A Deliciously Simple Recipe for Whole Wheat Bread

Quote du Jour
How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like kleenex?

                                                                  ~ Julia Child

On a recent road trip

Look at the different languages on
these labels. It makes me happy
that our country exports such 
excellent products.

I stopped by Bob’s Red Mill in Milwaukie, Oregon to stock up on whole wheat flour and several other grains including ground flax seed. I had no idea that baking with freshly milled flour means more flavor!

Think and drive

Oil change

On the drive home, I got to thinking about deleting oil in my bread baking. Curious how replacing the processed oil with ground flax seed would affect the texture and flavor of my old whole wheat bread recipe, I tried it. Success, it's perfect!

Perfect texture! Oil? Who needs it?

Label‘tude

Manufacturers have blurred the meaning of “whole grain”: their meaning may be fuzzy, inaccurate and disingenuous, but the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, the organization that recently classified pizza as a vegetable) lets them get away with it.



Tired of being confused
I Stopped Buying Bread
To control ingredients and tweak flavors to suit family tastes, I make my own. At dinner, I serve fresh, warm, just baked bread. To top it off, the whole house smells of delicious baking bread!

This Whole Wheat Bread recipe
makes a 2 pound loaf of bread.

Keeping it ridiculously simple
I use a Bread Machine
It’s so easy; I bake a fresh loaf every other day. Left-overs turn into bread pudding or bread crumbs. To make bread crumbs, whirl any left-over stale bread in a food processor, put in a covered jar or Ziploc bag and freeze. Oh my goodness, thrifty!

No bread machine?
Knead-by-hand instructions are included, too
But, to incorporate fresh whole wheat bread into our daily diet, I keep it simple and use a bread machine. Believe me, I end up saving money. Below the recipe, check out my Whole-foods Plant-based Cooking Strategies.

Recipe Notes: No special flours or ingredients needed. Just layer the recipe ingredients, beginning with liquids first, topping off with the yeast. To keep the yeast from contacting the liquid too soon, make a “lake” in the flour, then put the yeast in the “lake”.

To keep liquid from interacting with
the yeast too soon, form a "lake"
at the top of the flour.

Place the yeast in the "lake" and,
ta dahhh, you've got bread machine
skills. Take a bow!

Whole, Plant-based & Awesome Recipe
Whole Wheat Bread
Bread Machine Recipe: 3 hours and 40 minutes
2 pound loaf

Snap bread pan in place - make sure the paddle is properly inserted.
Measure then add ingredients in this order. See Recipe Notes.

• 1 3/4 cup tap water
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

Close the lid, select the Whole Wheat Bread setting and press start.

Knead by hand recipe: 3+ hours
1-9X5 loaf

Into a large bowl, measure, add, then mix together all the dry ingredients

• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

Add and stir

• 1 3/4 cup tap water

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. As needed, add additional 1 tablespoon increments of whole wheat flour if dough is too soft.

Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat top. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down; shape into a loaf. Place in a 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 35-40 minutes.

Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown. Turn loaf out of the pan to a wire rack to cool.

My food costs are low!
Whole-foods Plant-based Cooking Strategies: Bread
Eating whole plant-based foods does not mean extra work or money - just new habits and cooking strategies.

Making your own yeast bread saves money

Yeast

• buy in bulk at warehouse stores
• for less than $5, you’ll have enough for dozens of loaves (at least 50 loaves)
• store in a covered glass or metal container in the refrigerator

Flour: Bread Flour, All-Purpose Flour, whole wheat flour, etc.

• purchase 25+ lb bags at warehouse stores
• store in large covered glass or metal containers

Put appliances to work for you

Use a bread machine! 

Want to serve warm fresh bread at a meal? Use the Bread Machine Timer!

Decide when you want to serve the bread

• Snap the loaf pan and beater bar into place
• Layer ingredients according to machine’s directions
• Select the baking option (whole wheat, French, etc.)
• Set the timer based on when dinner will be served

Piggy endorsed! This is a great loaf of bread.

Fabrics of Our Lives

Update
"Stories From Tohoku" Documentary Begins Airing on PBS Nationwide in May. Check your local listings. It's excellent!. KQED 9: Tue, May 20, 2014 - 11:00 pm

Quote du Jour
Nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire fabric. 
                                                                                  ~ Richard P. Feynman
Fabric from an epic disaster becomes
A Japanese O'hime Doll
Watching a screening of the film documentary, Stories from Tohoku, I was enchanted by the O'hime dolls made by Japanese tsunami survivor, Setsuko Abe.

This sweet little O'hime doll tells a story of 
culture and survival.

Among many other things, Kimonos, a beautiful part of the fabric of Japanese culture, were mixed in the rubble from the March 2011 tsunami. Searching through miles of devastation, Setsuko found and salvaged many kimonos. 

She washed those that could be cleaned, and somehow a few families were reunited with their kimonos. With the remaining kimonos, she started to make little O'hime dolls. O-hime means "princess" in Japanese.

