Gazpacho Pasta Salad

Hey, Christy, I think this just might go well with your bread!  Recipe here.

Bread Recipe

Here are two recipes - one from me and one from Kathryn (I am assuming she doesn't mind sharing). Kathryn says hers is a no-fail. I believe the key to mine is you can never knead long enough. I let it knead on high for good 5-7 minutes.

Christy's
1 1/2 c. hot tap water
1 T. yeast
1/4 c. sugar

-Mix together and let it sit for approx. 5 minutes or until bubbles.

Then add,
2 T. oil (I use olive)
1/2 T. salt
3-4 c. flour (I do half white and half wheat, but you can do whatever) - add one cup at a time.
*I have been mixing vital wheat gluten to the flour before I put it in, but if you don't have it - don't worry, my mom never made it with it and it turned out fine.

Mix until smooth and just barely sticky to the touch (so you might have to add more flour) and knead well.

Let rise until double.

Make into loaves and put in 2 greased loaf pans. Let rise until double. Bake in oven @ 350 for 20-25 mins. To check doneness, thump and listen for hollow sound. Let cool and dig in!

Kathryn's:

Mix wet ingredients first

1/3 C oil

1/3 C Honey

1/3 C molasses

5 C Hot tap water

1 Tbl salt

3 Tbl yeast

½ C gluten Flour

10 cups of Flour (stop and mix)

Add flour until tacky consistency (wheat less, white up to 14 cups) But average is 12 cups total.

Let rise until double in size

Oil hands to roll and put in pans let rise to lip of pan

Should make 4 loafs

325 degrees for 35 mins

I Need a Recipe for Bread...

Okay, all you Mormon gals...I want to make some breadsticks with a roasted garlic spread, but can't decide on a dough recipe. I have tried bread recipes in the past and I am a big fat failure. The only way I can ever successfully make bread is with a machine, but I just got a Kitchenaid mixer and want to try it out. Christy--I thought you had posted an easy bread recipe on here, but I couldn't find it.

Any help? Anyone??

Lentil Casserole

I posted a lentil casserole recipe here. It was so good. I just can't say enough good things about it--and I can't wait to make it again! Who knew you could get so excited about lentils?!

Stromboli

Super easy and super good. I used my own bread dough. It was delish! It was stuffed with veggies and the kids still gobbled it up!

Stromboli

Ingredients:

1 lb frozen bread dough, thawed or your own dough

mustard (I used mustard and honey mustard)

salami

ham

bell pepper

olives

cheese

*you can add whatever other deli meats or toppings you would like

First roll out the dough into a rectangle. Brush with mustard. Layer meats, and toppings. Bring sides and ends together and pinch closed. Lay seam side down on baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown at 350 degrees. Another filling idea would be to use alfredo or other cheese sauce and layer with shredded chicken and broccoli.

Lentil Bolognese Sauce

To go along with our bean/lentil class last week, I am posting this recipe:

We don't eat much meat at the Dill household, but Ryan sometimes craves something "meaty". He made us both happy with this recipe.  Sorry, no pic.  We just ate it up too quickly!

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 carrots, coarsely grated

3 T olive oil

2/3 C red lentils

1 can (14 oz) tomatoes, chopped

2 T tomato paste

2 C vegetable stock

1 tsp oregano

salt/pepper to taste

1/2 C cream

1/2 C milk

1. In a large saucepan, gently fry the onion, garlic, and carrots in oil until they are soft and "brown goodness" starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.  This may take a while depending on your cookery.

2. Add the lentils, tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, oregano, salt and pepper.  The liquid will "deglaze" your pan, giving a richer flavor to your sauce.

3.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then partially cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes until thick and soft.  Add milk and cream, but DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL AGAIN, or curdling may occur.  Serve over whole wheat pasta (making it a complete protein, wink, wink) and add a bit of freshly grated parm on top!

Note:  If you like your sauce a bit smoother, just use an immersion blender or cool and blend in a blender on pulse until desired consistency is reached.  Also, make sure you add enough salt to bring out flavors.  This is no good without salt!

Super Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

I wanted to make PB cookies. I found a scrumptious recipe, but remembered I had no eggs. I was bummed. An hour later, I just so happened to look through a cookbook and found a PB cookie recipe that required NO EGGS! (when I finally decide to go vegan, I will be rejoicing!) Anyways, here is the recipe:

3/4 cup Peanut Butter
1 14 oz. can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 c. Bisquick (I use the heart healthy kind in the white box)
1 t. Vanilla
Granulated Sugar (optional)

Beat PB and SCM in mixing bowl until smooth. Add Bisquick and beat. Add Vanilla. Form into balls and roll in sugar if you like it that way. I know I do...Bake at 375 8-10 minutes!