Food Adventures: Whole Wheat Pita Bread

Ok, I am convinced that Pinterest is the greatest thing ever. I got this whole wheat pita bread recipe from there. I just had to try it. 
P.S. I love when people put up pictures of the process. Sorry for the quality (came from my phone) but you get the idea. Also I made little notes on the recipe so that's what the blue is.

Wheat Pita Bread

Ingredients:
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
1 tbsp. honey (could use sugar, but honey is healthier)
1¼ cups warm water (105˚-115˚ F), divided
1½ cups bread flour, divided
1½ cups whole wheat flour, divided
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. salt
Cornmeal, for sprinkling

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer*, combine the yeast, honey and ½ cup of the water.  Stir gently to blend.  Whisk ¼ cup of the bread flour and ¼ cup of the whole wheat flour into the yeast mixture until smooth.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until doubled in bulk and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Note: I had mine covered for only about 25 minutes and it was bubbling away. So I just started the next step. 

After mixing and before the bulk and bubbly.

Remove the plastic wrap and return the bowl to the mixer stand, fitted with the dough hook.  Add in the remaining ¾ cup of warm water, 1¼ cups bread flour, 1¼ cups whole wheat flour, olive oil and salt.  Knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.  Transfer the ball of dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat, and let rise in a warm draft-free place, about 1 hour, until doubled in bulk. 

After rising

Place an oven rack in the middle position.  Place a baking stone in the oven (if using) and preheat to 500˚ F. I don't have a baking stone. I used a cookie sheet and flipped it upside-down in the oven. Make sure you put it in the oven while it's preheating.

Once the dough has risen, transfer to a lightly floured work surface, punch down the dough and divide into 8 equal pieces. 

Form each piece into a ball.  Flatten one ball at a time into a disk, then stretch out into a 6½-7 inch circle. Transfer the rounds to a baking sheet or other work surface lightly sprinkled with cornmeal.  

Once all the rounds have been shaped, loosely cover with clean kitchen towels.  Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, until slightly puffy. I had them sit out for about 10-15  minutes.

Transfer 4 pitas, 1 at a time, onto the baking surface.  (Note: These can be baked on a baking stone or directly on the oven racks.  I use a pizza stone, but either method is fine.) I read some reviews and some said putting directly in the oven rack didn't work. That's why I used the baking sheet. Bake 2 minutes, until puffed and pale golden.  Gently flip the pitas over using tongs and bake 1 minute more.  Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining pitas.  Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

*As always, anything mixed in a stand mixer can be mixed and kneaded by hand.

I love this recipe. The bread turned out great and you can used it for so much. I hope you enjoy. :)

Here is the direct link to the website: http://annies-eats.net/2010/04/20/whole-wheat-pita-bread/

Livin' On a Prayer

I had a little Bon Jovi music morning and the song title is perfect for how crazy life is right now. Ok we'll start with the good news. I finally got my Kapoosh! You're probably thinking to yourself, "What on Earth is a Kapoosh?" Well it's the most amazing kitchen appliance ever. Back story: this last Christmas Dan and I got a lot of knives that we so desperately needed. Our only problem was we didn't have a knife holder to fit them in. They were all different sizes and shapes. Well one day, as I was strolling through Bed, Bath & Beyond (my new favorite store), I found the Kapoosh. It's a knife holder with no set slots. I was so excited but the only ones they had in the store were light wood ones. That was not going to match with our kitchen. So we talked to a guy, who turned out to be the store manager, and he helped us order a nice stainless steel one. As we got to talking, we found out the guy used to live in Bremerton (where Dan is from) and worked at the Silverdale Bed, Bath & Beyond. Small world. Here is a picture for your visual pleasure of my Kapoosh:

Ok, now for some bad news but had some good consequences. It snowed!!! Yes, I understand it's Rexburg. Yes, I understand it's October and it snows in October here but COME ON! I want my fall season. I want cool, crisp air with hot chocolate at night. I want cardigans, boots and scarves (although I get that on winter as well). I want colorful leaves. Snow does not fit in there. Alright, it only snowed for 2 days and it all melted away. I just know if it snowed that early then what's stopping it form coming again and again and again. The good that came out of it... I pulled out my hoodies, our hot chocolate, bought coffee creamer for our hot chocolate and pulled out my boots. :) Also it makes me excited for Christmas.

Not the best of pictures but this is what it looked like as it started to stick the 1st day.

