English Muffin Bread...Mmmmm

This bread is so simple, frugal and tasty! Only five ingredients, mix, rise & bake. The first time I made two loaves the first was gone in an hour and the second loaf lasted until lunchtime the next day. The best thing was that my kids loved this bread so it worked great for lunch or snacktime.

This bread works well as toast with your favorite spread. It's delicious with my homemade raspberry jam or butter & raw honey. It also freezes well, I slice up the whole loaf and place it in a freezer zip lock bag.

English Muffin Bread
adaptated from One Good Thing by Jillee

2 3/4 cups warm water
1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon rapid rise yeast*
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
5 1/2 cups flour (I used 1/2 all purpose and 1/2 white whole wheat flour)

Mix all the ingredients together in a stand mixer (with a dough attachment if possible), then spoon into 2 well greased loaf pans.  Let the dough rise inside the pans until it reaches the top of the pans, and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and brush over the top of the loaves 10 minutes before done. The bread will be moist at first so allow it to cool completely before cutting.

*If you use regular yeast, you'll need to let the dough rise TWICE. First in the bowl, until it reaches the top, and then again in the pans, until it reaches the top. With the RAPID RISE you only need to let the dough rise once in the pans.

delicious with honey & butter!

I used only whole wheat flour in this loaf and it didn't rise much.

Menu Plan 8/27-9/2

School starts this week and this mama is extremely ready for more structure in our days. My older two boys are in 5th and 2nd grade this year and my little one is in morning preschool. I'm already planning a lot of decluttering projects to get my house back in shape after the chaos of the having 3 boys home all summer long.

For our last weekend before school started we went to Homestead Orchard and picked some Gala apples and then to Heider's Berry Farm in Woodstock for raspberries. I've got a lot of apples to use up so I'll have an afternoon freezer session making my Super apple crisp and some applesauce. I don't have any raspberries to use up as our family ate all six pints we picked in just two days. Yes, we are CRAZY about raspberries. I just wish our own backyard canes would produce more.

Joe is finding just the right apple

Weekly Menu Plan 8/27-9/2

Monday: Crockpot whole chicken with carrots & potatoes

Tuesday:  Salmon Cakes, brown rice, corn on the cob

Wednesday: Pasta with homemade marinara, salad, whole wheat bread

Thursday: Grilled burgers, hotdogs & leftovers

Friday: Tacos with 1/2 cup pureed lentils mixed in

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Sunday: Orange chicken, steamed green beans, quinoa 

Snacks: Super apple crisp, Freezer Peanut Butter Fudge, Skin Clearing Green Smoothies

You can find lots more menus at Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

What recipes are you trying this week?

Weekly Menu Plan 8/20-8/26

Me, Braden & my mom

I'm home from a week of vacation at Table Rock Lake in Missouri. We had a great family time at my Uncle Bob's house on the lake near Branson. The kids loved riding the wave runners on the lake and visiting Silver Dollar City in Branson. 

Luke & my mom looking out at the lake

The toughest part of our week was the sleeping arrangements- all 5 of us were in the basement together. This meant that the earliest riser would usually wake some of us up, most often me.

Braden, Luke & me taking my uncle's golf cart down to the lake

I'm ready to get back to blogging and I'm ready cook in my own kitchen again.

Weekly Menu Plan 8/20-8/26

Monday: Grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, brown rice

Tuesday:  Cedar plank salmon, brown rice, edamame

Wednesday: Orange chicken, steamed green beans, quinoa

Thursday: Pasta with homemade marinara, salad, whole wheat bread

Friday: Tacos with 1/2 cup pureed lentils mixed in

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Sunday: Burgers & leftovers

Snacks: Mini Zucchini Millet Muffins, Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Skin Clearing Green Smoothies

You can find lots more menus at Menu Plan Monday at I'm An Organizing Junkie.

What recipes are you trying this week?

Healthier Peanut Butter Fudge

I love peanut butter and chocolate and when you put them together it's one of the best desserts I can imagine. I have a son with a peanut sensitivity so I don't often do much with PB as a result. Well he was away at camp recently and I decided it was the perfect time to practice making (& eating) freezer fudge.

It's really hot this summer so freezer fudge makes perfect sense to me. Keep it in the freezer and take it out when you want a cold treat. There are no refined sugars in this version so you can enjoy in moderation without guilt!

Healthier Peanut Butter Fudge
adapted from the Detoxinista
makes about 20 1″ squares

1 cup raw creamy peanut butter (unsalted)
1/4 cup coconut oil, softened
1 1/2 Tablespoons raw honey
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
dark chocolate chunks or chips

Set out all the ingredients so they are room temperature as this will make combining everything much easier. Mix the ingredients together in a bowl, until smooth and creamy. Line an 8x4 pan with parchment or cling wrap and pour the mixture into the pan. Sprinkle the chocolate on top and put the pan onto a shelf in the freezer.

I had to stuff my pan on top of other things in my freezer so it was tilted which resulted in uneven squares once frozen. No big deal as they tasted awesome. You can leave the fudge in your pan or cut it into one inch squares and store them in a bag or tupperware.

They will keep perfectly in the freezer until you are ready to eat.

This recipe is featured on: Your Green Resource, Pennywise Platters, Real Food Wednesdays, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Freaky Friday, Fight Back Friday