Rosemary Focaccia

Right now we're all working hard packing and getting ready for our long flight to Sweden. Fridge and freezer is almost empty. Today's lunch was soup and homemade focaccia bread, Perfect meal to set of on our journey. 

2 packages active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water (105-115oF)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle on the bread
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
4-5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Coarse saltDried Rosemary
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1 cup lukewarm water in a bowl and let sit until foamy. In another bowl, add the remaining 3/4 cup water, the olive oil, and the salt. Pour in the yeast mixture. Blend in the flour, 1 cup at a time, until t he dough comes together. Knead on a floured board for 10 minutes, adding flour as needed to make it smooth and elastic. Put the dough in an oiled bowl, turn to coat well, and cover with a towel. Let rise in a warm draft-free place for 1 hour, until doubled.Punch down the dough, knead it for about 5 minutes, and gently roll it out to fit a deep dish pan, 15 1/2 by 10 1/2 inches. Cover with towel and leave to rise for 15 minutes,. Oil your fingers and make impressions with them in the dough, 1 inch apart. Let rise for 1 hour.Preheat the oven to 400oF. Drizzle the dough with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and rosemary. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.

Tea bread buns

This is another baked thing from Sweden and we call them tea breads. Why I have no idea and since Swedes are more famous for amount of coffee drinking rather than tea so it sure make no sense. These little breads are super soft flat buns and they taste great with tons of butter and cheese, with tea or notJ

50g butter

2 1/2 cup milk

1 cup rolled oats

1 package active dry yeast

1 tbsp. agave nectar

1 tsp. salt

5-6 cups white spelt flour

Melt butter and add milk, agave nectar, oats and stir. Leave to swell for 2 minutes. Combine in a large bowl or kitchen aid; yeast, salt and half of the flour and blend. Add milk/butter, oats and blend well. Keep adding flour while working dough until you have elastic dough that lets go of the bowl. Cover bowl with a towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

Knead dough on a counter top or table sprinkled with a little flour. Knead for a few minutes.  Divide dough into 14 pieces and roll them to a ball and then flatten them until about 1 inch thick with your hands. Use a fork and poke a couple of holes in each bun, not all the way down. Place on a cookie sheet and cover with a towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to F415.

Bake buns 5-10 minutes until they are golden brown. Yummy!!!!

Zucchini bread

I love my mornings because it’s just me and Noah having fun and cuddling. I love getting wet and snotty kisses from my little man. We usually spend fair amount of time in the garden taking care of all of our vegetables and fruit plants. Noah is finally appreciate all the goodies growing there and today was tasting freshly picked strawberries. Afterward we went inside and made zucchini and apple bread together. I used agave nectar instead of sugar because it’s so much better for little  bodies.

1 ½ cup whole wheat spelt flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp cardamom

1 egg

½ grated apple

1 cup grated zucchini

2 tbsp. plain yogurt

¼ cup agave nectar

½ vanilla bean

Preheat oven to F325

Mix together spelt flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cardamom and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl blend egg, grated apple, grated zucchini, agave nectar, yogurt and spilt open the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds and add that too. Blend everything well and combine with the flour mix until incorporated. Pour batter into a well greased loaf pan.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, until center is dry. Check by inserting a toothpick and see if it comes out clean, then the loaf is done

Toasting bread with seeds

No this is not bread that gives a fabulous toast but bread that is perfect to use to make toast. I have craved toast with jam with my tea, which is such Swedish thing.  My friend Jess who also is Swedish came over for a tea, toast with jam breakfast this morning. I served two kinds of jam; one citrus and one vanilla-basil-strawberry jam. The bread is crusty with tons of flavors from the seeds. This bread you really have to work on the dough but then don't knead the bread after rising.

1 packaged dry active yeast

2 ½ cups warm water

3 tab’s honey

½ cup olive oil

½ tbsp. salt

1 ½ cups whole wheat spelt flour

5 cups white spelt flour or use all-purpose flour

½ cup mixed seeds (I used hemp and pumpkin seeds)

Combine flours, salt and yeast in a large bowl or eve better in a kitchen aid. Blend water, honey and oil in a small bowl and stir until honey has dissolved. Add that to the large bowl and begin work the dough really well for at least 10 minutes by hand or 5-10 minutes by machine. Add more flour if the dough seems very sticky. You should end up with dough that is elastic and lets go of the bowl easily. Cover bowl with a towel and set to rise for 30 minutes.

In the mean time use butter to grease two loaf pans and sprinkle half of the seeds in the bottom of the pans. Leave half for the top.

