Refreshing Snack or Breakfast

I must be crazy because I am baking bread in this 90 degree weather! It is so hot and humid today that my dough just wanted to melt away. Fortunately, the bread just came out of the oven so the kitchen isn't crazy hot anymore.

I wanted to share a great snack/breakfast with you guys.  I typically will have this for breakfast and top it with some fruits.  It also makes a great snack.  Really perfect for the summer heat out here.  It's Chia Pudding.

This is a really easy recipe.  You don't have to be super exact and you can play around with the pudding consistency.  For example, if you like a thick pudding consistency, then add more chia seeds, like 1/2 cup or so. If you like a thinner pudding consistency, then add less chia seeds.  Also, if you prefer a stronger vanilla flavor then add more vanilla extract.

I'll add mangos, strawberries, blueberries and whatever fruits I just happen to have.

What is Chia?  Chia is an edible seeds that comes from a desert plant. They have healthy omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, antioxidants, calcium, and proteins. It is super easy to add chia seeds into your diet.  I often add it onto my yogurt, fruits, and baked goods.

Chia Pudding Print

Yields: 2-4 servings

Ingredients:

1/3 cup chia seeds

2 cups milk

1 tsp honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Combine chia seeds, milk, honey and vanilla extract in a pyrex measuring cup.  Stir to combine.  

2. Let sit for 10 minutes and stir again.  

3. Place in a container and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours.  

4. Top with your choice of fruits and enjoy!

I have also used pandan which will give you Pandan Chia Pudding. You get get a nice green hue.

Topped it with mangos and blueberries

Summers in the Midwest

Where did the week go?  It's almost Sunday and I feel like time is just breezing by.  Mondays is when I usually do the laundry.  This past Tuesday, I had an interview.  On Wednesday, I had another LASIK consultation.  I have to go back again in two weeks because the doctor wants to check my left eye again. He said I have chubby corneas which I thought was really funny.  Thursday was a day in the kitchen, I made strawberry ice cream, pecan tarts, and mexican wedding cookies/russian tea cakes. Friday was an eventful day at Target.  Today, I went to a picnic with some of the parishioner at this parish I have been attending.  It was nice to meet some people from the parish and get to know them.

A while back, one of the parishioners came up to me and welcomed me to the parish and got my contact info and invited me to check out their Young At Heart Adults Group.  I thought it was pretty cool, since growing up Catholic, I was never really part of the church.  Coming up in a few weeks there is a Summer Celebration going on at the Parish.  We might check it out and even volunteer at the ice cream sundae stand.

For two weeks, I won't be able to wear my contacts since the doctor wants to check my eyes in its natural state without contact manipulation.  So I am going to have to sport my glasses.  Sadly, Frank just accidentally punch my glasses into my face so now the bridge on my nose hurt.

It has been quite warm with days, like in the 80s and 90s with high humidity.  The lake effect is really nice with the humidity.  Even though it is hot, a cool breeze is welcomed.

It's Friday!

Last week, I had a gig as a Brand Ambassador Dental Hygienist in which I promoted the Sensodyne Dental Health Spa at Fiestas Puertorriquenas (Puerto Rican Festival).  It was pretty cool because Humboldt Park isn't my usual stomping ground.  I got to step outside my comfort zone and experience another part of Chicago.  I got to meet a lot of really cool people and spread the word out about how to help prevent acid erosion.  I was able to network with local hygienist which was ideal because I am looking for work out here now.

I had Puerto Rican food for the first time.  I really enjoyed the arepas.  Here are some pictures from the festival.

Combo Plate: Rice, Chicken and Plantains

I call this Lechon

Arepas, YUM! The corn and cheese fusion!

Sensodyne Dental Health Spa

Humboldt Park

I thought this week was going to be pretty chill, but it was quite the opposite.  I ended up going on a casting call, had an interview then followed up with a working interview.  I also got some good news this week.  I am a licensed RDH in Illinois, that's why I was able to do that working interview.  I found out earlier this week.  I honestly thought I wouldn't find out until next week.  Hence, I assumed I would be pretty free.

I also got a call back from the casting call.  The clients were very happy with me, but I was unable to commit to the shoot day because I will be out of town and already have commitments for those dates. So I am kinda sad about that because it was a good opportunity.  Oh well, perhaps next time.

I am hoping next week will be a bit more chill.  I just have one event that I know of.  I am super excited because sushi is involved.

I am waiting for my other half to come back from the gym so that we can get some strawberry custard ice cream. It's my reward for such an eventful week.  Off to make some dinner, it's going to be chicken salad or chicken wrap.  We'll see what happens in the kitchen.

Multigrain Bread

Last week, I was experimenting with adding chia seeds and flax seeds into my bread recipes.  I was really happy with how it turned out.  In fact, that's how this multigrain bread was born.  I pretty much used the basic foundation of my Honey Oat Bread Recipe and added the chia and flax seeds.  With this recipe, you will get a nice soft texture and the bread will be delicious because of the butter.  

