February is National Hot Breakfast Month

Did you know February is National Hot Breakfast Month?  Keep reading for a brief history on how this celebration came to be and some fun recipes to try!

The term breakfast means breaking the fast and is widely known to be the most important meal of the day. Janice Hermann, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension nutrition specialist. Says “Breakfast is the first chance your body has to refuel its blood glucose levels. Glucose is the main energy source of the body and helps fuel the muscles needed for physical activity throughout the day.” The nutrients digested from this meal begin the day for the body after its night of rest and recuperation. The vitamins and minerals that might or might not lie in breakfast foods give the body’s cells the fuel to carry out their functions and get the motor running.  Skipping breakfast does not give the message to the body to fully wake up. This is why there is an emphasis on a good breakfast for children and lead the federal government to create a breakfast program for schools.  Children who eat a good breakfast perform better and are more alert in school.  The same goes for adults.  A good breakfast will supply about a fourth of the daily nutritional needs necessary to reach peak performance.  Fiber, complex carbohydrates and foods low in saturated fat are recommended.

The Jimmy Dean sausage company, now owned and operated by Sara Lee, researched and found that two thirds of Americans were not eating a hot breakfast, saw a great marketing opportunity and established the National Hot Breakfast Month celebration.  Sara Lee commissioned a survey to find out which American city’s residents most often ate hot breakfasts.  The winner was San Diego.

For an optimal performance, begin your day with a hot well rounded breakfast.  Here are a couple of breakfast recipes to try.

Do It Yourself Oatmeal Packages

Why buy expensive oatmeal packet’s that might have other unwanted ingredients when you can make your own customized packets?  Packets can be brought to work or are easy to travel with.  Personalize them to fit your tastes.

Quick cooking oats

salt

Creamora (optional)

Sweetener

Sealable sandwich bags

Mix ¼ cup of oats, ¼ teaspoon of salt (a pinch) 1 tablespoon of cream substitute (dry milk tends to mold and could be used if the packets will be consumed in one week) and sweetener (sugar, brown sugar, artificial sweetener, stevia etc).

Add your own flavorings such as cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla powder, maple sugar crystals, raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries or other dried fruit, nuts

Pack in individual sealable baggies.  Label baggies by flavors. 

Add 1/4 cup water and microwave for 60 seconds.   If you did not add Creamora, ¼ cup of milk can be substituted for water.

If you like thicker oatmeal, add 1 tablespoon oatmeal flour.  Oatmeal flour can be made by taking some of the oats and powdering them in a blender

Cranberry Syrup

This syrup is yummy and easy to make and a refreshing taste change .

1 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
Dash each cloves and cinnamon
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. maple flavoring
Combine water, sugar, and cranberries in saucepan. Heat on medium high until water is boiling gently and cranberries begin to pop. Use a fork to mush the cranberries slightly, enough to release the juice, but leaving the cranberries mostly whole. Simmer for about another minute.
Remove from heat and stir in cloves, cinnamon, and maple flavoring. Serve over pancakes, waffles, French toast, hot cereal etc.  Leftover syrup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Frugal Tip:  When making pancakes and French toast make more than needed for breakfast and freeze for quick meals when you don’t have time to cook.  Place in toaster or oven and heat.

Homemade Bread Using a Bread Machine

I am making bread these days on the grocery bill.  I have the time and just need to put forth a little effort to get it done.  I am driven because homemade bread certainly tastes better than the store bought varieties. 

I have a bread machine that has been around for years and years and I got it out and dusted it off. I admit to being a bit impatient so waiting for dough to rise is tough for me.  I like more immediate reinforcement hence the bread machine.  I am working on building my patience tolerance level and will move on to totally handmade bread.

I looked in the pantry and found white flour and whole wheat flour.  I am not sure how old the white flour is so when I use it I will be adding in some gluten to ensure its viability.  The whole wheat flour is new. In the past I bought 25 or 50 pound bags of flour from the restaurant supply store but I did not use enough of it quickly enough.  I did not find bugs or critters in it but I knew it was getting old.  Since then I buy only 25 pound bags and keep the bag in a plastic tub in the pantry where it is cool and dry.

The local Food Cooperative offers many kinds of flour to make a wide variety of breads.  This week I am going to become a member of the Coop again.  I will offer to volunteer some hours in exchange for a discount on my purchases.  Tim is disabled and unemployed so he will get an even greater discount.  Guess he will be doing most of the shopping and purchasing.  Hopefully we can both go and volunteer some hours to maximize our discounts and stock up on some basic items like flour and grain.

Yes, I have an old fashioned hand wheat grinder and some wheat stored.  It is cumbersome but effective. I also have a friend with a fancy dancy electric grinder who would be more than happy to let me use to grind fresh flour on a monthly basis.  Add this job to my "should do list".

Oatmeal is one of the bread ingredients that I really like.  I do buy oatmeal in bulk and keep a 5 gallon bucket in the garage and a large glass bottle in the pantry for easy access.  It is filling, high in fiber, helps reduce cholesterol levels and tastes good.

The yeast jar that was in the refrigerator was old and I mean really old so I discarded it and bought a new large industrial size package.  I cut open the package and poured it into a canning quart jar and store it in the refrigerator.  In the past I left some stored yeast packages out in an secluded food storage shelter and it was the first item the mice got into.  They spread the yeast all over the shelter and it smelled awful.  Now I am much more careful with it.

Here is the recipe that I use most often. for oatmeal bread (my favorite)
Ingredients
1 cup oats
2/3 cup milk (I use water because I don't drink milk)
1/3 cup water
1 tbl butter
21/2 cup flour (white or whole wheat)
3 tbl packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast
Add the liquid first then the dry goods.  Follow machine directions. This is for a 1/5 pound loaf.
If my flour is old I add a tablespoon of gluten.


Emergency Essentials posted this recipe week that uses food storage items.  I am looking forward to trying this one! You do need butter powder.

Homemade Bread and Butter (using butter powder)
1 cup plus 4 Tbsp warm water
2 cups enriched white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp butter powder
1 Tbsp instant powdered milk
1 ¾ tsp salt
½ Tbsp dough enhancer
2 tsp yeast

Directions:
Add all ingredients in order to bread machine. This makes a 1.5 pound loaf. We like to use the light crust setting.
Butter directions:
Put ¾ cup butter powder in a mixing bowl. Slowly add 4 Tbsp lukewarm water to powder using a whisk. Mix well. Add 1 tsp oil and mix. Cover and chill in the refrigerator while the bread is rising and baking. This makes a creamy and spreadable butter for your bread.

Here is a basic whole wheat bread recipe:
Whole Wheat Bread (Machine)

1 1/2 c water
2 T butter
1/3 c honey plus enough molasses to make 1/2 c total liquid
4 c whole wheat flour
2/3 c oatmeal
1 tsp salt
2 T powdered milk
3 T gluten
2 1/4 tsp yeast
Place all the ingredients in  the bread machine adding the wet ingredients first.

If you are moved to make some bread, let me know how your bread somes out and what recipe you used!
I would love more bread machine recipes that are easy without a lot of unusual ingredients.

Speaking of bread, I had some guests over yesterday morning and wondered what I would give them as a treat.  I pulled out a frozen loaf of zuchinni bread and quickly thawed it in the microwave oven.  It disapeared very quickly so I guess it was a hit.  I am sure glad I made it this summer even though it was not all that long ago.