Baking: Day 1

So I promised some new recipes this weekend...and that truly was my intention, until I realized that none of those are my regular repertoire.  Ok fine, that was obvious as I said they were new recipes.  Anyway, I had to make sure I got my regular baking done while incorporating the new ones along the way.
Since we began this journey of milling our own wheat I have done my best to make all of the products we typically use from scratch.  This has proven to be challenging.   For the most part I am really good about making muffins each week, and in the beginning that was a good step.  Then Alexa started kindergarten.  I quickly realized two things: 1. I didn't want her eating lunch at school for health and budgetary reasons, and 2. muffins weren't going to cut it.

For the first 3 weeks of school she has mostly taken sandwiches and without complaint, but I want her to have variety...enter the tortilla!  Now, I will confess this is not my first try at tortillas...I've actually tried them twice corn & flour...neither of them were worth eating!  To be honest they were downright GROSS.  I would not be defeated, I love mexican food far too much to go the rest of my life without eating it.  I found a new recipe from the Bread Beckers; I get a good many of my recipes from them as everything is made with freshly milled wheat, it takes some of the guess work out of it.

One of the recommendations the Bread Beckers make is using everything in your kitchen to the fullest, so today I took that advice and used my bread machine to mix up the tortilla dough.  It made that part of the process super easy, just dump, set and go.  30 minutes later I came back to a lovely ball of dough.  I let my dough rest for a few minutes while I put some loaves of bread in the oven to proof and then I began the process of rolling out the tortillas.  **Side note, in a perfect world I would have a tortilla press, and a maid, and millions of dollars, but since it isn't a perfect world I will roll my tortillas by hand for now.  I'm also aware that the tortilla press is about the only thing on that list that I'm likely to have in any world.

Take your dough and separate into golf ball sized portions.

On a lightly floured surface flatten one ball at a time

Now roll into something resembling a circle. (*confession, I read in another recipe you can use a plate and parchment paper to make these into perfect circles and that was my original plan, but then I realized they will taste just as good (or bad) regardless of their shape, so I opted for the easy way out. 

Place each tortilla on a heated skillet for approximately 1 minute on each side.

Don't the look beautiful and delicious?

Quesadillas anyone?  BTW Alexa approved completely!

I also made 2 loaves of bread and muffins today, but the rest of my grand plans have been postponed until tomorrow.  One of the many benefits to a long holiday weekend!  Hope you are doing something fun with yours!

Tortilla Recipe

2 1/2 cups freshly milled flour (I used a mix of hard red, hard white, spelt, barley, and a few beans...not exactly Ezekiel mix, but close to it)

1 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp lecithin

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

Throw all ingredients in a bread maker (on dough or pasta cycle) and allow to knead for approximately 30 minutes.  You may want to check after 15 minutes to be sure you have enough flour to make the mixture smooth.  Allow to rest upon completion.  Break into golf ball sized portions, roll out one at a time.  Transfer to griddle and cook for 1 min on each side.  Store in a storage bag in the fridge until ready to use.

Thankful

Over the past week our life has been anything but normal.  We got a call last Friday that Adam's stepdad had been hospitalized.  We weren't sure how serious it was until Saturday morning when he was moved to ICU.  Being 8 hours away makes this type of situation that much harder.  We jumped in the car and raced (as quickly as possible without getting pulled over) to his mother's side.  Adam spent the next 72 hours at the hospital, and during that time we made the decision that Alexa and I would return to Indianapolis on Monday.

I was a single mom for about 4 years before Adam and I got married and I recall those times being difficult at best.  When things were bad there was no back-up, and when things were good there was no one to stand back and share it with.  I can't begin to explain how thankful I am that 2.5 years ago Adam made the decision to pursue me.

That brings us back to the present...I have been away from my husband for 6 days now and I miss him terribly.  I don't sleep as well when he isn't here and while I love spending time with Alexa, it just isn't the same without him.  He definitely made our family complete.

I want to thank the mothers who do this every day; single moms, moms with traveling husbands, and most importantly military moms.  There is a finite amount of time that I will be without Adam and this time it is 10 days, we will be reunited in SC on Wednesday.  For some military wives they spend months at a time away from their husband, and life carries on at home in his absence.  They don't know for sure when he will be home, and sometimes he never comes home.  I can't begin to imagine what that feels like, and I pray I never will.  To all the wives and mothers who sacrifice on a daily basis, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!

