Fresh Baked Bread

It all started with an offer from my dear (no, really - she's wonderful!) mother-in-law for a hand me down bread machine. At the time, I was 8.5 months pregnant with Eden, chasing two year old Cora and could barely muster the energy to brush my teeth, much less produce a loaf of bread fit for The Little House on the Prairie. I politely declined. Fast forward about a year, and Austin and I start to really dig into what is in our food, who put it there (Monsanto anyone?), and how to best equip our bodies nutritionally for lifelong health. If you take a look at the back of a store bought loaf of bread, the list of ingredients will run long with some that are completely unpronounceable. Food Babe has a great article breaking down some of these ingredients found in popular commercial bread options. After seeing what was really hiding in our bread box, I was finally ready to give that bread machine a try. Two years later, I am still making 100% of the bread our family consumes and I've never looked back. Our journey ultimately brought us to start a large organic garden where we grow the majority of our produce, and raise free range organic chickens along with two Nigerian Dwarf goats who we would like to milk one day.

I'm now on my second hand me down bread machine and what I love about it, is it is so incredibly EASY. Really, it is. My favorite recipe takes me about 7 minutes (with a 5 year old "helper") to prep and get into the bread machine which works tirelessly for the next 3-4 hours to bake up the most delicious, fluffy and nutritious bread you will ever taste. All the ingredients are easily found in your local grocery store, and baking your own bread is also much CHEAPER than store bought. For an artisan style sandwich bread, you'll be shelling out about $4/loaf at the grocery store. I can make one at home for around $1.25, and it's completely chemical and preservative free. And really, you can't beat a kitchen that smells like a bakery for the rest of the day.

Here is my favorite basic sandwich bread recipe. Note that all bread machines are a little different and you may have to experiment a little bit until you get the perfect ratio of wet/dry ingredients.

1/3 cup honey (Or I use a sugar alternative - sucanat cut with honey)
1 1/3 cup water
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil (go with coconut - you won't regret it)
3 tbsp dry milk
3 3/4 Cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp Gluten
2 tbsp ground flax seed (or whole flax seed for an awesome crunchy texture. Just know the whole seed won't be absorbed by your digestive system and you'll be missing the nutritional benefits)
2 tsp yeast

If you're not sure you can stick with it and therefore don't want to spring for a new bread maker, I would encourage you to send out a plea on Facebook to borrow one. You may be surprised to find a grandmother, aunt, friend or neighbor has one they're not using anymore and willing to lend out. I've also seen some bread makers in amazing shape for super cheap at Goodwill and similar thrift stores. Once you fall in love with making your own bread, consider also grinding your own fresh flour. (Don't look at me like that.) I'll have more on grinding your own flour later. For now, give baking your own bread a try. It really doesn't take that long, and is totally worth the time invested when you slice into that first warm fluffy loaf.