Good morning dear friends. I hope and pray that this finds each and every one of y'all doing great. I hope that your December is the best one yet. I pray that in everything we all do, that we keep Christ first and foremost. There is a lot stuff happening across this globe that we live on and I have to say that most of it is not worthy for Christians to be a part of. I pray that we all take that into consideration. We need to try to be the hands and feet of Christ at all times. It is difficult to say the least with all that's going on. This is the time to lean in closer than ever to Jesus. It's also the time to keep your eyes to the eastern sky. I do believe we'll see Him coming again in the clouds just any time and day. I pray that we're all ready for that grand event.
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I like to do what I call "2 minutes in the kitchen with me" from time to time. That's what we're doing today. I have been seeing people make a bread replacement from lentils. Well, yesterday was the day I finally tried it. I'll say right up front, that this is NOT for everyone. But, on the other hand, I'll also say that if you happen to be someone that needs a bread alternative for what ever reason, then this is something you may need to try. It is really simple. It's basically 2 ingredients, lentils and water. That's it. For real, that's it. So, lets get started.
The recipe I done was 1 cup of lentils and 2 cups of water. As you can see, it's a one to two ratio. This is my first batch and I was going to scale it down, but.................I forgot!!! hahaha Yeah, I simply forgot. So, I would definitely recommend scaling it down the first time or two you try it. Just so you won't have a lot of waste or a lot something that you're not crazy about.
So, wash your lentils good in a fine mesh strainer. Then put them in a container of some kind and then measure your water to go over them and let them sit for NO less that 4 hours, overnight would be optimum. I let mine sit for about 5 hours. At the time you're statring the blender process, plug in your griddle and get it up to temp. If you do that, your first batch may look better than my first batch did. My griddle is well over 20 years old, closer to 30 years old and I know it doesn't heat as well as it used too. I may need to consider getting another one pretty soon. Of course you can do these on the stove top in a skillet. I just opted for the griddle because I can get more done at a time.
This is what they looked after about 5 hours. You can see they soaked up a lot of water, like they're supposed to do.
Next, dumped it all in the blender base. You can clearly see how much water is left.
This is what it looked like after about 10 or 15 seconds of blitzing in the Nutribullet, in the pic below. You want the thickness of pancake batter, maybe a touch thinner.
This is with 4 pretty good sized dollops on my griddle. Do preheat your griddle or skillet. Just like pancakes do, they will get the bubbles that pop. Since this was my first batch, I didn't add any extra liquid to the mix, next time I will. I would love for them to flow and level up on their own. I had to take my spoon back and level them up as well as I could and I'm not happy with how unlevel they are. I let them cook for 2 or 3 minutes, and then flipped them.
As you can see, there is not hardly any color. The next batch had better color. It's very much like making pancakes on the griddle, the first ones are not as dark as I like.
But as you can see below, these have a nice color on them. Plus, I made these a little smaller and I liked the looks of them much better. These were my experimental batch anyway.
For the last batch, I actually put about a tablespoon more of water in them. I also put about a tablespoon of nutritional yeast flakes for added flavor. And, I also sprinkled some Cavendars Greek seasoning in them. That made them very tasty. And you can aslo see that the color on these are better too. Not because of any seasoning, but the griddle was completely up to heat. You can also tell that these are even smaller than the second batch. This will probably be the size I make from now on.
As you can see, that batch made a LOT of lentil bread. You can see the stack of the first ones I made and tore pieces from it. Those were ok. They were just too thick. Kinda gummy and really beany tasting. And that's ok, because that's what it is, lentil bread, so they should taste like beans, well lentils. The second stack at the upper right of the plate was the second batch that I made smaller, they were better than the large ones. Getting a good color on the outside definitely adds to the flavor of them. Then the smaller ones scattered over the plate are the last ones that I done and they were really good. My sweet hubby even said they were good. So, that's a definite sign of approval.
So my take away and some ideas about this is:
1. They are worth the effort, because it's actually very little effort and very little expense.
2. I would definitely start out with 1/4 cup lentils and 1/2 cup water for my first batch, and that may be the way I do them from now on anyway.
3. I will replace the water with some kind of stock to see how much that adds to the flavor.
4. I will add onion and garlic powder and maybe some other spices as I go along. I wouldn't get too crazy with adding a lot of stuff because we might want to keep this on the healthier, better for you side.
5. I will thin the batter down some in order to get the bread to flatten out better on it's own. The thick places in them was rather unpleasant.
6. I popped a couple of the smaller ones in the toaster oven and they crisped up a little more and they were so much better. I'm pretty sure the large ones will crisp up in the toaster oven too. I'm thinking they will reheat in the microwave to give a softer texture, maybe for a wrap or something. They are very flexible and don't break like a lot wraps do. If you try these in the microwave and they don't remain soft, just take out a serving of them and let them come to room temp. Also, I don't think they would be good for a wrap after being in the toaster or toaster oven though.
7. So for this experiment, I give it 2 thumbs up and so does my husband.
It seems like there was something else I wanted to add, but I don't remember what it was. That's the story of my life. hahaha But, anyway, here we have it, the experiment and my thoughts on it.
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I hope this is a help for someone who needs or could benefit from a bread replacement. It was a good experiment. When I make more, I will try to remember and share with y'all what I do. It will be a fun, ongoing experiment.
I guess I'll wrap this blog post up now. I pray that each one of us will keep Christ first place in our lives and remember all He's done for us. Remember too that Christmas isn't about going into debt, it's about the love of God for us, so much so that He gave us the ultimate gift, a Savior. We have to acknowledge we are sinners and repent of our sins. We have to accept Him as our Lord and Savior. I hope if you haven't done that yet, today will be the day. If we have accepted Christ as our Savior, God loves you!!! So do I!!!! blessings on all today and every day. hugs and love, patty
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