I've been making dozens of these wheat rolls every month lately (a batch a week). Healthy, easy, and yummy. Nice!

The Recipe

I use an adapted dough from Artisan Bread in Five. Their 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread dough, adjusted for my high but humid home, makes a nice loaf or free-form bread. I found out after baking it a few times that it also works great to make these adorable, high-fiber rolls!

I don't want to steal their recipe by posting it here, but you can find it in the "Peasant Loaves" section of Artisan Bread in Five. To make rolls of your own, start with a whole wheat bread dough or use the main "Master Recipe" from Artisan Bread in Five, a white flour dough, maybe substituting whole wheat flour.

The Technique

Unlike some recipes, the Artisan Bread in Five technique doesn't require extra time for a knead - rest - rise cycle. Instead, it rises slowly in the refrigerator overnight. Regardless of what you use, flour your hands, the risen dough, and the table.

Since I like to eat these rolls for health reasons, I weigh out the dough so each roll is an equal 1 oz roll. That way, I know how much whole grain I'm getting. If it doesn't matter for you, just do this by sight.

First, cut the dough in half using a floured or oiled serrated knife. Then, do this again. Next, do it again. You get the point. Keep cutting in half until the rolls are around 1 oz. I use a pound of dough and end up with 16 rolls.

Now, shape each chunk of dough into a ball using the technique in step 3 at the Artisan Bread in Five Master Recipe.

At this point, you can leave the dough to rise for larger, fluffier rolls, or bake them right away for a more dense, chewy dough. I bake mine on 200C (that's about 400F; try 350F if you're not at a high altitude). Use this Artisan Bread in Five technique: preheat the oven with a baking stone and a broiler tray or other pan. When the oven's heated, place the rolls on the stone and pour a cup of water into the broiler tray. The steam creates moisture for a soft inside and crisp crust!

These usually take about 3/4ths as long as the recipe says, since you're baking small rolls, not one large loaf.

The Verdict?

These have come out wonderfully for me every time. They're quick to make and are also healthy, tasty, and versatile! (Try poking a hole in a roll with your finger and sticking a cheddar cheese cube in there. Microwave 5 minutes. Delicious!)

Cleanup is easy; with Artisan Bread in Five dough, all you have to wash is a bowl, a measuring cup, and a spoon. Rolling the dough on the table, I just use a plastic rice paddle (what comes with rice cookers) to scrape it off, maybe wiping it off with a bit of vinegar, and it's clean. And the baking stone doesn't need much washing; the bread should come off of it cleanly since it's so hot.

...and you?

I'd recommend getting a copy of the book I use (yes, I get a commission if you buy it through these links, but I honestly do think it's a good buy for simple families everywhere!), but if you don't have it, try the bread-dough-as-rolls technique on other favorite recipes, and comment here with how they turn out (and links to recipes, if you have 'em!)

Comment for a chance to win February's giveaway: an adorable panda pillow from My Dear Darling!

Thanks to some talented and creative chefs, my husband's desire for great taste and mine for simple prep & clean-up don't have to clash when we go to our cookbooks. Check out our "top 5" and share your own recommendations.

Our Cooking Story

My husband loves to cook: he grows herbs and knows the difference between various seasonings and spices; he scours Allrecipes.com, Recipezaar, and subscribes to Taste of Home in his reader. Whatever it is, he's willing to cook it so long as it produces delicious results.

As for me, I stick to baking, which I find relaxing; homemade rice-a-roni-like mixes, which are ready in just minutes; and recipes which call for dumping a few ingredients in the crockpot and eating it several hours later.

Here are the only 5 cookbooks we have; our "must-haves" when it comes to simple ingredients, simple prep, and even simple clean-up! Though we have delicious cookbooks, we reference these paper copies constantly and highly recommend at least the first 4 on the list for every simple chef (don't worry, the resulting dishes & flavors are anything but simple). Share your favorite cookbooks in the comments.

