DELICIOUS 100% Whole Grain Kamut - Spelt Bread Recipe

Recently I discovered that some of my stomach troubles were caused by wheat.  I am not allergic, but just intolerant enough that it was messing with my digestion and making my nauseated and bloated.  I LOVE bread so that was a big bummer.  The good thing is that I discovered 2 amazing grains related to wheat, spelt and kamut that could be tolerated well by most wheat intolerant people.  Both of these grains can replace modern wheat in most recipes.  Over the years modern wheat has been hybridized to make it easier for farmers to grow, easier to harvest and cheaper. I still think modern whole wheat is healthy and full of good nutrients but it bothers my stomach.  So now I just bake with these grains instead.

Kamut has a sweet nutty flavor and is my favorite.  It bakes nicely and 1/4 cup uncooked has 7 grams of protein.  Kamut is actually the brand name of Khorsan wheat. It is chock full of minerals and is a good source of selenium, zinc, magnesium and iron.  Spelt is also high in protein and can replace wheat in many recipes.  It is also high in magnesium, zinc and iron as well as phosphorus.  The best part is that all of my family (my plethora of kids and husband)  all LOVE this bread.

We bought a bosch bread mixer and make this bread in large batches that will make 5 loaves at a time.  This way we can eat some fresh and slice the rest and freeze it.

Kamut-Spelt Bread

This makes 5 loaves, and you can use all kamut or all spelt if you choose. This recipe came from a cookbook called "Healthy Recipes from the Heart of our Homes" a cookbook developed especially for the bosch mixer.  You can of course adapt this for a different mixer but cutting the recipe in half.

Preheat oven to 375.

In the bosch mixer with dough hooks in place: 

5 cups of warm water

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup oil (I use organic olive oil or coconut oil)

1 Tbsp dough enhancer

4 cups freshly ground spelt flour

3 Tbsp yeast

Mix thoroughly for 15 seconds.  Cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes until bubbly.

Add: 2 Tbsp Salt 

1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

4-6 cups freshly-ground  kamut flour

4 eggs (I use local cage free eggs)

Enough spelt or kamut flour to clean the side of the bowl.

Knead on speed 1 for 3 minutes. (Please note that you should only knead spelt and kamut for only 3 minutes or you will overdevelop the gluten and have flat loaves.) Form into 5 loaves. Place into well oiled loaf pans. Let rise until double. Lower heat to 350. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes.

Enjoy and let me know how yours turns out!

Wheat & Sugar Free Lemon Cranberry Chia Seed Scones...SO GOOD!!!

I have been eating wheat, sugar, and dairy free (except plain yogurt) for almost a month now.  I had my 5th baby in January and am really trying hard to get the last pounds off that seem particularly fond of sticking around.  I must say that giving up these foods (even fruit other than grapefruit) has helped.  I have also been hitting the gym 4-5 days a week and loving it.  In the meantime I would love to tell you that I just don't even care about food. but a foodie ALWAYS loves good food healthy or otherwise.

So while eating wheat and completely sugar free (a temporary thing for me till the baby weight drops off)  I still need a baking fix!  I was feeling like a lemon poppy seed muffin but the traditional recipes are laden with sugar, wheat and dairy.  So I settled on the idea of a spelt lemon cranberry chia seed scone with no sugar and made with stevia, coconut oil and  nutrient packed chia seeds.  I merged and tweaked a spelt scone recipe and a healthy lemon poppy seed muffin recipe.  It was delicious the first time around but I knew I could do better. So after church today I whipped up the recipe once more with a few tweaks.  I love it!

 This is what I came up with....

