Cantaloupe Bread

I never would have thought of using cantaloupe or any type of melon in bread.  Thank goodness I have genius friends though who share these kinds of tips with me.  My pal Briony at Freeze Your Way Fit had this cantaloupe bread at her son's birthday party in April and I practically hoarded them all before any guests could eat them.  They are really good!  They smell so wonderful while they're baking too, just heavenly! 

I took Briony's recipe and modified it.  I used less oil than she did, adding in applesauce.  I doubled the amount of cantaloupe she used too.  :-)   In addition, I omitted the salt, adjusted the baking powder and used ground cloves instead of ginger.  I also didn't have her clean-eating recommended sucanat or honey.  So I used plain old brown sugar.    The end result was very tasty and still low in calories and fat!  My co-workers enjoyed this and my family did too. 

If you come across a great deal on cantaloupes, you can puree them, freeze them and save it for a day when you feel like making this bread.  I highly recommend it!   Here's the recipe....




Cantaloupe Bread

(Makes 1 loaf or 8 mini loaves)

Adapted from Briony at Freeze Your Way Fit

2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup of applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 and 1/2 cups of pureed cantaloupe (or half a cantaloupe; 1 cantaloupe = About 4 cups of puree)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur's White Whole Wheat)




1 large cantaloupe = Just over 4 cups of puree: Enough to make two loaves of bread!  :-)


Preheat oven to 350 degress.  Generously grease a 9x5 bread loaf pan OR a mini bread loaf pan (like I used) with cooking spray. 

In a large mixing bowl, place the beaten eggs, oil, applesauce and pureed cantaloupe.  Now add in the remaining ingredients in the order which they are listed above.  Stir well with a large spoon until all mix is combined.  Pour or spoon out into the greased pan.  Bake in the loaf pan for 1 hour OR bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the mini loaf pan. 



Now see if you can resist pulling it out of the oven early because it smells so dang good!!  Let bread cool before slicing and serving.  I spread some apple butter onto mine.  So yummy!  Enjoy! 

What's the weirdest thing you've put in bread?  I need to come up with some new breads to make and I'm an adventurous cook, as you may know!

Baked Granola AND Granola Bread

I love granola.  I love the taste of it.  I even love the way the word sounds rolling off my tongue.  "Gra-no-la," - Sounds fancy, doesn't it?! 

Granola bars, granola bits and now even granola bread.  I love them all. 

Below is a simple homemade granola recipe that I found in my Double Delicious cookbook.  It intrigued me because it used a bit of carrot puree in it and had less fat than many other granola recipes out there.  Then I found a wonderful granola bread recipe in my bread machine cookbook.  So now you can make granola and save some to make in fresh bread too.  It smells so wonderful baking in your kitchen, trust me!  I adapted both recipes slightly and changed a few measurements.  I hope you enjoy them!




Baked Granola Bits
(Makes 4 cups)

Adapted from the Double Delicious cookbook

1 cup of oats
1 cup of rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
1 cup of puff cereal (such as Kashi)
1/2 cup of peanuts, dry roasted (or other variety like cashews, almonds, etc.)
1/2 cup of sunflower seeds, dry roasted
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup of carrot puree (or carrots cut into fine pieces)
1/3 cup of honey
1/4 cup of ground flaxseed meal
1/4 cup of sesame seeds
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13x9 inch baking pan lightly with cooking spray. 

Combine all above ingredients in a bowl.  Mix well.  Pour and press into the greased baking pan.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Check it about half way through and stir up the mix. 

Remove from the oven and let it cool for about five minute before sampling.  I divided mine up into 1/2 cup portions and placed them in individual plastic bags.   This is a lower-fat, great version of traditional granola.  You even get in a veggie too, thanks to the pureed carrots, which after baking you can't even see them there!





My favorite way to eat granola is mixed in with my Greek yogurt.  Good stuff!  A filling, delicious snack.  Or often I eat this for breakfast or lunch!





Be sure to save 1 and 1/2 cups of that baked granola to then try out this delicious homemade bread recipe! 

