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It's very difficult to get clear nutritional information even in 2018. The doctor's office was of no help. Their answer to calcium and Vitamin D issues was to hit me with over the counter supplements. At no time, did anyone ask about my diet and physical activity. I got good advice from my friend's daughter because she has her M.A. in Dietetics There is no known history in my family of hereditary high cholesterol, which makes the lipid panel results all the more puzzling. I'm also wondering if another medication I take may have contributed to those high readings. I'll ask the doctor after they repeat the lipid panel (and Vitamin D test), which I was told would be done after three months. In the meantime, I will follow my low-saturated fat diet, which in addition to removing butter's centrality (sob), includes skinning baked chicken, not having those bacon-tomato sandwiches I've been looking forward to eating with our home grown tomatoes (I did eat them with the rest of the bacon in the house), eating steel-cut oats almost every morning (it's a good thing that I like them a lot), and including more fish, having some meatless meals, and incorporating more beans and a greater variety of vegetables. I assume the new diet, and the increase in walking time, is why I have managed to lose 3 1/2 lbs.
My husband and I were supposed to go hiking in Tippicanoe State Park tomorrow. He changed his mind and wanted to go today. We negotiated my time for baking and cooking in the morning, so that we could go in the afternoon. That meant I spent the morning cutting up vegetables and making Ratatouille, following a recipe from Jennifer Segal in her blog, “Once Upon a Chef.” I used less eggplant (mine was about 6 oz.). I used two yellow summer squashes rather than the green zucchini. I used a red bell pepper. I cut the garlic to 2 cloves, and I also used only about ½ cup chopped onion (about the maximum I can run by my husband). I did not put in as much salt as she does, and I used a bit less olive oil. For the spices, I used 1 ¼ tsp. of Penzey’s salt-free Tuscan Sunset. I did not use the red pepper flakes. I warmed some up for dinner, and we had it over some bulgur, along with leftover chicken legs. I will definitely make this recipe, with my adaptations, again.
Here's the link to the recipe:
Bonus: The tomatoes are from our garden. The yellow summer squash, onion, red bell pepper, and eggplant came from the local farmers market.
The block party sounds like fun, Len. I'm sure your treats will be a hit.
It rained most of the day here, so I spent much of my time in the kitchen. I made pizza Margherita for Friday dinner and experimented with the sourdough crust again. My intent was to make a more whole grain version than last time (durum flour and semolina were featured then). I made the following changes to the KAF sourdough pizza crust recipe: Add ½ tsp. honey to water and let the yeast proof. Instead of 2 ½ cups KAF AP flour, I used1 ½ cups whole wheat, ¼ cup semolina, ¼ cup dark rye, and ½ cup KAF AP. I reduced the salt from 1 tsp. to ¾ tsp.
I mixed the dough with the flat beater. I tried to knead it, but the small amount of dough was stubborn and would not gather around the kneading hook, so I did a lot of scraping with the speed on 2. I finally kneaded it by hand for 2 minutes, then placed it in an olive oil-coated bowl to rise for about three hours. For the second rise, the dough needed about an hour and 20 minutes after it had been fitted into the pan. I put too many tomatoes on it (that happens when there is a bumper crop), so the crust was a bit soggy, particularly in the center. It is an ok crust, but my husband and I prefer the crust I made last time, so I need to work out how to make it more whole grain. I also think it needs some olive oil in the crust.
After I fed my sourdough, I decided to use the fed starter in a bread. My current low saturated fat diet has required being more thoughtful and creative about desserts and afternoon tea treats. I baked the KAF Nutty-Fruity Sourdough, which is on their site, and which was also featured in Sift (Fall 2017), p. 46. It let me use 1 ½ cups of the dried fruit that I won’t be baking into scones any time soon. It uses some pumpernickel flour, which I have on hand. After reading comments on the site, I substituted in a cup of whole wheat flour for that much AP. I added 2 Tbs. of flax meal as well. I proofed the yeast with ¼ tsp. honey. I cut the salt in half, so I used ¾ tsp. I needed an additional ¼ cup of flour and used whole wheat. I initially mixed the water, proofed yeast, and the whole grains, then let them hydrate for 15 minutes, before adding the AP flour. I think the King Arthur people try to streamline, but with whole grains, it really does help to allow them to soak up liquid. The first rise was about 2 hours; the second, just an hour. I baked it in my Emile Henry long baker, and I brushed the top with an egg yolk mixed with some water. (The original recipe says an egg, but I had the egg yolk left from another recipe.) I baked in the covered baker for 10 minutes at 425F, then reduced the temperature to 375F for 20 minutes before removing the top. The bread needed another 15 minutes to register 200F. (I had forgotten to move the oven shelf down, as I usually do when using the long baker.) It did not have much, if any, oven spring, but it looks like the size depicted in the photo. I will report tomorrow on taste and texture.
