Whole Wheat Beer Biscuits

In a week and a half both of my kids will be in school. My youngest is super excited about starting kindergarten and has been talking about it non-stop for pretty much the last two months. I'm excited, but also nervous. I have stayed home with my kids for 8 years and for the first two years after graduate school I looked for work and found nothing. So basically for the last 10 years I have stayed at home. I'm more than a little nervous about both of my kids being in school. Originally I had planned on going back to work when my youngest started kindergarten. However, my area has absolutely no jobs besides fast food and Wal-mart, and when I factor in the additional amount my student loans would go up and child care I probably would probably only break even. So for now I will be staying at home. It will be a time of transition for both my youngest and I and I'm hoping that the next couple of weeks bring lots of positive changes for my whole family.

My family loves biscuits. They are one of their favorite breakfast foods and my youngest will eat two at a time if I let him. I try to add whole wheat flour into my family's diet whenever I can and this morning I made Whole Wheat Beer Biscuits.

Adapted from The Sunset Cookbook.

Whole Wheat Beer Biscuits

Whole Wheat Beer Biscuits

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Summary:

An easy biscuit recipe using beer and whole wheat flour.

Preparation Time: 0h, 5m

Cooking Time: 0h, 20m

Total Time: 0h, 25m

Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup beer

Cooking Directions

1. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
2. With your fingers or a pastry blender cut in the butter.
3. Beat egg and then add to flour mixture.
4. Add beer and mix just until dough comes together.
5. Pat dough into a 1-inch thickness.
6. With a 2-inch biscuit cutter cut out biscuits.
7. Place on a greased or parchment papered baking sheet.
8. Bake in a pre-heated 425 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

Notes: 

• If your family isn't a fan of whole wheat flour this recipe would also work with white whole wheat flour. It's an easier transition to whole wheat for kids and has a rise similar to regular all-purpose flour. 
• Make sure to not overwork your dough. The difference between great biscuits and mediocre is all in the amount of kneading. Biscuit dough needs a light touch. Never use a rolling pin, hand pat the dough out, and only mix the ingredients until they just come together. Anything more and your biscuits will be tough and won't rise. 
• I have also tried this recipe with only 1/2 cup of butter and had similar results. I try to cut down the amount of butter my family consumes when possible and while the biscuits weren't as rich, my husband and kids didn't notice the reduction in butter once the biscuits had jam and/or butter on them. 

That's it! They have a beautiful rise in the oven and are great either with butter or jam. Any type of beer would work, I used a wheat beer that I already had in the fridge. Have a great week everyone. 

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

I am attempting to teach my kids to pick-up after themselves. Yesterday I had the unfortunate luck of stepping on a Lego my kids had left out. This led to me jumping up and down on one foot and waking up my oldest. Those little Legos are pretty much evil. They get right into the middle of your foot and stick there so you keep stepping on them while screaming that you stepped on it in the first place. What I really don't understand is how my kids have an entire bedroom, but all of their stuff ends up in the living room. Even if they dump the toys out on their bedroom floor they somehow migrate into my space and then I step on something. I wish it was just my boys, except my husband seems to have the same problem with his shoes. I find 2-3 pairs of shoes everyday that my husband has something left in the living room, oftentimes with his socks stuck inside. So this week my boys are learning about personal responsibility. I refuse to keep stepping on toys everywhere I step.

Simple Whole Wheat Rolls

Since I am the only one in my family that eats gluten free my kids go through periods where they really want bread, and pancakes and muffins. Pretty much anything with wheat flour. So today I let them have a day of gluten. I made pancakes and bread. My oldest came home from school very happy and told me it was the best day ever. Normally I follow the same bread recipe, but today I decided to try something new. I tried a recipe for Simple Whole Wheat Bread from Allrecipes.com.

Simple Whole Wheat Rolls

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 3 hours of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 36 servings. I made a number of changes to the original recipe. First instead of making the recipe for 3 loaves, I reduced the amount to 24 servings and made half the dough as rolls and the other half as a loaf of bread. I found that my bread and rolls took longer to brown than the recipe stated, I left them in for an additional 10 minutes, so 40 minutes total. I like the tops of my bread to be nicely browned, especially for whole wheat. My rising time was an hour for the first rise and two hours for the second. Since it's winter my second rise always takes longer than in the summer when the house is much warmer. Just make sure that the dough rises about an inch over the top of the pan and it's ready to go in the oven.

