I like to schedule a pizza crust baking day where I devote all the time, effort and ingredients into grinding fresh grain, making enough pizza dough for 8 16-inch pizzas and rolling, pre-baking and freezing the rewards of my work.

Stacked fresh, homemade whole-grain pizza crusts

I make an assembly line in my small, but efficient kitchen. When the dough has had a rise in the bowl, I divide it by weight

Dessert pizzas

Pineapple pizza

To freeze a pre-baked crust

Bagged crust for freezer

Double folding crust for freezing

Double folded bagged crust for freezer

Baguettes for garlic bread

MMMMMMMM!

Simple Delicious Pizza Sauce

Simple Delicious Pizza Sauce

(Makes enough to sauce 2 – 15 inch pizzas)

1 – 6 ounce can organic tomato sauce

2 cans of water

1/2 – 1 teaspoon each powered garlic, oregano, and sweet basil (to taste)

2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

pinch of unrefined sweetener of choice (optional)

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until well-blended and thickened. Spread lightly and evenly on pizza crusts. Top and bake pizzas as directed.

First, PLEASE  read the Tips for making my Almond-Chia Milk and the instructions for making the chia gel, which is essential to the recipe.

Luscious Homemade Almond-Chia Milk

Vickilynn Haycraft – Real Food Living

You will need:

1/2 – 1/3 – 1/4 cup raw, organic almonds (See Tips for explanation of amounts)

1 cup – 1/2 cup prepared organic chia gel

Pure water

Optional add-ins

Sweetener of choice, to taste,

Organic vanilla extract to taste

Procedure

1) Soak almonds (in their brown jackets) in our water 8 hours or overnight

2) Prepare chia gel per direction and chill overnight

3) If using dates, soak in pure water overnight

In the morning, drain the almonds and rinse well. Either remove the brown skin (see Tips) or simply place them, as is, in the VitaMix.

If using dates, drain and add to the VitaMix.

Add 4 cups of pure water and process as follows: Cover tightly. Turn VitaMix Low toggle switch to On. Slowly increase the variable speed knob to 10, then flip the High toggle switch to On. Let that run on High for 30 seconds for bare almonds and 1 minute for almonds with skin.

Pour in desired amount of prepared chia gel. Start off small, I like 1/2 cup.

Add in sweetener, extracts (I like vanilla or almond), spices (such as cinnamon) and anything else your heart desires such as fruit or vegetable purees. A tiny pinch of Real Salt.

To make it taste like “milk”, I leave it as simple as possible – almonds, water, chia gel, possibly some sweetener. Anything you choose to add after that is based on taste and preference and you can let yourself go wild! But if you’re looking for a non-dairy milk to replace dairy milk (especially for little ones), I recommend starting off with the basics and then make the variations once the regular “milk” has been accepted.

Reminder: If you are using soaked dates, be sure to blend them completely with the almonds in the VitaMix so they will not leave a “texture”. They do have a strong flavor, so unless you really like dates, I’d try something more mild first.

Add in water to the top and mix gently, either with a spoon or the lowest VitaMix setting, for just a few seconds to distribute the add-ins well.

Chill for at least an hour. Before serving,  stir gently and pour. There is no need to strain, you will be amazed at the smooth, silky mouth-feel and the light delicate taste (of course if you added in sweeteners and / or flavors, you will taste them as well).

Makes 64 ounces

You can grind chia seeds into flour, add the tiny seeds whole and raw into foods for crunch and fiber, but my favorite way to use chia seeds is to add them to water, shake and let them transform into a thick, silky-smooth gel where the seeds are soft and plump, having released their gelling-actions and created a pudding-like gel.

I use chia gel to smoothly thicken my Homemade Almond Milk, add moisture and bulk in meatloaf, salmon burgers, salad dressings, breads, jams, instead of eggs in baking, making chia puddings and all other sorts of fabulous uses.

The chia plant (Salvia hispanica) seeds can be eaten raw and also processed in a variety of ways. Chia seeds are high in dietary fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential to good health.

When I added the chia gel to my almond milk experiments, I discovered I could use less almonds and still get the lovely, rich texture of almond milk, but with the added nutrition of chia seed gel, it is a “win win” not sacrificing nutrition, taste or texture or frugality.

