Whole Wheat Bread

Here's a good recipe for an easy and delicious whole wheat bread (adapted slightly from The Frugal Girl).

What you'll need:

2 1/3 cup warm water
4 tbsp honey
4 tbsp butter, melted
9 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading

Combine 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour, yeast, and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Add the warm water, honey, and melted butter. Mix on low speed until the ingredients are combined, then beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes.

Add in the remaining whole wheat and all-purpose flour. Mix on medium speed until a soft ball is formed.

Knead the dough on a flour surface for 5 minutes or until smooth. Add flour as kneaded (i.e., if the dough is really stick, add a little bit of extra flour to your countertop and work it into the dough).

Put the dough in a oiled bowl, cover with a wet tea towel, and let rise in a warm place for 45-60 minutes. I placed my bowl on top of the stove. I find it's always pretty warm there.

Now, the dough should have doubled in size. Punch down the dough. Divide in half. Roll into two thick rectangles, then starting at the short end, roll up the dough and place each roll into a 9 x 5 inch greased bread pan.

Cover the two loaves with a wet tea towel and let rise for another 30 minutes (or until doubled) in a warm place.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Once the two loaves are finished rising, bake for approximately 30 minutes. A trick to knowing when you're bread is done is to tap on it. If it sounds hollow, then it's ready to come out of the oven. Let cool on a wire rack before serving —that is, if you can wait. I couldn't. I had two thick slices —one with butter and the other with almond butter.

ps. I LOVE the smell of fresh bread. LOVE it.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup

This afternoon, I tried a soup recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod: Roasted sweet potato and butternut squash. I adapted it slightly by doubling the recipe, adding extra spices including red pepper flakes, and topped it off with goat's cheese. Sooo good. I just finished eating two helpings of it. Dan was a big fan as well.

Here's what you'll need:

2 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
~1 tbsp + more for drizzling olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
2 cups water
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread the chopped butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Drizzle with olive oil and toss around to make sure all of the vegetables are coated. Let roast for 45-60 minutes, stirring every once in a while (every 10-15 minutes). Once the vegetables are roasted, remove from oven and set aside for a few minutes.

In a large stovetop pot over medium heat, add the olive oil, followed by the onion and garlic. Cook under tender, then add the roasted vegetables. Stir and let cook for 5 minutes. Add in the vegetable broth, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt and pepper (I didn't use any salt). Let simmer for 20 minutes.

To puree the soup, use a hand held blender or transfer the soup to a bender in batches.

Return soup to stovetop pot and let simmer until you're ready to serve it. Add in red pepper flakes at this point. I find that the longer you let the soup simmer, the better the flavour.

Top the soup with a spoonful of goat's cheese. It melts right in and tastes oh so yummy! I also made homemade bread to go with it.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

It's HALLOWEEN. Candy, chocolate, costumes, cute kids trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, and of course, roasted pumpkin seeds.

I love roasted pumpkin seeds.

There are a number of way to roast them, but here's what I did.

What you'll need:

1 cup of pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I used a little bit more because I love vinegar)
1 tsp minced or powdered garlic
1 tsp minced or dried rosemary
1 tsp minced or dried thyme
1 tsp salt

Rinse pumpkin seeds and let them dry out for an hour or so. Then mix the seeds in a bowl with all of the ingredients.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread seeds on the parchment paper and bake for 20-30 minutes or until they are a light gold colour. Make sure you shake or toss around the seeds every 5 or so minutes.

I also followed the same instructions as above, but used olive oil, 1 tbsp of brown sugar, 1.5 tsp of cinnamon, and a drizzle of honey. If you prefer sweet to salty, these are the pumpkin seeds that you should bake :)