1. In a large bowl, mix 3/4 cup water, quick oats, oil, honey and salt.
2. In a smaller bowl, activate yeast in 1/4 cup water and a pinch of sugar.
3. Add the yeast mixture to the wet ingredients.
4. Add the flour and mix well. If you’re going to attempt to knead it, do it on a lightly floured surface.
5. Cover the dough lightly with oil and transparent wrap, and let it rise in a warm place for an hour. What I do is heat a cup of water for about 4 minutes in the microwave, push it to the corner and put the bowl of dough in the microwave as well.
6. Deflate the dough and form a loaf, or loaves if you’d like and place them in loaf pans. Let the dough rise again for 40 minutes.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden.
8. When the bread comes out, brush the top with honey and sprinkle quick oats on the top.
THIS RECIPE IS TAKEN FROM ONE OF MY FRIENDS!!!!! (And it's delicious!)
Ingredients: 3 eggs 1 cup sugar (splenda) 2 teaspoons vanilla 3 cups grated fresh zucchini 2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons baking soda Pinch salt 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 F. 2. Mix together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. 3. Mix in the grated zucchini oil. Then the baking soda, salt and cinnamon. 4. Add the flour in slowly while stirring.
Notes: This won't be very sweet so if you want to put more sugar you can. The bread will be very moist and will stay moist for days. I might use one less egg next time...
Again, I tried to make healthy Chocolate Mousse.... this was not very successful so instead of posting the recipe (because it really doesn't work) I'm going to give words of wisdom:
Chocolate Mousse is one of those recipes where you really cannot get around the fat content. The fat is what makes the recipe work. I tried using half and half and Cool Whip lite and a little bit of butter to make up for the lack of fat but the Mousse would not keep shape. I stuck it in the freezer and it just became really solid (more solid than ice cream, not nearly as solid as ice....)
So basically, use whipping cream to make Chocolate Mousse (it doesn't have to be heavy whipping cream).
If you have half and half, use that to make Alfredo sauce instead ^_- I was also surprised to discover that half and half lasts quite a long time after its expiration date. Usually, I would say any dairy products should not be kept more than 2-3 days past its expiration date but I had unopened half and half in my fridge 10 days after its expiration date. I opened to see if it was okay... and it was! I think this has something to do with the fact that it was ultrapasturized. Anyway, I used a little and stuck it in the freezer. We'll see if it still lasts.
Also, just some other interesting tid bits: Eggs last 3-5 weeks after the expiration date listed on the carton.
Keep baking soda in a sealed container otherwise it loses its potency faster. Baking soda usually lasts a couple of years after opening the sealed package it comes in but if you want to check if it still works, place a little bit in vinegar. If it bubbles immediately, it's still good.
Same goes for baking powder. It lasts a pretty long time. To check if it's still good place a little bit in hot water. If it bubbles immediately, it's still good.
I had a lot of skim milk left that was about to become spoiled so I desperately started looking for recipes that used skim milk... and voila! I found Alfredo recipes!
My camera's batteries refuse to stay charged so this is from my phone's camera.... I need a better camera. :/
You do need a little bit of fat to make Alfredo taste good, but I tried to make this recipe as healthy as possible:
2 1/2 cups skim milk 1 Tbs. butter 3 Tbs. flour 3 cloves garlic minced 2 cups Parmesan cheese salt, black pepper, and pepper to taste
Notes: Cook Rotini based on the directions of the pasta box. Flour definitely alters the texture of the sauce a little bit. If you don't like it then you can reduce the amount of flour used and add cream cheese instead. You can even keep the same amount of flour and add cream cheese in addition to that. The sauce will thicken pretty quickly.
My camera ran out of battery and all of my rechargeable batteries don't hold their charge anymore. Don't use rechargeable batteries- they don't last! So I took pictures with my phone but I have not been able to connect my phone via bluetooth to my laptop.... so my roommate took a picture of one of the pizza's I made and sent it to me so this is the only picture I have for now:
Directions:
1. Activate yeast by placing yeast in 3/4 cup warm water and adding the sugar.
2. Mix all dry ingredients.
3. Mix in yeast and remaining water and olive oil.
4. Knead dough.
5. Cover with oiled plastic wrap. Let rise over night (at least 15 hours).
Notes: I've read from other recipes that using bread flour and mixing the oil into the dough causes the dough to break apart... this is NOT true. This is the first time I've used bread flour for my pizza dough and it turned out great. I did only place half of the oil into the mix and once I had kneaded the dough I put in the remaining oil. The dough turned out really well and was easy to handle but it is very important to let it rise overnight.
Pizza Sauce:
Ingredients
3 cups diced roma tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) canned tomato sauce
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic
crushed fresh basil leaves (1 tablespoon dried basil)
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon crushed pepper
salt and black pepper for taste
olive oil
Directions
1. Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into pan at medium-low heat.
2. Add minced garlic.
3. Add onions.
4. Add tomatoes after onions and garlic have turned golden.
5. Add basil, oregano, crushed pepper, chili powder, salt and black pepper.
6. Add more oil if necessary.
7. Add tomato sauce.
8. Taste and add spices accordingly.
Notes: I like spicy tomato sauce, thus the chili powder and crushed pepper. This recipe makes more than enough pizza sauce so you can refrigerate it for probably up to a week and use it for pasta as well. Other recipes use white wine to make tomato sauce but I've never tried it.
Pizza
Oil pan and sprinkle wheat flour (or all-purpose or bread) over it. Knead dough onto pan. Don't use a rolling pin. Spread sauce and desired toppings. The above pizza has red and yellow bell peppers, onions, feta cheese, roma tomatoes, and some cheddar cheese. Place in oven for about 20 minutes at 450 degrees F.
Final Notes:
The directions for this recipe are pretty open ended because you should be able to make your own recipe from it. I've looked through countless recipes to get to the one above. Making pizza dough is probably the hardest thing to do because without a good dough, you won't have a good pizza. The above directions are probably the easiest ones to follow on making pizza dough. I've seen recipes that are five pages long just to make pizza dough.
Also, most of the measurements for the ingredients are estimations.
Did not want to do work again... so I baked! Story of my life...
Ingredients: 4 ripe bananas 1 1/2 cups flour 1/3 cup yoghurt 1/2 cup sugar (splenda) 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup walnuts
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mash bananas and yoghurt together. Mix in sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix in flour. Add walnuts. Mix well. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake for about an hour.
Note: I used a nonstick loaf pan so I did not grease it.
Ingredients: 2 cups sugar (1 1/2 cups splenda) 1 1/2 cups flour 3/4 cup cocoa powder (1 1/4 cup cocoa powder) 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup sour milk [add 1 tbs vinegar to milk to make sour milk] (1 tsp. vinegar plus skim milk) 1 cup coffee [not coffee grounds] 1/2 cup oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix dry ingredients. Add rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Place batter in well-greased 9 inch pans. Bake for about 35 min.
Notes: recipe adapted from Hershey's recipe. I increased the amount of cocoa used and decreased the amount of sugar so that cake does not taste that sweet. I would probably stick to the recommended amounts to get a sweeter taste.