See below:







Granola Bread

(Makes one 2 lb. loaf)

1 and 1/2 cups of buttermilk (I use the dry powder kind and add water to it)
3 T. oil
4 T. honey
2 cups wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 and 1/2 cups of granola bits (see above recipe)
1 T. + 1 tsp. gluten
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2.5 tsp SAF yeast or 1 T. bread machine yeast

I used my bread machine for this so I haven't tested it in the oven.  But it came out wonderful!  I simply placed all the above ingredients in my bread machine, in the order they are listed.  I set the cycle to "basic".  The loaf size is 2 pounds and the crust is set to medium.

If you are doing this by hand, you'll want to follow the typical kneading and rising in three phases.  Then bake for 1 hour or longer, until done.

The flavor of this bread is a nutty, sweet taste but it's not overpowering.  It will make a great breakfast bread or it would be great in French toast (which I intend to make this weekend). 

My bread machine crushed and blended the nuts and raisins so well that you could barely even tell they are in there.   As my friend Jess would say, this is no "birdseed bread."  :-) 

Try it, I think you'd really enjoy it!






For another great granola recipe, check out my no-bake granola bars .  Go get your granola on!  It's good for you and it travels well too! 

Banana Crumble Muffins

I enjoy finding new blogs and new virtual friends who share my affinity for good food, especially taking steps to make recipes a little bit healthier and better for you.  They inspire me just like my real-life friends do.  Half of my friends are very fit and exhibit a clean-eating lifestyle.  The other half could really care less about it and just cook what they can, when they can.  I like having pals on both ends of the spectrum. 

I'm somewhere in the middle.  I strive to eat better and cook better but I certainly enjoy good ole' white sugar and some preservatives every now and then too, in moderation.  It's all about the balance, right?  Here's one recipe that I don't think any of my friends could argue about.  This banana crumble yummy goodness is courtesy of a new blog I discovered called Muncher Cruncher.  I took her recipe and made a few adjustments for my taste buds, leaving out the pudding, adding in an additional banana and some flax seed too.  It's healthier than most muffin recipes and it's great tasting too!  Enjoy!






Banana Crumble Muffins
(Makes about 12 large or 24 mini muffins)
Adapted from Muncher Cruncher


1 and 1/2 cups wheat flour (I use King Arthur White Wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tbsp ground flax seed meal
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 bananas, mashed 
1/4 cup white sugar (I used Stevia)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg whites (or 1 regular egg)
3/4 cup fat free vanilla yogurt (I used Greek)

Crumble Topping: 
1 tbsp light butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoon wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Generously spray a 12-muffin tin baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the 1 and 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground flax seed meal and salt. 

In a separate bowl, beat together the bananas, sugars, egg whites, and yogurt. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture until incorporated. Spoon batter into muffin tins until they are 3/4 of the way full.

Now you can prepare the crumble topping.  In a small bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, 2 tbsp flour and cinnamon. It should form a crumble mixture.  Sprinkle topping over muffins. 




In the above photo, you can see that the top two muffins have the crumble topping.  The bottom two do not have the crumble (not yet anyway!)


Bake for 16-18 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.   Serve and enjoy. 




You wouldn't even know that they are banana muffins looking at them.  But just wait until you bite into them..... soooo good! 


You can also freeze these for later.  I love to make a batch of muffins and freeze 2/3 of them for another time.  I simply place them in freezer-safe storage bags, label them and pull them out when I want to eat them.  I can typically heat one up in the microwave for breakfast or a snack in less than a minute.  Muffins are great for on-the go too! 


Do you use liners when you make cupcakes or muffins? 

Fact: I can't stand using liners.  I know those pans can be a pain to clean but I like getting more out of my muffin and not having to peel it from those papers!

Corn Bread "Cake"

My husband has to have bread with every meal we eat.  I have been making my own corn bread for awhile now.  Until a few years ago, I never realized how easy it was to throw this quick-bread together.   Blending the ingredients, plus the baking time, requires less than a half-hour.  So it's a perfect last-minute bread to accompany your dinner. 


