Little Red Hen

I finally attempted to make bread! I've been putting it off with the excuse that I dont have a big electric mixer of some sort, not to mention that I left my bread pans in storage in AZ. I recently purchased a hand wheat grinder so that I could actually use my wheat. Here's our story of
"The Little Red Hen".

Sunday morning I decided to make bread for my family. Dayson was so excited to use the wheat grinder and I was more than happy to let him help! I had to take a break after about 3 cups, so Dayson dove in. He did pretty good. Between him and James, they ground about 5 cups. My muscles might be a tad bigger next time you see me.

It took about 30 min to get the 12 cups necessary to bake bread. (that wasn't including the breaks I had to take. Not bad, right? I wanted to try the recipe Kristine posted a few months ago, but realized that I didn't have evaporated milk. So I did another recipe that I had made before using someones Bosch. I bought some Vital Wheat Gluten, but forgot to put it in! Oops. The mixing wasn't bad, just sticky. It took more flour than I ground up, good thing I had whole wheat flour from the store on hand. I got it all mixed in, where it actually looked like dough! The yeast even foamed this time! I was feeling pretty Betty Crocker! I got the dough into loaves and into the pans (I checked at Walmart and they were $4 each, the dollar store had them for $1 each, sometimes I can really score there.) I dont know if this is a great idea or not, but I put the pans on the hood of my car outside to rise. When I went to put them in the oven I had to rearrange things to get them all in there. I forget how small the kitchen is until I get into the middle of something. Easter dinner was chaotic, but turned out nicely. Anyway, the bread:

was delicious. We ate almost a whole loaf as soon as it was done. Luckily I had canned some strawberry jam a few weeks back. It went perfectly with it. I now have the confidence to bake bread without a Bosch! Oh, and my family members helped me make it and eat it, unlike the other Little Red Hen!

Cinco de Mayo Recipe

I got this recipe from a friend of mine that is a caterer, so you know it's good. ;) She calls it "Texas Caviar" but I will give 10 points to whoever can think of a better name for it.  It's like a black bean and corn salsa or salad that is an entire meal (with chips) on its own.  Oh, and you definitely need to make it at least half a day ahead if you can't do it the day ahead.  It gets better with age.  So, here goes.

Texas Caviar (Corn and Black Bean Salad)

2 Cans Corn – rinsed and drained

2 Cans Black Beans – rinsed and drained

1 Can White Hominy – rinsed and drained

2 Bunches Green Onions – chopped

1 Bunch Cilantro – chopped

1 (6 oz) Can Diced Green Chiles (or 2 (4 oz) cans)

12 Roma Tomatoes – chopped (or 2-3 cans Rotel or similar)

2 Teaspoons (heaping) Jalepeños (or more, to taste)

Sprinkle of Crushed Red Pepper

Garlic Salt – to taste

Onion Salt – to taste

Pepper – to taste

2 Pkgs. Italian Dressing

        Sprinkle 1 mixture in dry

        Prepare 1 mixture according to directions and pour in 

MARINATE OVERNIGHT

3-6 Avocados – diced and mixed in just before serving (depending on your avocado preference)

SERVE WITH TORTILLA CHIPS

This stuff is delicious.  My whole family ate it.  It makes like 3 quarts, so Matt and I ate it for lunch for several days, and I was able to share a couple of servings with people.  Another great thing is that you can alter it to your preferences or what you have on hand, but I think it's best how it is.

Buena Suerte!