Braided Spiced Nut Bread

Last time I made bread I decided to take the whole bread braiding thing up a notch and added some walnuts, sugar, and spices.  It turned out so good and I'll definitely be making more in the future.  It's basically a Cinnamon roll in bread form with lots of walnuts and nutmeg packed in.

Using the recipe from my previous posts (or some kind of challah dough would work really well too) roll your dough out into an oval/rectangle shape.

Chop up a bunch of walnuts, really as many as you like. I went with a couple of large handfuls because we all really like nuts.  If you don't like nuts at all you could substitute them for raisins or just leave them out entirely.

Brush the dough with some softened butter then sprinkle on some brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  I didn't do any measuring here, just sprinkled it on until it was evenly coated.

Next you're going to slice two cuts into your dough.  Leaving about an inch intact at the top, cut all the way down to the bottom so you have three pieces.

Here is where we differ from the regular braided bread.  Take each section and fold it in half, securing all the sugar and nuts inside.  Some will fall out while you braid but this will keep most of it inside.

Slowly braid your three loaf pieces until you get to the end.  Keep the braid fairly tight.  When you get to the end, pinch the three pieces together to hold it all in place.  Transfer to a well greased baking sheet.  Pick up all the fallen walnuts and sugar and sprinkle them on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes on the top rack in your oven.  Keep a careful eye on it, you want it fairly brown to ensure the middle is evenly cooked.

Once it's finished baking, brush the top with a bit of butter to keep the crust from getting too hard.  Then Enjoy!  We just ripped pieces off the loaf as we wanted them but you could easily slice it up as well.

Braided Bread - How To

In order to keep my interest in baking at least two basic loaves of bread every other day I've taken to trying out new shaping techniques.  (and yes we really do go through a loaf a day, could you imagine how much that would add up if I were buying it from the grocery store?  Never mind the fact that grocery loaves are much smaller)

My latest favourite, looks wise, is a braided loaf and it's really easy to do!

You can use pretty much any basic bread dough recipe, I used this one: Stone Ground Oatmeal Bread (just the dough recipe)

Here's how it's done!

Step one: Once your dough is ready to be shaped, knead it out for a couple of minutes then roll it into a medium sized rectangle.  Make sure you get all the big air bubbles out to ensure your bread has a really even crumb.

Cut two slits along the rectangle, starting about 1 inch from the top and cutting all the way through to the bottom.

Starting at the top, take a piece from one side and fold it over the middle piece.  Then take a piece from the opposite side and fold it over top the new middle piece.  Continue all the way to the bottom.  Make sure you braid fairly tight or your end result won't look much like a braid at all.

When you get to the bottom, pinch the three pieces together.

Tuck both ends in a bit and then gently roll the loaf back and forth until it forms a nice loaf size

Place your loaf in a greased bread pan and let it rise until double

Follow the bread recipes baking instructions and there you have it!  A delicious braided loaf of bread!

On Being "Green" and a Giveaway!

I'm sure I'm not the first person to dislike the phrase "being green" but that certainly doesn't keep me and my family from being as "green" as we can be.  I'm 100% behind taking care of this planet God gave us and while I'm still miles away from my ideal level of "green-ness" (anyone else sick of all these parentheses yet?) I think I am slowly getting there.

Anyway in recent years I've found it easier and easier to find more environmentally friendly products.  From 100% recycled toilet paper to chlorine free diapers it's really not hard to find a better alternative.
Some of the ways that we work to make our home more earth friendly are:

Growing our own food!

 Using things like vinegar, baking soda, and essential oils for most of our daily cleaning.

Preserving our own food!

Hanging our laundry to dry! (lucky today I happen to be hanging mostly towels not undergarments ;)

I really do use vinegar and baking soda for most of the around the home cleaning but every once and while I just like to buy a bottle of some other kind of cleaner to switch things up.  I don't know why but sometimes something new makes cleaning fun(?) again!

Here's where the Give-away comes in!

Seventh Generation is giving you a chance to win a 100% organic cotton Seventh Gen Eco lunch bag as well as coupons for a FREE package of Seventh Generation Free & Clear Diapers, Free & Clear Baby Wipes and dish washing products to try for yourself!

Here are the give-away details:

• Contest is open to Canadian residents only (sorry!)
• contest runs until September 16th, 2011
• Once the winner has been selected (I'll use a random number generator) I'll send the winner information along and the gift pack will be sent out.
• To enter please leave a comment below stating what your best tip is on how to be more environmentally conscious.
• You may only enter once!

Speaking from past experience, I really do love Seventh Generation products.  Seriously, I wouldn't blog about them if I didn't, that wouldn't be cool.  

Want some Seventh Generation coupons?  Sign up for the Seventh Generation Nation and get access to coupons, special offers and tips on being "green" and healthy living.  

So enter the contest! Sign up for the nation and get some coupons, or if you only ever come here for sewing posts, ignore me for now ;)

Disclosure – I am participating in the Seventh Generation program by Mom Central Canada.  I received compensation as a thank you for my participation.  The opinions on this blog are my own. 

Stone Ground Oatmeal Cinnamon Nutmeg Sticky Buns!

