Holy Whole Wheat Batman!

I didn't realize how long it's been since I've done any baking until today. I am WAY out of practice & it shows. I took on the challenge of using whole wheat flour to add a healthy boost. Now, I'm wondering what would possess me to do such a thing!

My first baking experiment actually turned out quite yummy, giant breakfast cookies with raisins. I got the recipe here, http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/giant-breakfast-cookies . Emma & I both had one and they were so tasty. She even asked for a second one.

My second experiment...the jury is still out on that one...it's still cooling. I realized very quickly that there is a reason why I own a bread machine. Yep, I made bread, and in the theme of the day, it's whole wheat too. It was kind of a comedy of disasters. The yeast wouldn't proof because the house was too cold, tried again & the liquid was too hot. Then the dough wouldn't rise so I had to force it to rise on the top of the stove by preheating the oven. I didn't let it rise enough in the pan so the loaf was much smaller than I expected.

Maybe the dough I froze will work better for the next loaf...we'll see!

The good news is that the salsa I made yesterday turned out so good, even Emma will eat it. She got a chunk of jalapeno today and instantly wanted to spit it out but I coaxed her past it & gave her a drink. She's such a trooper! I adapted the recipe from Pioneer Woman's Restaurant Style Salsa. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/restaurant-style-salsa/. I never thought of using canned tomatoes in salsa before but it worked!

Now I'm off to see if I can avoid destroying dinner!