Monday, February 4, 2008

Meal Mondays #4!

For today's Meal Monday, I wanted to share with you one of my very favorite recipes! The following recipe is for whole wheat bread. It's very healthy for you, and is truly the best tasting whole wheat bread I've ever had! This bread will quickly become your favorite addition to any meal! You can use it as toast, sandwhich bread, or as a side for your favorite dinner, but however you eat it, one thing is guaranteed: you'll love it!

Whole Wheat Bread

1 1/2 cups hot water
1/3 cup oil(we use extra virgin olive oil-it's healthier!)
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp salt
1 egg
2 TBSP lecithin
1 tsp gluten
about 4 3/4 cups whole wheat flour(enough so that the dough is not sticky)
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
1 TBSP yeast

Here are the step-by-step instructions along with photos for some help if you need it.

Combine oil, honey, salt, egg, lecithin, gluten, ground flax seeds, and hot water in a mixing bowl(you can use the dough hook attachment of your mixer, but we usually don't). Mix well.
Add the yeast and allow it to proof a couple of minutes(don't dump the yeast in all at once in one clump, but rather spread it out as this picture shows).
Add one cup of flour and mix well. Then add a second cup and mix it thoroughly as well.
With the third and fourth cups of flour, mix by hand(with a spoon) or use the dough hook attachment-it gets way too thick for a regular mixer attachment. After you've mixed in the 4th cup of flour, cover your cabinet with some flour, take the dough out from the bowl, and place on cabinet. Work the dough and add more flour as needed. Knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes. Use enough flour and knead enough to where it isn't too sticky.
After kneading the dough, place it back in the bowl and cover it with a towel. Let it rise until it's about double its original size. After it's risen, punch it down. Then knead again for about 3 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 equal segments and place in bread tins(they measure approximately 3 1/2" X 8").
Let it rise until just over double.
Place in preheated oven at 325 degrees F(adjust to your oven's temp if needed) for about 25 minutes. Then take them out of the oven, butter the top of the loaves, and allow them to cool.
Afterwards, we use this really handy bread-cutting machine.



ENJOY!!!



Making bread makes you feel so domestic and old fashioned-it's so much fun! :)



Let me know how you like the bread! It's sure to become a family favorite.

If you're reading this and you're an unmarried young lady, I highly encourage you to begin making this now-don't just give this recipe to your mom and let her make it for the family. If you begin making this bread now, once you're married you'll be so glad that you took the time to learn how to make it. Preparing for your life as a wife, mother and homemaker is so important, and making fresh, homemade, healthy and nutritious bread is a great way to serve your family!



*a big thank-you to the Hugheys at church for this great recipe!

14 comments:

  1. The pictures were great and the bread looks yummy! Thanks for sharing!

    I have a question: what is lechiten? I'd never heard of it. =) Putting flax seeds in does sound healthy!

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  2. That looks good! I love good bread but I have to admit that I love my bread machine! :)

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  3. Thanks for letting me know about your recipe and blog! I saved it to the recipe folder on my computer, so I will be sure to make it sometime. I'll let you know when I do.

    Maria Pauline

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  4. That looks so good! thanks for sharing the recipe I'll have to try it soon=)

    Blessings,
    Jade

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  5. That looks so good! Maybe I'll try it sometime...
    Our family loves good homemade bread & honey butter too. :)
    ~hannah~

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  6. Dear Rebekah,

    Where did you buy that bread cutting thing? My mom makes her own bread and has a lot of trouble cutting it. Thanks for sharing the recipe

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  7. I forgot to say: I really like the bread cutting thing! We have a hard time getting slices the right thickness sometimes. Though, some do like theirs thick and others, thin. Anyways, I second the question: Where did you buy it?

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  8. Dear Rebekah,


    My mom makes her own bread and
    follows a recipe a lot like that but she puts lemon juice in her's.
    She says that it makes them fluffier.

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  9. This looks really good. I am going to try it! Where did you get your bread slicer? ~Morgan

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  10. Hi, ladies!! Thank you all so much for commenting-I love hearing from all of you! :)
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    Anna Naomi,

    Thank you! I hope you enjoy it when you try it. :)

    When I first was introduced to this recipe, I was completely at a loss for what in the world it was! :) When people think of lecithin, they usually think of the huge pill you can take. This is obviously not what we put in our bread! :) We purchased the lecithin granules at our local health food store. From what I've heard, lecithin is used for keeping a person's arteries healthy. In the bread, you can't taste it, but it definitely provides some great health benefits! If you'd like, I can take a pic of the package we bought, so that you can see what I'm talking about, and then I could e-mail that to you. Just let me know if you're interested! :)
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    Jerilyn,
    Hi! Bread's the best, isn't it? :) I'm sure the bread machine is really handy! :) This recipe actually doesn't take all that long, though, and plus it makes you feel really domestic and old-fashioned! ;)
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    Maria Pauline,
    You're welcome! :) I hope you come back often. Great! I hope you enjoy it; I'm sure you will. I'm looking forward to hearing about how your family likes it. :)
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    Jade,
    You're welcome. :) You know, maybe you could even post it for your Homemakers in the Making Mondays! ;) I hope you enjoy it.
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    Hannah,

    Hey! :) I hope you do try it. It's really healthy and we love it! Oh, isn't honey butter the best? :) What's really weird though, is that when we try to make it, it just turns really soupy and liquidy. Do you know how to prevent that?
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    SoulsforChrist7,
    That's a great idea about the lemon juice! Thank you for sharing that tip with me. :)
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    :) To all the ladies who want to know where that great bread cutting contraption came from:

    Daddy bought it for Mama a couple years ago at WalMart. She hadn't really used it at all, because we would just buy bread from the store, but know that we only eat this homemade bread, it's really come in handy! She loves it; it makes the cutting of the bread such an easy task, and it ensures that all the slices are the same size! I would highly encourage all of you to purchase one. It may still be at WalMart(although it was purchased many years ago), so you may want to try there! I also just went to Ebay to see if they have any, and they have 4 or 5 for sale currently-so go get them while supplies last! ;) It's called a West Bend bread slicing guide.

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  11. Hey, Morgan! :) It's great to see you here. I'm looking forward to hearing about how you like the bread!

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  12. Hi Rebekah,

    I'm so glad you commented over at Crystal's blog! This sounds like a very "doable" recipe! I tried making homemade pizza dough for the first time this weekend with whole wheat flour and it was a semi-success. LOL

    Is the lecithin an absolute necessity for the bread to work? If so, do you think it would available in regular grocers as well or just the health food store? And is it in with baking or vitamins? Sorry for all the questions, but we shop primarily at the commissary (military grocer) so I'm trying to narrow it down so I'm not lost. LOL

    BTW, I have an almost 7 yo Rebekah myself. :-)

    Have a wonderful week - thanks for sharing this recipe!

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  13. Rebekah,
    Yes, I do know one way to prevent your honey butter from getting soupy. We always set our butter unwrapped in a bowl(we use real butter, I'm not sure what you use) near our preheated stove when we start to make our bread, that way, by the time we are ready to whip the honey in with it, it is already at room temperature and soft enough to mix easily without being to soupy.
    I hope that was helpful! :)
    ~Hannah~
    P.S. See you tonight!

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Hi!! Thank you so much for visiting my blog! Please come back often. Thank you for your comment as well; your input is always most welcome! Even if you disagree with something, I encourage you to leave a comment; I just ask that you do so in a loving and Christ-like manner.

God bless you!

~Rebekah S.