Adventures in Breadmaking

In an attempt to cut back wherever possible, I have decided to take on the challenge of making our sandwich and dinner roll bread. If it works, I'll be saving us loads of money! If not, well, at least I can say I tried, and I'd only be out 10 bucks. 

 I totally forgot to take pictures throughout my first attempt, but here's the result. 

They didn't turn out *too* bad; but they definitely did not turn out the way I intended. After talking with a few of my friends (including the one who gave me the recipe), I came to the conclusion that I did not let the bread rise enough. The bread tasted fantastic! But, because they did not rise enough, the loaves were super dense and had a squishy texture in the middle. Not good enough for sandwiches, but they worked out great for snacking! We gobbled up all four loaves in 3 days!

Well, today, I decided to give it another go & I'm glad I did! I still need to keep a better eye on the rising, but I am pleased with the results. And, I remembered to take pictures this time!

First, I pulled out my mixer, put the kneading hook on & gathered up all my ingredients. 

Flour, sugar, yeast, salt, olive oil, warm water

I put the warm water into the mixer, added the yeast & let it sit for a few minutes.

While that was sitting, I combined the rest of the dry ingredients & mixed them well.

Once the yeast/water was ready, I dumped the dry ingredients into the mixer. When I turned around, I saw the oil! I probably should have tossed that in before the dry ingredients, but I don't think it really mattered.

I put the mixer on "stir" for a minute, then put it up to 2 for 2 minutes. The dough came out perfect!

I decided to only do 2 loaves this time, so I halved the dough.

I took one of the halves & split it again, into the shape of 2 loaves....

...I placed them on a plate lined with parchment paper & when they were frozen, I put them into a ziploc bag & back into the freezer to bake another day.

I placed the other half of the dough into a bowl & then placed it into a warmish oven to rise for about 25 minutes. (I left the oven door open. I was afraid it would start to bake! lol)

I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it, but once the dough had had doubled in size, I shaped it into 2 loaves. I placed each one in a greased (I used Pam) bread pan.....

....then back into the warmish oven for the second rise.

I kept the bread in the warmish oven for 15 minutes. Then, I placed them on top of the oven, to finish raising (is that a word?) while the oven pre-heated.

Here's what they looked like just before going in the oven. Looks good, so far!

I baked them for 20 mins & put them on the counter to cool. Here's what they look like from the side....

..and here's what they looked like from the front.
Pretty good, right?! The one on the left was a bit too short & was more dense than I wanted. But, it was way better than before! The loaf on the right was more of what I was looking for. I think I needed them to rise a bit longer, but all in all, they turned out great! I'm looking forward to getting this right & making this work. The bread is super tasty & will be great for sandwiches & rolls!



Here's the recipe I used. It makes 4 loaves. OH! Make note that the original recipe calls for INSTANT yeast. I bought DRY ACTIVE yeast & that's why I had to do the double rise. If you use the instant yeast, follow the directions below. If you use the dry active yeast, then you'll need to do what I did, and have the dough rise twice. Once in the bowl & then again in the loaf pans.

Ingredients: 10 1/2 cups white unbleached bread flour (a 25lb bag of flour is only 7 bucks at Costco! That's the same price as 2 loaves of bread! What a savings!)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp salt
3 rounded tbsp Instant Yeast (This also can be purchased at Costco. It was $5, and will last quite a while)
3 tbsp liquid lecithin* (veg. or olive oil ok to use. I used olive oil.)
4 cups warm tap water

Instructions: Mix dry ingredients. Add lecithin/oil and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add more water. If dough is too moist, add more flour. Mix for 5 minutes. If you have a Kitchenaid mixer, you'll only need to mix for 2 minutes. (Do not add water or flour to the dough after  it has finished mixing.)

To cook now- Spray counter and pans with Pam. Shape loaves and cover with a dish towel. Let raise 25 minutes, or until dough has doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

To freeze- form the bread into the shape that you will be cooking it in (rolls, bread-sticks, or a loaf) and put in freezer on a cookie sheet until stiff. Take off of the cookie sheet and place in a labeled freezer bag. Leave rolls out approximately 3 hours before cooking and bread about 4. Add toppings (cheese or spices) to the bread-sticks just before baking.

***For wheat bread: Use 3 cups water and 1 cup applesauce. I also exchange my white sugar for brown sugar and add some honey for honey wheat. I tend to allow my wheat bread far more rise time in an effort to keep it from being too dense.

I have no idea the actual cost of each loaf, but I'm guessing it's just over a buck. NICE! Not only will we have great tasting bread, but it will be made with only real ingredients, and will be saving us money. I think I hit the jackpot with this one! =D

Breakfast for a Week! In 5 minutes?

Since the arrival of Genevieve, I have been looking high and low for solutions to two major problems: time & money. So, when I discovered something that would do both, I had to try it! I took on the breakfast challenge. How to make sure the Hubbs could get a HEALTHY, quick breakfast, every morning before work - WITHOUT having to spend extra money. Enter the solution. Via Pinterest...duh!