Recently I varied up my typical corn bread recipe after reviewing a few different recipes in several of my cookbooks.  The end result was very good.  My husband Kirk dubbed it as "corn bread cake" because he thought it was so moist and had a cake-like consistency.    So that's what I titled it here for this post.  I know he'll be requesting for me to make this one again.  Here is the recipe:







Corn bread cake

(Makes 15 squares)

1 and 1/4 cup of natural flour (I used white wheat flour by King Arthur)
1 and 1/4 cup of corn meal
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp light butter, broken up into pieces
1 egg, beaten
1 can (15 oz) of corn, drained
1/4 cup of reduced fat shredded cheese, any variety
1/8 cup of water


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Generously grease an 8x8 square baking pan or use a small rectangular  (11x7 or 2.2 qt/2 L) pan, like I did, with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, sift the first four ingredients together: flour, corn meal, baking powder and baking soda.  Blend well.  Add the light butter that has been broken up into pieces.  Mix it in so the butter can be absorbed into the crumbs.  Toss in the beaten egg, drained corn, cheese and water.  Stir well with a wooden spoon.  Pour into the greased baking dish, like this: 






Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.   Remove from oven and let it cool for about five minutes before slicing.  Cut into squares.  Eat it up!






Here are some of my past recipes that you might enjoy serving this corn bread cake with:

- Mix it up Meat and Veggie Chili

- Mexican Tortilla Lasagna

- Fiesta Style Sheperd's Pie

- Big Easy Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

- Shrimp and Grits


Enjoy! 

Ham-Turkey Loaf, Sesame Green Beans and Whole Wheat Dinner Muffins

It's rare that I will make an entire meal from scratch, especially a fancy-schmancy meal.  But I was feeling generous last Thursday.  I had taken Tuesday and Wednesday off from cooking (on Tuesday we had leftovers and on Wednesday we had dinner out with friends). So by the end of the week, I felt like putting in the extra effort to make a great meal.  I made a ham-turkey loaf, sesame green beans and whole wheat dinner muffins.  Here is what it looked like:





Oh yeah, it was yummy!  


I adapted a ham loaf recipe and snuck in two different veggies in the ham-turkey loaf.  Then I decided to try a twist on green beens, using some sesame oil I had on hand in the pantry.  At the last minute, I decided to make dinner rolls too but I did so in the form of muffins.  They all turned out great!


The best part of putting in the extra time and love in cooking is when it comes out tasting so fabulously like it did for us.  Also, when your three year old eats the meal and says she likes your green beans, then it just doesn't get any sweeter than that! 


So here you go - three recipes in one post for you today!  Aren't you lucky and special?  Enjoy them separately or all together like we did!








Ham-Turkey Loaf
(Serves 8)

Adapted from here and also from Jessica Seinfeld's Turkey Meatloaf in her "Double Delicious" cookbook

For the meatloaf:
1 pound lean ground turkey
1 pound of ground ham (I used leftover holiday ham and grinded it up in my food processor)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 egg whites (or 1 egg)
1/2 cup of carrot puree
1/2 cup of cauliflower puree
1/4 cup of reduced fat milk
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or regular vinegar)
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
dash of Cajun seasoning

For the sauce:

1/3 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of ketchup
1/8 cup of honey mustard
1/8 cup of apple cider vinegar (or regular vinegar)


(Note: This one takes almost two hours of baking time so just be aware of that when starting the prep work!)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a bread loaf pan or 1 liter ceramic loaf pan with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients for the meat loaf: ground turkey, ham, bread crumbs, egg whites, milk, carrot and cauliflower purees, sauces and all seasonings.  I like to blend it with my hands best.  Then shape the loaf into the greased pan. 


(Note: You'll notice that the cauliflower puree just blends right in and the carrot puree just gives it a touch of orange color.  The veggies actually make it a moister meatloaf!)


Bake in the oven, uncovered, for one hour.  Remove from oven and make the ingredients for the sauce. 


In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, ketchup, honey mustard and vinegar.  Blend it well.  Then pour it and spread it over the meatloaf.  Place the meatloaf back in the oven.  Bake for another 45 minutes to an hour.  I did mine for another hour.  With the sauce and veggies on top, the meatloaf stayed moist and never dried out.  It was perfect! 