Ok now for the bad news. As you all know, Dan is a very active person but has some problems with his knees. He decided to play flag football with some guys in our ward this semester. It was their first game 2 weeks ago on Wednesday and of course I had to work. I told Dan not to hurt himself so I could see him in his future games. Well, what does my husband do? Hurts himself. I come home to an iced knee. I think I jinxed him. He got side swept (which is illegal) and hurt his good knee pretty badly (they did however win their game and his injury helped with that). Luckily, one of the guys on his team is the student director of Sports Medicine and helped him there on the field. He went to the doctors the next day and they told him he probably has an MCL tear. They set up an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon here in Rexburg and gave him crutches. Fast forward to this last Saturday. We went down to Pocatello to see my dad and to have him check out Dan's knee (my dad is a sports medicine guy and also does some physical therapy). After about 15 minutes he was 100% sure that Dan tore his ACL. He referred us to a surgeon he works with and told us he was really good. So we decided to meet with him instead of the one in Rexburg. Long story short, Dan needs surgery. We will find out in a couple weeks if he'll need it now or if he can wait until December for the break. They want the stiffness in his knee to go away. Now we have to wait and see what our crazy future holds. 

Dan at the doctor today.

Like I said, livin' on a prayer in the Fry house. :)

Jackson Hole Adventures

So for Labor Day, we planned it out with my dad to make a day trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming. This was a new adventure because Dan had never been over in that area. I used to live in a small town in Idaho on the other side of the mountain from Jackson. So when I was younger, we would go there all the time. It was a beautiful drive and we stopped to take a short hike before going out for lunch.

View from the top of the mountian

Walk back to the car on our mini hike.

It was so nice to get out and be in nature. My allergies haven't liked me since then but it was so worth it. We were so hungry after our hike, probably because we were talking about BBQ a good portion of the hike. We found this place called Bubba's BBQ. Any place called Bubba's has to be good and it was. We ended up getting pie after our meals and it was the best pie. Dan and I shared a Chocolate Buttermilk pie. It didn't taste like buttermilk at all. It tasted like a brownie with pie crust. It was so good.

After lunch we went and walked around town to see the shops. We stopped in this photo gallery because the pictures just caught my eye. The photos were just beautiful. The photographer was there and we got to ask him questions. His pictures just seemed to pop out of the frames. He said they take a normal picture and print it on silver lined paper to make that effect. In my opinion, his photos are beautiful enough that he doesn't need to make them pop them. Look for yourself.

These are just a small portion of them. His website is http://www.johnrichterphoto.com/home/page_id=10. Check out his pictures.

Here are some other pictures and I know this post is a little long but I have to tell this story. So as we were walking along we heard this loud "JIMMER!!!!". Dan was wearing his Jimmer shirt and this lady came up to Dan and got really excited. She told us that Jimmer is in her home ward back in New York. They all, her, Dan and my dad, talked about New York because they all served there. She asked Dan if he wanted a picture of Jimmer and sent him a picture of him and her son. She was so excited to see his shirt and she got even more excited that Jake, Dan's brother, made the shirt. She made our day. Her son that was with her was so embarrassed but we thought it was funny.

Oldest bar in the west.

Food Success

In my ward, we have a recipe club. We decided to put up a blog for those who can't make it and for documentation. I got a recipe for shredded pork, lime rice and creamy tomatillo dressing. Yes this is all stuff they serve at Café Rio. I just had to try these recipes out for myself. So we went to the store and got all the ingredients. To make a long story short, it was sssooo amazing. They each have really distinct flavors but when you put them all together on a tortilla, it's heaven. Dan and I loved it so much, I just had to share it on my blog. 

Creamy Tomatillo Dressing

3 fresh tomatillos

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

1 cup fresh cilantro

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper

1 pkg. ranch dressing mix

2 cloves minced garlic

1/3-1/2 cup buttermilk

1.     Combine all ingredients in blender. Chill for at least one hour. 

Shredded Pork (Café Rio Style)

5-6 lb. pork butt (bone in)

16 oz. jar salsa

½ can coke

3 tbsp. molasses

2 cups brown sugar

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tsp. salt

1. Place pork in crock pot. Cover with brown sugar, salsa, molasses, cumin, salt and coke. Cover and cook until tender and pulls away with fork.

            2. About 6-8 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low. 

Lime Rice

2 tbsp. butter

1 ¼ cups long grain rice

2 ¼ cups chicken broth

Juice and zest of 2 limes (the rice was really limey but good, we might use just one lime next time)

2 tbsp. chopped cilantro

¼ tsp. cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1.     In heavy pan, melt butter with rice. Add broth and other ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.

2.      Add a little more fresh chopped cilantro to taste.

 

I wish I had pictures to share because I love pictures with recipes but trust me pictures can't hold a candle to how good this is. I hope you enjoy because I know we did.

P.S. I also made a Peanut Butter Oreo Ice Cream Pie. We haven't tried it yet but I'm sure I'll be posting that recipe as well.

