eat what we eat

I should have waited a week to make this recipe, it's green and perfect for St. Patrick's Day. It was the first time making pesto for me, and although it's not the traditional pesto, it was pretty exciting to find that it's really easy. Plus, I love using my food processor. You'll find the recipe on the Everyday Food website. It's too bad I don't take good pics of the food - when food is pretty it's so fun to eat!

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Don't worry, you're looking at bread in the next picture. Apparently, our bread machine has become a little temperamental. Or maybe I was supposed to know not to run the bread machine on the dryer (where it can be out of the way) while the dryer was also being run? At least - that's the only thing I can figure out. Please don't ask if we ate it anyway.

Rob and I make bread instead of buy it, I don't even know how much we save, if anything- we intend to figure it out sometime. It's not like bread is that expensive, but this bread is tasty and hearty. We especially love it for curry grilled cheese sandwiches.

Here is the recipe that usually works, I guess you'll only be able to use make it if it has a bread machine, and I don't know how well recipes work between different machines, but here is it. It's good (all but this one time), and very seedy.
3/4 c water
1 T butter
2 T molasses
1-1/2 c flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 c rolled oats
3/4 t salt
1 T each of sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and poppy seeds
1-1/2 T sugar
1 t quick-rise or bread machine yeast

Choose a setting for small loaf wheat bread.
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While we're at it, here's another bread machine recipe that we like

Salsa Cornmeal Bread:
1/4 c water
1 c thick salsa
1-1/2 T olive or vegetable oil
3/4 t salt
1-1/2 T sugar
2 c flour
3/4 c blue or yellow cornmeal
1/2 - 1 T minced jalepeno pepper (optional)
1-1/2 t quick-rise or bread machine yeast

choose a setting for a small loaf
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The last recipe to share is for a delicious and filling breakfast "pudding." Seriously delicious. Seriously filling. It's a weight watchers recipe, which explains some of the ingredients. In case you're interested - serving size is 3/4 cups (you'll be full, don't worry) and it's 3 points.

1-1/2 cups water
1 cup whole wheat couscous
pinch salt
3 cups fat-free milk
2 T packed brown sugar
1/2 t grated orange zest
1/4 cup fat-free egg substitute
1/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 t vanilla extract
optional and not included in points: sliced almonds and/or craisins for garnish

1. Boil water in large saucepan over high heat. Stir in couscous and salt. Reduce the heat and simmer until the water is absorbed, abt 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and fluff with a fork. Cover and let stand abt 5 minutes. Meanwhile, toast wheat germ in a frying pan over medium heat - it toasts quickly!
2. Whisk milk, brown sugar, and orange zest into the couscous. Bring to a boil over med-high heat, whisking frequently, scraping the bottom of pan to break up lumps and avoid scalding. Reduce heat to med-low and cook, stirring frequently until mixture is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.
3. Whisk together 1/2 c. of the couscous mixture and the egg substitute in a small bowl. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring, until the pudding is thick and creamy, about 5 minutes longer. Add craisins at this point, if desired, so they can plump.
4. Stir in wheat germ and vanilla. Serve topped with almonds, if using.