About eating and cooking

The food from the farmers market was incredible! The flavors were absolutely wonderful. It amazes me how these fresh foods taste in comparison to the foods at a grocery store (which were shipped from who knows where). I purchased some cheese which was made locally. The flavors were so much richer than the mass processed cheese. The difference was astounding. It made me start to think about the fods we eat.... So many of us eat whatever is easiest or fastest. We are missing out on the great flavors which are naturally in fresh foods.

I think that it is a good idea to eating as closely to natural as possible. Yes, I cook, but I will use fresh as much as possible. Even if everything is not organic, at least certain items should be. Think about what i higher up on the food chain - meats, poulty, eggs, milk, etc. These definately. Also spinach, apples, and strawberries (thin skins).

Sugar: I am trying to reduce the sugar I use. We do have some white, but I am replacing with sucanat, turbino, rice syrup, or honey. In many cases these have been a lot less processed than the white cane sugar that we are accustomed to.

Breads: I have started to make 2 loaves of bread daily or every other day. The oatmeal bread has gone over extremely well with the kids. Oatmeal with a little wheat germ. My favorite, of course, is multigrain. I will post recipes for each in this post.

A friend has offered to let me order through her bulk buying club. I know that it may go against some of my desire to eat locally, but if I focus on grains that I am less likely to find locally, then I can accept it. I do need a little more in my food storage.

Easy oatmeal bread recipe:
4 cups flour
2 cups oats
1 package yeast
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 3/4 cups water
1/3 cup brown sugar or sucanat sugar (prefer)
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/4 tsp salt

1. mix the flour, wheat germ, yeast and salt in a bowl. heat up the water and add the sucanat/sugar so that it dissolves in the water. Add the water to the bowl. Melt the butter and add it. Stir, add oats and stir.
2. Once everything is mixed, let raise for 1 - 1 1/2 hours
3. Punch dough down and let sit 10 minutes
4. shape each dough into a loaf by patting or rolling
5. let raise in a prepared pan for 1 hour
6. Bake 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes (or until the bread sounds hallow when tapped on top).
   

I make this about every other day (2 loaves).