Dan enjoys eating steel cut oats in the morning, along with his new found love, Chobani. That's great! Such a healthy, protein-packed breakfast, what wife wouldn't want to make that for her husband?! Yeah, have you ever actually cooked steel cut oats? It. Takes. For. Ever! With the addition of the wee one, I seriously don't have time for that. But, I do have time for Pinterest (lol), and when I saw the headline: "Breakfast for a Week in 5 Minutes", along with a photo of steel cut oats, I felt like I'd hit the jackpot! Once I read through the original post, I went to Target to pick up a few things & got to work! Once it was done, I was shocked at how easy it was. Then felt sorta stupid for not thinking of it sooner. Doh!

Here's the super-easy, way to make a healthy breakfast for an entire week, in just about 5 mins. 

 First, grab some mason jars. I went with half-pint, but probably should have gone with the pint, so Hubbs could actually mix in some goodies. Then, of course, pick up some oats! There are a few brands out there, but Quaker was on sale, so it's what I got.

 Line up the jars next to the stove, so you're ready to go. 

 Once the water & oats have come to a boil....

 

simply ladle the water & oats into the jars...

 

close the lids & walk away!

Leave them out on the counter over night. Then, in the morning, put  all of the jars into the fridge, minus one.

Take that one, add a bit of milk & sugar, or whatever suits your fancy & you've got a tasty breakfast now AND for the rest of the week! 

Look at that face! Who knew something so easy, could make him so happy?! lol!!

Here's the recipe, as taken from the post: 

1. Collect your jars and other equipment. I like pint-sized jars for this as they allow a little more room for adding nuts, raisins, and milk later. But you can also use half-pint jars.

2. Bring the oats, water and salt to a boil. Simmer for about 3 minutes then turn off the heat.

3. Ladle the oats and water into the jars. Cover the jars tightly with their caps and rings. Leave on the counter overnight.

4. The next morning, put all but one of the jars in the refrigerator. Take the cap off one jar and stir up the oatmeal inside. Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, or until quite hot. Add any milk, raisins, or other mix-ins. Enjoy!

That's it! Easy, right?! Thanks, again, Pinterest!

Meal Planning Made Easy!!

Head on over to my girlfriend's blog & check out my latest post! While you're there, sign up to follow her site & of course, click all the links! Then, come back here next week to read a few new posts.   Thanks for following me as I get this blog off the ground. =D

A Walk to Remember

I'm so excited!! It's been a VERY long time coming! After all these years, this will be the first quilt I've made just for me!! I have kept the scrap fabric from about 7 different quilts, and am creating a very unique and very special quilt. I'm sure as I'm making it, and as I'm using it, I will be able to enjoy memory after memory of all the girls with whom I share the fabric.

This project is very much a representation of a large chapter in my life. Each piece of fabric represents someone who shared in that story and helped shape who I am today - in one way or another. This quilt will be very symbolic of my time and experiences at LBC. Beautiful, colorful, simple yet complex, full of character  - and finished. Let's face it - life changes! People grow up, move away, change ideals, mature, etc. We had a lot of wonderful memories (and a lot of sad ones), met a lot of great people, learned, grew, and made some life long friends. Finishing this quilt will definitely be finishing that great and terrible chapter, and I will at last be able to move on.

Please join me as I go (and grow) through this process!

Choosing fabric!

This is a large portion of the scrap that I have from those quilts. Each of them are so different from the others, that it was hard to envision how they would all fit together and coexist in one project. But as you can see from this photo, they go quite well!

I find it a bit ironic that the name of the pattern is "Bonds of Affection"

Choosing a Pattern:

When it was time to find just the right pattern, I turned to my stacks of quilt magazines and spent hours pouring over every page. I knew that I had lots of varying fabrics - and lots of varying white!. So, I figured it would all make a terrifically scrappy quilt! As I was looking, this one popped out and "called my name". I put it aside and went through all my other patterns, but at the end of all the searching, I knew this was the one.

Note my scribbles & re-scribbles. lol

Making it work:

Obviously, since the pattern was designed with a specific fabric in mind,  I needed to tweak it to work with what fabric I had. This is where the fun (and the math >.<) begins! It took me about 30 mins (and 2 Tylenol) to figure it out, but it was imperative to have exact directions, or the entire project could go wrong...so very, very wrong. lol








Cutting it up:

Fabric sorted & ready for pressing & cutting! (In my kitchen/dining room/classroom/quilt studio :D)

All pressed, cut, sorted & ready for piecing!

I'm really looking forward to working on, and finishing this project! I absolutely love sitting down to cut, sew, pres & fuss over every little detail.  After all the headaches, sore wrists, raw fingertips & piles of cut (& ripped out!) thread, I'll FINALLY have a quilt for me!  Yay!

**Over the summer, I'll be doing a few more posts on this project, as I go through it. I've named the quilt "A Walk to Remember." They will be more "instructional," so I'll be posting them on my other site, lissiegirlquilts. The site is still not all the way up yet, but I'll link to them when they become available. Thanks for following me on this journey! As always, leave your comments & suggestions. I'm eager to hear from you!**