I made edible bread

Some of you know - I don't succeed in making bread. Any kind. Ever. Me and yeast do not agree. It refuses to do what yeast is supposed to do. Each and every time. And yet I've continued to fantasize about home-baked bread. The freedom of being able to have the exact bread I want with the exact ingredients and saltiness I want. And then I stumbled upon this site . It has a recipe for a spelt raisin bread. Now, it wasn't the exact recipe I was looking for but it has eliminated my problem. For the first time in my life I got the stupid yeast to work. The dough doubled, bubbled and basically behaved itself in a very yeasty fashion.  The bread looked very handsome, smelled good and Little Miss seemed to appreciate it. I had to tweak the original recipe a little and it came out too yeasty, too dense and too crumbly (in my opinion).  But it was a first success! I won't post the recipe here as my bread wasn't good enough to share with the world but do follow the link, there is a secret to the whole process.

Fruity Goodness

I used to play the Chocolatier 3 game for a while and developed a love for cheesy dessert names. Fruity Goodness is a basic fruit cocktail/smoothie with added nutrition. The proportions and exact components may vary according to taste, allergies and supply, of course. Here is my favourite version

• Frozen wild blueberries (fresh would be even better)
• banana
• milk (animal, nut or grain)/buttermilk/laban/liquid yoghourt
• avocado
• ground chia seeds
• a little raw honey (optional)
• ground cinnamon

Blend, serve. I sometimes add some almond butter, vitamin D or even hemp protein. Mango, strawberries, apple/orange juice instead of milk are delicious variations as well. Just make sure there is some good fat there (avocado, nut butter or some good organic oil) to maximise the nutritional value.

Enjoy!

I'm cold

The temperatures go up and down, as it is usual in April and at the moment they're very down, it's 10am and -3C. It inspired me to make my own manakeesh. I bought fresh active yeast, followed the recipe, the yeast frothed as it should, the dough looked as in the description. But, of course, it didn't rise. Or, actually, it did...but instead of doubling it got like 10% bigger. I tried baking it anyway. Bleurgh is all I'll say. So no pics and no recipe. What is it with me and yeast? It just never works! Never. Not in winter with well-heated kitchen, not in the summer when it's naturally warm. All I got are sore arms from working the dough. Oh well. Still pine after some decent manakeesh but no idea when I can get some close to home...

Not guilty

I believe that one of major reasons for not sticking to good eating plans and other resolutions long-term is guilt. When we transgress our self-made limits we tend to feel guilty, we feel like a failure, we feel bad about ourselves. Or it's just me. Anyway, what a person who feels bad about themselves do? They give up. I stopped having problems with weight (meaning I kept stable weight without really trying) once I got rid of the guilt. Obviously, old habits die hard and so as soon as the guilt creeped in, I put on the weight I'm unhappy about now. And so I decided - out with the guilt! What's the point of having that piece of cake if I feel bad about having it? It is there solely to make me happy, if it doesn't then it's wasted calories.
This is why I bought the poppy and cheese cake I've been fantasizing about, cut myself a generous piece, poured some coffee and enjoyed. I enjoyed it so much, I didn't need to silent my guilt with another piece. It will wait safely in the fridge for me to enjoy tomorrow or the day after... ok, I'm delusional now. Tomorrow. Morning. Yes, I can wait that long and this is a huge step. Yay for me :)