Challah

This is my attempt at Challah.  I think it turned out pretty good and J came home from CQ pretty much just to sample the food.  He loves my cooking.

I decided to go for a real challenge and cut the dough into 6 balls then rolled it out into what is in this photo.  Now for the hard part, braiding the dough strips.

It took a bit of playing with but I got it finally.  I should have done a better job on tucking the ends in and under but well, this is my very first time making Challah.

I let the dough rise for one final time.  Don't mind the jelly roll pan its not really dirty but it is stained from the non stick surface wearing off.  I guess I shouldn't have used a metal spatula on the pan over the past decade but the damage was done with the first big scratch, after that I didn't care.
It really did rise nicely and I'm quite proud of the bread.

Fresh from the oven.  Even hours later when J came home to grab a bite to eat this bread was the first aroma that he had when entering the house.

Not the best photo, it looks really dark, but here it sits on my Grandma's cutting board.

There is a story behind this cutting board.  It was lost to me for 6 years while I moved about with my first husband.  When I got back to the states from Germany I went to my  first apartment, they were renovating it, I went in and asked the workers if I could get something.  Sure enough the cutting board was where I had left it 6 years before my first military move to Texas from NY.  I had used Grandma's cutting board to extend a shelf in a cabinet in my tiny apartment beside its original use.  I was so happy to have the cutting board in my possession again too.  With my move here to WA some how the board split in two.  J repaired it for me and I'm once again using it for its original purpose.  This is the only item that I can think of that I have from my mom's mother.  The cutting board has to be close to 80 years old and the handles broke off years before it was passed down to me.

Oh and I hate to say, but there is only about half of the loaf left.  Fresh baked bread doesn't last long in my house.

Just a little note, I got two lines today on my OPK.  The test line was darker than the control line.  We have a go.  Oh I highly doubt with all my issues this one will implant and there is of course the possibility that the follicle has no egg in it too.  But trying naturally is way more fun than any IVF!

A New Bread Attempt

Today I'm going to attempt to make a bread I've never made before.  I will make the Jewish braid bread called Challah.  J loved the one we bought last year from our commissary and I figured while he is on CQ today I might as well put my excess free time to good use.

Who needs to do laundry?  Me, probably, but it can wait while I try to make this particular bread.

Oh I lost 0.8 lbs yesterday only to gain back 1.2 lbs overnight.  What the heck is going on with my body?  I now need to lose 5.2 pounds to get back to my pre IVF weight.

I now have an appointment to see my PCM for the very same day as my WTF appointment.  So if my RE doctor doesn't cooperate then my PCM surely will.  Well I hope he will.  Tricare, when I called them to schedule a referral appointment, had on hand the information that I was supposed to undergo a surgical procedure and they had no problem in getting me in to see my PCM for next week to get it back on its way.  Something barium endoscopy was the thing I was supposed to do according to their records.  All I know as that I will be under anesthesia of sorts and they might have to put in a balloon.  But that isn't now and I don't know when it will get done.

Our weekend plans have changed.  Good news is that its extended.  Yay!  I knew that J had a four day weekend coming up but that because he has CQ today he would be too tired to drive on Friday for the start of our vacation.  Also the place we had reservations at had only one night available and I asked to be put on the cancellation list.  So they called back and told me they now had an opening.  Now I get two nights away from this hell hole house.  I'm so thinking that beer and a hot tub are just what J needs.  He's been avoiding all alcohol and hot tubs because it can affect his swimmers.  Time to relax a bit.

Yesterday J ran 2 miles in the morning for his PT and another 11.5 miles for the "Walk To Afghanistan".  They required them to run, though the family members could walk.  I didn't go as my hip yesterday, just taking the trash cans out to the road decided to slip out again.  This time it was the left one.  Back to J again.  So J has finally decided to admit he is a bit of an athlete.  Running half a marathon in one day is enough I'd say to make that observation.  Wish I could walk half of what he runs without the pain I get. 

Okay so if I want to get that bread made, remember I'm experimenting with the gluten issues though I think we all know I have some sort of sensitivity by now, I'd best end this post and get the dough rising at least.

2nd Day Of This Weirdness

I made it through a single day with about 15 more to go until my WTF appointment.  But I made it through the night with the aid of Gas-x and peppermints.  Oh and they didn't fix the stomach pain entirely either.  Nor did it stop the puking.

Just think this was only the beginning I thought to myself.  I had only made bleached flour bread or as the recipe calls it, Amish White Bread.  If anything this particular bread should be the easiest for me to digest.

Today I'm making Wheat Bran Dinner rolls.  Today I hit the hard stuff.

My weight is still the same, thankfully.  I don't like what all this bloating is doing to my body already.  This morning I woke up with a double chin.  I had just gotten rid of the double chin in January too!

Thanks for all your support yesterday.  I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for the REI office to call me back.  They haven't yet and I do understand that I am no longer a priority to them.  Its just rather hurtful to be given the brush off so soon.

I need answers.  I'm willing to do another colonoscopy and endoscopy if the blood work shows positive.  I've had both 11-15 years ago.  Intestinal problems run in the family too.  I've had an ulcer and GERD.  I was on prilosec for most of 10 years before going off of it almost two years ago for these infertility treatments.  Before J came home from Iraq I was slated for a procedure to have another endoscopy done because of my problems. I had to cancel the procedure because he was due home when I would be having it.   The doctors knew they'd have to go in with a balloon and reinflate the area that seem to have collapsed a bit.  At one point my closure was a stage 4.  Something was aggravating my inners and I'm guessing it was the foods that I ate.  Its not too often that I now suffer with the feeling of trying swallow a golf ball when I'm only trying to drink water.  I'm thankful for that bit of reprieve.  However, as of this morning its back.  I think I might have a slight allergy to something.

