Hi fellow bread bakers,
I am new to the list and I am enjoying it. I wanted to tell you how I
recently became enthusiastic about bread machines and then I have a few
general questions that I would like to ask you. I am also including a recipe
for carrot bread that I successfully made a couple of days ago.
My husband is interested in high-tech items and has been wanting to get a
bread machine ever since he heard of them many years ago. I never wanted to
get one since I have a Kitchen Aid mixer that I have always used to make fresh
bread for Sunday dinners. Well, this year I was forced to buy my husband the
bread machine for Christmas since, he asked my 3 year old to ask Santa for it
for him. I bought a Breadman machine and it came with a book of healthy bread
recipes (the carrot recipe is from the book). Thanks to this book, I realized
that making fresh bread can help me get my family to eat healthier. My
husband is a very finicky eater. He eats very few fruits and vegetables and
no legumes at all. My 2 and 4 year old sons seem to be picking up his bad
habits. I have always known that we should try to eat more grains, beans,
fruits and vegetables to be healthier, but I have always had a tough time
getting the rest of my family to eat and try new things. Now, I make fresh
bread for dinner every night and try to incorporate as many different healthy
items as possible. (My husband almost never uses the machine, as I originally
predicted that he wouldn't. He says that is because I took over the machine.
Oh well, that's what he gets for trying to use a 3 year old to get what he
wants. A present for me!)
Does anyone have any great healthy bread recipes that they would like to
share? The best ones are those that the rest of the family won't even realize
are good for them. They like recipes with whole wheat flour, even though they
know that is a little bit good for them, thank goodness. (My machine can make
1, 1 1/2, and 2 pound loafs and has whole wheat cycles.)
I am interested in learning more about various grains and flours.
Particularly, which ones are the healthiest and can easily be incorporated
(and hopefully hidden) into my breads. I would appreciate any comments about
specific favorite grains or perhaps, recommendations for good reading material
on the subject. I don't have my own grinder, though.
Also, I would appreciate any advice or suggestions in adapting recipes. I am
not sure how to incorporate other grains into my breads without specific
recipes. Are there guidelines to making substitutions?
I happened to be in a store that sold some interesting items. I bought the
following, because I had heard of them before and I thought they were
particularly nutritious.
1. Brown Rice Flour
2. Millet Meal
3. Buckwheat Flour
Does anyone know if these grains are actually healthier than the standards?
Can anyone suggest ways or recipes in which they can be used?
As you can tell, I am very interested in health issues. Does any one know
about any other listservs that I may be interested in, particularly about
maintaining good health?
I appreciate your help and advice. Thank you in advance.
Terry
CARROT BREAD
>From "The Complete Book of Bread Machine Baking" edited by Lara Pizzorno.
Prima Publishing (I highly recommend this book.)
1 pound loaf 1 1/2 pound loaf
carrot juice 1/3 cup 1/2 cup
water 1/2 cup 1/2 cup
canola oil 2/3 Tbl 1 Tbl
molasses 1 Tbl 1 1/2 Tbl
honey 1 Tbl 1 1/2 Tbl
salt 1 tsp 1 1/2 tsp
grated carrots or
carrot pulp from juicing 1/2 cup 3/4 cup
whole wheat flour 3/4 cup 1 1/3 cups
unbleached flour 2/3 cup 1 cup
gluten flour 1 1/2 Tbl 2 Tbl
powdered whey 2 tsp 1 Tbl
active dry yeast 1 1/2 tsp 2 tsp
Put all ingredients in bread pan in the order listed. Use Basic Wheat Cycle,
light setting.
I don't have a juicer and didn't have any carrot juice handy so I substituted
1/2 applesauce and 1/2 water for the carrot juice. I also used bread flour
instead of unbleached all- purpose flour, but I reduced the gluten flour by
about a quarter. This bread is sweet and it came out very moist and light.
Terry