I have always done a lot of baking and cooking from scratch, but never more than I have the last 2 months since finding out about my son’s allergies. Cooking almost everything from scratch is so much healthier for us, but besides that it is more frugal. So, since I have so much free time (at least according to a friend from church I do) 
I went searching for some recipes to try.
I tried out the recipe for Classic 100% Whole Wheat Bread from King Arthur Flour and found it to be a very good recipe. I really want to start making all of our own bread so that I can control what ingredients are in it. Bread making is my last frontier to explore with regards to cooking from scratch. What would be great would be to buy grains in bulk and grind my own flour. I am still researching this option though.
I did make one variation to the recipe by using 1 1/3 cups of homemade rice milk in place of the water and powdered milk.
Like the Queen of Free posted about earlier this morning I made some whole wheat pizza crust while I was waiting on the bread to rise. I am anxious to try out the versions she tried, but below is what I did to make whole wheat breadsticks.
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough/Breadsticks
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Package Active Dry Yeast
3/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1 Cup Hot Tap Water
1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp. Honey
Combine the water, yeast, honey and olive oil in a bowl and whisk to blend. Allow to sit until bubbles form. Add flour and salt to the wet mixture and stir for 3 minutes. Cover and let rise until desired size (usually double). Shape into breadsticks or use for pizza crust. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
I made a variation of the whole wheat pizza dough using gluten free flours for my allergic son. For some reason I didn’t write down the flour combinations I used, so I will have to try it again and post those. I did take a picture though. My son really liked them which was great. I know I used oat flour (grind oats in a blender) for part of the flour.
I also made cookies, pancakes, and waffles over the weekend in addition to our regular meals. I didn’t have any flax seed binder made up, so I tried a different recipe for flax seed egg replacer.
Flax Seed Binder 2
Replaces 1 Egg in baked goods. You may double, triple, etc. to meet the needs of your recipe.
1 Tbsp. Ground Flax Seed
3 Tbsp. Water
Mix well and let sit for a few minutes. The mixture will thicken and become gelatinous.
