Super Easy Whole Wheat and Honey Bread

Going along with my theme of making as much as possible at home. I made two loaves of bread today. I wanted something tasty and healthy. Here it is!

Ingredients:
8 cups of whole wheat flour (or as much is needed to make soft dough)
4 1/2 tsp quick rise yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey

Directions:
In a stand mixer combine 3 1/2 cups of flour with 4 1/2 tsp yeast. In a sauce pan combine milk, water, oil and honey. Heat until warm but do not boil. Add the warm liquid mixture to your flour and yeast combination. Mix well, scraping the sides. Add 1 cup of flour, mix well scraping sides.
For the next 2 1/2 cups mix with your hands. Once well mixed, cover and let rise for 10 minutes. Divide in half. Roll out each portion into about 7 inches X 12 inches. Roll up starting with the smaller side. Place in a greased bread pan with the roll side down. Let rise in a draft free area (an oven is perfect for this just make sure it is NOT on). Let rise until double the size 30-60 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and bake for 35-45 minutes.
As always, happy eating!

Pot Stickers!

I plan on making everything from scratch as much as I can over the next month and will be documenting it as I go. I am always buying as much local products as possible. The only  non local items used today were the soy sauce, oyster sauce and wonton wraps. Today for dinner are having pot stickers with parmesan crusted asparagus and green beans with mushrooms. I cooked a few pot stickers after preparing them and they were awesome!

Ingredients:
Filling:
1lbs ground pork
1 cup of cabbage shredded
2 green onion stalks
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 tsp ginger chopped
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp olive oil

1 package wontons
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup beef broth

In a food processor combine cabbage, onions, ginger, and garlic. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground pork, olive oil, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Add in your chopped veggie mixture. Mix by hand until well combined.
Lay out 6 wonton wraps. Spoon a about a tsp spoon of the meat mixture onto the centre of the wonton. Wet two adjoining sides with a bit of water, fold in half and pinching the wet and not wet sides together. Set aside and cover. Continue doing this until all the meat is used up. Keep the finished ones covered until you are ready to cook them.
In a sauce pan, warm the oil, soy sauce and beef broth over medium. Cook the pot stickers 3-4 minutes per side. Serve with soy sauce.
As Always, Happy Eating!

Broccoli and Beef Stir Fry

I love getting broccoli and beef when we have Chinese food. Its one of my favourite dishes. Tonight, I thought I'd try it out adding mushrooms since my girls love them. I'm not always a big fan of rice so I used vermicelli noodles with it. Everyone loved it and I will make it again in the near future.

Ingredients:
Sauce:
1/4 cup flour
2 cups beef broth
4 tbls soy sauce
1 tbls oyster sauce
2 tbls brown sugar

2 tbls olive oil
4 garlic cloves chopped
1-2 beef steaks (cheap is just as good) sliced thin
1 head of broccoli
1 cup mushrooms sliced

Directions:
Combine the sauce ingredients, whisk until mixed well. Set aside
In a wok or sauce pan, heat oil, add garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the thinly sliced beef and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the broccoli and mushrooms. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add the sauce and bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
While it simmers cook your noodles. When the noodles were cooked I added them right to the stir fry.
As Always, Happy Eating!