Note: Unlike some lists I write, these ARE ranked in order of how useful they are / how often I reference them. My husband would rank # 5 as # 1, but I don't consider it truly simple or worth buying unless you know (or are!) a serious chef.

1. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day - I could write a whole post on this one, but let me just say this: a) I love baking, b) I even love kneading, but c) I don't have a lot of time for doing so. Enter Artisan Bread in 5, flour, yeast, water, and salt, and I get to give my husband the french, wheat, and even flatbreads he misses from back home without having to wash anything but a glass measuring cup, a plastic bowl, and a spoon. And it really does take just minutes. Simple.

2. The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook - As the book's subtitle says, it's not just white, brown, and wild rices; pilafs, risottos, polenta, chilis, soups, porridges, puddings, and more all come from simple recipes in this great buy. Of course, you'll need a rice cooker for this one, but if you use it for this book's recipes plus those you can find online, a rice cooker's really a bargain home appliance.

3. Top Secret Recipes books - We have the out-of-print "Classics," but I hear the others are just as good. Often called "copycat" recipes, we're often looking these up online: how do I make french fries like my favorite fast food chain? How about "The Soup Nazi"'s famous soups? Todd Wilbur, who authors the Top Secret Recipes books, puts out very complete collections of well-done imitation recipes, many of which allow us to make our favorites with 'normal' ingredients we can get here.

4. George Foreman Grill recipes - I haven't actually bought the cookbook, but the paper booklet that came with our grill has several tasty, simple, healthy recipes I cook again and again. We have the smaller grill, though with the popular removable plate grill currently $50 off on amazon (comes with a grill, griddle, waffle iron, sandwich maker, and baking plate), I'd sure like to upgrade!

5. On Cooking - Literally a textbook. 1440 pages. On sale for $80. It's linked if you're interested, but truly, this is the cookbook for the serious chef hobbyist. Nonetheless, my husband uses the book all the time, so I couldn't leave it out (plus, who's ever heard of a "top 4" list?). It is simple in its own way - diagrams and tutorials carefully explain how to use each cut of meat, herb, and piece of produce, so you won't be stuck with a "1 can of this, 2 packages of that" type recipe. If you want to understand the significance of each item you put in a dish and make recipes of your own, this may be your book. I have to admit to having read the baking chapter to get a better grasp on what goes on with the yeasts and leavenings and to troubleshoot some problems I had at our new high-altitude home. But let me repeat again... you'd better be serious about cooking for this one to be a good investment!

6, 7, 8, 9, 10? Your Turn!

What "simple" (in whatever way you define that word) cookbook do you reference all the time? Don't keep the secrets to yourself; let us know what we may be missing out on! Links to reviews of cookbooks on your blog are welcome as well. Just please, share!

Oscar the Pig goes to China! Ooops, that's not right, but since I live in China, I do love that part... before I give away the rest of the book, here's my review.

Last week, I got to read Megan Calhoun's new book, Oscar the Pig: Mommy Goes to Work. It's the first in an upcoming series and is full of cute piggy illustrations like the one above.

Who's it For?

Megan wrote Oscar the Pig for both kids and parents. Kids whose Moms are returning to work will identify with Oscar, and kids and parents alike will giggle at the cute artwork, including "piggy kisses" shared by Oscar and his Mommy pig. It's also good for people like me who love China, thanks to a special visit and introduction to a Chinese Panda whom Oscar befriends (I'm only partly joking)!

What's it Teach?

Oscar's panda friend, Chow Chow, reminds Oscar and your kids that even though Mommy's gone at work, she'll always come home and always loves her little piggy (or, kiddie :-D). Megan also wants the book to give moms practical techniques to help ease the transition, but I think a supplemental page in the book or online would better help us make the jump from 'what Oscar's mom did in the book' to 'what I should do every day.'

Is it Simple?

I love to see kids' books that are just that: kids'. Oscar the Pig teaches and comforts kids without any jargon (well, except one humorous reference for the parents about "bringing home the bacon"). The illustrations, apparently pencil and watercolor, are colorful but simple, the kind of art you could use to inspire your child to get creative: suggesting, "draw for me what fun things you will do while I'm gone!," could result in a beautiful, magical scene like Oscar experiences with his caretaker.