There are many, many, many variations on how much chia to how much water to use, and in the end it comes down to your preference for thickness and what you’ll do with it. This video show the amazing gelling properties in only 4 minutes, with gentle stirring (no cooking).

A popular, pudding-like consistency is:

1/3 cup chia seeds to 2 cups of water,

stir until thickened, use or let rest to thicken more.

You can increase / decrease ratios to make yours thicker or thinner to fit your needs and preferences.

Again, for our purposes, I try to get as much “bang for the buck” and I use what I need to make a thick gel, one that will serve my uses, while saving money, so I may vary the amounts depending on where I am going to use it. This is what I do most often, especially for my Luscious Homemade Almond Milk:

Chia Gel for Thickening Almond Milk

5 tablespoons of organic chia seeds (whole)

1 quart of pure water

Place seeds in quart jar, add water, cover and SHAKE the jar vigorously for 5 minutes. Do not cheat and try using blender, the blades may break up the seeds and that is not the desired effect. I want them to swell, soften and release their mucilaginous properties into a thick, smooth gel without any grit.

After 5 minutes of shaking, let the chia water mixture rest for 10-15 minutes, then shake again, vigorously, for 5 minutes. Again let rest 10-15 minutes. At this point, check the chia gel to see if it’s thick enough.

You can, as the video above demonstrated, simply place your chia and water in a bowl, or cup, add liquid and stir. This works as well.

You can use your chia gel right away if it is the desired consistency for your use (egg replacer, smoothies, puddings, breads etc.) and the chia will absorb 9 times it’s own weight in liquid.

I let my gelled chia chill overnight and it is the perfect texture for me in the morning. I like to let mine rest overnight after gelling because I keep the seeds whole and they become more plump and tender and pleasant in beverages such as Homemade Almond Milk (think Bubble Tea).

Store chia gel in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Catch Vickilynn on Monday nights (starting March 14, 2011) from 8-9 PM EST / 7-8 PM CST for Get Real – Get Prepared!

Vickilynn Haycraft

What to do? Buy another oven? Most of us wish that we could, (unless we are one of the blessed ones who already have a second oven). However, an electric roaster makes an instant extra oven and stress reliever all in one.

Give yourself another oven this holiday!

Choose a electric roaster large enough to accommodate your needs and a little extra. Think about the largest holiday turkey your family enjoys, as well as roast beef, or roasting 2 chickens for weeknight meals, extra to freeze and make broth, (more on that coming up). An excellent family size is 18 quart, or if you have a large family or like to entertain, consider a 22 -24 quart size roaster. If your family is small, or space or budget is a problem, smaller sizes such as 6, 8, 12 quart models work well with smaller cuts of meat.

Some models of electric roasters have an added feature of a convection fan which greatly reduce the cooking time and cook evenly. They usually come with racks to place inside the pan to raise the meat up out of the drippings. We recommend choosing the enamel-lined  or stainless steel roaster pans rather than those with a non-stick coating, as these can be toxic. Enamel and stainless clean up easily and do not carry the concerns of toxicity that non-stick coatings do.

Now that we’ve gotten the electric roaster picked out, did you know you can roast the turkey or chicken, or beef in the roaster and then slow cook rich, deep broth in the same one (without washing it out?) True! Seriously!

Perfect Roast Turkey in an electric roaster

1) Prepare your turkey  as desired (remove giblets, wash, brine, season etc.). Tuck wings underneath and secure wings and legs with twine.

2) Place turkey breast side down. Add any seasoning.

3) Heat electric roaster (with or without convection fan) to 350 degrees. Place lid on roaster.

4) Roast according to your turkey’s weight and until a thermometer inserted into the thigh reads 165 degrees. Partway though cooking, flip the turkey over, breast-side up, season again if desired..

5) Leave turkey to cool (with lid on) for 20 minutes before carving. Slice serve and enjoy.

Part Two coming up – Making homemade broth in an electric roaster.

–
~~In Messiah Yeshua,
Vickilynn Haycraft
Micah 6:8
http://www.realfoodliving.com
http://www.examiner.com/x-9357-Product-Reviews-Examiner

Thank you for hanging in with me even though my blogging has been sporadic. I hope to update more often.

Because of my physical limitations, I am always looking for ways to make my batch-cooking techniques work for many things so that I don’t cook or bake every day.

