Food Before and After Photos

[GreenTealael 24,905]

Passover and feast of unleavened bread in my house so I present an authentic Matzah dressed in butter and lingonberries

[Starwarsandcupcakes 1,898]

On 3/27/2021 at 4:32 PM, ms.sss said:

P.S. I really need to work on my portioning when baking. They are all different sizes, which makes calorie estimation difficult.

I find that my kitchen scale is amazing for portioning dough. I weigh the total in grams and then divide by the portions I want. That way they all come out even and bake (mostly) evenly. I do the same with muffins using a cookie/ice cream scoop.

[ms.sss 14,782]

8 hours ago, Starwarsandcupcakes said:

I find that my kitchen scale is amazing for portioning dough.

Ok. So here's my thing. the whole kitchen scale thing works for like Cookies or cake or any other easily separated and put-back-together matter.

With bread dough though, if its too little, I'd have to pinch a bit from the mass to up the weight and then I have two (or more) separated bits of dough that I will have to knead back together, to make it a whole lump again, which affects the rise? Is this an issue for you?

[summerset 5,261]

Leftovers thrown together that didn't really match: sticky brown rice with green curry paste and mixed vegetables with tofu with "meat" made out of pea Protein that had to go, seasoned with sweet soy sauce.

[ms.sss 14,782]

Look familiar? Why yes, its THE SAME type of salad with grilled trout that I've been making since Friday afternoon. That's FIVE DAYS of working on that slab of leftover trout! But really, I am loathe to waste perfectly yum leftovers, but at what point is leftover fish no longer leftovers but just a petri dish for botulism? I always give food the whiff test before eating, and it smelled okay, so.....I'm thinking today will be the last day I eat this thing, just in case.

romaine, carrots, cucumbers, figs, cheddar, avocado & grilled trout: 422 calories. (the Kid ate my leftovers).

[summerset 5,261]

Junk food got the better of me. Today's dinner will be tomorrow's lunch now.

😂

[lizonaplane 1,605]

2 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Ok. So here's my thing. the whole kitchen scale thing works for like Cookies or cake or any other easily separated and put-back-together matter.

With bread dough though, if its too little, I'd have to pinch a bit from the mass to up the weight and then I have two (or more) separated bits of dough that I will have to knead back together, to make it a whole lump again, which affects the rise? Is this an issue for you?

I made bread throughout the first half of the pandemic and I added to my lumps to make them an equal weight. You don't have to "knead" them. Just sort of "roll" them together gently. Like, you do one rise where it's all in a bowl then weigh your whole big dough ball, divide by twelve or however many rolls you are making. Then pinch a piece of dough. Say you're 10 g off... go ahead and pinch a bit more off the big dough ball and roll it gently in your hands or on your counter. It won't deflate completely and it won't affect your 2nd rise at all. You can probably find a youtube video on this if my description doesn't make sense. On the other hand, if you enter 30 grams of roll into your calorie app but one day it's 27 and the next it's actually 33, it all comes out even in the end anyway! But it makes for a better bake by getting it even.

[ms.sss 14,782]

16 minutes ago, lizonaplane said:

... go ahead and pinch a bit more off the big dough ball and roll it gently in your hands or on your counter. It won't deflate completely and it won't affect your 2nd rise at all.

Ok! I'm going to try this next time!

[GreenTealael 24,905]

3 hours ago, summerset said:

Junk food got the better of me. Today's dinner will be tomorrow's lunch now.

😂

It says Protein so I’m calling it a balanced meal 😂

[Starwarsandcupcakes 1,898]

4 hours ago, ms.sss said:

Ok. So here's my thing. the whole kitchen scale thing works for like Cookies or cake or any other easily separated and put-back-together matter.

With bread dough though, if its too little, I'd have to pinch a bit from the mass to up the weight and then I have two (or more) separated bits of dough that I will have to knead back together, to make it a whole lump again, which affects the rise? Is this an issue for you?

I haven’t found that to be an issue especially if I push the smaller piece(s) to the inside and then pinch the larger piece around the outside but don’t knead it in. I find that makes it too tough. I then usually let it rest for about 20 minutes (called benching) before final shaping and rising. Also, I use a bench scraper or a sharp knife as actual pinching ruins the gluten structure in the dough and can make your final product tough.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Starwarsandcupcakes

[lizonaplane 1,605]

20 minutes ago, Starwarsandcupcakes said:

I haven’t found that to be an issue especially if I push the smaller piece(s) to the inside and then pinch the larger piece around the outside but don’t knead it in. I find that makes it too tough. I then usually let it rest for about 20 minutes (called benching) before final shaping and rising. Also, I use a bench scraper or a sharp knife as actual pinching ruins the gluten structure in the dough and can make your final product tough.

I did switch from literally "pinching" to using a bench scraper to "figuratively" pinch small pieces of dough after watching some training videos on sourdough and I have to say that I never noticed a difference. So, YMMV. I can recommend that there is an excellent teacher who has classes on Udemy. I think her first name is Teresa or Theresa. She works with sourdough. Excellent explanations and videos. Usually you can get a course for like $15. I had to stop baking because I had gained 25lbs. This is how I got to the point where I decided I was ready for surgery, so I guess that's good.

[ms.sss 14,782]

2 hours ago, lizonaplane said:

I had to stop baking because I had gained 25lbs.

Nooooooooo! Don't quit the baking posse!

You can maybe give your goodies away? Keeps you from eating it, AND you can grow an army of appreciative recipients who give you other stuff in return, LOL.

My next door neighbours left this on my doorstep a couple days ago. Their kids now call me "Mrs. Neighbour"...so cute. I'm baking them a mini pumpkin pie this very moment.

Edited March 31, 2021 by ms.sss

[GreenTealael 24,905]

Lamb burger bowl!

Before and After

[GreenTealael 24,905]

2 hours ago, lizonaplane said:

I had to stop baking because I had gained 25lbs

I understand! I had to start giving things away or make much smaller portions when I was pandemic baking. In the end I stopped completely because I didn’t want to gain.

[summerset 5,261]

7 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

It says Protein so I’m calling it a balanced meal 😂

Also "low sugar".