~What do you do with Dough that refuses to rise??~

You make stromboli's and pizza with it!

So i had a full container of 10+ grain bread dough that REFUSED to rise...and i couldnt or should i say WOULDNT throw it out! So 2nite i tossed it on the counter added some flour to it and divided it up and rolled out pizza and stromboli sized pieces of dough!

I made up a few different kinds of both :) i had plenty of left over smoked turkey from thanksgiving to use! I made Sweet chilli sauce crab meat and cheese stromoboli and pizza at my sons request :) we had bbq turkey cheese toppings home made pizza sauce pepperoni and cheese as well i just used what was in the fridge and freezer for a very simple dinner and packed lunches!

~Non Food Related Post!~

But this post is totally worth reading! :) Head on over to Fantabulously Frugal and sign up for her awesome give away!

http://www.fantabulouslyfrugal.com/2009/11/you-deserve-best-giveaway.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FantabulouslyFrugal+%28Fantabulously+Frugal%29

Please make sure you let her know you heard about this fab give away threw my blog!

Take a look at just one of the give aways up for grabs!

~Whole Wheat 10+ Grain Bread~

Yep 10+ grain bread! I know looking at these pictures you really cant tell theres 10+ kinds of grains in this bread... Truth be told i played around with some of Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal (picture from http://www.bobsredmill.com/ website) which is made from stone ground high protien hard red wheat, rye, triticale, oat bran, oats, corn, barley, soy beans, brown rice, millet and flaxseed! Wow huh! i added 2/3's of a cup to my usual bread dough recipe plus wheat germ and wheat bran! And the bread turned out so tasty! I tryed using small personal bread tins to see how my recipe would go made in these small tins! One thing i must say about making your own bread is that i find it lasts longer you know? keeps better it doesnt spoil go moldy like store baught bread does... and when it does go stale/hard it makes for wonderful bread crumbs! And fab croutons! :)

~Home Made Bread~

This has to be some of the easiest breads to make! I basically use the master recipe in a wonderful recipe book some of you know i call my bread bible! If you dont have a copy ask santa for one for chrissy!!

The only difference to the master recipe is all the healthy stuff i add to it :D I almost always add ground flaxseed meal to all my bread doughs! In this batch i also added wheat bran, oats and some barley!

I dont make sweet breads :) as i like the savory type i grew up on savory bread in australia and i found it very hard to get use to american bread because it was so sweet..

When i first started making bread i was so happy hearing the crunch of the bread as i broke it in half and then to smell that savory smell of yeast! I cant say my mum made bread from scratch but back home there was always a bakery round the corner selling top knotch loaves of bread just like this!

If you've never baked your own bread from scratch you should really give it a try! It is so rewarding! To know that that loaf of bread your family is eatting was made by you :) Have any questions dont be afraid to ask im not a pro but i will try my best to answer best my knowledge!

~Sour Dough Bread~

~Sour Dough Bread~

This was my first loaf of sour dough bread i made from scratch and it was A M A Z I N G!

My boys enjoyed this with a huge pot of chilli! It was pretty easy but it definately was strong! Paired well with the chilli thats for sure!

Unfortunately no recipe for this as i was playing around and didnt write anything down! I will hopefully have time to try playing with this again and have a recipe in the future to share!

Happy Happy Happy!

Happy Turkey Day Everybody!

I hope everyone has a fantastic day! Good food, Good company and safe travelling!

(No this isnt a turkey unfortunately its a crispy tasty roasted chicken! Recipe to come soon!)

~Fall Savory Flavors~

Chicken Sage Sweet Potato Squash and Potato Soup

~Ingredients~

8 cups of chicken broth/stock

2 Large Chicken breasts (cut into small bite sizes)

4 Decent size potatoes (skin left on and diced up (i also call these "spuds" FYI))

1 Onion (finely diced)

1 sweet potato squash

half of a butternut squash (atleast 3 cups of diced flesh)

dried sage to taste

black pepper and seas salt to taste

minced garlic to taste

~How to throw it together~

This is one of the easiest soups ive ever made up so quick!

Throw your broth in apot and get to boiling, while that is starting take a skillet/pan put a lil dob of butter and a lil olive oil toss your diced onions in and garlic saute it till the onions nice and soft, add your bite size pieces of chicken then add your sage,salt and pepper to your onions and garlic toss the your spuds and squash in stir around till everything is coated evenly and put a lid on it cooking it for a lil bit on medium to high heat make sure u dont leave these babies unattended cuz they can catch :) remove fro heat and slowly add to your boiling pot of (home made ;D) chicken stock/broth! Slowly cook your tubbers in the broth/stock its that simple! Now most of you know i am heavier with my herbs so if this doesnt have enough get up n go to it just add more! Im not good with measurements im a look at toss in kind of cook! I served this scrummy yummy sooup with home made bread cooked on a cookie sheet! And i paired it with acorn squash stuffed with grated apples sprinlked with a brown sugar mix i made up consisting of cloves nutmeg and cinnamon and a dob of butter on top and baked in the oven till melted and flesh was tender!