This week I made a large Bosch batch of whole wheat raisin cinnamon almond bread, but the dough was softer than usual and I didn’t want to add more flour. The strength was not sufficient for loaves, so I made 2 dozen of my family’s favorite ~ Sticky Buns.

I was faced with what to make next since loaves were out and we had enough Sticky Buns for quite a few days.  With the softer dough, I decided I would make baked muffins, but with a twist. I decided to fill the muffins with fruit filling like doughnuts! All the flavor with none of the fried, sugary doughnut downsides.

To make Fruit-filled Whole Wheat Raisin Dough-fins (yeah, I really thought that one up all on my own! <g>) start with your regular whole wheat raisin bread recipe, or use my recipe for Award-Winning Bread and add raisins and cinnamon to the dough.

Weigh out 4 ounces per Dough-fin and roll each into a ball.

On an oiled surface flatten out the ball with your hand until it is about 4-5 inches in diameter.

Scoop a rounded tablespoon of your favorite (healthy) preserve (not jelly or jam) and place it in the center of the flattened ball.

Pull up all the edges and  pinch at the top,   making sure there are no holes for the filling to escape.

Place the filled Dough-Fin in an oiled muffin tin and repeat until all are filled. Let rise, covered, in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about   30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from tins and place (top side down) on a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

My new assignment is as the “Housewares Examiner” for the Charlotte area and I will be writing articles on my Product Reviews. My column addresses Tools of the Trade for homemakers worldwide. For example, my first 2 articles are on the KitchenAid stand mixer and what specific uses I have reviewed it for.

Please subscribe to my column to  receive the new articles when they are published and add me to your “Favorite Examiner” list.

Housewares Examiner

Thank you for reading!

Shalom Y’all,

Tonight at sundown, we will welcome the Biblical Feast of Passover (Pesach). This is such a rich commemoration of G-d’s faithfulness. For Jew and Christian, Passover is an essential reminder of the sacrifice of the Lamb. Exodus 12

For further reading, I recommend this wonderful site and has excellent homeschooling resources for teaching the L-rd’s holy days as well.   Biblical Holidays

This is all about Passover and how we, as Messiah’s children should celebrate HIM (the Sacrificed Lamb) at this time.
Biblical Holidays Passover

Another website that I recommend is:  Hebrew 4 Christians

Their Passover resources:  Hebrew 4 Christians Passover

Every year, as we celebrate Messiah’s sacrifice when He was crucified during Passover and have a Passover seder (The “Last Supper”) when taking the L-rd’s Table (Communion) was instituted, we make whole-grain Matzah (unleavened bread). Remember, Jesus (Yeshua) was represented in the unleavened bread, for leaven was a symbol of sin and Yeshua (Jesus) was sinless.

Here is my delicious recipe again and I pray you and your families have a blessed Passover celebration as we glorify the Lamb of G-d, YESHUA, sacrificed for OUR sins.

HAYCRAFT HOMEMADE MATZAH

Yield: Approximately 20 round matzot

2 cups hot water
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons honey – optional
4 1/2 -5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour — more as need to make a sturdy dough
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mix hot water, oil, salt and honey in a mixing bowl and mix well.  Add flour, 1 cup at a time until a sturdy but pliable dough is achieved.

Knead for 6 minutes or until pliable and soft, but not sticky. Weigh 2 ounces of dough and roll into qa ball. Roll out on an oiled surface into small (6 -8 inch) circles, and flatten with palms. Roll thin for crispy matzah, a little thicker for softer ones.

Pierce the circles with a fork to prevent bubbling. Place matzah onto a sheet of unbleached parchment paper. Bake 6- 8 minutes or until golden brown. Flip matzah over and bake 1-2 minutes more. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Per matazh: 108 Calories; 2g Fat (12.9% calories from fat); 4g       Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 3mg Cholesterol; 227mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

I love making bread. It feels delicious! Does that make sense? I think all you bread bakers out there will understand the pleasurable sensory experience of working bread dough in your hands.

I particularly enjoy working with my homemade 100% whole wheat and honey Challah dough and braiding it. What fun to see the intricate weave created just by moving ropes of dough in and out. I imagine this is what an artist experiences when they see their project come alive and take form.

Here are some shots I took today. Below this post, you can see the finished [baked] loaves. To me, they are beauty, simplicity and blessing. An added benefit is that these creations taste fabulous.

This is art you can eat!