Ok, so I’m 31 and have 3 (thousand) kids, so I figured it’s ’bout time I get down to bid-ness on the whole “Food Storage” thing… that and learn to bake my own bread!!!  Yep, never thought I’d see the day, I might as well put on my bonnet and bloomers.  BUT – I have started baking my own wheat bread and I love it!!  I got this recipe from my “mother-of-the-year” friend Laurene “Lips” Ross – she was also a Loreal-counter girl for like 20 years so you know this recipe isn’t TOO Molly Mormon.

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Ingredients:2 packages fast rising yeast (5 tsp)1/2 cup warm water1 tsp sugar2 cups warm water1 Tbl salt (salt salt salt, ha ha!)1/3 cup oil or applesauce (or 1 cup flax meal)1/3 cup honey or sugar4-5 cups flour (red wheat, white wheat, white, etc.)Mix yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and 1 tsp sugar in mixing bowl, let rise.  Add wet ingredients, mix.  Add dry ingredients one cup at a time.  Knead 5-10 minutes in mixer until elastic.  Put dough into two greased pans and let rise until doubled.  Bake @ 350 for 30 minutes.Variations:Oil:  I always use olive oil, the applesauce is not my favorite.  BUT, what I do to cut back on the oil is use half the amount of oil (1/6 cup) and half the amount of flax meal (Trader Joe’s baby!)  Flax meal has a 3 to 1 cooking ratio, so instead of using 1/6 cup flax, you put in 1/2 cup of flax meal.  Make sense? (1/6 x 3 = 3/6 = 1/2)Honey:  I always use honey, never sugar at this point.  I do use sugar in the beginning w/the yeast.Flour:  I’ve tried all different types of flour.  My favorite is just using white wheat flour.  It tastes the best and has the same nutrition as the red wheat.  I never use regular white flour. The kids actually like the bread and eat it for sandwiches, french toast, just w/butter or peanut butter on top, etc. I freeze one loaf and chow down on the other – even my “Gourmet-all-the-way” husband likes it! Now where did I put my Dutch Oven? :)