Recipe Preview for the 2010-2011 Year

For our first meeting we had a sampler of items that we will be talking about this year! Such as Whole Wheat Bread for our Wheat Grinding class and Sloppy Wheat Joes for our Wheat Berry class.

Perfect Whole Wheat Bread

1 TBSP instant yeast
2 ½ cups hot water
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup honey or raw sugar
1 TBSP salt
6-7 cups whole wheat flour

Combine all ingredients. Kneed for 10 minutes. Form into loaves. Place in prepared bread pans and let rise until double. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Sloppy Wheat Joes

1 lb cooked ground beef
2 cups cooked wheat berries
1 can Manwich

Mix together and heat through. Serve on buns and add cheese if desired.

Granola Bars
by Alton Brown

8 oz old-fashioned rolled oats, approximately 2 cups
1 1/2 oz raw sunflower seeds, approximately 1/2 cup
3 oz sliced almonds, approximately 1 cup
1 1/2 oz wheat germ, approximately 1/2 cup
6 oz honey, approximately 1/2 cup
1 3/4 oz dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup packed
1 oz unsalted butter, plus extra for pan
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
6 1/2 oz chopped dried fruit, any combination of apricots, cherries or blueberries

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved. Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cookies
by Betty Crocker

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sugar
About 36 heart-shaped milk chocolate candies, or chocolate kisses

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir milk and peanut butter until smooth. Stir in Bisquick mix and vanilla. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Roll tops in sugar. Place sugar side up 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until bottoms of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press chocolate candy into top of each cookie. Remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

My notes: With no eggs & no fresh milk, these are perfect for a panty cookie. I made these today and although I would prefer cookies from scratch with eggs and milk, these cookies are very good and VERY sweet! You can always make these without the chocolate candies, just flatten each cookie with a criss-cross fork pattern before baking.

Black Bean Brownies
by I Dare You to Eat It

1 (19 oz) box brownie mix
1 (15 oz) can black beans

Rinse and drain the black beans. Then spoon the beans back into their can and fill the can with fresh water. Pour beans and water into a blender and puree until smooth. Add puree to the brownie mix and stir. Pour into a sprayed cake pan and follow the directions for baking as printed on the back of the brownie mix box.

Only 2 points per brownie for Weight Watchers!