Another bread post!

I guess by now it's clear that I love my bread, huh? ;-) 

I'll admit though, after having started to watch my calorie intake again a bit closer (having quit smoking some months ago -in November '11 to be exact!- led me to have an increased appetite and over time some few extra unwanted pounds crept up *blech*) I'm probably not going to easily wolf down 2 slices at a time anymore soon!.. Unless they're lower in calories, which is why I'd like to share following 2 bread recipes! From all of my bread recipes I've posted so far, those seem to be really in the lower range! (Still more than a store bought bread, unfortunately.., but we'll have to remind ourselves that the home made ones are much better quality and no preservatives!!!)

I found both recipes on Alicia C. Simpson's blog Vegan Guinea pig and did the calculation over on Sparkpeople (which is a site I've joined years ago but have been MIA for quite some time and just recently started to re-visit! It's awesome for all kinds of things, whether you're interested in nutritional tracking, fitness tracking and conversing with others, get inspired, find a fitness buddy, etc.).

If you ever wanted to find me directly, I'm here: MomOf2Gremlins ;-)

Long story, short, here are the 2 wonderful bread (machine) recipes! 

  ~* Daily Bread *~

Makes a 1 1/2 pound loaf (~10 slices)

1/2 C Water
1/2 C Oat, Soy or Almond Milk
1 Egg Replacer Egg (I use Ener G)
3 C Bread Flour (sometimes I use 2C bread Flour and 1 C Wheat Flour)
2T Milled Flax Seed
1T Vital Wheat Gluten
1.5t salt
1T Olive Oil
2t Bread Machine Yeast
I bake on light - Remove when complete and cool on rack. Sometimes this cools before the family makes me cut it up. Perfect for sandwiches.

Per slice: 157 calories, 2 fat, 28 carbs, 6 protein

~* Potato Bread *~ 

Makes 1 ½ pound loaf (~10 slices)

½ cup water

2/3 cup almond milk

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons agave nectar

2 ½ cups bread flour

1/3 cup instant potato flakes

1 tablespoon gluten (optional)

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

2 ¼ teaspoon bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in the pan according to the order in manufacturer’s instructions (usually liquids on bottom, solids on top) be sure not to put the potato flakes and the liquids close together as he flakes will absorb the liquids too fast and change the outcome of the finished product.

Set the crust on medium and use the basic white bread cycle (do not use delayed start for this bread).

When the baking cycle ends immediately remove the bread from the plan and place it on a rack to cool. Allow to cool to room temperature before slicing.

Credit goes to Alicia C. Simpson (Vegan Guinea Pig)

Per slice: 175 cals, 3 fat, 31 carbs, 1.5 fiber, 3 sugar, 5.6 protein

Oh and in case you never know how to store your fresh baked bread, I found this adjustable bread keeper few weeks ago on Amazon and love it! All of my bread machine breads fit well in it and keep really nice and fresh! (Not that bread survives longer than 3 days in our household anyway! *lol*)

Catching up a little!

I know, I know, it's getting old!.. How many times can I apologize for having been MIA here.. So I simply won't say anything anymore from now on! If I have time and the mood strikes to blog, I will.. if not, you'll have to wait and hopefully understand that life can get busy! ;)

But now let's dive right in to a few things I want to share with you!

First of all, my cook book collection is growing and I love looking at them in my shelf! :) 

I have 2 more coming in the mail! ^_^

Secondly, as you all know by now, I'm a big bread lover and always looking for a great & easy recipe!

While hunting for a low cal bread machine bread, I found this one and am in heaven! (My kids raved and claimed it looks like from a bakery -they might be a tad biased though when it comes to their mom! ;) )

While it's by no means really healthy with all the amount of white flour, for the first try I wanted to stick to the recipe a 100% and see how it turns out! 

Next time I might try 50/50 and see how it goes!

~* Basic Machine French Bread *~

1/2 cups water, at about 105 degrees 4 cups flour (a flour with at 4 grams protein per serving is best) 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I use kosher) 2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast Directions: 1 Add to the bread pan in the order yours needs. 2 For mine it is water first. 3 Then I add half the flour and the salt followed by the rest of the flour and the yeast on top. 4 This will run well on the normal, rapid, and delay start cycles.

I followed Miss Diggy's further instructions as she mentions on the site and it worked amazing! Here's what she writes:

"I made it on the dough cycle, and then took it out, rolled it out into a 15x8 rectangle and then rolled it up on the 15 inch sides. Then I pinched the edges together to be "seamless" and then rolled it back and forth, gently, to taper the ends (bring to almost a point) and then put it on a greased baking sheet with a little cornmeal. I put a few slits in the top about 1/4 inch deep and brushed on a little bit of cold water all over the top of the loaf. Let it rise for another hour and then used 1 egg white to brush over the top of it, and then baked it at 350 for 25-35 minutes (when it was a golden brown and sounded hollow when I thunked it)"

And the result:

I wish I had some 'Caponata' left that I made the other day to eat with it! (Recipe will follow soon; it's very easy!)