Carrot Raisin Sandwich Bread

I love making bread.

I decided when I have my own house and I'm married, I will never buy bread from the store. I will make it from scratch at home! Bread is SO easy to make and really doesn't involve too much active time. I'll bet you usually have all you need to make bread in your pantry already. Why not try this one?

I was originally planning on brushing the top with some melted Earth Balance and sprinkling it with quick cooking oats before baking, but...I forgot. Do that if you want to and let me know how it goes. I think it would be a nice touch. Otherwise, this bread is slightly sweet and delicious. It reminds me of honey whole wheat bread, which I would often buy before becoming vegan. So good. It's a heavy bread, but delicious nonetheless.

I would like to try making gluten-free bread sometime. Has anyone ever made gluten-free bread? What did you think of it?

Carrot Raisin Sandwich Bread
Based on this recipe

Ingredients:
2 T. lemon juice
1 c. lukewarm water
2 1/2 t. instant yeast
3 T. evaporated cane juice
1/2 c. unsweetened plain yogurt (I used Whole Soy & Co.)
1/4 c. canola oil
1 t. salt
1 c. unbleached all purpose flour
3 c.  whole wheat flour, plus some for kneading
1 c. carrots
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, water, yeast, and evaporated cane juice. Stir to combine. It will look like your yeast is not activating, but do not worry! Your bread will rise just fine!
2. Add the yogurt, oil, salt, carrots, raisins, and spices to the bowl and stir to combine.
3. Add the flours and mix until it comes together to form a dough.
4. Turn dough out onto your counter top and knead until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. You may need to work in some extra flour here.
5. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a damp towel, and allow to rise for 1 hour.
6. Remove dough from bowl and place it into a greased loaf pan. If you wish, you can reserve 1/3 of the dough and braid it into a topping for the bread. Allow to rise for another hour.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread uncovered for 15-20 minutes until the top is golden brown, then cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 30-40 minutes or until the bread is cooked through (internal temperature should be 190 degrees). I'll be honest, my bread cooked for almost an extra hour, but I was worried about it being cooked through. Do what you think you need to do!
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

What is your favorite type of bread?
Much love,

Weight-Loss Tea (Carrot-Daikon Drink)

Today is the first day that I am trying Alicia Silverstone's "Weight Loss Tea" aka "Carrot-Daikon Drink." You are supposed to drink this for 10 days on an empty stomach. However, its not really tea-like... it looks more like a soup, very thick with lots of pulpy carrots and daikon radish. It's not bad when you eat it like soup with the pulp, but I think I would prefer to strain it and just drink the broth. I'm not exactly sure which you are supposed to do - strain it or eat the pulp - but I've heard this recipe is similar to one from the macrobiotic diet and that you should eat and chew the pulp.

I can't say I'm that big of a fan of the pulp... it's a strange texture and just tastes like eating ground carrots.

Today I did not use the nori and I added a lot more shoyu than it says to. The broth is great, but.... I don't think I'll be keeping up with this for 10 days.

What do you think?

Alicia Silverstone's Weight-Loss Tea (Carrot-Daikon Drink)
1/2 c. grated (into a pulp) carrot
1/2 c. grated (into a pulp) daikon
1/4 umeboshi plum
1-2 drops shoyu
1/4 sheet nori, broken into small pieces (optional)

In a saucepot, combine carrot, daikon, umeboshi and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Add shoyu, then simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Add nori, if using, last. Drink hot.