Yum, yummy bread

I've discovered a wonderful bread recipe for Oatmeal Sun Bread in a cookbook that features whole grain bakeries. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, but if you like nutty, hearty bread, you'll enjoy this!

Oatmeal Sun Bread

Makes - 2 Loaves

Make sure you have:

3 cups warm water
1 Tbl. yeast
1/4 cup honey
3 cups hard whole wheat flour
1/3 cup rye flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup corn meal
1 Tbl. soy flour (I've never had this on hand so I skipped it)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 Tbl. safflower oil (I used canola)
1 Tbl. salt
3 more cups hard whole wheat flour

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the honey. Mix in the 3 cups whole wheat flour and beat 100 times (I think this is the reason the bread isn't super heavy) Let rise 20 minutes.

2. Add remaining ingredients, reserving 1 cup of the whole wheat flour. (Tonight I had to put extra in)

3. Knead the dough until it is elastic, adding the remaining flour only if necessary. Cover and let rise to double.

4. Punch down and shape into 2 loaves. Let rise to double again in oiled bread pans. I shaped mine into round loaves on a flat pan, brushed them with beaten egg yolk and sprinkled sunflower seeds on top. This gives them a nice brown, glossy? appearance.

5. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Winter highlights

Tana turned 17 this month! We had a few friends over and celebrated her life.

I managed to get library passes for a trip to MN Zoo. We had a great day and saw lots of animals...while staying inside most of the time! I love that about this zoo...all the indoor stuff is perfect for our cold winters.

We took a trip to see Kent's mom and Bud. This saddle was in a Sunday school classroom and it was a favorite seat for our boys!

When Kylee was here we made gingerbread trains. The trip to the bulk candy section at Cub was almost as fun as decorating the trains!

Stuff from life

I do have a photo with them all smiling normally, but I liked this one's aspect of DJ better. :)

Levi has a thing for his stuffed animals. At nap and bedtime, there's roll call and then when I get him up from his nap, we need to bring each animal with us wherever we are going!

Kade was about three months here. He's not sleeping quite so much anymore.

Bridgett told me about a free kids' craft day at Home Depot, the first Saturday of every month. We finally made it this month and they had a great time while I browsed the paint aisle. I love dreaming up what colors I'll paint all over my house, and I always pick up a few samples. That's all I ever get done though!

Love this little guy! He has a more intense personality than Levi, I think. He tends to voice his opinion very quickly and has quite a temper. But when he's about to cry, his lower lip begins to stick out and quiver. It's quite convincing! We're hoing he's going to keep his blue eyes...like Daddy's and Kalai's. Everyone else has brown.

I'm really enjoying the tidbits on Facebook...seeing friends' new pictures, hearing a recent update, etc. But I enjoy blogs a little more, mostly because they're usually more personal. We're anxious for spring, but at the same time marveling at the beautiful snow this morning. It settled on the branches and covered up the muddy, bare brown. Really, how can we expect spring in February when we live in MN?