Remove dough from bowl and place on a surface with some flour. Be very careful here because you don’t want to knead this dough. Divide dough in half and shape each pieces carefully to a loaf. Place in loaf pans and cover with towel to rise again for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to F400.

Cut two exes in each loaf top, brush with water and sprinkle remaining seeds over. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Brush water over two times during baking to make the top nice a crusty. The loafs should be golden brown when done. Remove loafs from pans and cool loafs down on a wire rack 

Capers and herb bread

I was in the mood for fresh bread and I don’t know why but I felt like an olive bread so I though why not make an olive and herb bread to eat with our lunch of a large salad. Unfortunately I discovered that I ran out of olives so instead I used capers.

3 cups white spelt flour (or use all-purpose flour)

½ tsp. salt

½ tbsp. active dry yeast

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 ¼ cups plain coconut yogurt

2 tbsp. capers

2 tbsp. fresh chopped herbs (I used basil, chives and parsley)

Combine flour, salt and dry yeast in a large bowl. Add yogurt, fresh herbs and oil and work the dough really well for about five minutes by hand and maybe 2-3 minutes with a kitchen aid. The dough should be pretty firm and not too sticky. Cover bowl with a towel and leave to rest for 45 minutes. 

Knead dough on a surface sprinkled with a little flour. Use a rolling pin to roll dough Place capers in the middle and fold sided over to “trap “ the capers. Shape the dough to three long pieces and place together and begin to braid them until you’re left with a long loaf. Place loaf on a parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Cover with towel and leave to rest for another 30 minutes. Preheat oven to F400 and bake bread for about 30 minutes. Let bread cool on a wire rack covered with a towel before serving.

Maple loaf bread

Serving fresh bread to my family with a meal is a luxury I love to do when I have time and this week it happened twice already. I made maple loaf and it taste great slightly warm with some butter and maybe honey. This recipe will make 1 large loaf or two small ones. I like making small loafs so that the family can eat one and I can freeze other one.

1 ½-2 ½ cups white spelt flour (or use regular All-purpose flour)

2 tbsp. psyllium husk

2 tsps. active dry yeast

1 tsp. salt

1 cup warm oat milk

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. maple syrup

Combine 1 ½ cups of the flour, psyllium husk, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Melt butter in a saucepan and add milk and maple syrup and make it warm, not hot. Add to flour mix little at the time and add more flour if needed. You want to work the dough really well for 5 minutes if not using a kitchen aid. The end result should be elastic dough that is not too sticky and easily lets go of the bowl. Cover bowl with a towel and set aside to rise for 1 ½ hours. Place dough on a surface sprinkled with a little flour and knead dough for 2-3 minutes. Shape dough into one large loaf or two small ones and place in non-stick loaf pans. Cover with a towel and set aside to rise for another 30 minutes. Preheat oven to F350. Bake for 25-30 minutes for small loafs or 30-40 minutes for large loaf. It should be crusty and golden brown when down. Leave uncovered to cool down before serving.

Blueberry oatmeal bread

The past two mornings Noah has refused to eat his blueberry oatmeal so I’ve saved it hoping he would change his mind. When it happened again this morning I decided not to make it again. But since I now had a cup of made up I used by making blueberry oatmeal bread that turned out so well. It’s gluten free and low sugar and funny thing is THAT Noah loved.

1 cup blueberry oatmeal

2 tbsp. agave nectar

¼ vanilla bean, seeds used

3 tbsp. flax seed meal

1 cup warm non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to F350

Blend oatmeal, agave nectar, vanilla bean seeds, flax seed meal and milk in a bowl. Add flour and baking powder and mix. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until center is dry. Check by inserting a toothpick into bread and see if it comes out dry and clean. 

Oatmeal bread baked in baking dish

This oatmeal bread is super easy to make because you don’t have to make rolls or shape into a loaf. All I did was press the dough into regular large baking dish.  The weekend are super busy right now with tons of activities for Bella. This weekend it was the May Fair at her school and we helped out. Right before the fair I taught a prenatal yoga class so it was running here and there and then spending time outside in the heat.

So today when I had to bake for the week I was lacking in both energy and inspiration. But lucky me, oatmeal and maple bread is the families favorite and what shape it comes out in they really do not care.

2 ½ cups  water

50g butter

2 ½ cups oats plus some for decoration

6 cups white spelt flour or all-purpose flour (maybe more)

1 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. active dry yeast

¼ cup maple syrup

Combine water, oats and butter in a saucepan and bring to boil while stirring. When it’s kind of gluey it’s done. Let it cool for 10 minutes. 

