Bread Again

Well I made more adjustments to this recipe.  It turned out softer and higher but still not quite right.  I'm not sure what I will do with the next loaf, I am still thinking on it.

This is what I did this time:
2 1/2 c. Orgran
1/2 c. Sorghum flour
1 3/4 c. warm water
2 TB honey
2 tsp oil
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Put it in the bowl and mix.

Measured it, this time I put a smidgen of dough above the line. 

This time I preheated oven to 200 Deg.  Turned off the oven and put it in there to rise for approx 20 min because my wood stove wasn't very hot.  After 20 min I put it on the wood stove.  It wasn't as hot as the other day but I think hot enough.

As you can see, it rose quite a bit.  I believe a lot more than the last time.

I popped it in the oven at 350 for about 50 minutes.  The finished product looks like this

It has a decent thickness, the edges aren't too tough to cut and it's not gooey on the inside.  However, the top is difficult to cut though and crumbles, even with my best bread knife.

Overall it's a good loaf.  I'm still not 100% satisfied with it and will make some more adjustments as I said before.  I just have to figure out what it will be :)

later today I plan to make spaghetti and meatballs.  This will be a real test as Lea had sensitivities to tomatoes and we have only slightly introduced them, successfully.  I hope she doesn't show a reaction and we can go back to having tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes :)  My Italian self is really missing spaghetti!

Today's bread

Well, today I made more adjustments to my last bread recipe with the hopes of getting it raise again.  Here is what I did.

2 c. Orgran
1/2 c. rice flour
1/4 c. sorghum flour
1/4 c. amaranth flour
1 3/4 c. plus 2 TB warm water
2 TB honey
2 tsp oil
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Put in a bowl and mix.  no blender required.  This is how it looks

 

I put it in the Bread machine pan

 

 Measured it with my fork

 

 and put it on the wood stove (just warm) to let it raise, it was the warmest spot in the house.

Then measured it one more time to see how tall it got

Not much difference there, but some.  It does raise a little in the oven as well so i was hoping for that to happen.

I put it in the oven and baked it at 325 for 60 minutes. 

 As you can see, it did raise some but not as much as I'd hoped for.

After cutting into it, you can see how dense it is

The results.....  it's gooey.  still.  I think the problem is the flours.  But I'm not sure which of these other flours are weighing it down.  I think next time I will go back to the original recipe and each subsequent time I will add only 1 at a time and see which is causing me the problem. 

If you are wondering why I am adding the other flours instead of the original, it's because without it, it is very bland, almost tasting like cardboard.  These other flours also add some nutrition.

WOOO HOOO I got my code for the free Christmas cards.

Now I need to go pick them out.  I think it takes 2 weeks to get them so I am running out of time!  Need to get busy :)

Bread recipe

I have made an adjustment to Orgran's Bread recipe due to the bland taste and lack of nutrition.  Plus the kids don't like the taste of the original plain recipe.  Though, to be fair, I use the self rising flour rather than the regular flour they call for.  This is the original recipe that I use when using self rising flour:

3 cups (400g) Orgran Plain Flour
½ tsp sugar
1¾  cups warm water
2 tsp oil or melted margarine

This is how I made it today.  I will update when it is done to see how it turned out

1 1/2 c. Orgran self rising flour
1/2 c. Sorghum flour
1/2 c. Rice flour
1/4 c. Amaranth flour
1/4 c. Garbanzo Bean flour
2 TB honey
2 tsp oil
2 c. warm water

Mix in bowl and put in Bread Machine pan.
Let it rise for 30 min in warm area
Bake @ 375 for 1 hour.
Let cool and slice


*********

After letting it rise for 40 min it had barely rose so I put it in the oven.  It never really rose that I could see.  It cooked at 375 for 35 min before I looked at it and realized the temp needed to be dropped.  I lowered it to 325 and cooked it for the remainder of the time.  After the time limit it was very gooey and I put it back in for about 15 min. 

Taste was very good though, however, it was very hard around the edges though and I'm not sure if that is due to the high temp or the flours used. 

I think the next loaf I will reduce the liquid by 2 TB and drop the sorghum and rice to 1/4 c, increasing the Orgran to 2 c.

Ginger Lemon Girl has a GF Cookbook Giveaway

I love reading her recipes, sometimes I can adapt to fit our own allergies.  Be sure to check out her blog and she's also on facebook

http://gingerlemongirl-giveaways.blogspot.com/2010/12/gluten-free-holiday-breakfast-brunch.html

Good morning!

I know at some point all of my children will sleep thru the night, but it sure does seem like it takes forever.  B. (DD3 and 4 y.o.) wakes almost every night.  She has a lot of headaches and the doc is unconcerned because she has had them for so long.  Says if it was anything serious than they would have gotten worse or more symptoms, but that sure doesn't help her or I in the middle of the night when they wake her up.  I'm not big on medicines and give them only when absolutely necessary.  Last night she wanted both the rice sock and medicine, it was that bad.  I'm so frustrated with doctors of all varieties that I am almost at the point of not seeing them anymore.  No one can help or has any answers for our problems.  I'm tired of daily diarrhea from J (DS2 and 2 yo), I'm tired of the headaches with B and I'm tired of the issues I'm having.  I guess what I mean to say is that I'm tired of no one having answers for us .  We do see a Naturopathic doc for J's stool issues, but after 9 months, it still doesn't seem like it's working very well.  His pediatrician just says, I don't  know, all tests are normal, deal with it.

