Tag Archives: self sufficient

3 ingredient low calorie  bread

I’ve been bitten by the cooking from scratch bug in recent weeks. There have seen many recipes i have had a want to create over the years and have tried recipes from various regions of the country and a few overseas.  I have decided to take on a challenge in the kitchen of which I’ve never undertaken: making bread. This was a beginner friendly bread that I created using a few simple ingredients: bread flour, rapid rise yeast, and pink hymilayan sea salt.

To start, you will want to heat 1 and a half cups of water on the stove. Next, you will need 3 and a half cups of bread flower to go into a large bowl. Once this has been placed in the bowl, you will need to add a table spoon of rapid rise yeast and half of a tablespoon of pink Himalayan sea salt

Dry ingredients ready to rock and roll

Once the dry ingredients are done the water should be nice and hot. Pour the water into the bowl and mix around until the flour is fully incorporated into the mix and form it into a ball.

I’m having a great time.  A ball if you will

Once this is shaped into a ball, cover it and place it somewhere warm and let it sit for an hour to build up in size. Once that is done put it into a bread pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray and form it into the pan and let it sit for another hour.

Two hours later

Once the hour has passed, put your oven on 450. Once the oven is heated bake the bread for 20 minutes to completion and remove to cool.

Bonus tip: I forgot that scoring the bread helps the bread expand more.

Once the bread has cooled, you will have a nice loaf of low calorie bread. I let a piece of this sit, but this bread lasted me about 5 days before it started to turn. I would recommend eating this right away while it is fresh.

Even without scoring the first time the bread looked great.

This was a wonderful first take on making a new dish. I realized this was rather small but I am looking to make it into larger loafs for the next time. This makes a very good peanut butter sandwich and with no preservatives, it was the most  guilt free pb&j that I have had in a while. Until the next time, dear readers, excelsior!

Benefits of juicing

Recently, I went to a juicery for the first time. I enjoyed the diverse mixes of fruit and veggies and felt the need to get another mixed juice. I then took a look at the price of the juice and asked myself: What if I just did this at home to save myself some money? Fast forward a week, and I purchased this lovely little tool.

And so it begins

Before I begin, there are many reasons why juicing was an appealing method to amd why a juicer was a wonderful investment. The first part is that without extra sugars and preservatives, it is lower in calories, and I can enjoy it guilt free compared to regular store bought fruit juice. Keeping in mind this juice typically should be consumed in 24-48 hours due to the lack of said preservatives. Additionally, this helps more of the nutrients from the fruits and vegetables get into your system more easily than the body needs. During the summer months, this is a refreshing way to keep hydrated . Also, there are good natural additives one can use, such as cinnamon and tumeric, for aid in weight loss and better digestion. And lastly, it’s just fun coming up with different flavors and mixes.

I then began reading up on different juicing combinations and ideas and decided to give it a give it a try. My first juice was an apple, pineapple, and strawberry juice mixed with a little bit of cinnamon for the extra kick.

The Tiki glass really set the tone for me

I then got to brainstorming and looking for inspiration for the next juice. That’s when things got a little…..wild. Early on a Sunday morning, I felt the creative urge to whip something up, and I had the great idea to make another juice. But this time, there was a twist. The first juice was a pineapple, cherry, strawberry juice with cinnamon.

This was insanely sweet

Next, I decided to try vegetables, so I made a green juice with green apple, spinach, cucumber, lemon, and tumeric.

Added a little too much lemon but excellent nonetheless

Once I finished juicing , I realized I had pulp left over. Then my wheels began to turning and I went to the net for different ideas on how to use the pulp. My first creation was adding a little extra frozen fruit to make a smoothie bowl

Can never go wrong with fruit and granola

Once I devoured my smoothie bowl, I wondered what I could do with the veggie pulp. Then, after some digging, I decided to make it into a dip akin to a spinach artichoke dip. A little cottage cheese as a base (and extra protein to boot) and a little cheddar cheese really brought this together.

Before
After

There are many benefits to juicing. This was a wondeful experience for my first few times trying it, and I look forward to trying more combinations in the future. This would be a wonderful tool for anyone’s kitchen and the possibilities for not just juicing but also what can be done with the pulp alone are numerous. Until the next time, dear readers, excelsior!