Basic White Bread

 

I love making homemade bread.  It makes the kitchen smell so good & it tastes good too!!  It's pretty easy to make, but it does take about 3 hours from start to finish. 

 

Ingredients:

6 1/2 Cups Flour

3 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Tablespoon Salt

2 Tablespoons Shortening (I use margarine)

2 Tablespoons Yeast

2 1/4 Cups of warm water (120-130 degrees Fahrenheit)

 

Mix 3 1/2 Cups of flour, sugar, salt, shortening and yeast in a large bowl.  Add the warm water.  Beat with a mixer 1 minute on low speed and then 1 minute on medium speed.  Stir in the remaining 3 Cups of flour, 1 Cup at a time, until the dough is easy to handle.

 

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes.  If you have an electric mixer, you can kneed the dough with a dough hook on your  mixer (it will take less than 10 minutes this way - mine takes 5 minutes).  Grease a large bowl and put the ball of dough in a greased bowl and then turn the dough over so the greased side is up.  Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour.  I cover mine with a towel or foil and then I put it inside my oven with the oven turned off for it to rise.

 

 

This is what my dough looks like after it's risen for 1 hour.  Punch the dough down and divide it in half.

 

 

Roll each half into a long rectangle on a floured surface (I do this on a piece of foil to make an easy clean up).  Make sure the dough isn't wider than your bread pan.

 

 

Roll the dough up tightly, sealing the dough to the bottom with your fingers after each roll.

 

 

Seal the edge of the dough to the rest of the dough by pressing it down with your fingers.

 

 

Roll the ends of the dough towards the bottom and seal them to the bottom of the dough.

 

 

 

Do this step with both pieces of dough.  Grease two bread pans.  Place the dough seam side down in the bread pan.  Cover and let it rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.

 

Dough before it's risen the second time

 

Dough after it's risen the second time

 

Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes.  I sometimes cover mine lightly with foil about 15 minutes into the cooking time so that the tops don't get too brown.

 

Recipe Credit:  Betty Crocker

Fudgecicles

 

I would probably call these "Healthy Fudgecicles." They are not super sweet like the fudgecicles I grew up with (so I can't say that I just love them), but WOW my children chow down on these!

 

Ingredients:

4 frozen bananas

1 Tablespoon peanut butter

3 Tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 Cups milk

 

Place all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into Popsicles molds and freeze.

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe Credit:  www.blessthismessplease.com

Pasta & Veggies

I like easy lunch ideas that not only work for a hot lunch at home, but also work for a cold school lunch.  This is an easy recipe. 

 

Boil a large pot of water & add 5 chicken bouillon cubes to the water.  Once the water is boiling, add an entire package of pasta (any type, but I tend to use penne).  Cook until the pasta is done.  Drain the water. 

 

In a skillet, add some veggies - whatever you have on hand (I like to use garlic, onion, mushrooms, shredded carrots, shredded zucchini, etc.)  You can use any amount of veggies, but I tend to fill my pan about this full.  Sautee the veggies with a little olive oil.

Once the veggies are cooked, add them to the pasta and stir it together until it is well mixed.

Avocado Bacon Toast

 

I am always looking for easy breakfast ideas.  I read about this idea online and I decided to try it & was pleasantly surprised.

 

It is simple, just toast bread in the toaster.  Take a little avocado (I used one large avocado for our entire family of 6) and spread it on the bread.  Fry a couple pieces of bacon, pat them dry on a paper towel and then cut them into small pieces.  Sprinkle the bacon pieces on the toast.  Breakfast is ready!

Kitchen Tip

 

Here's a little tip from my kitchen that saves me a lot of time.  Once a week, I have my House Keeper cut up garlic and onions and I store them in the fridge.   When I have a meal that calls for chopped garlic or onions, all I have to do is pull them out of the fridge.