Spelt Lemon Cranberry Chia Seed Scones

(Wheat and Sugar Free)

4 Cups spelt flour

2 Tbsp Chia seeds

2-3 Tbsp of stevia mixed with fiber I use "Stevia plus"

(Use this link to get a $10 off coupon for "stevia plus" from Vitacost) 

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup coconut oil warmed

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 cup water

2 large eggs

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice ( a little more for a stronger flavor)

1 Tbsp lemon zest

1/2 cup frozen cranberries

Mix all dry ingredients together.  Mix all wet ingredients including the warmed coconut oil so it is in liquid form, and beat in the two eggs.  Now mix the two together.  Then fold in the cranberries.  If they are large chop them up in to smaller parts.   I use organic ones from "Azure Standard" and they are smaller than conventional ones so I don't bother to chop them.  

Pat the dough into two balls then pat them down into two circles as shown above.

Now slice the raw dough into 8 slices as you would a pie.

Then separate out the scones to bake so that they do not touch.

Bake at 350 for 18-23 minutes till slightly golden brown.

Now just try to resist them... no wait don't worry about it... they are good for you!

They were a  hit with my sugar loving, wheat eating friends as well.  YUMMY!

Have a great wheat and sugar free recipe?  Share it with us in the comments below!

DIY lux face, hand, and diaper cream homemade from whipped coconut & shea butter!

I love, love love this stuff!  I cannot get enough of it.  You know it has to be good if I am bothering to make it with 5 kids and homeschooling! Ok it doesn't hurt that it is really fast and easy and works for a plethora of uses.  Yes I did say plethora! Pretty sure I learned that word from the movie "The Three Amigos" in the early 90's.   Anyway...this all natural moisturizer is not only highly effective, free of unwanted chemicals and additives, but it is made from 2 of natures most amazing products coconut oil and shea butter.  

Coconut oil and shea butter are some of the best possible ingredients when it comes to skin care!  If you aren't familiar with coconut oils miraculous healing powers be sure to read my earlier post  "One of nature's best healers! 20 NEW reasons to love coconut oil!". I can't go on with this recipe without letting you first know why it is so fabulous for your skin.  This combo is unlike most commercial moisturizers in that most commercial moisturizers are filled with water so the lotion becomes ineffective as soon as the water dries on your skin.  They are also often filled with additives, and petroleum byproducts that are carcinogenic and can suffocate skin causing breakouts.  Coconut oil and shea butter on the other hand are rich and truly moisturize your skin down at the deepest levels where they are even responsible for strengthening the underlying tissue .  They are both excellent at treating acne as they kill off bacteria and acne is a bacterial infection   Coconut oil also helps remove the dead, dry, flaky layers that causes rough and dull skin.  Convinced? Not yet?  Well African Shea (pronounced shay) butter has been proven to reduce the appearance of lines, scars and stretch marks as well as ease a host of skin irritations such as psoriasis, eczema, and sunburn.  WHAT IS NOT TO LOVE!

So here it is... your super simple 2 ingredient beauty wonder,,,

Combine 1 cup African shea butter and 1/2 cup coconut oil. 

Mix on medium high with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes till you get a nice whip cream texture.  I make  big batches to jar in several containers so I have diaper cream, body butter, and portable hand cream.

That is it!  Now you have an AMAZING face, body, hand and diaper cream that moisturizes at the deepest level, clarifys skin, strengthens the underlying tissue, reduces the signs of aging, scars, lines and stretch marks while treating eczema, psoriasis, and other irritations!  I buy my coconut oil at Costco for a very inexpensive $22 for 78 ozs and the African shea butter I got from amazon for around $18 for 32 oz. with shipping.  I will never go back to a commercial face or diaper cream again!  My face feels amazing after using this.  I use it every morning and night.  I used it on my baby when he was a newborn with a terrible rash that nothing would touch!  The secret was this cream plus a few shakes of corn starch each diaper change.  It is all we ever use now.  You can use it as chap stick, hand cream, body butter, for stretch marks, for acne, sun burn cream etc....  Let me know how it works for you!

How To Have a Peaceful, Budget Friendly Christmas Season.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving up at my parents with all the kid-lets, my uncle, and some friends.  We ate a beautiful feast.  Of course I forgot my camera, which is my common response to a lot going on!  We ate our typical feast (all the recipes listed earlier on "My All Favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinner Recipes year after year (made with whole foods)."  YUMMY!