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

My kids ate almost the whole batch of rolls within a couple of hours. They really loved the rolls. My husband ate the bread and thought that it was nice bread to have with a slather of butter. The bread is a little sweet since it has honey, which is perfect for rolls. I might make these rolls again for Easter, they are a nice way to use whole wheat flour in rolls while still being kid friendly. Definitely a recipe I will use again.

For the recipe go to Simple Whole Wheat Bread.

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

I think I may be a bad blogger. When I first started my blog over 2 1/2 years ago everything seemed exciting and new. There were things to learn, new blogs to read and the Internet wasn't completely saturated by 5,000 different social media possibilities to waste endless amounts of time. I blogged everyday, sometimes more than once. If I missed a day I would write twice as hard the next. Fast forward almost 3 years and I feel a little blah. I miss more blog posts a week than I would like to admit. My blog almost feels like a chore some nights. After chasing after two very active boys my blog seems a little less important than it was when my youngest had just turned two. Next month my youngest will be 5 and my oldest will turn 8 this spring. They were babies when my blog started, my oldest hadn't even started school yet. Part of my blog taking a back seat is coming naturally with age, as my kids and I get older I feel less compelled to sit behind a computer and not interact face to face. My mother started having serious health issues in her 40's and I try my hardest to avoid this fate. Part of that plan means spending less time on the computer and more time with friends and family. It also means instead of computer time, I am remembering the joy of a good book or a movie snuggled up with my husband. I don't know where my blog will be in another 2 1/2 years. It has evolved endlessly since I started it. So if you don't see me posting everyday it isn't that I have forgotten about my blog, readers and food. It's just that life has a way of becoming more important during certain periods of our life. I do promise that the posts that I end up having the time to write will be truthful and hopefully an enjoyable read.

I have been trying to make sure that my two boys eat at least a small breakfast every morning. They both have a bad habit of skipping breakfast or choosing cereal and then becoming cranky a couple of hours later. In order to combat this problem I have been trying a number of new breakfast recipes. Last week I tried a new recipe for Hearty Blueberry Muffins from Martha Stewart Living magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes an hour of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, I used coconut oil for the fat. Coconut oil is nice since it keeps for a very long time and turns into a solid when cool and a liquid when heated. Plus it doesn't have a strong flavor so it's great for baking. My two boys had eaten a bunch of my blueberries by the time I made this recipe so my muffins were not as full of blueberries as the original recipe. Finally, I used foil baking cups, I love them they are so much easier to get the muffins out of than regular paper liners.

I like that these muffins have both wheat germ and whole wheat flour. My boys liked that they had blueberries and were sweet and didn't notice that they also had added nutrition. They kept well on my counter and with a couple of seconds in the microwave tasted like they were fresh baked (according to my boys). Overall a nice breakfast option that is kid friendly.

For the recipe go to Hearty Blueberry Muffins.

Hearty Blueberry Muffins

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Summary:

A blueberry muffin recipe using coconut oil, wheat germ and whole wheat flour. A nice way to start the day!

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 1h, 0m

Yield: Serves 12

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a soft spot for cookies. When I was little my mom didn't buy junk food. She baked and cooked all the time, but when we went to the grocery store the packages of cookies stayed on the shelf. So when I went to friends houses for slumber parties, I would eat whole packages of cookies. Then I would stay up all night from all the sugar, but it was well worth it. In college they sold cookies almost the size of my head in the student center and I bought them almost everyday. What I wouldn't do to still have that metabolism. My two kids are also little cookie monsters. They have been known to eat 2 dozen cookies in one afternoon. Since cookies aren't the best food for you, I love finding recipes that make cookies a little healthier. A couple of months back I made a new recipe for Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies from Betty Crocker, which looked delicious and a healthier version of a family favorite.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is prep and makes 36 servings. All the ingredients are basic and I made no modifications. I did chose to use King Arthur's Flour instead of the brand recommended in the recipe. I love King Arthur's Flour for baking, especially bread and cookies and it is the only brand of wheat flour that I use. As I always do I used organic eggs and butter. I baked my cookies on parchment paper, it makes cookies perfectly cooked and they never stick. Halfway through the baking time I rotated the pan. This prevents burning and ensures even cooking. Watch the cooking times carefully, my cookies were done in exactly 8 minutes. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These cookies were good enough that my two boys didn't notice they were made with whole-wheat flour. They were nice and crisp and had an almost nutty flavor from the whole wheat flour. I like that they use whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose. It's a great way to include more fiber and whole-grains in a way that my kids didn't notice. Overall, a kid friendly recipe that tastes just as delicious as cookies made with white flour.

