Honey Whole Wheat Bread

I often get requests for my bread recipe. I was just getting ready to share it again and realized that I make it differently than the recipe I have written down. (I honestly have not looked at the recipe for years and just walk in the kitchen and make bread when we need it.)

Ingredients:
6 Cups Hot Water(from tap)
2/3 C Oil (I use Canola)
2/3 C Honey
6 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbsp Yeast
6 Cups White Flour
1 Tbsp Salt

I combine 6 Cups hot water, the oil, honey, and whole wheat flour. Then I add the yeast and combine thoroughly. Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes(it should bubble) to make sure the yeast is happy. I then add the salt and the white flour. Here is where you may want to add more flour if the dough looks like it needs it. Don't be afraid of a wet dough though. I combine mine in a mixer, but if you are doing it by hand you will have to knead the dough and then let it sit for half an hour. I 'knead' mine in my mixer and let it sit for 15 minutes, 'knead' it again and let it sit for another 15 minutes. If I let it sit the whole 30 minutes in my mixer it rises so much it can be a mess.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface, knead into a ball and divide into 6 loaves. Knead each loaf 40 times or so and place each ball in bread pans sprayed with Pam. Let rise 30 minutes covered with a clean dish towel, or saran wrap. I like to use a dish towel, it doesn't stick to the sides of the pans and hold the down down from rising. Also a little more eco friendly. I like to make sure the 'dome' of the bread has risen just above the sides of the pan before I bake them so if it hasn't risen that much let it rise another 10 minutes or so. Usually 30 minutes is plenty of time. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 27 minutes, the tops of the loaves should be a lovely golden color. Pull out of oven and gently turn loaves out onto cooling racks. Slice and enjoy!

Some dos and don'ts: Don't add the salt too early, it inhibits the yeast from growing. Bread is very forgiving, so don't be afraid of substitutions. You can replace the honey with brown sugar, or even white, but I would use brown. You can add a couple of eggs (at the time you add the salt) to up the protein. I have even used butter flavor Crisco for my oil. With any of these substitutions the bread has turned out great.

German Pancake Tacos

I know, I know....the name doesn't sound like it makes sense. But, after I made this for dinner tonight, it was such a hit that I am writing it in my blog so I can remember it! Our friend, Tamera Hope, turned us onto German Pancakes a couple years ago. Our whole family loves them and there is an easy excellent recipe here. http://allrecipes.com/recipe/german-pancake/detail.aspx

For the 'tacos' we sprayed a 13x9 inch glass pan with pam and poured 2 tbs melted butter right in the middle of the pan. If you don't spray with pam first the pan is a major pain to clean! But it is super easy to clean up if you spray the pan before you put in the butter! I know from experience!

With our handy hand held mixer we whipped together 1 cup each of milk and flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 6 eggs. We poured the mixture in the prepared pan and baked it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I pulled it out of the oven and cut it into 8 pieces. Placed each piece on a bed of spring mix lettuce on each person's plate. Added some taco meat that was leftover from the night before. A small sliver of cheese, a spoon of salsa and of sour cream, and a bit of avocado for each plate. If I would have thought about it I could have added black beans, and we also like onion at our house. If I didn't have taco meat I might use a bit of canned chicken on each.

Anyway, that was it. My husband said he thinks he is asking for this for his birthday dinner.

Oh, and to be honest. I really didn't make the pancake part. Jen(9) prepared the pan and Morgan(11) made and cooked the pancakes. I just pulled out the pancake when it was done and assembled everyone's plate.

The taco meat I prepared for a party yesterday. I browned 5 pounds of ground beef. I drained off excess fat, added a few cups(maybe 3) cups water and about a cup or so of dehydrated refried beans. I could have used a can of refried beans instead, but I am always happy to use things from my food storage! I added taco seasoning to taste(sams club monster size container), and about a cup of red salsa. cooked it till the water was absorbed by the beans or cooked off. People at the party seemed to like the meat on their 'super nachos'. The added ingredients seemed to keep it from all 'gelling' together so we could scoop it out of the crock pot easily throughout the day.