I'm partial to adding multi-grain mixtures (5-grain, 7-grain, 11-grain, etc.) for some added fiber and "tooth" (a bit of crunch). These mixtures look like chopped whole grain and are designed to be cooked into breakfast cereal. I mill my own mixtures from a variety of grains/seeds/beans, but Bob's Red Mill has these mixes in several varieties and mixtures to choose from. Add about 1/2-3/4 cup per 1-1/2- to 2-pound loaf. I add it dry towards the end of the kneading time. If you add it too soon the sharp edges of this cereal mix will cut the long gluten strands and you'll find you have a short, squatty loaf of bread. I also fortify breads with sprouted grain (wheat, spelt, kamut, rye, barley, etc.). I always have wheat sprouting in the kitchen. Sprouts will make the bread a little more chewy. I have a recipe I like to use that has 2-cups of sprouted wheat in it. Chop it with a knife into smaller bits before adding it to your recipe. I sprout all kinds of grains/seeds/beans and add them to breads. Flakes of all kinds - oat, wheat, spelt, rye, kamut, triticale, barley.... I can flake most grains (other than corn) on my flaker mill and add it to the recipe. These flakes are not as tender as store-bought oatmeal because they are not steam processed. Whole amaranth seeds is a great add-in, especially for quick breads. The little golden seeds are power-packed with nutrition and protein and look like golden poppy seeds in your bread. Two tablespoons of toasted or untoasted whole amaranth per loaf. I also mill amaranth into flour and make Amaranth Seed Bread, a Beth Hensperger recipe. I harvested enough amaranth from 12 plants to last me a few years, so I found new ways to use it besides cooked cereal. A coarse-grind of yellow cornmeal adds lovely yellow flecks to bread. Bob's Red Mill will have a coarse grind. Regular cornmeal tends to get lost. This is another grain I mill myself. I make recipes that use a cup of buckwheat groats and another that uses a cup of semolina (the high-protein coarse-grind flour used for making pasta - I mill a whole grain version with durum wheat). You can add sunflower seeds, whole millet, oatmeal, and whole raw quinoa. Have some leftover wild rice? You can add 1/2 a c. to bread. Wild rice and sunflower seeds is a good combination in bread, as is buckwheat and wild rice. You can find recipes that include Malt-O Meal, Farina, Cream of Wheat, Coco Wheat, etc. "Brand Name" cookbooks have recipes with all kinds of commercial cereal. Other options - cracked wheat, bulgur, steel-cut oats. I add chia seeds mixed in water (chia seed gel or "goop") to nearly all loaves of bread. What a nutritional power-house, high in fiber, and an ingredient that will help keep bread from going stale as quick. Flaxseed meal is automatically added to all baked goods. I have 28 grains/seeds/beans in storage and any and all can be added to bread in a number of forms. -Grainlady ...

Lars, I often substitute water for milk in bread, mostly because I'm out of milk, I don't buy it as often because I only drink one glass for breakfast daily and it's always skim, Ashley likes chocolate milk, whcih might actually be OK in some breads but not most. I've also successfully substituted my homemade yogurt for sour cream and milk in bread and muffins without noticeable problems. If it were me, I'd just substitute water in most bread recipes. Croissants are more tender, so that might not be as good an option for them, I'd probably try to sub something else for the milk in those. Annie

I knew it...I just knew it....I was going to get hooked on waffles after reading and rereading about waffles. I have never been a waffle person (I do like pancakes tho)....My husband is the waffle guy...have just decided I am going to buy HIM a waffle iron for Fathers Day and I am going to master the waffle world. I am confused about the difference between the Belguim and regular waffle. Can someone explain to me? No body could read all the waffle threads and not get interested. I am in and now heading to the Good Housekeeping reviews. Shirl

Lien laws vary by state, but my general rule is that you should not give final payment to the GC until he provides you with signed lien release forms from all subs, precisely because the subs can file liens against your house even if you pay the GC in full but he fails to pay the subs. You contracted with the kitchen company, and they hired the sub that did the faulty work, so the kitchen company is ultimately responsible for the quality of the work. Assuming you have not already paid the kitchen company in full for whatever you owe them, I would inform them that you are withholding payment in an amount equal to the full cost of the counters until they provide you with a signed lien release from their sub (it is between them and the fabricator what financial arrangement they come to to get the release signed) as well as properly installed counters. In other words, don't pay until you get exactly what you are paying for plus a lien release from everyone.