California Trip 1 - Ridgecrest with the Loughmiller's - China Lake Base

We had a great time on our family trip to California for Bryan's wedding! We spent a long long long long time in the car - but it was a lot of fun!
Our first stop was at the Loughmiller's house in Ridgecrest. We didn't get there until 2am and they were so sweet to have everything set up for us. Erin and Stan are both amazing - even with us waking them up in the middle of the night, they both were up early - Stan was off to work early and Erin went running at 5:30 am and came home and made homemade wheat bread, banana yogurt muffins and homemade pancakes all before we got up!

Her recipes were so delicious I just have to share them!

The first is a yummy wheat bread recipe from Everyday Food Storage (click on this link go to their page and see a video and additional tips for making this recipe) One great tip was to make up several dry batches (exclude water, yeast, vinegar, and oil to add later) at the same time in Ziploc bags that you can just pour and mix! I want to try this!

EZ Wheat Bread recipe (This is a light whole wheat bread that stays soft and doesn't crumble apart - We loved it! ) Makes 2 loaves

1 1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup honey or 2/3 cup brown sugar
5 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat gluten
2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp nonfat non instant dry milk
2 Tbsp butter/margarine/or oil
2 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 cup potato flakes

Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl with dough hook attachment for 12-15 minutes. Let rise until double (1 to 1 1/2 hours). Punch down and shape into 2 loaves or rolls. Let rise again until double and bake 375 degrees for 20-30 min until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped.

The second recipe was Erin's own adaptation for Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins found on allrecipes.com. She reduced the sugar and added applesauce for the oil. This recipe makes 16 large muffins

1 3/4 cups wheat or white flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup any flavor yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed bananas
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt in a large bowl. In another bowl combine egg, applesauce, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 5 min before removing from pans.

Erin made this recipe into mini muffins for a fun healthy snack. They were so delicious!!!

After playing like crazy at the Loughmiller's house (our children didn't want to leave their home and their toys and their children!), we went to go see the Loughmiller's garden, then park to play and Brent went to check out the museum at the China Lake Base. You would not believe what they can grow there in the desert! They can garden almost year round! The strawberries were delicious! The kids loved playing with Nicholas, Ben and Natalie! We can't wait to go back!