Recipes by Sarah Austin

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

4 teaspoons yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dry milk
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
1 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
2-4 cups whole wheat flour

Directions

In your bread mixing bowl put the yeast, 3/4 cup water, and the cup of whole wheat flour, mix until combined then cover with plastic wrap or a towel and let it sit for 45 minutes to an hour in a warm place. It should be bubbly.

Add the 2 cups water, 2 cups whole wheat flour, dry milk, wheat gluten, salt, sugar and oil. Mix until combined.

Start to add your remaining flour. I add one cup at a time (but you can do it by the half a cup). 2 cups might be enough but it could go up to 4 cups. Fully incorporate the flour you add before adding more.

Kneading: By hand, 20 to 30 minutes. In a mixer, 7-10 minutes. (I suggest using a mixer!)

Rising: Transfer dough to a large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover it with plastic wrap or a towel, put it in a warm place and let it rise for 45 minutes to an hour. It should have risen over double its size.

Shaping, Last Rise, and Baking: When your dough is ready dump it out and push the bubbles out of it. Divide into tow equal portions. Flatten each piece out to a rectangle about the size of the pan then roll it up tight and pinch the seams together tucking the ends inches. Turn over and put in pan that has been coated with cooking spry, seam side down.

Put the loaves in a warm place and cover with a towel; let them rise from 30 minutes to an hour. You want your loaves to be at least 2 inches over the top of the pan, nice and high, they won't rise much more in the oven. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes then lower the heat to 350 and cook for another 20 minutes. They will be a deep brown.

Remove them from their pans and cool on a cooling rack. Enjoy!

Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter
1 ½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups rolled oats
1 ½ cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir brown sugar and butter until blended.

Stir in vanilla and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in oats, flour, baking soda and salt; stir in hocolate chips and nuts.

2. Onto ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart. (Dough may seem a little dry)

3. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Basic Granola

This is a basic recipe that can be experimented with to suit your tastes. You can add raisins or crasins, but it is best to add them right as the granola comes out of the oven so they maintain a fresher taste.

4 cups rolled oats
1 ½ cup rolled wheat, wheat germ or Zoom cereal
1 cup nuts (choose your favorite, add two if you like)
1/3 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar and/or honey—adjust to taste (I use ½ cup b. sugar and ½ cup honey)
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine oats, wheat and nuts in a large bowl. In a saucepan combine oil, sugar/honey, vanilla and cinnamon, heat stir on medium-low. (I sometimes do this in a large measuring cup and heat in the microwave) Mixture only needs to get warm enough to combine ingredients.

Stir sugar mixture into dry ingredients toss until all pieces are coated. (I often end up doing this with my hands so it’s good to make sure the sugar mixture doesn’t get too hot!)

Spread on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

Cool completely.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 TB sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
2 cups milk
¼ cup oil

In a large mixing bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Make a well in the center of the dry mixture set aside.

In another mixing bowl combine the egg, il and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just until combined (batter will be a little lumpy).

Add more milk if thinner pancakes are desired.

For about ¼ cup of batter onto hot griddle or skillet. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or till pancakes are golden brown, turn.

Simple Whole Wheat Breakfast Cereal (or basic cooked wheat!)

1 cup whole wheat
2 cups water
½ tsp salt (optional)

Mix wheat, water and salt in saucepan, bring to boil. Turn stove down to low and simmer another 15-20 minutes or until the wheat softens and becomes tender.

Serve with honey, fruit, raisins or nuts.

Cracked Wheat Cereal (4 servings)

1 cup cracked wheat
3 cups water
½ tsp salt (optional)

Combine in saucepan, bring to boil then simmer for about 30 minutes.

Alternate cooking method: bring all ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat, cover and let stand overnight. IN morning, put in separate bowls and heat in microwave.

Serve with milk, fruit or sugar as desired.

More Ideas for Using Wheat

Substitute wheat for rice or beans in any recipe. For example add to chili or baked beans.

Use cooked whole wheat for a breakfast cereal

Make wheat pilaf. Cook wheat as you would rice, adding bouillon to flavor water. Sauté onions, celery mushrooms and other vegetables and add to wheat.

Substitute cooked wheat for rice in any fried rice dish.

Extend hamburger for tacos by adding cooked wheat. Use half wheat and half beef.
It will change the texture a little bit but not the flavor!

Grind cooked wheat and mix it with uncooked meat (hamburger. Salmon, ground turkey. etc) and form into patties. Cook as you would burgers.

SPROUT IT!

Sprouting Wheat—Jar method

Soak seeds over night, about 12 hours. (Use two or three times as much water as seeds—too much water is not a problem but too little can affect your sprouts.)

After soaking, pour off water and rinse wheat thoroughly with cool water.

Place jar mouth down at about a 45 degree angle after rinsing for drainage and ventilation.

Rinse wheat 2-3 times each day (every 8-12 hours) with fresh cool water.

Sprouts are ready to harvest in 2-3 days.

After your final rinse drain sprouts as thoroughly as possible before storing.

Store sprouts in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week—although they taste best when they are freshest!

Use sprouts in salads, sandwiches, wraps or as a snack. Can also be cooked.