When we are being thankful it is such a reminder of God's grace in our lives. All the little and big things we are thankful for are gifts from God.  Made me think that next year I would love to add a time of praise and worship to our traditional celebration.  A time of showing God our thankfulness and enjoying His presence.

Came home by 5:30 after stopping to look at Christmas lights on the way home, got everyone into jammies and watched a fun family movie.  By 7:30 we were all exhausted (pregnancy and sleep are not going that great for me at the moment) and in bed!  I was of course just "laying down with Cruz" my 2 year old, but at nine I woke up to find a quiet house, husband in bed and feeling refreshed :).  I love a quiet house to sew, blog or craft in!

The end of Thanksgiving signifies for my family the start of the Christmas season as well.  I love the weekend after Thanksgiving as it is so fun to put up the tree, decorate and get in the Christmas Spirit.  I don't however get into the whole Black Friday craze, and was sorry to see that so many stores started black Friday tonight.  The consumerism can really rob from the time of thankfulness and time with family.

I LOVE Christmas.  Everything about it... The lights, the craftiness of making decorations, presents, and what not, the music, the spirit of generosity.  It is the perfect way to celebrate the gift of Jesus.  Being generous with others as God was so generous with the gift of his Son Jesus the hope of salvation. I always explain it to my kids like this.."We give gifts to others, because God gave Jesus to us."  It blesses Gods heart to see generosity, so that is our gift to God.  We also keep it simple at our house. Setting a budget at the begining of the season helps too.  We have 5 kids (if you count the one due Christmas day), and a small budget so we make a lot of gifts, swap names between the adults and include thrifted gifts as well that we have scoped out at the local thrift store, on craigslist, or at garage sales.  This year I found a pink DS in great shape for my daughter at a garage sale for $1!!!  I also found her a kids sewing machine (something I had been wanting to get her), and a few board games that looked new.  She is by far the easiest to get gifts for!

Christmas can be simple, budget friendly, and peaceful.  I try to focus on the traditions and season of giving more than just the presents.   I wasn't raised with Santa and we choose not to do it at all at our house. I didn't want to confuse the reason for the season with Santa as it can be overshadowing but we do read stories about Saint Nick and other Christmas tales that inspire generosity and love.  We have started a few holiday traditions like wrapping 24 Christmas books under the tree, some we own, tons are from the library, etc.. and then the kids take turns every night of December till Christmas unwrapping one and that is what we read before bedtime.  We try to incorporate giving to the hungry or needy where ever we can.  We might sponsor a child, give gifts from World Vision so the profits go to feed the hungry, or buy a sheep through World Vision for a family across the globe in need etc.. in someones name on our gift list who doesn't want anything.  We also have an advent calender (tutorial coming soon) that we fill with activity ideas like making cookies, seeing the lights, giving a gift in secret to a friend, etc...  Christmas morning we will eat a big fun breakfast and read the Christmas story, and we always have our big meal Christmas Eve so mom's don't have to cook Christmas day!  Then we can snack on all the leftovers all day on Christmas.  I also have the kids find or make each other presents so they get to participate in the giving side of things.  They love it!

These fun things keep the focus on togetherness, generosity and love the real reason of the Season.  If I don't get it all crafted I am not too worried.  I am not looking to focus on getting everyone the perfect gift (although I would love it if they were thrilled!), but on really enjoying each other and God's goodness the whole season through.  I do not want consumerism, long lists of "I want", in fact we don't let the kids make lists or get them into the habit of thinking they need to tell us exactly what they want for this very reason.  It should all be a pleasant surprise not a demand or expectation.  They know that thrifted presents are part of it and in fact they look forward to finding things for their brothers and sisters at the thrift store too!  It just sets them up to appreciate whatever comes their way and allows us to get them something they would really like even though it is not in a new wrapper.
Here are some of the fun DIY ideas I am using for my kids this year!