Here is a bit more about my family medical history.  Mom has the Celiac Disease, mild but she ignores.  She has always been allergic to wheat and oatmeal and breaks out in a rash when she eats it besides the gastric issues.  Mom also had to have a foot of large intestine removed when she was just 19. She was vomiting her own feces it was that bad.  My dad's side has colon cancer.  Most likely unrelated to the Celiac Disease but still its a concern.   Dad has always had issues, well as long as I have known him, with his digestive system too, perhaps he inherited it from his father.

But anyway my experiment continues today.  In a little bit I'll be getting the dry yeast out again to make bran dinner rolls.  Only 15 days to go.

As for the endo pain.  Oh baby its there.  When I barely touch my pelvic area it hurts.  I'm trying to ignore that pain to better focus on the other symptoms right now.  I did say trying.

Excuse me I just belched again.  Oh this is going to be a fun day.

I also lost one of my followers today.  I guess that they got sick of me?

Breaking My Fast With My Spouse

Busy morning around here today.  I've been attempting to blog in-between phone calls and laundry loads.  Finally I can tell you all about the amazing breakfast food I had with my husband this morning.

It all began yesterday.  Yesterday I went shopping with my husband and my bestie S.  We went to Centralia to look for antiques and to shop at the outlet malls.  All of us found some really good bargains.  My husband found his best bargain in the town of Onalaska where he is getting a new wood stock put on his 12 gauge shotgun.

After we arrived back on the military installation yesterday we stopped to get some grocery items.  I need a few things to make the French Toast Casserole that my bestie S shared on her blog the other day.  I had the bread left over from my own recipe the other day and it was so perfect for the casserole but I still needed more half and half and the pecans.

J cut the bread up for me last night and put it in the glass baking dish.  I did the rest to prepare it last night.  This morning I made up the praline topping.  I have to say this dish is divine.  I couldn't eat a whole portion it was so big.  It does serve 8 with large pieces.

Now I dare you to go make the casserole and not drool from the smells of it baking in the oven!

Today we are off to go to more antique places and to a birthday bar-b-Que.

Baking Warms More Than The Heart...

...It also warms the hearth and home.  I got home from my DBT class today and the house was a rather chilly 64 F.  I have the thermostat set for 63 F.  I'm trying to lessen my footprint on this earth where I can.

So I decided I would use the oven to make my lunch of two corn tortillas and a baked potato.  Potatoes are low sodium and high potassium foods plus the corn tortillas I baked were only 5 mg of sodium.  I get a full stomach and good for me food.

I couldn't justify turning the oven on for such a small thing as my lunch and using the microwave draws even more electricity than you'd think.  The oven being gas is a gem to cook and bake with.  So, I'm baking white bread today.  Only 8 mg of sodium per slice in this particular recipe. 

I have no idea how its going to turn out as I've never used this recipe before.  For all I know I will have wasted all those ingredients but its still worth the experiment plus my house gets heated for the afternoon.

  As my dough is still rising the above photo is what I hope it will look like.  Below you can find the recipe I used and modified of course.  I used olive oil instead of spray oil to oil the bowl and loaf pans plus I used the olive oil in the recipe where it states vegetable oil.

BASIC WHITE BREAD

1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 TBSP acceptable vegetable oil
2   1/4 ounce packages of active dry yeast
6 cups all purpose flour, divided use plus more as needed
1 3/4 cups fat free milk                                                     
3 TBSP sugar                                                       
Vegetable oil spray

Pour water into a large bowl.  Add yeast and stir to dissolve.  Let stand for 5 minutes until mixture bubbles.

Stir milk, sugar, and oil into yeast mixture.

Gradually stir 4 cups flour into yeast mixture.  Beat with a sturdy spoon for about 30 seconds, or until smooth.

Gradually add up to 1 1/2 cups flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, stirring after each addition, until dough starts to pull away from side of bowl.

Lightly four a flat surface; turn dough out onto floured surface.  Gradually knead in remaining flour for  6 to 8 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.  (Dough shouldn't be dry or stick to surface.  You may not need all the four, or you may need up to 1/2 cup more if dough is too sticky.)

Lightly spray a large bowl with vegetable oil spray.  Put dough in a bowl and turn to coat all sides.  Cover bowl with a damp dish towel and let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place (about 85 F) until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down dough.  Divide in half and shape into loaves.  Lightly spray two 10x5x3 inch loaf pans with vegetable oil spray.  Pout dough into loaf pans.  Cover each with a damp dish towel and let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place ( about 85 F ) until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425 F.

Bake loaves for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bread registers 190 F on a instant-read thermometer or sounds hollow when rapped with knuckles.  Invert  bread on cooling racks.  Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes before cutting.

Serving size 1 slice
Calories 103
Protein 3 g
Carbohydrates 20 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Total Fat 1 g
  Saturated 0 g
  Polyunsaturated 0 g
  Monounsaturated 1 g
Fiber 1 g
Sodium 8 mg
Potassium 56 mg
Calcium  20 mg