Now, let's say you want a more dense multigrain bread that has a lot of chew.  Then you would not use the butter or only use like a tablespoon and add 6 tbsp of flaxmeal.  This will give you a denser bread and you will not get as much rise out of it.  It will still be very delicious and you may just have one slice instead of two because you will feel more satisfied.  

Multigrain Bread Print

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup warm water

2 ¼ tsp yeast

¼ cup honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 cups bread flour

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 cup milk powder

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp chia seeds

3 tbsp Flax seeds

2 tsp honey (warmed)

2 tbsp oats

2 tsp flax seeds

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, yeast, honey, and butter in a small bowl and stir.  Let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

2. Using a stand mixer bowl, add bread flour, milk powder, salt, chia seeds, flax seeds, and yeast mixture.

3. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 10-12 minutes on setting 6-8 or until it comes together. (Start off slowly so you don’t get a flour cloud).

4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and continue to knead until the dough is nice and smooth.

5. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, forming the dough into the shape of a ball.  Coat the top with some oil to prevent getting a film on top of the dough.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free spot and let rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size.

7. Grease a 9X5” loaf pan with some oil and set aside.

8. Form the dough into a loaf by rolling out the dough into an 8X8 and rolling it like a jellyroll.  Pinch the seams together and place it in the greased loaf pan seam side down.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size.

9. Lightly brush the top with honey and coat with oats and flax seeds.

10. Preheat oven to 350 degree and bake for about 40 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread starts to brown before it is done, loosely cover it with foil. Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.

I was playing with Flipagram and made this video of my bread rising.  I love a good proof!

Honey Oat Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls are quite delicious!  Everybody loves those King's Hawaiian Rolls.  You really just can't have one.  The only down side is that each of those King's Hawaiian roll has about 100 calories.  Now, I haven't actually calculated the calories count on my Honey Oat Dinner Roll, but I can tell you that they have nutritious value.  Plus it is homemade!

I really enjoying making bread these days (especially when I get an awesome rise). There is a difference when you have homemade bread versus the store bought bread.  Homemade bread taste fresh and your kitchen will smell amazing! I know exactly what went into what I will be consuming.

I decided to make dinner rolls because it is the perfect size for my turkey burgers.  The sandwich bread was always a little big for the patty.  So this was the perfect solution and we really like the bread to burger ratio. These are like sliders size more or less.

Dinner rolls make great burgers.

Dinner rolls also make great snacks. What I also like about these dinner rolls is I won't gorge on a ton of them; they contain oats which are are more filling and leaves me satisfied with just having one.  I brushed the top with melted butter to soften the crust, you can leave that out if you want a harder crust. 

Also, make sure that you use warm water around 110-115 degrees to activate the yeast.  If your water is hot you will kill the yeast.  If it is not warm enough, then you will not activate the yeast.  Here's what it looks like when your yeast has activated.  

This recipe is just like my Honey Oat Bread; I just made them into dinner rolls.  Enjoy!

Honey Oat Dinner Rolls Print

Yields: 12 rolls

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup warm water

2 ¼ tsp yeast

¼ cup honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 cups bread flour

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 cup milk powder

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, yeast, honey, and butter in a pyrex measuring cup and stir.  Let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast. (Make sure that the water is around 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit; if the water is too hot, you will kill the yeast and your bread will not proof.  Wuah Wuah)

2. Using a stand mixer bowl, add bread flour, milk powder, salt, and yeast mixture.

3. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 12 minutes on setting 6-8 or until it comes together. (Start off slowly so you don’t get a flour cloud).

4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and continue to knead until the dough is nice and smooth even.

5. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, forming the dough into the shape of a ball.  Coat the top with some oil to prevent getting a film on top of the dough.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free spot and let rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size.

7. Grease a 13X9” pan with some oil and set aside.

8. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into the shape of a ball and pinch the seams together (if necessary) and place it in the greased pan seam side down. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size.

9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread starts to brown before it is done, loosely cover it with foil.

10. When you tap on the bread and it sounds hollow, you know it is done. Brush the top with melted butter.  This will soften the crust. Allow it to cool completely.  (You can also dig in, but I would wait 5-10 minutes at least)

Wanderlust Chicago & CHGO DSGN

This past weekend, one of my dear friends came to visit me.  She introduced me to Wanderlust.  We did Yoga in the City at Grant Park.  It was a great event and the day was perfect, sun and all.  I've never done one of these and am really glad I did.  Thanks Linh!

We snagged some great freebies and got to try some new products.  I would definitely come out to another one of these events and would encourage anyone to.  Since it was quite warm that day, I got a little sunburned.  Next time, I will have to use the sunscreen spray.

Here are some pictures from our Wanderlust adventure. #WLChicago +Wanderlust

Butler Field. Wanderlust Chicago.  What a great backdrop to practice yoga!

Yoga in the City

Getting ready to unleash our inner yogis.

After Wanderlust, we checked out the CHGO DSGN exhibition going on at the Chicago Cultural Center. This is really cool exhibition featuring pieces of recent objects and graphic design curated by Rick Valicenti.  I would highly recommend checking this exhibition out if you are in the area or planning a visit to the Chicago area.

Here are some of my favorite pieces. 

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