 I am making her and my younger daughter these owl  pillows from Button Bird Designs but in fun fabrics (in fact I started those a while ago and am almost done).

These amazingly cute wool cape's for the girls are next on the sewing list!  The pattern is made like a simple circle skirt so as cute as they are they shouldn't take long.  I LOVE them and once I get the hang of how to make them I plan on making one for myself!
I think with all the things I have to sew for her, and all the gifts I have found over time that I need to be done for her.  They get gifts from grandmas, and grandpas, and aunts so we try not to go overboard. I do not want to set the expectation at this stage in life that Christmas is an over top budget blower.  My youngest is really starting to get into imaginative play so I am making her a DIY doctor kit.  I have found some really fun ideas for it and have so many of the supplies on hand around the house.  She will love it!  I will post a tutorial on that once it is done.

My oldest son who is 8 will be getting a really cool fort kid that I found a tutorial for here at Saltwater-kids. I can't wait to get started on this!  He will love it!  What a great birthday presents for his friends as well.  I am sure I will have to sew a few more up in the near future!  Just so you know I really don't get to sew that often.  We homeschool and being pregnant, having a 2 yr old, 3 yr old, 5 yr old and 8 yr old they keep me busy getting water, doing school, cleaning, cooking etc... So most of the projects I picked for this year are really simple ones!
 
Like this cape for my youngest son.  I followed the cutting tutorial to get the right shape from the picture above at Moms Rising, but used black knit so there was no sewing involved with that part.  I did however create the CUTEST felt logo with a lightning bolt and his initial out of felt that I sewed on the back!  I love it! I added some cuffs from this tutorial at The Train To Crazy, and made two cute super hero masks with lightning bolts that I will have to show you when I make my DIY super hero outfit tutorial.  I hope he loves it.  It is too cute and we can't let the girls have all the fun with their princess dress ups!

I plan to make these sock monkeys for Cruz my youngest and our newest baby boy for when he is born.  They are so cute!! Not sure how hard they are.  We will see.  I have lots of stuff to make all the kids on my list but this last one for Cruz is so cute I had to share in case you have a little "cowboy" on your list as well!

I adore these stick horse, hobby horse or whatever you want to call them!  The tutorial is Here at Light Blue Grey.  So like I said I have way more ideas of what I want to make for all kinds of people on my list and if you want to see the tutorials and gift ideas I am pinning at pinterest be sure to  and check out my Christmas gift ideas board and my Christmas and fall holidays board.  There are tons of fun ideas that I plan on adding to as well. I figure if I don't make it all this Christmas there are plenty of holidays that I will be looking for gift ideas for!  I also posted some money saving ideas on these older posts Here and Here.

Anyway, I got a little sidetracked showing you all the fun DIY ideas out there for presents but my point was that Christmas is about God's Love and should remain the focus of the season!  I may not get all my ideas crafted, or get around to Christmas cards (so please don't be offended if you don't get one), or get my house perfectly decked out, or get around to throwing that great holiday party, but that is ok.  I don't want anything to take the place of focusing on God's great gift and opportunities to be generous and be a blessing. I really want to take the time to enjoy my family which is His second greatest gift to me.  If any to-do item is robbing me of my joy and stressing me out than it isn't that important!   What do you do to keep the spirit in the season and avoid the craziness that can rob your joy during the holidays?

The Tomato Sauce Recipe No One Should Live With Out! A Famous 4 Ingredient Sauce That Happens To Be The BEST Tomato Sauce Ever!

I know what you are thinking... How can a simple 4 ingredient sauce be the best sauce ever?  I am sorry to admit that I usually buy my tomato sauce.  It is such an easy nice thing to have on hand.  I have made crock pot sauce, stove top sauce and it has been good but a little labor intensive and not really that  much better than the jar sauce.  I know it is healthier, but sometimes you just don't have time for all homemade.  In fact, I had jarred sauce in my cupboard when I went to make a baked pasta dish the other day.  When I was looking on line for a good pasta bake recipe I landed on one that included this tomato sauce.