Remove from oven and let cool for about ten minutes.  Then slice and serve.  Enjoy.


------------------------------------------------------------------




Sesame Green Beans
(Serves 6 to 8)

1 can (14.5 oz) green beans, drained
1/4 cup of chicken or vegetable broth
1/8 cup of water
1 tsp sesame oil - You can find this in the Asian/Oriental aisle in your grocery store
1 tsp sesame seeds
salt and pepper to taste (optional)

Lightly grease a small sauce pan with cooking spray.  Place it on your stove with the heat on medium.  Drain your can of green beans and add it to the pan.  Pour in the chicken broth, water, sesame oil and sesame seeds.  Sautee on medium heat for about fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste.  Add any salt and pepper if you like but I thought mine tasted great as is.  Serve as a side dish.  Feeds about 6 to 8 people.

I was amazed at how much my little girl liked these green beans.  I will definitely be making them over and over again!

---------------------------------------------------------------







Whole Wheat Dinner Muffins
(Makes 8 to 10 muffins or rolls)

1 cup of white wheat flour (I use the King Arthur brand)
1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup of light buttermilk
1/4 cup of light butter, broken up into small pieces
1/4 cup of agave nectar (or honey)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cream of tarter


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously grease a muffin tin pan with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, sift your flour, salt and pieces of butter.  Add in the beaten egg, agave nectar, buttermilk and cream of tarter.  Blend well with a large wooden spoon.  Drop by spoonfuls into the muffin tins, filling them at least 3/4 full.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown on top.  Remove from the oven and let them cool for about seven minutes before serving. 


These taste just like dinner rolls but are in the form of muffins!  Enjoy them!


What's the last complete meal you made or put together that you were proud of?  Share a positive cooking story here to start our week off right!

The Battle of the Breadmaker and Me

A few weeks ago I told you about the battle with my new bread maker.  My first few attempts at making bread didn't go so well!  It's time I update you on how the fight is going. 

Things are improving but I still have a lot to learn!  Thank you for the comments and suggestions you sent to me.  Since my first two loaves of rocks, oops I mean bread, I have begun using the vital wheat gluten and the bread machine yeast for my breads.  Both have made a difference in the consistency and denseness of my loaves. 

The first one I made came out like a large paper weight.  You could probably toss it across the room without it breaking a sweat or shedding a crumb.

Since then, I've made two loaves of bread each week.  Each one comes out better and better, I think.  On the surface, they all look pretty darn sexy too.  Just like this Greek bread with sesame seeds, one of my personal new favorites:



Greek bread





It looks even prettier when it's sliced, don't you think?



Again, this is on the surface and top of the bread.  Underneath the bread, it's the same old story.  Each and EVERY time I make bread in my bread maker, I lose one to two of those kneading knobs.  And it's no picnic trying to get them out either! 

Exhibit A - Granola Breakfast Bread (pictured below) with raisins and cinnamon!




Exhibit B - Banana bread  (pictured below):




I have about four other examples too.  Frankly though, I became tired of taking photos of how the bread knobs were screwing me and mocking me. 

The good news is that each loaf is tasting more wonderful.  I've made delicious, lip-licking Greek Bread, Beer and Cheddar Bread, Granola Breakfast bread and Banana bread after having two flops on my wheat bread and sandwich bread. 

In addition, I'm getting over the fact that maybe this is just what my bread maker is supposed to do.  My friend Briony said that when your kneading knobs DO NOT become stuck in your bread, then THAT is when you worry. 

So even though my machine likes to toy with me, I forgive him.  I often get in a good arm exercise workout trying to pull out the knobs.  Therefore, it's a little warm-up for me before I enjoy the feast.

For now, I suppose I will call it a tie:

Breadmaker - 3
Mandy - 3

Boo-yah, Bread Machine!  I'm gaining on you! 

Since my breads are edible and delectable, I can't be too hard on myself.   When those who eat them compliment me, I will not allow the pesky kneading knobs to get the better of me!

I will keep you updated on how the adventures and battles with the bread machine continue.  If you'd like any of the recipes for the breads I've made, just send me an email to learn.laugh.cook [at] gmail.com and I will send them your way!