas? Well, everyone (almost) eats one a day, plus when they get brown spots on them I will dip slices into a lemon juice dip or pineapple juice dip and dry them. Home made banana chips!  The kids love them. Also banana muffins, banana bread, and of course special pancakes!!!

Why am I so excited over 15 pounds of bananas? Because hubby got them for ...... are you ready for this? .... $0.29 a pound!!!  Yup! That's is correct! I am looking at the receipt and happy as can be! He also got my dried hot chilies for  the salsa I am going to attempt to make. Hope it's good.

I may run back next week for more bananas and make some banana jam, if I don't make any from the ones I already have. yummy!

Special Pancakes

4 eggs

4 cups flour

3 cups milk

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup baking powder

1 tsp. salt

2 large VERY ripe bananas, mashed

1 small zucchini, (6 - 8 inches), seeded and grated

1 TBS. cinnamon

1/2 - 1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 - 1 cup water (OPTIONAL)

1 - 1 1/2 cup choc. chips, optional

Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl, except chocolate chips. In large bowl mix eggs, bananas, zukes, milk and oil. Next add dry ingredients, and mix well. IF too thick, add some of the water. Mix will be thick. Measure 1/4 cup pancakes onto hot 400 degree griddle. Turn when edges are slightly dry and top is bubbly. Cook until golden on bottom.  IF you use the chocolate, I add 5 chocolate chips to each 1/4 cup pancake right before putting on griddle, because the chocolate sinks to the bottom of the bowl of dough.

This is our favorite breakfast during summer when we have zukes.

Zucchini Brownies

2 cups zucchini, shredded

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup canola oil

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Fudge Frosting

Combine zucchini, sugar, vanilla and oil. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients, then add to zucchini mix. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and stir.

Pour into greased 13 X 9 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. 

While baking, make frosting.

Fudge Frosting:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons baking cocoa

1/4 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon agave nectar OR corn syrup

dash of salt

1/2 to 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix granulated sugar and cocoa in 2-qt. saucepan. Stir in milk, butter, agave nectar or corn syrup and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently. Boil 3 minutes, stirring occasionally; cool. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over brownies.