Weekend Write-Up

Hi friends, sorry if I've been scarce this week, my father-in-law was unexpectedly put in the hospital last Friday night & we made an emergency trip to SC on Saturday. Adam is still there supporting his mom, while Alexa & I have resumed our "normal" life, well as normal as it can be with ones husband away.

I am super excited about the weekend ahead! I have planned some fun activities for my girl & have a few new recipes to try. I can't wait to share. So, here's a sneak peak at what I'm planning!

• Toaster pastries
• Chocolate chip cookies (made with oat flour)
• Flour tortillas
• Rosemary cheese crackers

I love attempting new recipes especially when I am using freshly ground wheat, it makes such a big difference. What a great feeling knowing the carbs my family is consuming are actually good for them!

Are there recipes you would like to share with me? Leave a comment and let me know! I'll meet you back here soon for an update & pictures.

A New Road

Ready for school

     Last Tuesday marked the beginning of a new era at our house, the school age, and I don't think any of us could've been more excited.  The night before was spent prepping lunch, painting a sign, and discussing all the fun to be had the next day.  It is hard for me to imagine how quickly these past 6 years have gone, and that my little girl is actually in kindergarten.  On her first day Adam and I took her to school and waited (what seemed like forever) for them to open the doors.  We dropped her off with her teacher and went on with life as usual.  I have to imagine Adam's day felt immensely different as he was able to work distraction free without Alexa interruptions.  I know there are moms who dread this day, but when I look at that sweet face I don't see how that would've been possible for me!  She was obviously beyond excited to go to kindergarten, and only slightly agitated that I would not let her ride the bus.

     I am so pleased at the things she learns each day and she more than willing to share them with us when she gets home.  The expressions on her face show her love of learning.  Something I hope will continue to grow.  So begins the chronicle of this journey we call school, I can't wait to look back in a few years and see how her interests have changed or how she is unwaivered in her determination to be a "baby doctor".

Magic Muffins

muffins for the week ahead

When I started using freshly milled wheat I really struggledwith baking bread, largely because yeast scares me!  Are the ingredients in the right order, is ittouching my wet ingredients, is my water warm enough?  Then I learned that in the world of bakingall flour is not created equal.  This meantthe recipes I was trying to use were not compatible and as a result my bread was fallingeach and every time!  I was ready tothrow the mill out the window.  Then I founda recipe for muffins, and it worked without fail . This recipe is a family fave, and not because they are delicious (eventhough they are) but because they are quick, versatile, and are yeast free.

What I love about this recipe is that I can change the ingredientsand my family has something new each time, and yet my recipe hasn’tchanged.  First we will start with thebasics and then move on to the variations we love.

2 ¼ cups freshly milled flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup oil

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

Mix all ingredients and scoop into 12-18 muffin cups(depending on how large you like your muffins) bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes.

Easy enough?  Now,this is where you need to think outside the box!  Here is what you need to know, you can addany spices, fruit, vegetables, and change out the grain used to make thesemuffins work for you.  A few of ourfavorites are corn muffins (made with freshly ground corn, a cup of cheese, and a cup of frozen corn), chocolate bananamuffins (using Ezekiel mix as the flour, chocolate chips, and 3 mashed bananas), and squash/zucchini muffins (hard red and white flour, grated squash or zucchini, your kids have no idea these yummy muffins contain veggies).  I love adding cinnamon and vanilla to thesweet versions, and one of these days when almond extract crosses my mind and I’m actually at the store (can anyone say list?) I would love to see what thatdoes to them.

What combinations can you come up with that would makefabulous muffins?  Give me somesuggestions and I’ll try them out and let you know what we think! 

Time flies!

So much has happened over the past few months, and clearly my intentions of blogging have gone awry. Here is a quick update on what we’ve been doing. Alexa started 5K last week, and is loving every minute of it. She is extremely proud that she knows where her classroom is and can walk in all by herself. I love her sweet independent spirit; most of the time. Adam has been helping my sister & her fam with their business for about 4 months now. If you’re not familiar with our products I would highly recommend checking them out here. He has done a great job being a work-at-home dad and waits patiently in the car line each day to bring Alexa home. I continue working for Community Health as part of their residency program and I really love it. I am so thankful God has blessed me with this job and can’t wait to see what the future hold. We are also watching Resonate Church bloom and blossom during these beginning stages, and can clearly see God’s hand upon the work we are doing there. We will officially launch services in just a few weeks! I can’t believe this time last year we were just making the decision to move, man how time flies!