Anyway, back to my original rant.  J wakes twice a night for who knows what reason, sometimes more than that, sometimes it's just because he wants some comfort and to climb in bed with me.  it depends how tired I am as to whether or not I let him.  Sometimes he just wants something to drink.  This seems like it's more of a habit than anything else and I try not to indulge him to often because at some point I WOULD like to sleep!  Yeah yeah yeah, I know some think, well, you had kids, this is part of the game.  But I don't agree.  It sometimes happens, sure, and at some point they do sttn, but I don't care if it's wrong of me, I want it happening now! lol  Yeah yeah, whatever, I'm a horrible mother.  So what's new lol  L (DD2 and 6 yo) told me last week that I'm a horrible mother and that she is sorry she told me she loved me the day before because I'm mean and she doesn't love me because..., why you ask, what horrible thing could I have done to this poor poor child...  because I wouldn't give her a "green and white thing", aka, a mint, at 9:30 in the morning.  Yes viewers, that's right I should be arrested because I didn't give my 6 yo a mint for a breakfast snack!   

Bet I'd be the greatest mother ever if I do what Bill Cosby did, give them chocolate cake for breakfast.  Have you seen him in concert, or his tapes of a concert?  OMG he has me rolling and peeing my pants!  literally!  I literally peed my pants at his concert last year.  Rodney Carrington is another hilarious comedian.  OMG, I cried so hard at his concert!  My face hurt for a week and a day.

So tomorrow the girls (L & B,  hahaha, that made me think of GH's Lois's music company, oh those were great days on that soap, I really miss those old characters), ok, where was I ...  oh the girls and I are going to California tomorrow.  Stanford area to be exact.  Trying to figure out what we can do that won't break the bank and will take longer than 10 min.  I was going to go to the Aquarium thing in San Fran but was told that will only take about a 1/2 hr.  I want more than that, so I will be on a quest today to figure out where to go.  If I can stay awake that is...  oops, I got a bit off track didn't I?

See, I can certainly ramble.  I change subjects like a bee changes flowers.  My brain is a scary thing!  And the way I can link 1 subject to another subject really blows my dh's mind!  It seems perfectly reasonable and logical to me, how come no one else sees it that way!?

WOO HOO!! FREE Christmas Cards from SHUTTERFLY!

I received my first Christmas card the other day (yes can you believe it!) And was shocked at how absolutely gorgeous it was!  It was a card made by SHUTTERFLY.  This was the cutest picture card I've ever seen!  She told me that they are offering a special to all bloggers if you blog about them.  They will give you FREE 50 Holiday Cards.  This is an INCREDIBLE offer!.  


You can chose from hundreds of designs and the cards are for either 5x7 folded or flat stationary cards.  I can't wait to get started!  In this economy, I am so excited that SHUTTERFLY  is making this offer!

I can't wait to get them, I have had such a hard time deciding which to go with, they are all soooooo adorable!  Getting the cards from  SHUTTERFLY is going to save me so much time, energy and effort that I am really looking forward to them doing every thing for me.  They will even ship them to my family and friends!  

When you go over there and look at all the options they have to options and how CUTE their cards are, OMG, you will not be able to resist.  And offering the free 50 cards!  Is a sure way to have me coming back for me.  I have never used them before but you can be sure, if you are getting a card from me this year, it will be from SHUTTERFLY!


Here are your links, anything you can want is right here :) 

• Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards 
• Holiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
• Calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars  
• Holiday photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery  
• Canvas wall art to http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art
• Christmas invitations to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-invitations
• Birthday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birthday-cards-stationery

Don't forget, go to SHUTTERFLY 50 FREE HOLIDAY CARDS today and get those Christmas cards done, you have until December 15th to get the free cards!

My very first Blog

I've never really been interested in blogging before but after losing so many recipes, I figured I'd give it a shot and at least keep them all in one place.  My goal (hopefully) is to post and make the original recipe, that I find elsewhere and than each time I make it after that, make my own adjustments and post them so I can remember what they were when I make it the next time.

But maybe I need to look into things, I probably am not allowed to copy someone else's recipe am I?  Or can I just get their permission?  How about if I only post the adjustments that I make?  Oh this is all too confusing.  But, as with everything else, I'll muddle through it.  I wonder how many people will even attempt to muddle thru with me :)

Here is our story, my 3 youngest kids (6, 4 and 2) were recently diagnosed with Allergy Sensitivities.  We started doing a rotation diet but that didn't work so we have been full fledged "mostly" allergy free since June.  It's been a nightmare for the most part.  Every time we go out to eat, even eating plain chicken breast and plain steamed veggies, my youngest has major issues the next day.  Since we live in a small town, that isn't really a problem.  The problem comes in when we have to go to the "big city".  It is 140 miles away and trying to find somewhere to eat is a nightmare.  So these times are our cheats.

Oh yeah, I might also mention that I'm a staunch Conservative.  I only mention it because it may find it's way on here at some or another, so if you decide to hang out with me and are a democrat, let's make a pack to not get personal and not debate.  I'll have my opinions, you can have yours.  They probably won't mesh but we can still get along.  If that is not possible for you, than thanks for looking but it's best you move on.

So welcome to my blog, and please be nice, I'm horrible at this  :)