Simply Love Food

Nothing is better than freshly baked bread straight out of the oven (at least to me)….. Hot, steamy, soft bread….I swear I could eat an entire loaf of bread I love it so much…..I make  a lot of different types of bread  because I try to really watch what my family eats (especially my little ones….) Have you ever really just looked at the ingredient list on store bought bread? Neither did I until I started my approach to holistic eating (unprocessed foods diet)…Since I  started to change our lifestyle  it really made me start paying attention to WHAT goes into food. And really made me NOT want to eat anything prepackaged. I totally understand that there are times in life where you (and me) just simply CANNOT avoid something prepackaged and processed and yes I do still have store bough bread in the cabinet but I buy the most natural types I can find….Usually no more than 5-6 ingredients such as flour, salt, water you know things that SHOULD be in bread and NOT things like chemicals, hydronated oils, emulsifiers just to name a few….. You can defiantly find ones at Whole Foods, or health food markets that are free of all these toxic things …..But when you have the time maybe on a weekend bake a few loaves of your own bread and taste the difference for yourself. Make a few extras and put them in the freezer….Then you ALWAYS have  healthy unprocessed breads at your finger tips

Here is a great link that offers more info on why prepackaged breads can be so unhealthy….http://www.easybakingtips.com/toxic-bread.html

• 2 cups whole milk ( I used organic skim)
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking) plus additional for topping
• 1/2 cup warm water (105-115°F)
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast (from 3 packages)
• 1/2 cup mild honey ( My fave is orange blossom honey it’s light and sweet with stuble floral notes yum)
• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus additional for buttering pans
• 3 cups stone-ground whole-wheat flour
• About 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
•  vegetable oil for oiling bowl (I used raw organic coconut oil)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• 2 (8- by 4-inch) loaf pans

Heat milk in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan over low heat until hot but not boiling, then remove pan from heat and stir in oats. Let stand, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cooled to warm.

Stir together water, yeast, and 1 teaspoon honey in a small bowl; let stand until foamy, 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.) Stir yeast mixture, melted butter, and remaining honey into cooled oatmeal.

Stir together whole-wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour, and salt in a large bowl. Add oat mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and knead with floured hands, adding just enough of remaining unbleached flour to keep from sticking, until dough is smooth, soft, and elastic, about 10 minutes (dough will be slightly sticky). Form dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled large bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel; let rise at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Lightly butter loaf pans. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times to remove air. Divide dough in half and shape each half into a loaf, then place 1 loaf in each buttered pan, seam side down, tucking ends gently to fit. Cover loaf pans loosely with a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly brush tops of loaves with some of egg wash and sprinkle with oats, then bake until bread is golden and loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 35 to 40 minutes. (Remove 1 loaf from pan to test for doneness. Run a knife around edge of pan to loosen.)

Remove bread from pans and transfer to a rack to cool completely, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.