Phew now that's a title!  Today I made a huge batch of stone ground oatmeal and with it I made a huge batch of bread dough which turned into buns, a loaf of bread, and some sticky buns!  My kitchen smelled pretty good today ;)

Here's the recipe!

For the dough:
(note this makes enough for 12 sticky buns and 1 loaf of bread or a few buns)

2.5 cups warm water
4 tsp active dry yeast
4 tbsp honey
4 tbsp canola oil
2 tsp salt
1 cup cooked stoned ground oatmeal (or quick cooked oats)
2 cups all purpose flour
3-4 cups whole wheat flour

Mix together warm water, yeast, and honey.  Let dissolve and rest for 10 minutes.
Pour the water mixture into a large mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl.  (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer)
Add the oil, all purpose flour and about 3 cups of the whole wheat flour.  Mix with the paddle attachment until just combined.  Cover bowl with a damp cloth and let rest for 30 minutes.

After those 30 minutes, change to your dough hook and add the cooked oatmeal (make sure it is either only warm or at room temperature, not hot or cold) and salt.  Mix until the oatmeal and salt are fully combined.  You will most likely need to continue adding 1-2 cups of flour until your dough comes together nicely.  It should be slightly sticky.  I had to take the dough out of the mixer and knead the final cup in but if you have a really big stand mixer you should be able to do it all in your mixer.

Transfer your dough to a large greased bowl and rise until doubled.  (approx 1 hour)  If you have time punch your dough down and let it rise for 15 mins, repeating two to three times.  (punch down, rise for 15 mins, punch down, let rise etc.)

To Make the Sticky Buns:
Split your dough into two pieces.  Take one half and knead it until you get most of the bubbles out and it becomes smooth and elastic again.  Grease your counter surface and roll one piece of dough out.
Slather the whole rectangle with lots of butter.  Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of brown sugar (or more depending on how sweet and sticky you want them to be) on top of the butter then sprinkle a couple of tsp of cinnamon and about 1 tsp of nutmeg on top of the sugar.
Take one of the longer ends of the rectangle and roll the whole thing into a long tube pinches the long end closed to create a seam.  Roll the tube so that the seam is on the bottom and cut into 12 pieces.
Lay each piece in a 9x13 inch pan and cover with a damp cloth or loosely fitted lid.
Let rise until double.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until all rolls are a golden brown.

To Make Bread:
Take your second half of the dough and knead it until it is smooth and elastic.  Roll it out into a small rectangle to make sure you get rid of all the bubbles.  (no bubbles means a better slice of bread!)  Roll up your rectangle then roll it back and forth a couple of times to make a nice loaf shape.  Place in a bread pan and let rise until double.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until a nice medium light brown.

Bootie Count So Far

As I mentioned previously, I'm working on getting a bunch of baby booties made to donate to the Calgary Pregnancy Care Center.  So far I have 5 pairs made.  I'd really like to at least double that so I'm making that my goal for now!

Nothing Like Garden Harvest

We've been harvesting different things out of garden for a couple of weeks now, green beans being at the top of the list.  I'm getting on average about one and a half meals worth every day.  That means we've been eating a lot of fresh beans (amazing!) and putting a lot in the freezer.  I think we might have enough to last us a good half a year by the end of the season but we'll see.  Travis has plans to put in a few more bean plants next year so I may have to learn to can them yet.

beans drying after I've blanched them 

this particular haul was after we were gone camping for a mere 5 days

Travis has really been looking into doing some cold frames (seriously go check this guys' blog out) this coming spring so we're moving the shed that houses his bike, lawn mower, and gardening tools so we can get some more garden space without losing anymore lawn.  I have a feeling it won't be more than a couple of years before our backyard is mostly garden and very little lawn but I won't be complaining.

Our onions are all ready too and I'm picking a few zucchini's here and there too.  The potatoes should be ready to come out pretty soon too I'd think.

Well there's my garden update, I swear I'll get back to some sewing posts soon but really the garden and stuff is what I've been busy with lately so there you go.

Bread on the Grill

It's no secret that I love to make bread, but when it's hot outside I often dread the thought of turning the oven on so every now and then I bake bread on the barbeque.  I find it difficult to get the same results as I would in the oven but sometimes it's just worth it to not heat up the house even more.

The other night I made some Jalapeno Cheddar Beer Bread and it turned out great.  I pre heated a cast iron pan in the BBQ while it pre heated and when everything was nice and hot I placed the shaped bread on the pan and closed the lid.  I actually BBQ'd steak and some veggies in there at the same time so I was surprised at how evenly the bread cooked.

after just a few minutes cooking on the grill 

the bread finished with butter brushed on top.  You'll notice the bottom is quite brown but we just cut that part off and ate the rest!

I got the recipe for the bread here: Jalepeno Cheese Beer Bread  I used fresh jalapenos instead of pickled ones and I added a handful of chopped fresh green onions too.  So good!

Camping, Part Three - The Vegetation

There's really nothing like wildflowers in the Rocky Mountains is there?

Camping, Part Two - The Kids

that cute hat Brayer's got on? Yah that's mine, he stole it.  I got here