Creamy Swiss Steak in the slow cooker & Whole Wheat Bread

     Okay... I have a confession! Tonight's dinner was so good, I didn't have time to take a picture of the plate, all that we had left was this:

     However, this does tell you that it is going to be great! It is a crock pot meal, which I usually make the night before, place in the fridge and in the morning I put it in the pot. Today I woke up and made it before church, since it is Sunday! It was a great, hearty, Sunday dinner for the winter!

     I also decided, last minute, to bake some bread. I wanted to use my wheat flour and I had some rapid rise yeast (which I didn't know what to do with!) So, I baked bread. I was looking on the Fleischmann's site for a recipe, and it took me forever. I find a good one, and what do you know, its on the back of the yeast package!

     So here it is folks, the bread recipe and the delicious Swiss steak!

100% Whole Wheat Bread (from the yeast packet!)
Makes 2 loaves
Points Plus Values: 3 per slice (1/37th of the recipe, apparently!)

Ingredients:

8-81/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 envelopes Fleischmann's Rapid Rise Yeast

2 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c water

1 1/2 c milk

1/4 c vegetable oil

1/4 c honey

-Combine 3 1/2 c flour, undissolved yeast and salt in a large bowl. 

-Heat water, milk, oil and honey until very warm (mine was about to boil - they say 120-130 degrees.)

-Gradually add to flour mixture and beat for 2 minutes on medium speed with an electric mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid with the dough hook.) Scrape the bowl occasionally.

-Add 1 c flour and beat for 2 minutes on high speed, scraping the bowl occasionally.

-With a spoon, stir in remaining flour until you have a soft dough (I used a wooden spoon at this point.)

-Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic. I had to add a bit more flour.

This should take about 6-8 minutes.

-Cover kneaded dough and let rest on floured surface for 10 minutes.

Dough ball.

Shh, its sleeping.

-Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12x7 inch rectangle (just think of a sheet of paper, its about that size.) Beginning at a short end, roll up tightly as in a jelly roll. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place seam side down in a greased loaf pan.

-Cover and let rise in a warm, draft free place (aka my microwave) for 30-60 minutes. My loaves were good at 45. They should double in size. 

-Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 35-45 minutes or until done. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks.

Now, I didn't have two loaf pans, so I have a loaf and a flat-ish bread that I rolled and placed in a baking dish. It was good for dinner bread.

The Loaf

Flatty McFlaterson

     The flat loaf was great for dinner and the regular loaf was used to make sandwiches for our lunches tomorrow! Again, I LOVE to make as much of the things in our lunch as possible. We have home made cookies all of the time and fruit. I try to keep things as healthy and natural as possible!

Creamy Swiss Steak (from Taste of Home, Comfort Food Diet)

Makes 8 servings

1 serving without noodles = 243 calories

Points Plus Values: 4

Ingredients:

3/4 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt (I just sprinkled)

1/2 tsp pepper (again, just sprinkled)

2 lbs boneless, beef round steak - cut into serving size portions (however, it will fall apart)

2 tbsp butter

1/2 c chopped onions (I cut them large so that Christopher and Mariah can pick them out)

2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup (I use cream of chicken, I'm the only mushroom fan)

1 c water

Hot cooked noodles

     In a shallow bowl (I use a pie pan,) combine flour, salt and pepper, dredge beef. In a large skillet, brown beef in butter on both sides. 

    Transfer to a 3 qt slow cooker, top with onion. Combine soup and water, pour over onion. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours, or until meat is tender. Serve with noodles.

     We also had Green Giant green beans with almonds, only 1ppv per serving! The dinner was delicious!