Good Smells...

Yesterday was spent in the kitchen. I made a loaf of bread, hamburger buns for supper, granola, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

The bread that I made came out kind of bland, but super healthy. I am being super conscience of cholesterol when I cook:

1 package of organic yeast
2 Tsp. of fresh honey
2 1/2 cups of whole wheat white flour
2 1/4 cups of stone ground whole wheat
1 Tsp. of salt
2 cups of really warm water
sprinkle corn meal on top
Olive oil for bowl

Put warm water and honey in a bowl (stir until honey is dissolved) and add yeast. Gradually add flour and salt. Stir till it pulls away from bowl.

Flour a surface and kneed for several minutes. Put bread dough in a greased clean bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for 1 1/2 hours.

 Kneed again and let rise 45 minutes. Punch dough down and form into a ball. Preheat oven at 450. Place in a loaf pan and bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Top and sides should be lightly browned. Let cool before slicing.

Here is the VERY simple granola recipe too:

4 cups of 2 kinds of dry oats (I used a larger oat and a smaller oat)
1/2 cup of walnuts
1/4 to 1/2 cup of fresh honey
1 tsp. of salt

Mix all together until honey has coated all the oats. Spread on a cookie sheet. Preheat oven to 350. Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a nice golden brown. Let cool. Break apart clumps and store in an air tight container.

I have lots of walnuts, straight from the tree, that some friends were kind enough to share with us.
I really wished that my Grandma was here with me in California yesterday to help me shell these walnuts. I've never known a woman that could shell nuts or snap peas faster than her.

We finally squeezed the last of our oranges. Our tree put out so many oranges this year. We have really enjoyed them. We now have some frozen o.j. in the deep freezer to drink for  a while longer.