For the recipe go to Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Apricot Wheat Germ Muffins

This week I have been visiting family in the mountains. My two boys have been busy playing and adventuring while my mother-in-law and I are cleaning up my in-laws house. It has also allowed me to catch up on all my blog posts, which often get placed on the back burner and get forgotten. As you may have noticed in my recent posts I am working on my breakfast routine. My two boys are doing great and have cut down dramatically on their sugar and white flour consumption. They have also been drinking more water and  complaining less about the change in their diet. So how am I doing? I have been eating breakfast everyday for the last couple of weeks. When I first started I thought that it would be horrible, but I am feeling better and drinking more water, feeling more energetic and my weight is down to what it was before I had my first son. It may only be a few pounds, but I am very happy. A couple of weeks back I tried a new recipe for Apricot-Wheat Germ Muffins from Eating Well magazine, which looked perfect for a healthy breakfast.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 1 hour of total time, a half hour of which is active and makes 12 muffins. For the orange juice I squeezed my own. Oranges are cheap right now, much cheaper than the price of orange juice and fresh tastes so much better in recipes. Instead of using brown sugar I used splenda brown sugar for baking. The finished product does have a slight splenda taste, but it was mild enough that my two boys did not notice. I did chose to leave out the grated orange zest. I had grated the orange peel to use and put it in the fridge. However, my youngest child decided to dump it on the floor, so I left them out of the recipe entirely. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These muffins were very popular with my two boys. They liked that they had apricots and didn't notice that they also were packed with wheat germ and whole-wheat flour. I ate a number of these muffins as soon as they came out of the oven. They are filling, without being heavy and are a great combination of taste and nutrition. Overall, another great breakfast muffin recipe.

For the recipe go to Apricot-Wheat Germ Muffins.

Sweet Whole-Wheat Couscous with Dried Blueberries and Almonds

With my oldest son starting school in two weeks I am dreading the daily breakfast struggle. My son is great about getting up and taking a shower, but horrible when it comes to his breakfast habits. He will waste a ton of time not eating and then minutes before we have to walk out the door want to have something to eat. It can be very frustrating. This summer I have been working on making quick and easy breakfasts in the morning to keep my two boys happy and full. While they would be happy with eating pancakes every morning, I have been trying to introduce more whole-grains and protein into their diet and breakfast provides the perfect opportunity. This weekend I tried a new recipe for Sweet Whole-Wheat Couscous from Parents magazine.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 20 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 3 cups. I did make a few modifications. My two boys aren't big fans of shredded orange peel so I left it out of the recipe. For the milk I used vanilla flavored almond milk, my boys prefer almond milk over soy so I prefer using it for drinking and baking. In addition to the dried cherries I also added dried blueberries sprinkled on top. I love just about any type of dried fruit and add it to a variety of breakfast foods. The leftovers re-heated very easily in the microwave the next morning so don't worry if you don't eat everything in one sitting. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband and I really liked this recipe. I liked that it has a great taste and uses whole-wheat couscous which I was recently able to find at my local farmer's market. My two boys were a little more skeptical. They picked around their bowls, finally trying their servings. I wasn't sure if they would finish their bowls so I was surprised when my youngest ate his whole bowl and and then half of mine. Overall, this recipe is a great way to get protein and fiber into your diet and was very child friendly.

For the recipe go to Sweet Whole-Wheat Couscous.