Whole Wheat Bread With Honey & Molasses

Whole Wheat Bread With Honey & Molasses

• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 Tbsp oil
• 1 1/2 Tbsp molasses
• 1/2 Tbsp salt
• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten
• 1/2 Tbsp yeast

Put the ingredients in order into the bread machine pan (see tips below), and press the dough setting.  

Tips

*Set the ¼ cup of honey into the hot water in the bread machine to help ease it out. *And use the same tablespoon for the molasses that you used first with the oil - it will just make life easier.

When finished, roll out the dough into a rectangle, approx. 10×12 inches.  If using small loaf pans, split this dough in half and roll to the appropriate size for your pan.

Roll the dough up long ways, and pinch the ends together. Put in a greased loaf pan, and let rise for 45 min – 1 hour.

Bake at 350* for 45 min. (30-40 min. for smaller loaves)

*You can rub butter on top right after it comes out of the oven for a softer crust.

Baby Chooks

Spring time is coming!  Which means BABY CHICKS!  We went a little overboard and got sixteen. 

 

Sweet Jessie loves baby animals.



How you doin?

Eight Buff Orpington's, six Chicken Littles (Barred Rocks), and two Americana's.



Our friend built an outdoor cage for our Flemish Giant bunny and it's working out to be the perfect little chook home. Much better than having them in our living room like last year!

Craigslist Treasures

When my hubby hears "Craigslist" he groans...Usually it means a two to four hour round trip, but he does it anyways because he loves me. :)

Last night he drove an hour past Seattle (after picking up Donyea from the airport) to get me some much needed kitchen shelving for $50.

Kombucha

Fizzy Kombucha

I hopped on the Kombucha wagon and ordered a baby scoby online.  Kombucha is a probiotic drink with so many health benefts that I don't even have the time to list.  Seriously, google it. :)

Ingrediants 

• 1 Kombucha Mushroom / S.C.O.B.Y / Mother Culture (Ebay $6)
• 3 Quarts of water
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 4 tea bags - Black or Green tea
• 1/2 Cup of finished Kombucha or 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar  
• 1 gallon glass jar (or a ceramic stoneware led-free crock)
• Bottles for your finished kombucha or small mason jars with unbleached wax paper for under the lid

Instructions

1. Bring one quart of the water to a boil. Remove from heat, add sugar & tea. Steep 15 minutes then remove tea bags.
2. Pour liquid into the 1 gallon glass jar and add the remaining 2 quarts of water.
3. Add 1/2 Cup of finished Kombucha or 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar.
4. Put mother culture on top of the tea. Smooth side up. If you have several S.C.O.B.Y.’s, the lightest in color is the top.
5. Cover with a cloth towel & a rubber band around the top.
6. Ferment for 7-10 days in a warm and not-so-bright area. Make sure that the new culture has fully formed on top of the brew before proceeding to the next step.

Day One

 

Day Eight (when it's not freezing out we only have the wood stove going about every other day, so it's been brewing in a variety of temperatures)

Well hello baby SCOBY you turned into a big mama!  The kids got a kick out of this.  We had to do a taste test of course, and boy they did NOT like it.  Don't worry I told them, after it's bottled with our home canned grape juice for a few days and then chilled in the fridge, you will loove it.  Promise.  :)

Bottling Instructions

 1 tsp sugar

 1 Fresh/frozen strawberry

Grape juice to top it off

• Take the cultures out of the Kombucha and place them in a bowl, covering with 1/2 cup of Kombucha
• Put sugar and strawberry in the jars
• Fill the jars about 3/4 full with Kombucha
• Top off with fresh juice, leaving plenty of headspace
• Leave the jars out for 2-4 days before refrigerating (this second fermentation will make sure it's good and carbonated)

*You can add any type of fresh fruit or juice, this is just what I tried first, and it's really good.

AND YOU'RE DONE!

*You can start a new batch right away, or to save your cultures, put them in the fridge in a mason jar with the 1/2 cup of Kombucha.

The Tail-less Chook

That's weird, we thought...where is her tail?

Oh there it is, just down in the pasture.  Thank goodness now we can glue it back on. No, but really I remembered earlier in the day hearing a skirmish in the lower pasture and the dogs tear down off the porch.  I figured they were going after ducks in the pond.  So when I went out in search of her tail feathers the first place I searched was in the direction that the dogs had run.  And I had to search no further.  I realized with the long trail of feathers that the dogs had saved her life.  And that most likely a coyote had her in his mouth when the dogs chased him down and dropped her.  Poor scared little KFC.  She's been hunkered down in the barn for the last three days.  Probably scared and definitely hurt.  I've been giving her medicine and  bringing her water and food so she doesn't have to leave her favorite roosting spot.  With spring and chick season coming up, I've come to the realization that to give my chooks the best life, they cannot have the lay of the land anymore.  They love it, but it's not worth the price they will have to pay.  Won't my husband be so happy when I ask him to help me build a huge six foot tall coyote-proof chicken run.  :)

 

 

Baking Day

I'm determined to get the most space possible out of my tiny little kitchen. We've already omitted the microwave, coffee pot, and toaster. All that's left is a toaster oven and the Vita Mix (which ain't goin nowhere cause that things amazin). And, the bread machine. So I came up with the brilliant idea of having a baking day. Instead of using the bread machine everyday or every other day, I can store it in the pantry and just bring it out once a week. Another perk is that I won't have to keep refilling my flour container! The bread can be frozen or refrigerated to stay fresh. I had fun doing it, and figure adding baking to my Monday laundry day will work out nicely since I'm home all day anyways.

These are the nine loaves I made on my first baking day. After the bread cools, I slice it up with my handy bread slicer and store them in plastic one gallon baggies that I reuse. I like making one and two pound loaves for different purposes.  The one pounders are a great size for the kid's school lunches, and two pound loaves are nice and big for the hubby's sandwiches, and also making toast..or french toast, one of our favs.

Hooked on Goats

They love exploring...But I have to keep her away from my garlic because boy did it make her milk taste yucky. =P

We sat by the fire outside to babysit the goats their first time out.  I had to get a picture of the beautiful sunset.

After two weeks we're really getting the hang of milking and getting over a quart each morning!  Donyea and I had a competition today ~ her on one side, me on the other, seeing how much we could milk in two minutes.  She got one cup and I got a cup and a half...OF COURSE I WON, haha, you know I like a good competition.  But also right now I've gotten more practice, being the one who milks during the week right after taking the kids to school at 8:30.  In April we can wean the babies and milk twice a day, which will give us about half a gallon every day.  So far I've made vanilla and chocolate pudding, no cheese yet. It's fun using the last of the goats milk at night and knowing there will be another jar filled up the next mornin. :)

Pressure Canned Grape Juice

This is the most delicious and easy way to make juice!  It tastes nothing like store-bought grape juice, so if you're expecting that you will be disappointed.  It has a fresh, fruity sweetness flavor.  Perfect for summertime I'm thinking.  And this recipe will be great for the times when we get seeded grapes in the co-op basket because we don't like those.  I can't wait to experiment with other fruits and berries!

Fill each quart jar with:
1 cup grapes
1/8 cup pure sugar cane (you can skip the sugar...)
Fill to 1/2 inch with boiling water

Process in pressure canner for 10 minutes at 5lbs pressure.

Before

After

Strained and in the fridge ready to go!  What a pretty color!