Whole Wheat Bread, Crackers, and Pizza Crust in Five Minutes a Day

Lately I've gotten rather tired of grocery store bread- even the 100% whole wheat kind.  The stuff has several ingredients in it that I can't even pronounce and it doesn't even get moldy after two weeks on the kitchen counter.  You start to wonder if mold spores can't grow on it, how does your body digest it!! Anyways....

After reading the first book by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois I decided to read their second book called Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  This book has lots of healthy bread recipes using whole grains. This is great as I prefer to eat 100% whole wheat bread instead of white whenever possible.  They even have gluten free recipes for those who can not tolerate wheat.  My favorite recipe so far is the master recipe which makes a whole grain artisan free form loaf.  I have made bread using this recipe many times now.  I often serve it fresh with venison vegetable soup or any of my other homemade soups. This particular recipe does use a little white flour as well, but there are also recipes in the book using 100% whole wheat.  

See how it's done here (have a pen ready to write down the ingredients!):

My husband isn't a big bread eater, but we can both agree on pizza! You can use the same master recipe mentioned above to make a pizza crust. It is so handy because you can mix it up, let it rise, put it in the fridge, and then you have fresh dough ready for pizzas at a moments notice (the dough lasts up to two weeks in the fridge). 

So to make the pizza, take the dough out of the fridge, divide off about one pound of dough (the master recipe makes 4 pounds) and roll it out onto a well greased pizza pan. In the book they put the crust on a pizza peel with cornmeal and slide it onto a baking stone, but a pizza pan works fine too if you don't have a stone. 

Then you put the toppings on (the dough doesn't need to rise).  For  toppings I usually put on diced tomatoes and some italian seasoning, topped with a little shredded mozzarella cheese and then some vegetables ( mushrooms, olives, green peppers, red onions). Next I add some pepperoni or sausage, and then a little more mozzarella cheese. Just be careful not to put too many toppings on or it can make your pizza crust soggy.  Put it in an oven preheated to 450 degrees until it is done (probably about 15 minutes).  Enjoy!    It's easy, fast, and yummy!  Now that it is summer I plan to start making my pizzas out on the gas grill- even better :)

I've also tried the recipe for chili seasoned snack crackers using the same master recipe above.  You just roll out a half pound of dough as thin as you can (1/16th of an inch), brush on some olive oil, and sprinkle on chili powder and salt.  Then you puncture the dough with a fork so it doesn't puff up and then cut is into squares with a pizza cutter.  Then put it in a 400 degree oven.  Put some water in a metal boiler tray for steam.  Then let it cook for about 15 minutes.  If you don't get the crackers thin enough (like the ones below) they will be more like pita chips.  They are most excellent with fresh hummus dip!  I'll have to post my favorite hummus dip recipe later...

I've also tried the Whole Grain Rye bread..... MMMmmm!  

If you try making these breads I am confident you will really like them-  they taste way better than store bought bread and they are even less expensive. These breads don't have an endless shelf life, but you'll eat it right up anyways, so that doesn't matter!