One Year

Sunday was our first year anniversary. How crazy is that!?!?! I can't believe that. Dan and I had the opportunity to go to Utah and see some family this last weekend. We got to meet our new little niece, Adele. She is just a doll (Dan got some pictures but I need to steal them from him). On Sunday I woke up to Dan's surprise anniversary gift. A beautiful paper origami flower. It even had some small notes written inside of it. I loved it!

1st anniversary traditional gift: paper, beautiful paper flower 

That morning we decided to get home at an early time to spend our anniversary together at home. We got home and I had left a small surprise for Dan to find when we got home.

I decided to write down some things that I look forward to in our future together. 

It was a great anniversary. We didn't have a lot of money to work with so we decided to stay in and have a romantic evening in. Dancing, candlelight dinner and some cake. We didn't have any cake from our wedding reception because it all got eaten. So I decided to make a version of our wedding cake.

We had Funfetti cake with raspberry filling and a buttercream frosting.

My attempt.

Ok so we had Funfetti cake and I also ironically had some raspberry filling. I found a great recipe for some buttercream frosting. So I went to work. I put the filling of the first round and started to place the 2nd one on the top. This is where is went bad. The top layer started to fall apart (as you can see). I frosted it thinking it would stick together. I finished and it looked great. I put it in the fridge to harden and that's when it fell apart. Oh well, it was still really good.
I love you Daniel Fry! It's been an amazing 1st year and I can't wait for the many, many years to come with you by my side.

New Food Adventures

Recently, my amazing mother-in-law gave us a bunch of wheat flour. I love anything wheat pretty much because of the nutritional value it has and it just tastes so good. So I've been trying to find some new recipes that we can use with wheat flour. I found this great recipe for whole wheat pizza crust. We decided to try it and it is really delicious. So I thought I would share the wealth and spread the word about this great crust recipe. It's really healthy and very filling.

1 teaspoon honey

1 1/2 cups warm water 

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour*

*(you can use the all purpose flour or just use all wheat flour)

1. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.
2. Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin until it will not stretch any further. Then, drape it over both of your fists, and gently pull the edges outward, while rotating the crust. When the circle has reached the desired size, place on a well oiled pizza pan. Top pizza with your favorite toppings, such as sauce, cheese, meats, or vegetables.
5. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes (depending on thickness) in the preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges, and cheese is melted on the top.

Uncooked dough with alfredo. 

I made my alfredo pizza with veggies.

I also have a great whole wheat cookie recipe. I have to give the credit to one of my old roommates. She made these cookies one time for us and we loved them. She got the recipe on the back of the Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flour bag. It's funny because every time I make these, they turn out different but a good different. This last time I tried to lessen the butter amount by doing half butter and half shortening. It was horrible but it made the cookies more crunchy and not as chewy.

Whole Wheat Cookies
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups of wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag of chocolate chips (we have tried both semisweet and milk chocolate chips and we all like milk chocolate chips better)

Cream together sugars, butter, vanilla and egg. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough may be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips. Place in an ungreased pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures to show for this recipe but I promise it's really good.
Happy Eating! :)

Falling Behind

Man, I am falling behind on my blog. Well, I have a few minutes before work so let me tell you all about the excitement we've been having. Two weekends ago, my family on my dads side had a family reunion in Bear Lake. It was a blast! Dan got to meet pretty much everyone for the first time and of course they loved him. We played games, eat amazing food (thanks again Kac and Ryan), played in the sun, went to some really cool caves and went boating. Here are some pictures of the awesome caves.

Some of the many stairs we had to climb

There were bats sleeping in the ceiling

Here are some pictures from boating and the moose we saw next to the inn we were staying at.

Dan and my cousin Ethan. They were maniacs. 

We also had an excellent 4th of July weekend. I have wanted to go swimming for a long time and I decided that we had to go the 4th of July weekend. Well I got my wish times 10. First I have to mention, on Friday we were invited to go roast hot dogs with Durk and Mandy, some friends of ours in our ward. So we went out and built a campfire. Then we ended up coming back to our apartment and played Mario on the Wii. We really get into it and it's a blast. Alright back to Saturday, we got invited to go to Egin Lake and after a small adventure we ended up floating the river instead. I got a terrible sunburn on my shins. My shins of all places! It was not a fun night for me. 

On Monday, we planned to go to Egin Lake (for real this time) with Dan and Sarah. We got Paola and Brock to join us and had a blast.

Sadly the only picture I got from the whole day.

After Egin Lake, we had a very delicious BBQ. It was so good probably because we were all so hungry but that's beside the point. For the rest of the night, we went to Idaho Falls for the fireworks. Idaho Falls has the biggest fireworks show west of the Mississippi (that's what they say). I don't know if that is true but they were amazing. I love the music they play to go along with the fireworks. It's the cherry on top of the patriotic feeling cake.