10 months and a loaf o' bread (or two).

First item of business: It's the Smush's 10-month birthday! Can you believe it? Here he is.

Can you guess who he was staring at with rapt attention?

He's really growing. He still has eight teeth and can (and will) eat just about anything. I am not that strict about feeding babies "human food". The Smush has indulged in chicken pesto penne, Teddy Grahams, whole blueberries, raw broccoli, pumpkin ice cream and Goldfish in the past week alone. He's a good chewer so I don't worry about choking. It's nice not to have to mash everything before feeding it to him.

In other news, he's totally saying "Mama" now. All. The. Time. Especially when he wants to nurse. And that activity is slowly declining these days. We're down to four feedings a day and I'll be honest -- I'm glad. I'm ready to move out of this season of life. Problem is, I don't know if The Smush is ready. He loves nursing more than life itself, I think. He'd die for boobs.

So. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

My second item of business: I made my first loaves of wheat bread yesterday! Photographic evidence:

Mmm ... carbs ...

These beauties were the first entry in my whole wheat bread recipe contest. If you still want to submit an entry, do it by tonight at 10:00 p.m. MST! Winner gets a $10 Sprouts or Target gift card.

The recipe, from Elizabeth, was awesome in that it was 1) super easy and 2) super yummy! Moist and dense enough to be cut into thin slices, yet not too heavy. Plus, it had an amazing flavor.

Here it is. I halved it and made two loaves. Very easy to convert.

Liz's 100% Whole Wheat Bread

(4 Loaves)

Add:

5 to 5 ½ c. hot tap water

2/3 c. oil

2/3 c. honey (or 1/3 molasses + 1/3 honey) or ½ cup granulated sugar

1 TBS salt

Run machine for 30 seconds on speed 1.

Add: 5 cups of flour

Run machine until batter is smooth. Use speed 1.

Add: 3 T. Saf instant yeast and 2 more cups flour

Run machine on speed 1 and continue adding 1 cup of flour at a time until the sides of the bowl are free from batter. The total flour used in the batter should be 12 to 13 cups.

Add: 1 to 1 ½ cups additional flour [there should be no more than a total of 13 to14 cups of flour used in this recipe]. Place the lid on the bowl. Turn machine on to Speed 3. Knead the batter with the machine for 4 to 6 minutes. Usually, 5½ minutes is just right. Stop the machine. Oil your hands and shape the loaves (do not use flour). Rise in the oven at 150 degrees until loaves are at top of pan. This takes about 15-20 minutes. Turn oven to 350E and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Baking time will depend on size of loaves as well as the oven features.

Some tips:

Measure oil in measuring cup first, then honey. The honey will slide out easier.

Pour /spread a couple tablespoons of oil on the counter and turn dough out onto oiled countertop. The recipe needs the extra amount of oil, and oil works a lot better than flour in keeping the dough from sticking to your hands and the countertop.

If you can't get your oven to 150 degrees, turn it as low as it can go (mine goes to 170) and watch the loaves. Turn the heat up when the dough reaches the top of the pan.