Clean Eating Wheat Bread

The past few weeks around our house have been all about getting creative with the meat in the freezer, using the all the veggies languishing in the crisper, and making do with what we have. I've gotten tired of shopping when the first layer--the "good stuff"--gets used up, leaving the same old rock-hard roasts and soggy celery dreaming of their chance in the spotlight.

OK, maybe I'm dramatizing the contents of my kitchen just a little. But for real, we did need to start using what we already had. Some unexpected expenses this fall have made me very aware of where our money is going. Bonus, I've always loved the nerdy satisfaction of using something up completely, whether it's toothpaste or a loaf of bread. Maybe it reassures me that I can provide for my family without going overboard or leaving them up a creek. In the name of provision, tonight I found myself making bread. Because a hunk of frozen lunchmeat just isn't very tasty by itself.

As I was making this, and a loaf of GF bread for The H, I wondered why I got away from homemade bread to begin with. The recipes are so simple! They come together remarkably quickly. And they saved me about $10 off the grocery budget this week.

I posted a link to this bread recipe years ago, but recently discovered it no longer works. Here is the recipe, from Clean Eating Magazine, with my minor tweaks at the end.


Whole Wheat Bread
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp olive oil
Warm water

Mix 1 3/4 cups warm water with the flour and yeast. Let this mixture rise until doubled in size, approximately 30 minutes. Add salt, honey, and oil to the dough and stir in completely; dough will be sticky. Let rise another 30 minutes, then knead or stir and let rise for 30min once more. Bake at 350* for 40 minutes. Slice and serve.



Tweaks: I know, from making this in the past, this has the texture of primordial ooze and will not tolerate kneading. It works well to simply punch/stir instead of kneading. Also, I moved 3/4 of the dough to a greased loaf pan before the final rise and made a flat focaccia out of the leftover. Tonight I was out of olive oil, but substituted blood orange infused oil with amazing results. Place a baking sheet under the loaf pan just in case.

A disappointing day

Today was a day of leftover-round-up in my house. Everyone's favorite, right? Blah. I can think of fewer food-related things more disappointing than a day of reheated food. I hate leftovers. At least, I hate the IDEA of leftovers. There are so many other things in the world (heck, in my pantry) to eat, why would I want to eat something I've recently had? Well, here's why:

Yesterday I made a massive batch of steel-cut oats, so it would only make sense that I chip away at them for breakfast. That was the intent, after all. So I had that with dried cherries, flax seed, chopped almonds, and agave nectar. Yum. Then I rinsed the black beans I'd soaked overnight, and got them into the CrockPot to simmer all day.

Shortly afterwards, my son tripped on something (pajama foot? toy? I couldn't say) and face-planted onto the hardwood floor. When I noticed the blood on my shirt after snuggling him, we made a trip to the pediatrician's office, where he was diagnosed with an (untreatable) lacerated frenulum--he bit through that hangy-down ridge inside the upper lip, between the teeth. Ouch. His morning snack was ice cream, and mine was ... nonexistent.

After his quiet time while I did some work, we shared (or tried to) a bowl of chicken barley stew. It must have been too hot or peppery for his split lip, because he cried at every bite until I just gave him plain whole-milk yogurt and blueberry applesauce. Because of his picky temper, I ate half of my not-so-hot bowl of soup very quickly before admitting it was not very satisfying. The dog lucked out this afternoon.

Once baby was down for a nap, I toasted a piece of 7-grain sprouted bread and topped it with the rest of my tuna from yesterday. I forgot to smear the bread with Dijon, so it was too dry to really be enjoyable. Argh. At this point I realized I had also not been drinking enough due to the day's events, so I had a few glasses of water and a vanilla protein shake while I ran the dishwasher and mopped the kitchen floor and living room.

Tonight The H was going to have pizza with the little guy while I went for my girls' run, and then the girls and I would order or make something for our dinner, but a change in plans (read: nobody showed up) left me dinner-less and running with my boys instead of girls. Enter a frozen portion of Clean Eating Magazine's sloppy joes (stay tuned for a recipe post) and a whole wheat Trader Joe's hamburger bun. I guess there is something to be said for a well-stocked freezer. I could have had chili from yesterday, or more chicken stew, but the small portion of the sloppy joe in a plastic baggie lent itself to quick thawing.

