Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Tried but not so true

What a week, and it's only Wednesday! I have felt totally exhausted everyday this week, and I'm not really sure why. I haven't even begun to pack for the weekend or anything! Since we were outside all last weekend, the house was in a complete disarray on Monday morning. I've almost caught up our mountain of laundry, and even have most of Carl's clothes ironed. So I can't figure out the lethargy. Must be about that time of the month.

All this talk about rice, and corn, and our economy is starting to get to me. I mean, when it was the housing market, I just thought that this seemed rather typical after so many years of prices steadily rising, sales steadily rising, low interest rates, etc. The gas prices irritate me, but there's not really anything I can do about it. I mean, I live in Montana-everything is 15 miles away. I have to drive, and I have to buy gas to do so. I've just made cuts in other areas. But the whole food thing is just too much! Seriously, how many areas can they get us in? I am literally spending the same amount of money on basic groceries as I used to spend on really great, extravagant meals. I think it's definitely good for me to learn some frugality, I am actually enjoying doing things a little differently. I'm so proud of myself when I remember to keep lights turned off, use less water, make only necessary trips to town, cook with what I have rather than exactly what the recipe says, buy the kids used clothing, etc. But the sad part is that these changes aren't making us have extra money, rather they're just allowing us to get by. Crazy.

I'm going to have Carl put up a clothes line for me in the backyard so that I can hang our clean clothes out this summer. I really love how clothes smell when they hang to dry, plus I won't have to use the dryer. I can't wait!

So, I baked my bread yesterday from the no-knead recipe. Becky was right, it is good, but very crusty. I baked it for the minimum time recommended, but the outside is a little hard for my liking. But the inside was really very good. I think I'll try it again, but bake it for less time and see if it's better. I was actually really surprised that the tast was as good as it was, since it only has flour, water, salt and yeast. So simple! I used to love bread making, but haven't really had the time since I had the kids. However, since I'm staying home more, I have more free time and it's nice to do something I enjoy that also gives us the benefit of homemade bread!

Does anyone have any bread recipes they love that always turn out great?

5 comments:

R said...

the pics below are so cute. avery is quite the beauty.
it's funny -- i get the same sense of accomplishment from all the corner cutting . . .
there's a cinnamon bread recipe on noteatingoutinny.com that I want to try. I use my breadmaker a lot --it has a quick setting. I think the no-knead bread is really good with soup. the crustiness doesn't matter so much then. I have a pumpkin bread recipe I like too, but I am a nut for pumpkin.

your comment on my post made me smile. it's so nice when life is good.

aola said...

When Mark and I first married before having kids I used to bake all my own bread and got very good at it. I will have to dig out my old recipe for you. The trick for good bread is in the kneading. I used to set the timer and make myself knead for the full 10 minutes. Talk about a work out!!

Unknown said...

I'm actually a huge fan of corn bread, biscuits, and tortillas.

Home made tortillas are a zillion times better than store bought and have 4 ingredients:

Flour
oil
baking powder
water

you can make a big batch and keep them or a little batch and eat them.

I hear you about the cost of food. If there was ever a time for a home garden, this is it. I'm not 'allowed' to have one as I live in a trailer park, but I'm allowed containers, and I'm going to have containers with everything under the sun.

McMom said...

I need to try my hand at baking bread. I know though that a loaf would last all of a few hours in this house though. They think it is a dessert or something. It would never last like a store bought loaf of bread and in the end I may end up spending more to get enough bread. OR try to get them to pratice moderation.

aola said...

Cheri, when I used to bake bread all the time I would pick a day to do bread and do several loaves; I always made one loaf extra to eat straight out of the oven with butter and honey. It was a special treat and the rest was used normally.