Pour oatmeal into to a large bowl or kitchen aid. Add flour, maple syrup, salt and yeast. Work the dough until it’s elastic and lets go of the bowl. Cover bowl with a towel and leave to rise in a draft free place for 1 hour. 

Knead dough on a floured surface for 3-5 minutes. Line a large baking dish with parchment paper and press dough into it and make it even. Use a fork to poke some holes all over dough. Cover with towel and rise again for 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to F400. Brush dough with some warm milk and sprinkle oats over. Bake for 15-20 minutes until it’s golden brown and center is firm. Cut into squares once bread is cool. 

Baking Soda Carrot Bread Loaf

I hope you all had a great time celebrating Earth Day yesterday. We harvested potatoes from our garden, which will be dinner tonight, we planted new potatoes and we BBQ hot dogs. All and all it was a mellow but fun day. At night James and me ate a romantic raw dinner by candle light and toasting in kombucha. Our pledge was to not use TV, computers, IPads or phones all day and beside one short phone call we made it. Instead we played cards after the kids went to sleep.

I baked bread this morning so Bella would have a sandwich for her lunch and just made a fast rising bread with oats, honey and carrots.  This is bread that does not contain yeast so therefore there is no need to rise or knead it. The dough resembles more like batter but it’s good and fast to bake.

Bella and me gathering our potatoes

Noah celebrating Earth by admiring all the wild flowers

¾ cup oats

1 ½ cups whole wheat spelt flour

2 ½ cups white spelt flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups plain yogurt

2/3 cup honey

¾ cup grated carrots

½ cup raw sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to F400

Grease a large loaf pan. Combine whole wheat and white flour, oats, baking soda, salt and sunflower seeds and blend. Add yogurt, carrots and honey blend until a sticky batter. Pour into loaf pan bake for 40-50 minutes. Center should be dry when done. Let loaf cool completely in pan before removing. 

Walnut baguettes

This is bread I baked for my friend. I prepared the dough in the evening and let it rise over night and then I baked it in the morning. Long rising time require less yeast and makes a nice fluffy dough in my opinion.

2 cups white spelt flour

1 cup whole wheat spelt flour

2 tsp. salt

1 tbsp. sugar

½ package active dry yeast

2/3 cup walnuts, chopped

1 ½ cup warm almond milk

1 tbsp. coconut oil

Combine spelt flour, salt, sugar, yeast and walnuts in a large bowl or kitchen aid. Blend milk and oil and add little bit at the time until all liquid is incorporated and you have shiny dough that is elastic. Cover bowl with a towel and leave to rise over night or at least a couple of hours. Knead dough for a few minutes and add more flour if it’s very sticky. Divide in half and shape each to a long baguette. Place on a cookie sheet covered with a parchment paper. Cover with a towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to F440. Place an ice cube in the oven or spray some water for mist and bake baguettes for 15-20 minutes. 

Hot dog buns

This weekend we BBQ hot dogs for the kids and I made my own hot dogs bun. I can’t believe I never done this before and actually bought store bought because it was so easy and everyone thought they were so good.

5 cups white spelt flour

2 ½ cups whole wheat spelt flour maybe more

1 package active dry yeast

3 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

2 ½ cups warm almond milk

125g room temperature butter

In a large bowl or kitchen aid, combine flour, salt, sugar and dry yeast and blend. Add milk and then butter and really work the dough for a few minutes until the dough is shiny and lets go of the bowl. Add more flour if it’s too sticky. Cover the bowl with a towel and set aside to rise for 40 minutes.

Place dough on a flat surface sprinkled with flour and kneads the dough for five minutes. Divide dough into 30 pieces and shape into long and skinny buns. Place on a cookie sheet and leave to rise for another 40 minutes covered with a towel. Preheat oven to F400.  Bake for 10 minutes and then let them cool of on a wire rack cover with a towel.

Cinnamon raisin bread buns

This is perfect breakfast or snack bread. I’m not crazy for raisins in baked goods but for some reason in cinnamon raisin bread I find it o.k. When my husband came home after I baked he had a smile on his face because it smelled the aroma of fresh baked cinnamon bread.

1 tbsp. active dry yeast

2 cups white spelt flour

2 tsp. sea salt

2/3 cup raisins

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 cups warm water

3 tbsp. maple syrup

3 tbsp. melted butter

Combine, yeast, white spelt flour, salt, raisins and cinnamon in a large bowl. Blend water, maple syrup and melted butter in a small bowl and add that to the flour mix slowly to combine well. Knead for about 5 minutes until you have elastic and not too sticky dough. Cover bowl with a towel and set to rise for 2 hours.