Photo courtesey of The Kitchn where I found this great recipe!

The blog post raved about the richness, smoothness and deep flavor of this sauce.  It looked so simple and I had all the ingredients, because who doesn't have 1 onion, salt, butter and a can of tomatoes?  Evidently this is a true Italian recipe by Marcella Hazan from a cookbook called Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

So here it is!  The simplest tomato sauce recipe you will ever make that give you rich, full flavor, mouth watering results!

Marcella Hazel's 4 Ingredient Tomato Sauce Recipe

1 onion cut in half

1 28 oz. can plumb tomatoes

5 Tablespoons salted  butter (I did not use all 5 Tablespoons, and it was still delicious)

Salt to season to taste. ( I like sea salt)

Throw all of the ingredients into a pot and simply simmer this concoction for 45 minutes or so on the stove top.  The butter adds an incredible richness and really brings out a deep flavor in the tomatoes.  Now Marcella says to remove the onion all together.  I tasted it and it was delicious!  However, I decided to leave it in for the added nutritional benefit and just used an immersion blender. Now prepare to be amazed! INCREDIBLE! 

That is it!  You can memorize this classic recipe and have a quick fix for any night you are in need of a quick supper.  Just toss this over whole grain pasta, or add to any recipe calling for tomato sauce.  I would imagine this would be great to make in large batches and can!  Then you can have the convenience of jarred sauce and all the goodness of homemade taste!  Let me know what you think!  Have any simple recipes we should know about?  Share them in the comments.  Thanks!

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Pumpkin! The best HEALTHY pumpkin recipes!

I know that last year I posted A LOT more health and fitness workouts, exercise tips, and the like, but being almost 7 months pregnant is not conducive to that.  So healthy recipes it is!  I just had 3 large carved pumpkins given to me to cook up so I am swimming in pumpkin puree.  I have roasted and pureed 2 of them filling about 7 large mason jars.  Some have been tucked into the freezer (with headroom in each jar so they don't burst of course), but now I can't wait to use them in some delicious, truly inspired healthy recipes.  Pumpkin lends itself to healthy recipes as it is a great substitute for half of the fat in baked goods with it's moisture and is packed full of vitamins, fiber, minerals and other nutrients.  But really aside from all that who doesn't love pumpkin in the fall!  Keep in mind that no matter how decadent these recipes look I only chose healthy recipes or recipes that with a few small tweaks would become healthy.  There is an over abundance of sugar and fat laden pumpkin recipes out there.  This is for those of us who want to eat healthy and LOVE it all at the same time.

Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal

This yummy recipe comes from budget bytes a great healthy, budget friendly blog.  Sub out the refined sugar for 1/2 the amount of honey and you get rid of the refined sugar while keeping all the sweet goodness!

Pumpkin Chocolate Granola Bars

How beautiful are these bars!  To make them a little healthier just swap out the brown sugar for 1/4 cup honey and you are good to go.  See the recipe and a beautiful array of artistic photos of these bars at Pastry Affair
Sweet and Salty Roasted pumpkin seeds

You can find the recipe for this delicious and healthy treat from HERE from For the Love of Fiber.  What could be healthier?

Simple Crock Pot Apple Pumpkin Butter

This is a quick easy, HEALTHY, recipe from For the Love of Fiber is a perfect way to use your fresh pumpkin and apples this season!

A classic Pumpkin Nut Muffins

This recipe uses whole wheat, and to make them even healthier use fresh pumpkin, sub out the vegetable oil for coconut oil, and use 1/4 to 1/3 cup honey in place of the 3/4 cup raw sugar.  Find the whole recipe HERE at Skinny Taste.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars

These decadent looking treats are actually gluten free, vegan, and free of refined sugars!  Find the 

recipe HERE at Clean Green Simple


Healthy Pumpkin Pancakes

This Allrecipes favorite would be a perfect way to use some of your freshly harvested pumpkin!  To drop some of the sugar use apple or pumpkin butter in place of syrup or a dollop of plain yogurt sweetened with stevia on top like we do.  The full recipe found HERE at Allrecipes.

