Monday, February 7, 2011

Simple Breadmaking

As I look back over today I'm feeling good about what I was able to accomplish.  Some days just flow.. very few interruptions and much accomplished. Today was one of those days. I was able to finish a variety of tasks which is always very fulfilling. Yet, I understand that it's necessary for my conformity (to be more like Jesus) that I not be allowed this luxury consistently. It's good to bow my will to the Father's and to learn to adapt to His schedule rather than mine.

I've been trying to find time to bake bread for quite a few days and finally today was the day. I find breadmaking much easier and less time consuming since I learned to use my bread machine's dough cycle to do the initial work of the kneeding and rising.  Once the dough cycle is finished I drop the dough into a greased loaf pan and let it rise in a warm oven for nearly an hour and then bake it to a golden brown.
In my quest to stretch my pennies (until they scream for mercy) .... I've learned I have to bake and cook ahead of time. If I wait until I'm out of an item then oftentimes I'll give in to the temptation to purchase the item instead.  I was blessed with some large hotdogs from a food pantry. My husband wanted a chili dog so I made whole wheat hot dog rolls today and froze them until the mood hits him.  I also made a loaf of whole wheat sandwich bread and gave half to my mother since she loves it for toast in the mornings.  We try not to eat a lot of bread but my husband still likes his occasional sandwich.

I've been blessed to find whole wheat flour and white flour for breadmaking at $1.50 (5#). I have not figured out how much each loaf costs but I would venture to say that it's much less than half as much as the store bought loaves since you rarely can find a healthy loaf of bread for less than $3.00. I found a bread slicer at a thrift store for less than $3.00 which slices a thin piece for sandwiches.

A few days ago I made whole wheat tortillas. I froze them for future meals. In the past I've always made white flour tortillas so this was the first time I tried my hand at a whole wheat recipe.

Here are a few of the bread type items I try to make at home instead of paying high prices at the grocery store:
- Tortillas
- Sandwich bread
- Hot dog buns
- Hamburger buns
- Pizza crust

Do you make your own bread items? Do you have a favorite recipe?