Remove dough from bowl and knead it for about five minutes. Divide dough into smaller pieces. Roll each piece and place on a cookie sheet. Cover rolls with a towel and rise for another 30 minutes. Preheat oven to F400. Bake buns for 10-15 minutes depends on size of rolls. The rolls should golden brown and center dry. Let the rolls cool of on a wire rack before serving. 

Apple crackers

My kids loves home baked bread and crackers and since we’re all cooped up at home this weekend due to the storm me and Bella made apples crackers. These crackers and so easy and fast to make and I love them because they contain no sugar and are whole wheat. They taste great as is or with butter or nut butters on. I also learned they are also appreciated by adults when hubby and friend Jess ate them all after dinnerJ

1 ¼ cups whole wheat spelt flour

1 tbsp. ground chia seeds

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ vanilla bean, seeds used

1 large apple grated very fine

2 tbsp. virgin coconut oil

Preheat oven to F350.

Combine everything in a bowl and work the dough to shiny and not very sticky dough. If it seems too sticky just add a little flour. Divide dough in half and sprinkle a little flour on a parchment paper and use a rolling pin to roll out dough very thin. Slice dough into squares and place the whole parchment paper with dough on top of a cookie sheet. Carefully separate the squares a little. Bake for 10 minutes and then flip all the squares and bake for another 5 minutes.

Carrot bread rolls

My dear friend Wendy who I've been writing about here before and I have a deal that we swap foods. I my case I'm really good at baking healthy and yummy breads so I do that for her and she cooks amazing raw food for my whole family, great deal right? I try to make different breads for her and this weeks bread was a carrot bread. It's one of the most easy breads I ever baked and the carrots give it a fun sweetness and color.

6-7 cups white spelt flour, maybe more
1 tsp salt
2 tsp active dry yeast
50g butter, melted
3/4 cups grated carrots
2 1/2 cups milk ( I used oat milk)
1 tbs agave nectar
1/2 cup sesame seeds

Combine 6 cups of the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl or kitchen aid. Blend melted butter with milk, agave nectar and add slowly to flour mix. Add carrots and work the dough until the dough ball is shiny and easily lets go of the bowl. You might have to add some more flour if it seems very sticky. Sprinkle some flour on top and cover with a towel, Set it to rise in a warm and draft free place for 2 hours. Place dough on top of a little sprinkled flour and knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Divide into smaller pieces and roll them between hands to shape into bread rolls. Place on a parchment paper and cover with towel for a second rise. Preheat oven to F400. Brush each roll with a little water or milk and sprinkle sesame seeds over. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the rolls are gold brown.

Oat bread loaf

Yesterday was a wonderful day with clear blue skies and that kind of day that it would be a crime to eat inside. So we had a picnic, twice actually; lunch and dinner. For lunch we went to a park on Coronado Island and feasted on salad and fresh baked bread. I made oat bread that was a huge hit with Bella.

2 cups white spelt flour
1 cup whole wheat spelt flour
3/4 cups oats
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup room temperatures almond milk
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup honey

In a large bowl combine flour, oats, yeast and salt. In a smaller bowl combine almond milk, water, oil and honey and stir until honey has dissolved. Add the liquid little at the time until completely combined and work the batter to a dough for a few minutes. Cover bowl with a towel and set in a dry and warm place to rise for 1 hour. Place dough on a surface sprinkled with a little flour. Kneel dough for a few minutes. Shape dough into a loaf and place in a well greased loaf pan. Cover with a towel and set to rise for a second time with oven is preheating. Preheat oven to F350. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and center is dry.

Levain bread and wild yeast

Sourdough is a hype in Sweden and everywhere you find many version of sourdough bread and it's not like the San Francisco sourdough. While in Sweden for Christmas, the most popular sourdough bread we ate was levain and we were hooked and I promised myself I was going to make my own levain as soon as we got home. Levain is a leaving agent used instead of commercial yeast. Levain bread is nutritionally better for you because the lactobacilli and ascorbic acid presented helps neutralize physic acids, a substance that occurs in bread that inhibits mineral absorption by the body. Bread baked with a sourdough starter also stays fresh longer.

Last weekend is when I decided to give it a try. I consider myself an avid baker and pretty good one too. I  I use fermentation in my my breads all the time so I really thought this was going to be a walk in the park. Think again!!! It was very time consuming since the fermentation process takes days--read 3 and you have to care for the levain morning and evening. It has to rise for 3 days in a warm place. I told James on day 3 it better be the most amazing bread ever and guess what IT WAS. OMG it was so good and the whole family agreed in was the best. After we ate some of the bread with soup that night my husband asked " so was it hard to make, I mean really really hard?". I know where he was going with this and yes I will bake it again.