Another journey we began a few months ago was the quest to live a healthier, happier lifestyle. It seems my entire adult life I have been on a diet of some sort, and at times I have thought it would always be that way. Then it hit me, I didn’t want Alexa to be standing in the middle (ok fine at the end) of her 20’s feeling the same way. I began using Weight Watchers in May and have lost 16 pounds so far, I have to admit it is nice to see lower numbers on the scale, but I don’t always feel lighter. I definitely have a few pounds left to lose, but we are working each day as a family to eat better and slowly but surely we will get there.

homemade fruit pancakes from freshly milled wheat

cinnamon raisin bread

One of the biggest changes we’ve made is cutting out the processed food in our diets. Now, let me say I love a hotdog as much as the next girl (probably more) and I highly doubt I will ever go without them, but in general less processed is crossing our table. We are working on doing more clean eating, you know not eating food with ingredients that you can’t pronounce or spell! This has made a huge difference. Along those same lines we have started milling our own grains, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about it! What a great feeling to know that I am providing my family with healthy, nutritious whole grain breads, muffins, cookies, and so much more!

I know some of you might be shaking your head and thinking ‘I don’t have time for that’, and to be honest I thought the same thing. When Jodi started milling their wheat I thought it was a great idea, but she’s also a stay work-at-home mom who must have more time than I do. Then I began hearing about the health benefits and knew it was something we needed to do. We bought a grain mill, found a local supplier, and haven’t looked back. Typically speaking I bake once a week for the whole week, it takes anywhere from 45 minutes to a few hours depending on what I’m making that week, and what else I have going on. It is a commitment I have made to our family to keep us on our journey to whole foods living.

Over the next weeks and months I plan to continue updating you all on our progress.  We would love to have you check-in and leave any comments or feedback you might have.  If you care to join us that would be great too...the more the merrier right?!  I will share recipes and pictures of the things we make, and let you know if they were deemed worthy of appearing on our table again.  I hope to see you around again soon!

It's Beginning!

Christmas around our house is officially here! Each year on December 1st we are blessed to celebrate the birth of my fantastic husband, and I am so thankful for that. It is the PERFECT way to begin our holiday festivities. This year for our first season as a married couple we are celebrating in a whole new way, living in our house together! When people ask me what the best thing is about being married I have to say it is unequivocally that we go to sleep and wake up each day with each other.

Being our first married Christmas we are keeping traditions we started last year, like giving each other a new ornament, and hopefully starting some new ones. I am definitely looking forward to spending many Christmas seasons with my love in the years to come and sharing our traditions with our family.

The last several months have brought several changes to our lives...obviously being married is a BIG change, but if you can believe it there is one that tops it. We have some dear friends from NewSpring who have felt the call of God to step out on faith and plant a church. At first I was hit with emotions of sadness for losing them, but clearly we know they are in God's will and this has not been entered into lightly. About this same time Adam and I began praying through what God had planned for us, and although we weren't exactly sure what was coming, we knew it was big. In September, about a month before our wedding, we announced to our family that we are going to help our friends plant this church.

Let's go back a little if you will...

If you know much about me at all, you know NewSpring has been a huge part of my life since I began attending in April of 2008. They did some amazing things for me on Mother's Day 2009, I have made some amazing friends, and it is where I met Adam in January of 2010. I absolutely love all that I have been able to be a part of through this church, and to be quite honest I NEVER in a million years thought I'd be called to leave it. So, when God started working on our heart in July and August of this year we merely thought we would be moving to a different campus or something of that nature, we had no clue we would be leaving the church we have called home for the last several years.

I've had people ask me what happened at NewSpring to cause this...and to be plain, the answer is Jesus. This has nothing to do with politics, hurt feelings, or differences of opinions; on the contrary this is the result of seeking Jesus and desiring to see lost people meet him. So in January we will be packing up our house and moving to Indianapolis. This is a move I never expected. I do not want to leave my family, especially my mom and my sister. We are very close, and our friendships have grown over the last few months of wedding planning and now move planning.

As we look upon the Christmas season we are beginning, I can't help but think this is the most fitting time to be thinking of these things. After all, Jesus is the reason for it all. We ask simply that you pray. For us. For our faith to grow. For Alexa to make friends. For hearts in Indy to be softened to us. For our pastor and his wife.

This year has been about new adventures for us, and this is going to be the best one yet. I hope to keep you updated here through words and pictures as our life there unfolds.