Simple Food - A Success Story

Ha! I did it. I really did it. I made a meal that everyone in my family loved, and gobbled up. (If you cannot tell by my enthusiasm this does not happen very often in this house.) I spent a lot of time in the kitchen yesterday, but it was so worth it. (Not to be completely dramatic, but I tried to imagine what pioneer woman had to go through to put food on the table. I was so grateful when I got to use my food processor for part of my meal, and could not imagine how difficult it was for them to feed their family without it taking up their entire day.)

I ended up spending about 3 hours of my day in the kitchen yesterday which I know seems like a lot of time, and it is! It certainly felt like a lot of time, but it also felt like a victory when my kids were praising me as to how good their meal was. All of them. Seriously, I did not think that was even possible. Plus I knew what what in each and everything I prepared, and it was a cleaner meal than I would have prepared before.

Here is what some of our meal looked liked (I forgot to take pics of the vegan lasagna, but it was delicious. Sarah had 2 helpings and loved it):

Recipe for French Bread:

1.) Combine:

1/2 cup of warm water (not too hot that it burns you finger when you stick it under the faucet, but warm enough that it will activate the yeast).
1 packed of yeast (not the fast rise kind)

*Let yeast sit in the warm water for about 5 minutes*

2.) In another bowl combine 1 Tbsp of sugar (I used vegan sure in mine), 1 1/2 tsp of sugar, and 1 cup of warm water. Mix ingredients until sugar and salt are dissolved.
3.) Add 1 Tbsp of vegetable shortening to the sugar water mixture.
4.) Add yeast to sugar water mixture and stir
5.) Slowly add 4 cups of flour into the bowl. I used organic, unbleached which flour. Mix everything together.
5.) One the dough solid enough to take out of the bowl I dump it out on a clean counter top - bits and all - and knead it until all of the bits and pieces have adhered to the main ball of dough. (I add extra flour into the dough mixture as needed - you don't want it to be too sticky, but you don't want it to be too dry either. I learned what is "just right" by trial and error. You will too.) Knead dough for about 5-10 minutes.
6.) Add about 2 Tbsp of olive oil (I use extra virgin) to the bottom of the bowl (that should be empty because your dough is on your counter top), and place your kneaded dough into the bowl. Roll the dough around so that all of it has a light coating of olive oil on it.
7.) Cover your dough with a dish towel or plastic wrap.Let your dough sit until it has doubled in size (about an hour)
8.) Take dough out of bowl and reknead it. Place it back in the bowl until it has doubled in size again.
9.) Roll dough out (I used my hands) into two loafs of bread (see below)
10) Let rise for 20 -30 minutes.
11.) Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Dough just prior to olive oil coating. 

After first rise.

Dough after being kneaded a second time.

Dough after second rise. (Note: I took my girls to the park while this bread was rising for the second time, and more than an hour went by, so don't be surprised if you bread doesn't rise this much.)

Dough after 3rd rise.

Final product. Warm and delicious.

Sliced up with butter melting on it for the kids.

Cooking on the stove top prior to blending.
(2 cans of whole organic tomatoes, 12 sprigs of parsley, 2 sprigs of fresh basil, 1 white onion cut up, 3 large cloves of garlic, 1 Cup of water, 2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste)

Final product

Final Product: Cheese Lasagna
(Organic whole wheat no bake lasagna noodles, homemade sauce, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, rocotta cheese, organic egg, salt and pepper to taste) 

Half eaten Salad (the kids got to it before I could take a picture) that the kids eventually finished off last night.
(Organic Roman lettuce, left over iceberg lettuce from taco night, Organic Carrots, Organic Cucumber, Organic Radishes, Tomato, Organic Red Onion)

Homemade Oil & Vinegar Dressing  and Brianna's Dressing

Organic (frozen) Cauliflower