So, I did report on my very minimal cleaning of the cupboards on Monday and my "only a grocery list" on Tuesday with just a teeny bit of farmer's market shopping.
Wednesday's challenge was to improve the grains we eat. The idea is not only to eat more whole grains but also to increase their digestibility and nutrition by either soaking or sprouting.
While cleaning things out earlier in the week I had found two bags from King Arthur Flour that had been purchased and forgotten before being used up. Making some bread from them was the plan. I toyed with the recipe on the bag of harvest grains adjusting to use the bag of 12 grain flour as well and omitting the potato flour which I did not have. Then I decided to bake the bread in a large dutch oven. The bread ball decided to rise out to the edges of the pan rather then up. Clearly I used too large a pan. So, while the bread was light and wonderful, it wasn't as tall as I would have liked.
It did, however, make awesome toast for breakfast for the rest of the week. The seeds in the bread really tasted great after toasting.Thursday's challenge was to start a sourdough. This actually got put off until Friday. On Thursday I finally got around to shopping and that healthy shopping list made on Tuesday. My husband went shopping with me and we did pretty well at sticking to the list and avoiding the cookie and chips aisle. The new to us item was quinoa. Our son was home last weekend and told us about trying that and really enjoying it. Since it's the super-grain of the moment, we decided to give it a try. I'll let you know how that goes.
The challenge for Friday was to try sprouting grains. I pulled out a can of wheat berries and my old sprouting jars and set the grains to soak. I think it will be fun. A few friends and I are getting together to start baking bread. The first meeting plan is to make french bread. However, the children of one participant don't do well with regular flour but can eat sprouted grain bread. I had been meaning to try this for a while so we can make bread her kids can eat too. This challenge got me moving.
Friday I also got a starter going. The challenge direction suggested buying a starter and feeding it so it would be ready for baking next week. I've been wanting to try the whole wheat starter in Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book. Since I'm starting from scratch it likely won't be ready in time for the challenge. His directions call for wheat or rye flour, pineapple juice rather than water and some malt. Allegedly I live where sourdough is king, but I've never used a starter regularly enough to have great success. I've also never started one from scratch before but always either been given one in a baking class or purchased one. I'll let you know how it goes.
-- marcella
Nugget Market up here makes a lovely quinoa salad (possibly your son has had it). I just googled the recipe because I couldn't remember the ingredients and struck out, but found this: http://www.nuggetmarket.com/recipes.php?id=76 Looks like I may be making that this week. :)
Thanks for that link. That recipe looks really good. I know B shops at the Nugget so perhaps he's even eaten that salad. When he had it at his house they just cooked it and ate it instead of rice for a side. Oh, Whole Foods Market has a ton of recipes online too.
I hope you'll post about how you use the quinoa. I've only tried it once and wasn't excited about it. I'd like to give it another try, but could definitely use some ideas.
Your bread looks yummy! I'd like to start making more bread at home. I have a bread machine and don't use it nearly enough. I ordered a sourdough starter from Cultures for Health - can't wait for it to get here!
I am amazed at how many quinoa recipes are out there. I'd never really noticed them before but now that I have a box sitting in my kitchen it seems I notice recipes all over the place. I am going to try the soup Kathy sent the link to. Also, I've seen a lot of cold salads made with it. The other recipe I have marked to try is a tabouli type recipe from the Whole Foods website.
My husband has a bread machine. Two cooks get married and it's amazing the amount of kitchen stuff that gets combined! You're right, I should dig that out of the garage and play with it. I love baking bread by hand and forget about the timesaving appliances. Does sourdough work in a bread machine? This could be fun to play with.