Freshly Ground Grains | December Self Portrait

Many of you know that we’ve made a lot of changes to our diet the last two years.
One facet of our new diet is to eat bread made from freshly ground grains.
There are so many more nutrients  available to the body when bread or cereals are made from freshly milled flour!
Thanks to a good grain mill and kitchen mixer, making a batch of bread is fairly easy to do 2-3 times a month.
(Can you visualize me in my prairie bonnet and apron yet?)
The thing is, we don’t always have the time in our household to make a batch of bread.
ENTER one of my favorite places in Fargo: Great Harvest Bread!!!
They are conveniently located by Anika’s school so it’s an easy stop, and they have the most delicious products.
Our go-to is the Honey Whole Wheat bread.
It’s made from freshly ground wheat flour, water, honey, yeast and salt.
Simple ingredients, and literally the only place in Fargo where you can get bread made from freshly ground wheat.

I stopped by today to pick up a couple loaves before Christmas week kicks off,
so this month’s self-portrait also includes some of GHB’s amazing staff!

I am obsessed with this place!
Not only do they sell wonderful whole wheat bread, but also a huge variety of tasty products.
My girls love shopping there because every time you stop in they give you a hearty slice of bread free as a sample. With butter!

And since Christmas is TWO DAYS AWAY, I wanted to share one of our family traditions: Cinnamon French Toast!
This bread is NOT made with freshly ground grain, but at Christmas time it’s worth the splurge.
(As are the scones, but don’t get me started on those!)
We make this for the girls on “Christmas Morning” which for us, will be tomorrow.
Since I just whipped up a pan and put it in the fridge, I thought I’d share the recipe:

Cinnamon Chip Fresh Toast

Slice the rounded ends off 1 loaf Great Harvest Cinnamon Chip Bread, and cut the rest into 6 equal slices.
Squeeze the pieces into the bottom of a 9×13 pan (you might really need to squeeeeze!).

In a bowl, mix together:
2 cups vanilla almond milk
4 eggs
A splash of vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

Pour over the bread slices. Cover and refrigerate overnight!
In the morning, bake it on 350 for approx. 30 minutes or until done.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!!

***

This is the continuation of my 2014 self-portrait series.
See other posts from the series here!