That said, and though I realize that books take a lot of work to produce and materials to prepare for publishing, I feel that this, like most new children's books, carries a bit of a high price tag for a 32-page story. It's still a great idea for families who are about to go through Oscar's situation, but I personally (who am not in that situation) would wait to buy it until some more books come out in the series; as a set, Oscar could become a child's favorite character.

Mom's Perspective

Pamela Kramer, whose little one is struggling with separation anxiety right now, wrote about the book on BabyCenter and shared that it's exactly what her family needed. Read her review here and draw your own conclusions!

...and you?

A few questions:
1) what's your favorite educational childrens' book?
2) what topic do you wish you could find a book on to help your kids?
3) is it just me, or are children's books really expensive!?

If you do purchase Oscar the Pig: Mommy Goes to Work, buy from Amazon through one of my links, and you'll be helping support Simple Makes while you're at it!

I'm back! Only until Sunday, though, so keep asking questions (about ANYthing!) for me to answer when I return.

Simple Pleasures


We saw the sites, ate the food, spent the money. My favorite moment, though, was a simple one... on a letterboxing hike, we found this beach and were the only ones there. We played in the sand, sorted through the seashells, climbed the rocks, and got our toes wet. Check out my flickr account for more trip highlights.

Coming Soon

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on packing efficiently (packing light!), in answer to Whitney's comment on the "Ask me!" post.

I'm also researching for a good cartooning how-to resource. I'd like to answer 's question, plus, inspired by reading The Creative Family, I might like to learn this creative art form myself!

Since I mentioned letterboxing, I'll go ahead and let you know that a series of posts is in the works and will be featured this November.

Other News

I checked my site stats this morning and was excited to see I'd been featured at ecoTumble, the Tumblr site from Lighter Footstep, a blog I subscribe to. (To quote: We think there’s a strong connection between “green” and simple living. So we love Lori Ann’s Simple Makes blog...) Thank you so much!

This weekend, my father-in-law came to visit for my husband's birthday. He brought in several books, plus 100 Organ needles, which I've ordered over the past months!

Each of the books was recommended to me, so I'm super excited about them. I've broken all but one needle on my sewing machine since we've moved here, and I can only find industrial needles to buy, so I ordered a bulk package online. (Of course, 100 needles still doesn't take up very much room!)

The items include:

Devotional Classics

Treasuring God in Our Traditions

Doodle Stitching

Organ Needles

The Creative Family

*I'm an Amazon affiliate, so I get a small commission if you buy anything on Amazon after clicking one of those links. If you're in the market for an Amazon order, please help me out by going through my links! Check out the new Amazon Green program for sustainable products.

...and you?

What was your weekend snapshot? Share photos at our flickr group and comment here with the story!

Also, if you have any book recommendations for a future Amazon purchase, let me know... the best books always seem to come from referrals, and we don't have much in the way of English-language books here!

Teach yourself to knit with the best beginner’s guide I’ve ever seen - and help some beautiful babies while you’re at it!

I can knit, as the result of a fun craft book + a super friend... but I’m no expert. Thanks to the UK’s charity organization Save the Children, my lack of skill and, if it’s the case, yours, is no excuse not to use knitting to protect newborn babies around the world!

Save the Children’s Knit Kit gives you everything to get started in 5 free, full-color, printable, PDF pages: simplified knitting terms, a beginner’s guide with clear photographs for every step of knitting, and a pattern for your first project. Besides learning a new craft, the pattern is for a hat which, as explained in the Knit Kit, can save a newborn from dying of pneumonia.

...and you?

I’m heading to my local yarn store to find some nice wool. Want to join in? Post pictures of your hat-in-progress at our the Simple Makes flickr group. I’d like to feature some fellow hat-knitters in a future article; if you’re interested, post the photos with Creative Commons licensing and comment on this post with a link. Knitting questions & tips welcome in the comment section too. Enjoy!