~A Tasty Fall Soup Preview~!

I recently made a huge pot of stock and i took a good amount of that stock and made a very tasty soup with it! I paired the soup with a nice crusty savory loaf of bread and then for something sweet i served acorn squash stuffed with grated apple topped with a brown suagr and spice mix! I will post some pics and the recipes will follow after the wkend!

Hope everyone has a fab wkend!

~Home Made Chicken Stock/Broth~

Why buy canned broth anymore when u can make your own stock and broth at home! Benifits of doing this? Besides your house smelling DIVINE! And everyone entering your home wanting to know what that amazing smell is you have simmering in the pot! Its also alot cheaper then buying canned broth from the store! You also will know exactly what goes into your broth/stock! You can put whatever you like into your pot! I dont make plain veggie stock i dont see the point in it :P but thats my opinion! Ive yet to venture into beef broth but one of my best friends had attemped it a couple of times and hasnt been to impressed with her results, me i will stick to yummy chicken stock! Why? cuz i use it in almost everything if i need to add liquid to a dish! I can not say that i have had one batch turn out the same because depending what veggies i have used over the past month or so is what gets tossed into a frezzer bag and saved for stock! But i can tell you that the darker my batch comes out the better it is! I know in these pictures you can see the "fat" on the top of the stock but thats beacuse i have not yet skimmed the top of my broth yet in all of these pictures! I love making my own broth and i cant thank my bestie Angie enough for showing me how! Since shes shown me i have made 5 batches of my own stock! (i know thats alot isnt it?!?!) I skim the top then i freeze the stock in small 2 cup containers and ice cube trays! I have to admit this last batch i made i will be freezing the whole lot in ice cube trays because you have no idea how much of a time save it is just to toss a couple of cubes into a sauce or a casserole dish! Anyway here is a guideline to follow if you like :) But like i said use what you like and i always taste it to make sure it has enough flavor to it but i only taste after its been boiling for a few hours :D

~Guideline For Tasty Stock~

Take a large pot of some sort that will hold your left over chicken bones (skin/carcasses etc)
I usually throw 2 chicken carcasses left over from a roasted chicken, bones and skin throw it in the pot.

now for veggies....

here is what went into my last batch;

onion ends

carrots

fresh parsely from my garden

roasted carrots

roasted butternut squash

summer squash tops and bottoms

zuchini tops and bottoms

butternut squash pulp

over ripe tomatoes

2 onions roughly cut up

throw all your veggies into your pot now added water to cover your veggies anc chicken bones!

Dont fill your pot all the way to the top leave some room for the yummies to boil!

Now you dont have to add anything else to this if you dont want BUT i do!

I add a handful of bayleaves dryed or fresh is doesnt matter!

I add garlic powder to taste and a lil onion powder as well!

Also you dont have to BUT adding 2 tablespoons of apple cider brings out the marow from the chicken bones!

This last time i added 1 teaspoon of seasalt

2 Tablespoon of dried sage

2 Tablespoon of dried oregano

2 Tablespoon of peppercorns (whole)

1 teaspoon of english curry powder

and a pinch of ground fennel powder

Bring your pot to a boil, i usually let mine boil for about hlf an hr then i turn it down to a simmer and stir it everyone once in a while, i boil the pot for about 24hrs then i strain the contents of the pot and taa daa!

P.S i will soon be posting a recipe for some extremely tasty fall chicken and veggie soup i made with some of the stock!

~The Local Farmers Stand~

The local farmers stand is full of all sorts of locally grown goodies! In the summer we found the sweetest corn around our area! Tasty Tomatoes which we were able to pick ourselves! All sorts of peppers, onions, spuds summer squash and much much more! On my way home from work today i stopped at our lil local stand which is now "self serve" currently the stand is stocked with beautiful tasty pumkins and squash! So today i returned home with 6 butternut squash 6 sweet potato squash and 1 acorn squash! How much did i spend? $10! Why did i buy so many u ask? Because one of the great things about butternut squash is they will last over winter stored in a nice cool place! I know this from experience as i kept a few out in my garage last winter! As for the other ones i plan on cooking the acorn squash for dinner! And a couple of the sweet ones as well so keep your eye out to see what i did with them and how they turned out!