Breakfast

Bismillah (in the name of God)

  

  I try my best to offer healthy delicious breakfast to my family. I make oatmeal porridge, smoothies and boiled eggs, homemade granola with yogourt, and chocolate/banana/ soaked oats pancakes for breakfast lately. The pancakes are what i specifically want to share about today. The night before i leave 2 cups of oats and 2 tablespoons of spelt soaking in water and apple cider vinegar, and i take this extra step to reduce phytic acid (an anti nutrient found in many grains, nuts, seeds, etc.) It really only takes a minute or two to get this ready the night before breakfast is to be made. 

   In the morning, I wash the oats in a colander and then add them to a blender along with two over ripe bananas, two eggs, 2/3 cups of milk, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a generous squirt of vanilla. Blend it all till smooth, let it rest for five minutes and then cook on a hot cast iron pan with butter. They're delicious with fruit and a little maple syrup. 

   I hope you give them a try and feel free to double this recipe or half it according to your family size. The measurements I used made enough for my four children and myself to eat for two breakfasts. What else can a mama ask for?

   What are some of your favourite recipes for breakfast? 

My Banana Bread Recipe

Bismillah,

Today I want to share a treasure of mine: my banana bread recipe. I call it 'mine' because I got ideas from here and there and customized it to suit my family's needs and likings.

I make this banana bread with the same flour I talked about before and it's delicious! You can customize it to your liking, it's a very flexible recipe. I've made it with walnuts as well and it adds a touch of crunchiness that's irresistible. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cup of sugar but I use between 1/2 to 3/4 cup and nobody has complained so far. The one thing that my family can't do without is chocolate chips. I use 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. 

The best part is that making this bread is a family joint adventure.

Enlarge to read recipe:

Enjoy with your favourite beverage or alone.

What Happens in my Kitchen Doesn't Stay in my Kitchen

Bismillah (In the name of Allah)

Some time ago I found a simple yet delicious apple sauce recipe when visiting Muslim Hippie and I got my hands on some apples, which were given the honour of becoming part of this sweet treat for my munchkins.

I am not a measurer thus you might want to head over to her blog if you need more specific measurements; I peeled, cored and chopped 7-8 apples.

Next I put them in a pot with just a bit of water, about 1/4 cup of honey and sprinkled cinnamon on top. I think next time I might want to put less cinnamon, but that really would be up to your individual taste.

And, after simmering this for about half hour you can mash this into whatever texture and consistency you prefer. It was a hit in my house and even my littlest picky eater had no trouble devouring a cup of this yummy treat.

Oh, and I can't describe the beautiful aroma that spread all over my house, I would do it again just for that, mashAllah.

As for my bread baking season, I have a lot to share in my upcoming post. I have taken the whole thing to a new level and am very satisfied with the results I have obtained so far :o) It's been time-consuming but I'm very thankful to Allah that he's allowed me to put my time and attention to it. I believe and hope that this will become a tradition of my family that will be passed down to the coming generations.

Home-made Bread

Bismillah (In the name of Allah)

Since the bread baking bug got in my kitchen I've been very busy. The first night, without having the necessary supplies, I could not wait and decided that I was going to make bread with what I had at hand. And, this came out of the spur of the moment:


          

It was good but, of course, I could not stop there. It was only the beginning of a very satisfying new season of my life: The bread making season.

Next day I went on a mission to stock up my kitchen with what I needed to make bread from scratch. Fresh organic wheat, more yeast, some spelt and rye, amongst other things. And, without hesitation I moved onto making whole wheat bread from freshly milled wheat.

           

It has been an amazing experience; not only baking these breads but feeding them to my family as well. They love it and I love giving them something so nutritious. Especially because I'm milling my own wheat, so it's fresh and it isn't stripped off anything; all the goodness of wheat goes into my loaves of bread.

Have you ever heard of Ezekiel bread? It's a recipe that has been interpreted from the bible. I made my own version of this bread as follows:

3 1/2 cup of hard wheat, 1/2 cup of (kidney beans, lentils, chick peas and spelt) and I'm planning on interchanging the legumes that I add to this mix, and possibly making it 1 cup instead of just 1/2. Will update when that happens, and at this rate it could be anytime within the next few days :o)

 Let me get back to my recipe. All gets milled and it yields approximately 6 cups of flour which I mixed with 2 1/2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of oil, 1/4 cup of honey, 1tbs of instant yeast, 1 tbs of wheat gluten, 1 tbs of salt. I kneaded this till smooth, by

hand I would guesstimate it could take 10 min approximately. I let my machine do the work, I know I'm spoiled! It should be ready when you can stretch a piece of it, without tearing it, and see light through it. Then I formed into loaves, placed in a warm place till they about doubled in size and baked at 375 degrees fahrenheit for 1/2 hour. I skipped one rise that typically takes place when making bread, but it worked for me and it saved me time.

This is what I've been doing in these cold days. Perhaps this is yet one more blessing that Allah brings along with winter; we spend more time indoors and become more creative and even take up on new interests.