Homemade Monday

Monday is baking day in our home...it's the day where I make all of our bread for the week.  I have been using a recipe from a friend of mine which makes about 5 loaves of bread.  It's pretty simple to do, as far as homemade bread goes.  I never thought I would be making my own bread from scratch, but it's not as hard as I thought it would.

I have ventured out to make tortillas and have even tried making English Muffins.  This week I gathered all the ingredients to make Cinnamon Raisin Bagels.  I had hoped to make them for breakfast, but with all the time required in prep, rise, cook and bake, we had them for an afternoon snack.  I had never made a bagel before, so I was a little nervous starting off.  I found the recipe on a blog.



Dough for Cinnamon Raisin Bagels



I followed the directions to the t except for the raisins...I only had one small and one tiny snack size box in my cupboard, so that is what I used.  Once they were cooled, we dug in.  The girls loved them.  I though they tasted good but hoped they had been thicker.  I shared some with the neighbors and they liked them too!  This recipe is definitely a keeper, though I would like to try some other recipes and see how they compare.

Resting before shaping

A few of the bagels after boiling

The final product...YUM!

Do you enjoy cooking?  Are you one to follow the recipe to a T or do you like to experiment?  Have you tried to cook something new lately?  If you haven't....you should.  You might end up finding a great recipe that you and your family can enjoy.  When I first got married over 16 years ago, I never would have done this...tried a new recipe.  I wish I had been a little more daring back then.  But there is no point dwelling on the past.  I just need to step out and try something new today.  Why don't you do the same!

Whole Wheat-Buttermilk Waffles

Usually on Saturday mornings, we make a bigger breakfast for the family than we normally do during the week.  I found this recipe in my latest Weight Watchers Magazine and decided to try it out.  I would have loved to have shared a picture with you but my waffles did not look very pretty.  They tasted good though!

Whole Wheat-Buttermilk Waffles
Prep 10 mins Cook 30 mins Serves 8

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup fat free egg substitute
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
1.Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions.

2.Mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, egg substitute, brown sugar, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth, Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined (mixture will be lumpy).

3.When waffle iron is hot ladle 1/2 cup batter onto surface until golden (3-5 mins). Repeat with remaining batter to make a total of 8 waffles.

4.When waffles are cooled, divide between 2 large zip - close plastic freezer bags. Squeeze out air to seal bags. Freeze up to one month. To serve, transfer 1 frozen waffle to rack in preheated 350 degree oven or toaster oven. Bake until heated through, about 5 mins.

Per serving- (1 waffle w/o syrup) 170 cal, 3g fat, 3g fiber, Points Value 3

Weight Watchers Magazine September/ October 2010 page 78