In the documentary, Setsuko Abe says each doll takes 50 minutes to make, all completely sewn by hand.

A third of a million people became homeless from the tsunami, many are still living in temporary housing. Thirty of Setsuko's O'hime dolls were available for purchase at the film's screening, with proceeds benefiting the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, supported by the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.

The beautiful hand-painted silk fabric has a history I can only imagine. Who sewed the kimono from this fabric? What girl wore the kimono? Was this an antique kimono? Where did they live?

A very simplified sketch of how this special doll is made.

Origami
A close look at the construction of this doll yields another Japanese art form, Origami. Simply a lined fabric square, folded into a sort of envelope - just like paper Origami - the dolls' head is tucked into place, then finished with silk thread.

The Tag

A friend asked her Japanese mother-in-law to try and translate the tag. Roughly, here's what it says:

The back of the O'hime doll. The 

painted silk is truly beautiful.

● the date: "heisei" 23 (the current period in Japan) 3/11 

● omamori: which is a keepsake/charm 
● it was a pleasure for her to sew this 
● she hopes that we carry it when we go to church/pray

Such a project seems to make the world a smaller place - we're members of a global community. Her keepsake is a treasure, and her hopes, honored.

To Learn More About Stories from Tohoku

Setsuko's story is only one of many in this documentary. To air on PBS this fall - stay tuned - I'll post the day, time and station when this information is available. 

● Watch

The Film's Website and Trailer

StoriesFromTohoku.com
The documentary has numerous stories about people affected by the March 2011 earthquake and epic tsunami. 

● Read
Here's a link to a San Francisco Chronicle article:
Film Explores Aftermath of the Japanese Tsunami

● The JCCCNC
Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California

The Film's Website and Trailer

StoriesFromTohoku.com

Amazing

It's remarkable that kimono fabric could survive the tumult of the tsunami. But what's more remarkable to me is that a survivor creates these lovely dolls from a fabric synonymous with her country - fabric that also survived the tsunami - and sends us a message of resilience, acceptance, patience and hope. 

Piggy is proud to give these O'hime dolls - made by 
tsunami survivor, Setsuko Abe - the closing of this blog.

Health: By Choice, Not by Chance

Quote du Jour
    In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments ~ there are consequences.
                     ~ Robert Ingersoll, American orator and political leader

Refreshed and Recharged
Engine 2 Retreat
With the great health benefits of plant-based eating, it's good every so often to take a refresher class. My husband and I attended the Portland, Oregon Engine 2 Retreat and it delivered!

Rip Esselstyn, author of

The Engine 2 Diet

Outstanding speakers, plant-based whole-foods cooking demonstrations, great food and interesting attendees, we feel recharged as we continue our plant-based whole-life journey.

Rip Esselstyn: Plant-Strong
After 10 years as a professional triathlete, Rip Esselstyn became a firefighter at the Austin Texas Engine 2 firehouse. His strength, vigor and stamina soon had fellow firefighters asking questions about his health strategies.

Firefighters are competitive, and via a challenge to eat plant-based for 28-days, firefighters in Austin's Engine 2 fire house experienced amazing health outcomes. 

 This book became a New York
 Times Best Seller. Rip recently
 published My Beef with Meat

Then came local, and then national recognition in the New York Times in March 2006:

Firefighters Gone Vegan? Even Austin is Impressed, New York Times, March 26, 2006

In early 2009, Rip published his first book, The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-day Save Your Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds, Hachette Book Group USA.

My husband, Mark Jones, pictured
with Rip Esselstyn at the conclusion
of the April 2014 Engine 2 Retreat in
Portland, Oregon.

Visit his website: 
Engine2Diet.com

The Portland Retreat
At the conclusion of the weekend, my husband was asked to participate in a panel of attendees to share their improved health with plant-based eating. 

   Breakfast included hot or cold cereal,
   fruit, greens with salsa and a really
   delicious whole grain muffin.

Evidence-based
Data Driven
I value that the plant-based diet is a scientific evidence-based diet. Rip's dad, Caldwell Esselstyn MD, author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, has his patients start each meal with cooked greens.

Visit Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn's website -  the URL says it all - at: HeartAttackProof.com

Meals Included
Rip had each meal begin with cooked greens and salsa and other sauces. At first it seemed a bit odd, then we began to love starting each meal with them. Crazy how our body does let us know what it needs.

As Dr. John McDougall says
It's the Food!
Somehow, you could tell that this was a guy's diet. Each meal - breakfast, lunch and dinner - included several salads and side dishes, and plenty of each. Folks piled their plates high with food! (Of course I did, too!!)

I piled my plate so high with food
that it's difficult to distinguish one
salad or casserole from the other.
It was all good!

Great Produce (choke)
As a Californian it's really difficult for me to admit this, but Oregon sure grows delicious strawberries. They are SO good!

Rip's mother, Ann Esselstyn managed the food service, and also spoke about strategies for daily cooking of whole-foods.

This little piggy ate roast beef veggies!