Pumpkin Pie Fudge

Who would believe you could have fudge and be making good food choices all at once!
This fudge is made with coconut oil for a healthy fat, and uses only 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup as the only sweetener.  Throw in the addition of a nutritious vegetable like pumpkin and you are guilt free! Recipe found HERE at Unwheated.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

I know it says butternut squash, but sub in a pumpkin for a similar flavor.  I LOVE this recipe from my William Sonoma "Soup" cookbook.  It is the whole reason I got the cookbook!  I had the soup at a relatives and could not get enough of it.  I think the secret is the large amount of garlic that is roasted to a sweet mellow flavor and the delicious leeks.  Truly healthy and I am looking forward to making this again but with my large supply of pumpkin! I found the whole recipe Here at Indulge and Enjoy. So you can do just that!

Now I tried (for hours!!) to find just the right pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe to share with you guys. Something perfectly delicious, made with whole wheat, coconut oil, and honey or other unrefined sugar, however it was a bust.  Everything I found was loaded with white flour sugar and fat or  vegan or gluten free or yeast free.  I didn't want something hard and healthy that had no resemblance to a true cinnamon roll so I will have to create my own version.  I am getting a bosch mixer and grain mill tomorrow (SQUEAL OF DELIGHT!!!) that my mom picked up for me out of town from a craigslist ad, and I can't wait to get started on the challenge!  YUMMY!! Have any ideas for your favorite healthy delicious ways of using pumpkin?  Share it in the comments!

Free Fun Pumpkin Homeschool ideas and Printables from art lessons to cooking!

We just went to the pumpkin patch yesterday with our homeschool group and had a blast!  I was intending to buy two pumpkins for my mantel (that I could cook later) and one for the kids and hubby to carve. My husband insisted on two to carve which bumped it up to 4 pumpkins.  However, by the time we got there the pumpkin madness took over.  My 4 kiddos split up and before I knew it people were handing me pumpkins that my kids had told them to cut off the vine.  

All said and done we ended with 5 LARGE pumpkins.








Learn how to draw a pumpkin.

Go to sleepy head designs studio for these directions and ideas for creating a painting of a pumpkin too!

Print off a whole bunch of preschool age printables that are pumpkin themed!

Find them all HERE at 2 Teaching Mommies!

Here are some more pumpkin preschool printables for your pumpkins from The International Momma.!

Pumpkin themed lesson plans starting with reading this book. 

Find the complete lesson plans HERE at Totally Tots.

Do some pumpkin research

Have older kids?  Have them write out some interesting facts after checking out this link to the Pumpkin Patch that is filled with fun pumpkin facts! Read more pumpkin facts HERE at the history channel. 

Now watch this cool video on pumpkins and then fill out the report form below having them draw a pumpkin in the top space using the step by step directions in the first part of this post.

This blank research form can printed from HERE..

Teach your kids cooking skills

Find the recipe and complete post HERE.

Make baked pumpkin oatmeal with your kids.

Find the complete directions and recipe HERE at Cooking with my Kids.

Find 21 fall recipes here from Babble.  

Any of which would be great to make with kids like these quinoa pumpkin pancakes!.

Cooking with kids teaches them a host of skills from fractions, reading, following directions, kitchen skills like cutting, measuring, and culinary terms to confidence, and self sufficiency skills.  Besides kids love to cook and we all love to eat...especially when pumpkin is involved!

Hope you found some fun pumpkin based homeschool ideas no matter what age your kiddo. Have any fun ideas for us that have something to do with pumpkins?  Please share you ideas in the comments below!