The starter

The base for fermented bread is wild yeast or also called starter and I made one from this recipe. You mix water and flour together and let it sit out for a few days to let the formation process start when the exposure starts the baceria and fungus growth. It takes 3-4 days for the starter yeast to be fermented but then you have  yeast for a couple of baking sessions. I used white spelt flour instead of white flour for my starter.

Hard work turns into this!

The recipe I followed for the levain bread was this one. I made all my starters and baked all the levain breads with white and whole wheat spelt flour.

Saffron bread

Tomorrow I'm hosting a lunch for a very old friend of my mom. Since my mom's passing I've not seen this friend but we've kept in contact through mail and Facebook. I'm so excited for her come to tomorrow and to meet my mom's grand kids. For the lunch I will serve a seitan pot pie with a side of mixed green arugula salad and aromatic saffron bread. Saffron to me is Swedish Christmas and since we're still in the Christmas spirit I though it would be a great addition to the lunch.

2 1/2 cups white spelt flour (maybe more)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat spelt flour
1 package dry active yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs salt
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 tsp saffron

Combine both flours, yeast and salt in a large bowl or kitchen aid. Blend warm water with saffron until dissolved. Add olive oil and agave nectar and add slowly to large bowl a little at the time until completely combined. Work dough for at least 5 minutes and the dough "lets" go of the bowl. Add more flour if dough seems sticky.  Cover bowl with a towel and set in a warm place to rise for 2-4 hours. Place dough on a surface sprinkled with a little flour and knead dough for 5 minutes. Make two loafs  and place in greased loaf pan cover with towel and leave to rise for 1 hour. Preheat oven to F400. Use a sharp knife to slice across the loaf tops a few times. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let loafs cool before attempting to remove from pans.

Oat crackers

One day before Christmas and I'm so grateful to be here in Sweden and celebrating it with my family. I'm also so grateful for all the amazing vegetarian restaurants available here in Stockholm. I've been eating so well while out shopping for the holiday. Now if the snow just could come back everything would be perfect.

These oat crackers are great with cheese and wine or tea in the evening as well as the perfect snack for kids. They take a while to bake but you get a lot of crackers so you can freeze and have stocked up.

150g butter 

1 1/4 cups milk (  I used oat milk)

3 cups oats

1 cup while spelt flour

1/2 cup whole wheat spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Melt butter in a saucepan and add milk and oats and stir to combine. Remove from heat and let in rest until cold. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Divide dough in half and roll it out with a rolling pin pretty thin on a flat surface sprinkled with flour to prevent sticking. Use a round cookie cutter to cut out crackers. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Preheat oven to F400. Prick each cracker a few times with a fork. Bake 5-10 minutes, flipping them once. They should be dry and golden brown when done. Place on a wire rack to cool down.

Holiday veggie burger

I have lots of cranberry baguette and cranberry sauce left from Thanksgiving so in my effort to create dishes from food in my fridge and freezer I made a veggie burger sandwich with holiday feeling to it. It really did work and I think I just come up with one of my favorite ways to eat burgers.

1 vegetarian burger, cooked

1 piece baguette, sliced open

Cranberry sauce

Cheese

Lettuce

Sprouts

spread cranberry sauce on one side of the bread, place burger on top. Top with cheese, lettuce and sprouts. Serve with a side of mixed salad and done!!!!

Oat bread rolls and Green Mom

Finally my business web site Green mom is up and running so please check it out and read some very inspiring articles on green living and families by some very special writers. My food blog will eventually move over there as well but for now it's just linked.

Yesterday night I realized we had no bread fro Bella's lunch so I had two options; 1. go to the store and buy bread or 2. bake it myself and I was super tired last night. Well since driving to the store would take as much time as preparing a dough I went with #2. I prepared the dough and let it rise all night. This morning when I woke up and preheated the oven and kneaded the dough and made it into rolls while the oven was heating. It was perfect and the bread was done by the time everyone was up, diapers changed and everyone dressed.

1/2  tbsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup rolled oats
4 dried apricots, minced
1 cup whole wheat spelt flour
2 cups white spelt flour

Mix whole wheat, white spelt flour, dried apricots, salt, oats and yeast in a large bowl or kitchen aid. Blend warm water, oil, and honey in small bowl and add slowly to flour mix and combine and work dough for at least 5 minutes, until it's elastic and not too sticky (it should let go of the bowl pretty easy). You might have to add more flour. Cover bowl with a towel and set to rise a couple of hours or over night. The dough should double in size. Preheat oven to F350. Knead dough in a surface sprinkled with flour. Divide into rolls and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until buns are golden and center is dry.