The H fed baby a slice of reheated pizza (also from my amazing freezer) and some green peas while I topped H's leftover gluten-free pizza crust with a few things and thawed my sloppy joe filling. Once baby was in bed, we sat down to eat. And then just because I was sick of seeing them in my house, I ate the last fun-size bag of peanut M&Ms. So there.

Here's to a fresh start (even though it will begin with more leftover steel-cut oats) tomorrow.

Weekly Meal Plan

Here's what I have on the menu this week:

Sunday - Gluten-free pizza with Trader Joe's sauce (no time to make my own), TJ's nitrate-free pepperoni, black olives, red bell pepper (this was lunch). For dinner, we went out with the the in-laws to On The Border; I got grilled mahi mahi tacos in soft corn tortillas with black beans and roasted vegetables and drank water with lemon.

Monday - Brussels sprouts with squash and chicken sausage (The H won't be home for dinner, or I'd never get away with this). This is from a starred post from Cara's Cravings in my Google Reader. Baby will likely eat leftover pizza so he can have a bath and get to bed soon after he gets home from daycare. Mondays are exhausting for the little guy! I'll saute my sprouts and squash when he's down for the night so I'll make sure to have a good, filling afternoon snack. After dinner I will start soaking some black beans for use later in the week.

Tuesday - CrockPot day! Turkey chili (using 10oz Jennie-O turkey) with two kinds of beans, gluten-free corn muffins with apple butter.

Wednesday - Clean Eating Magazine's Ultimate Turkey Burgers, using the remaining 10oz of turkey from yesterday and the last gigantic red pepper from the grocery store last week. I'll probably roast the last few co-op fingerling potatoes to go along with them.

Thursday - Girls' run night; The H will be on his own. He'll probably make a GF pizza with the extra crust from Sunday.

Friday - Pumpkin penne with the rest of the chicken sausage links from Monday. This is from Proceed With Caution, another star in my Google Reader. I'll use the kale I bought at the farmer's market last week.

Saturday - Pumpkin black bean soup, using some of the beans I cooked earlier this week, and the rest of the pumpkin from Friday. If I get really ambitious, I'll make a fresh loaf of gluten-free cheese bread to go with it.

Sunday - I'm out of ideas... if I come up with something great, I'll let you know.

What will you be making?

My first fingerlings

Remember how excited I was about my first co-op order? So far nothing has disappointed! I've been munching Honey Crisp apples for two weeks, our farm-fresh eggs are creamily divine, you've read about my love of kale, we tried a buttercup squash on Sunday, and we really loved the fingerling potatoes I ordered for a Clean Eating Magazine recipe. They turned out great, though the cooking time was misleading as written. The H called these "juicy." I called them the cutest potatoes I'd ever seen. Seriously, some were the size of a large gum ball.

Lemon Thyme Fingerling Potatoes from Clean Eating Magazine, Sept/Oct 2009

1 1/2 lb fingerling potatoes, about 1-2 inches in length

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped (I used 1/4 tsp dried)

2 tsp olive oil

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400*.

2. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and place into a mixing bowl. Add lemon zest and juice, thyme, oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Arrange in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet (I skipped the paper) and place in oven.

3. Bake for 20 minutes* turning once, or until potatoes are golden brown and tender when pierced with a fork.

* 20 minutes was not long enough, even though I had such diminutive spuds. They were in there at least 30 minutes, though I lost track while trying to cook steaks, mushrooms, and grody rabe at the same time. So start with 20 but expect them to take longer.

These didn't crisp up quite like other roasted potatoes I've had, but they were delicious. The thyme was subtle, so I could increase the amount I used next time, and I might even add a bit more lemon zest. Very pleasing flavor combination. Here is the one and only picture I have of these potatoes, taken at the end of the meal when I remembered the camera was sitting next to me. No, I am not a food photographer. At least they don't have bites out of them.

