Soups, breads, and salads...................

[HollyElise]

In an effort to eat better (and less expensively)... I want to make a pot of soup, a loaf of bread, and an undressed salad (that's right, NAKED) every Sunday, so i can use it to start off my work week.

I think today's soup will be:

Red Lentil & Rice

2 Tbs olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
....saute onions in oil and add...
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup dried small red lentils (they look salmon colored)
1/4 cup brown or white rice
.....simmer covered for 30 minutes and add....
sweet paprika, cayenne, and salt to taste.

And today's bread:
Milk Loaf
1& 1/4 cups warmed milk
1oz/30g yeast
1/2 cup sugar
...proof yeast in milk and sugar, mix in...
1 & 1/2 tsp sea salt
3 &1/2 to 4 cups flour... enough to make a soft loaf.
.... Knead for five to ten minutes. Put back in the bowl and let rise until double. Punch down and divide into two loaves and let rise until double again. Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Bake the loaves for 25-30 min until golden brown, then turn out on a wire rack to cool.

And today's salad:

Simple Greek Salad

6 cups baby spinach
snipped strips of soft sundried tomatoes
2 small chopped fresh tomatoes
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 Tbs sunflower seeds
8 or so quality calamata olives, pitted and sliced.
1/2 a sliced cucumber

Dressing: extra virgin olive oil and vinegar, salt, pepper.

[suzy_homemaker]

HollyElise,

I assume, with measurements like you've got in these recipes, that you're planning on eating on them for a few days in the week. You know, that's really an awesome idea; it would cut down on the food bill if enough was made to have maybe 2-3 meals during the week, becoming creative in how each of those meals was made (i.e. plain soup, bread, salad for one; then, perhaps, thicken the soup and serve it over a baked potato and top with some cheese of some kind for another; the salad could perhaps be served in pocket bread with some kind of protein, like chicken strips or what-not, and have some low-fat dressing put over it for yet another meal.

I'll have to try this idea when I make out my next grocery list (at the beginning of next month). That would definitely help save money. My daughter, Susan, is really picky, but it would not only save on the food bill, but also probably on calories, as well, if I'm really careful. :-D

[HollyElise]

1/2 & 1/2 Bread

(I came up with this bread when i was running the bakery. I wanted a bread with whole wheat, but one that was lighter and spongier, so i halved it with white flour. It looks so simple, but it is unusually good. At the store i'd make about 8 loaves at a time, and we'd measure by weight, not volume. Recently i rewrote the recipe for just one loaf to be made at home. You may need to watch the time on the oven, though).

1 cup filtered water
2 1/2 tsp yeast
2 Tablespoons honey

1 tsp fine sea salt
*approximately 1 1/4 cups white flour
*approximately 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1. Proof water, yeast, and honey.
2. Add salt and a cup each of the white and wheat flours. Add in enough of remaining flours to make a soft, but not sticky, dough.
3. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes using a KitchenAid & dough hook.
4. Cover and let rise until double in a warm place. (My favorite method for doing this is i leave it in the heavy stoneware bowl i've been mixing in, and i fill the kitchen sink with hot water, and place the bowl in the water. It makes the perfect environment for rising bread!)
5. Punch down and shape for a loaf pan. (This will be hard to describe, but for better texture and rise, flatten bread out on a hard surface until it is pizza shaped, then roll up the dough like a cigar, then flatten out the roll so you have a long rectangle, fold your long rectangle into thirds so it is sort of square shaped, then using your fingers... wedge it so that it is scored parallel to the loose edges, then slowly curl one loose bottom edge over to the other and down to the table so that it seals the loaf, and then tuck in the ends.)
Place in a heavy duty bread pan, dust with white flour and cut a swirvy cut into the top. Allow to double in a warm place, possibly on top of the oven which you need to preheat to 350F (medium oven).
6. Bake at 350F (medium oven) for 25 - 30 minutes, until lightly brown on the outside, and just cooked on the inside.

[HollyElise]

1/2 cabbage, shredded fine, if possible
1 can pinapple chunks, drained,
or 2 chopped apples
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup vanilla yogurt

Toss together ingredients.