January 16: Bran Muffin Bread

I think it's neat the way things work out. You can definitely see the hand of God working in the little things. Today's recipe was muffin bread, not the kind of thing you necessarily want for dinner. So I looked to see what we had in the fridge (tomorrow's grocery day, so not much). We had just enough sloppy Joe filling from yesterday, but no buns and no bread. So I look on top of the refrigerator where we keep the bread and lo and behold, what do we have, but just enough tortillas left over for everyone to have a sloppy Joe burrito! They were delicious, and we had warm bran muffin bread with honey butter for dessert. Love the way God works, even when we don't ask Him to.

So here's the recipe for the muffin bread. The ingredients:

 

I mixed up whole wheat flour with all-bran cereal, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt:

 

Then, in a different bowl, I mixed up an egg, buttermilk, molasses, and melted butter.

 

Then I combined those, added some raisins and chopped walnuts, and put it in a pan that I had buttered and floured:

 

The pan was covered with buttered foil and stuck in the crockpot that had 1 inch of water in it. The directions say to put it on a rack or some potatoes, but I apparently don't have the right kind of pan. Mine doesn't fit all the way down in the crockpot:

 

I baked it on low for 4 hours and it was done:

 

After I let it cool 10 minutes, I inverted it onto a wire rack:

 

Then we served it warm with honey butter:

 

This bread is really good, but you can't expect it to be really sweet like banana bread. I think it tastes more like whole wheat yeast bread with nuts and raisins in it. I am looking forward to having it for breakfast in the morning!

 

On a different note, I went to the doctor last night for my persistent sore throat. The doctor said he couldn't help me, and I just have a cold. But I did get weighed, and I (I've been avoiding the scale like the plague) found out I gained 25 pounds over the holidays! Oh my goodness. There's nothing like a weight check like that to shock you into eating right. So from now on, I've resolved to not eat snacks anymore. I got into the habit when I was pregnant, but I don't need all those extra calories! So I won't be eating in between meals, and I will only eat regular portions at mealtime - no seconds! I think, with drinking lots of water, and walking and lifting some weights, I can get down to my regular weight by spring. So there's my goal. It's out there for all to see. Maybe that will keep me motivated!