Chicken Barley Stew

This recipe is from Clean Eating Magazine, September/October 2009. This was part pantry-cleanout, part convenience (our running group meets on Tuesdays, so it's nice to have dinner ready when we get home), and part cooking-rut buster. As such, it met every expectation. And it tasted good, too. :)

Chicken Barley Stew (serves 8)

32 oz low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth (I used four packets Trader Joe's stock concentrate)

8 oz water

1 tbsp garlic, minced (I used about 3 cloves)

1 tsp garlic sea salt (I used regular sea salt)

1/2 tbsp thyme (I used 1/2 tsp dried)

1/2 tbsp basil (again, 1/2 tsp dried)

1/2 tbsp cilantro (left it out)

1/4 tbsp dill (I used 1/4 tsp dried)

2 bay leaves

1/2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper

12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed (uncooked)

1/2 cup uncooked black-eyed peas, rinsed and picked through

1/2 cup barley

1 medium sweet onion, cubed (I diced it)

20 oz potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used two large ones and did not peel)

10 oz carrots (3 large), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices

8 tbsp low-fat sour cream (optional)

Fill a slow cooker with broth, 8 oz water, garlic, herbs, and pepper. Add chicken, peas, and barley, then layer onion, potatoes, and carrots overtop. Liquid should just cover vegetables. Do not stir. Allow to simmer overnight or at least 4-6 hours. Remove bay leaves and stir before serving. Spoon 1 cup into each bowl and top with 1 tbsp sour cream, if desired.

Review: Too much pepper! I will decrease it by about half next time, and bump up the amount of dill. The H said he couldn't even taste the dill, but definitely noticed the pepper. This stew had a very rich, buttery texture. The H said it tasted like it could be the appetizer course of a big holiday-type meal. I would never make this thoroughly-autumnal recipe in the spring or summer, but it was perfect for mid-October. It may even make an appearance on our Thanksgiving table.

I loved the simplicity of the slow cooker for this recipe. It was a far cry from the chicken-rice-and-beans we've been doing in the CrockPot lately. I'm experimenting with freezing a single portion since it makes quite a lot; if it works, this would be great to have on hand for work lunches. Even the baby (who is walking! So I guess he's a toddler now) ate his entire bowlful, carrots and everything. The dog couldn't wait to lick the high chair. If you have this issue of the magazine, please note that my stew looked just like the one in the picture. Overall, a success all around.

Better than Christmas?

The three back issues of Clean Eating Magazine (www.cleaneatingmag.com--I don't know how to link from my Mac yet!) I ordered last week arrived yesterday. I can't wait to read them! Our 2-hour drive to visit family this afternoon will be the perfect time--you know, while the baby is contained in one spot and I don't have to worry about keeping up with him.

This magazine, if you're not already getting it, is a wonderful resource for eating clean. No, I am not a paid spokesperson. The recipes are simple, the pictures colorful, and the articles written for people like you and me--people who want good food, easy-to-read directions, and wholesome ingredients. Sometimes I feel like other cooking magazines are beyond me in regards to the ingredients or methods their recipes call for, or you know you want to eat clean but have a hard time adjusting regular recipes to use your newfound "clean" ingredients. That's not the case with CE Mag. Of the 6-8 recipes we've tried from my current issue, I only had to buy one thing especially for a recipe, and I'd been meaning to pick some up for ages anyway (edamame--am I like the last person in the world to try that?). Most of the recipes use things I have on hand already. Just this week I made frozen-yogurt ice cream sandwiches on oatmeal-chocolate-chunk cookies. What a treat, especially for my husband! I used a gluten-free flour blend so he could enjoy them, too.

If you're not sure about committing to a full subscription (it comes out quarterly), check out a single issue (I got mine at Barnes & Noble) or order a back issue from www.shopcleaneatingmag.com. The website I listed above is also a good place to spend some time if funds are tight right now. You can get a good feel for the magazine there. I realize that a lot of "normal" recipes can be made clean, depending on what you're starting with, but knowing that you have a full magazine of recipes ready to go without adjustment is a huge help for clean eating novices like me!

Let me know if you have other resources for good, clean recipes.

Happy reading!