Talk About My daily bread

To read others are talking about on "Talk About Tuesday" click here!!!

Sunday was a wonderfully domestic day in the kitchen.  However, wonderfully domestic does not transcend to the laundry room (where I really should have been) nor the bathrooms.  In my defense, my children normally take care of the bathrooms, but I gave them the day off so I didn't have to deal with complaining children while trying to think  I could concentrate on baking bread.

Yes, yes, I get the gold-star mommy award for the day.  Thank you. Thank you.  ::bowing::

I have to admit, I am not much of a bread baker and have spent the past three weeks looking for a bread machine to "do the work for me".  Problem is, I know what I want in a bread machine and unfortunately, those bread machines cost way too much.  I even looked at thrift stores, praying before I entered "Please God, let me find a breadmaker that works and doesn't have dead roaches in it."  No luck.  Apparently God wants me to knead the dough by hand.  You are aware that God has an amazing sense of humor, right?  I'm not sure why I am always the subject of these kind of jokes, but whatever...He's God.  Who am I to question how He grows me.  In fact, if I weren't so stubborn, He wouldn't have to use such methods.  

Taking the hint, I decided to take my kids to the library and research bread books.  I've had my eye on sour dough ever since I read The Lazy Organizer's post about heavenly sour dough pita's .  First, I begged Lara for some starter and then she ignored me.  Hmmmph.  I guess she has other things to do like, make us all envy her beautiful figure (as we all gulp down massive amounts of Green Smoothies so we, too, can lose weight without trying),  express her fabulous sewing skills,  or maybe she was just taking care of her family while preparing for an important trip where she is speaking at a seminar.  Yeah...I think that's it.  She would offer me a cup of her starter if she had even a moments time to think, let alone pack, ya know.  We're, um.....tight. 

All kidding aside, I do wish Lara a safe trip and successful seminar.  Oh, and Lara, because you didn't save me, I did research on my own and now I can use words like "Mother Sponge", "Baby Sponge", "lactobacillus" and "starter" in a sentence.  Plus, the best part is....we now are the proud owners of a new "pet" that we must feed every day, unless we put our "pet" in the fridge and then we have to feed it every week.  Apparently, cold pets don't need to eat that often.  I wonder if Lilo would like the fridge?

Back to the bread.....

I'm sick of wasting money on loaf after loaf of bread.  I feel it's my duty to keep bread on hand in case any of my constantly hungry children want a sandwich.  I typically buy two loaves and they just sit there half eaten.  Mostly because it's school time and the kids prefer school lunches.  I know that doesn't mean I (or they) can't pack a yummy lunch, it just means the schools in our district do a pretty decent job of preparing healthy meals.  I'm sure I could do better, but if my children are anything like me, it's a bummer to have a soggy peanut butter and jelly sandwich waiting for you when the aroma of mashed potatoes and gravy seeps under your classroom door.   

Now I know you're thinking, "Why do you buy bread if nobody eats it?", believe me..I've asked myself that question many times.  The thing is, we do eat bread, just not often.  However, when we make sandwiches, we tend to go through two bags of bread at a time, which is why I usually keep two loaves on the counter.  We also prefer to eat more artisan type breads, sourdough, whole wheat baguettes and Rhodes rolls for sandwiches.

Despite my desire to stimulate the economy and use a months income on a new camera, I am feeling frugal when it comes to groceries.  My cart, in the past few months, has held less and less processed foods and more and more produce.  This definately doesn't make much of a difference in my grocery bill, in fact, it is probably a bit higher though I haven't really processed the numbers. Seeing my children pick an apple or slice of cheese for a snack instead of a handful of potato chips makes me feel like I'm doing something right.  I'd rather keep my kitchen stocked with fresh fruit and veggies, smoothie ingredients and a few healthier easy foods than all the crud I used to purchase.  

Which, oh yeah, brings me back to bread.  

I actually made two loaves of Honey Whole Wheat bread (that the kids and hubby loved) and piadina's on Sunday afternoon.  We topped the piadina's with turkey, avacado, bacon, tomato and lettuce for a quick and yummy Sunday dinner.  I cut mine up and drizzled Basalmic Vinegar dressing on it and instantly decided that Basalmic Vinegar dressing must go on everything.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures.  It probably makes my blog posts rather boring, but with all the clean up and the kids scarfing down everything...I just didn't have time to take a photo.  Next time I will.  I still would like a bread maker, just because my Kitchen Aid wasn't handling the dough very well.  The last thing I need is for that to burn up.  I would cry if I lost my Kitchen Aid.  

Here is the piadina recipe if you are interested.  

Now I must go feed my "pet" and research sourdough pizza crust recipes.  I'm thinking a garlic chicken alfredo topping sounds wonderful.  Don't you?