Fabulous Friday~ Baking Bread
Fabulous Friday is a way to recap the week and give you some frugal tips for the weekend. Please share what you’re up to this weekend! Molly
Baking bread is not only a frugal alternative to store-bought but it can be a healthier one too. I find baking bread to be a very enjoyable activity on my weekly to-do list (I wish I could say the same about other to-do items). I’m not sure I’ve ever met a person who didn’t love the smell of fresh baking bread, not to mention the taste! I also happen to like that the whole grain bread I serve fills my children’s bellies and keeps them full for quite awhile. Frugal and functional!
If you’re a beginning bread baker, don’t get worried about what exact recipe to use or all the ingredients you could possibly choose from. My advice would be to choose a type of bread you really like such as white, wheat or rye. Then go looking for recipes and decide if you would like to do loaves, buns/rolls, bread sticks, dough (for pizza or cinnamon rolls), etc. The possibilities are endless & basic bread baking skills are all you need to get started. You might want to do a little research on yeast and how to use it (if you’re not making flatbread that is). I use a mixer but having one is not a necessity. I’ve seen plenty of no knead bread recipes in the past-just like this one.
If you have the time (or desire) to research flour/grains, I think you’ll be intrigued. There’s so much to learn about the nutritional value (or lack of nutrition) in various flours and grains. Milling your own flour is the closest thing you’ll get to optimal nutrition in flour (in my opinion). Do you know someone who mills their own flour? Have you ever tasted bread from freshly milled flour? What’s your opinion?
This weekend I’ll be slowing down the pace after a crazy week. I’ll be making bread and my hopes are that it will make it through next week. Do you enjoy baking? Have you been making bread for your family for years or are you just beginning?
I have always loved baking! It’s one of my favorite things to do. I especially love baking with my kids. As my daughter gets older (she is 8 now) it has become a very special time for us to bake something together. We started making our own bread (not all the time but we are working on having it more often!) about 2 years ago and it is such a fun thing to do together. The smell of fresh bread baking is amazing!
Molly says: My daughters also really enjoy helping to prepare our bread. All of the kids come around when they smell it baking, just waiting for a warm slice! What a great memory making idea, especially for mothers and daughters!
Ok, I’m feeling a bit motivated. I think I am going to go and bake a loaf of bread! =)
Molly says: I’m sure it’s yummy!
Baking your own bread really spoils you for store bought.
When I was growing up we only had home made bread. We loved getting a loaf of store bought because it toasted so nice.
Fun memories.
Molly says: I think it’s rather interesting that a lot of my childhood memories involve food as well. Good memories & good food!
I love homemade wheat bread. Fortunately I am able to get the wheat flour from a lady that grinds her own. But bread making will have to wait – I hate using the oven in warm weather and it is just not the same in the bread maker. However, you made me hungry so I think the bread maker is going to get some use this summer. Thanks Molly.
Molly says: I definitely crave bread (with a nice bowl of soup) in the winter! Making bread in the summer does require a little planning to keep from heating up the house. Our bread machine has a timer- I love that option when I remember to use it!