Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

I've been using the same basic zucchini bread recipe for years, but I keep making little adjustments to it based on how I'm changing the way I cook.  I used to be all about canola or vegetable oil and now you won't find any of that in my house.  I've gotten lazy and tend to just have whole wheat pastry flour on hand now.  Or I should say whole wheat pastry berries that I mill into flour.  I even used to buy whole wheat flour before I learned how quickly it starts to lose it's nutritional value after it's been milled (at home or in a commercial mill).


And lately I've been making my same bread recipe into muffins for easier eating on the run.  I bake them at 375 for 20 minutes and they are perfect!


Here's my updated recipe.


Noelle's Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

Cream together:
3 eggs
1/2 c melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 c turbinado
1/2 c sucanat
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 c shredded zucchini

Add:
3 c wheat pastry flour
1/4 c ground flax meal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Mix until just combined. Pour into 2 prepared 8 inch x 4 inch loaf pans and bake at 325 for 50 minutes.  For 24 muffins, bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

new breakfast idea, sausage and cheese biscuit roll up

I saw a recipe for this the other day and it looked like something my family would really like.  I'm not posting a recipe because it's just too easy.

Take your favorite biscuit recipe and roll it out to about 1/2 inch thickness.  Try to keep it in a rectangle.  Spread about 1 cup cooked sausage over the top, then add about 3/4 cup shredded cheese over that.  Roll up jelly roll style and slice into 1 inch slices.  Bake on cookie sheet like you would your biscuits.

I was a little heavy handed with the sausage and they fell apart some, but they were still really tasty.  There are a few left too since my oldest son is on a sleep over!

soaked kefir spice muffins

I have lots of kefir now that I got my own grains. I love it, but we don't drink smoothies every day. I used some to make buttermilk biscuits the other day and they were awesome. I decided to make some buttermilk spice muffins like the ones at Mimi's Cafe. But I did tweak the recipe a little to fall in line with how we are trying to eat now. I only topped a dozen of the muffins because I have one kiddo that doesn't like nuts. Next time I think I will skip the topping altogether and add the nuts to the batter. And D (the husband) thought they needed raisins or cranberries or something, but that's his personal preference. I thought the muffin itself was quite yummy.

Here's a link to the original recipe.

And here's my recipe

Soaked Kefir Spice Muffins

Combine 1 1/2 c kefir and 2 1/2 c freshly milled whole wheat pastry flour and let soak overnight.

In the morning.
cream 1/2 c butter
1/2 c turbinado

Add 3 eggs and beat for 1 minute.

Stir flour and kefir mixture to soften up and make more pliable then add to eggs, butter and sugar, and stir to mix.

Add
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix until combined.


Stir in 3/4 c dried cranberries or chopped nuts

Pour into prepared muffin tins and top with nut topping (optional, follows). Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Yield 18 muffins

Nut topping, optional
1 c chopped walnuts
1/3 c cane sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

breakfast ideas

I was talking to a friend the other day about how our diet switch has been going. Nothing has been that noticeably different for the kids except for breakfast. They ate cold boxed cereal 80% of the time. I loved it too, because they were really self sufficient with their breakfast (which is wonderful when I am working nights and getting home at 6:30 am). But what about now that mama has deemed cereal a less than healthy option?

My menu planning has to include breakfast now as well. Especially since I shared with you that I am trying to soak most of our grains before we eat them. So now as I plan our weekly menu (yes, I'm back to that again too), I also plan our daily breakfasts and any prep work (like baking bread or making yogurt) that will need to be done.

Here's one of my favorite breakfast choices right now. It is usually our Sunday morning option with some leftovers for later in the week if someone needs a snack or doesn't like the other breakfast choice of the day. This recipe is based on one from Urban Homemaker.

Baked Oatmeal

In a large glass bowl, combine
1/2 c melted butter or coconut oil
1 c Sucanat
4 c rolled oats
2 c kefir
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Let sit for 8-12 hours

In the morning add
3 beaten eggs
3 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
a little milk to thin, if necessary

Bake in prepared 9x13 pan at 350 for 30 minutes.

*For Sunday mornings I like to add some vanilla extract to the oatmeal mixture and sprinkle about 1/2 c chocolate chips on top. We also like it with 1 diced apple stirred in before baking. Last Sunday I added 1/2 c walnuts and 1/2 dried cranberries to the mix. That was my favorite so far.

The original recipe is only for an 11x7 but I have changed it up to make more for our larger family. Even my non-oatmeal eaters like this one. Hope you like it. Let me know what variation you come up with.