(In case this is your first time reading The Dollar Diet blog, my family and I are on a quest to go the entire month of February without spending any money. No kidding. We'll pay the monthly bills, put gas in our cars to get to and from work and spend just $10 a week on milk and produce, but that's it. If it's discretionary, it's off limits. Click here to read the introductory post.)
As you might imagine, 17 days into our 28-day no-spend challenge, our normally packed pantry has some gaping holes.
When you're replenishing with regular trips to the grocery, you don't really notice the steady stream of cans, boxes and bags of food that a family consumes each week.
Then we ran out of bread.
If you've been reading along this month, you know that when the granola bars ran out, I made my own. No honey? No problem. I substituted corn syrup. Ditto for oil. I used applesauce instead.
Then we ran out of bread.I had silently fretted as I noticed we were running low. Down to our last slices, I canceled a grilled cheese and tomato soup supper, but it was only delaying the inevitable.
Sigh.
I got out my bread pans, washed away the dust and baked my own.
I have baked bread before but not very often. I was definitely leaving my comfort zone.
I'm told by those who regularly bake bread for their families that it becomes second nature. But at this stage in my bread-baking journey. I'm not convinced.
Thankfully, I followed a recipe I found on one of my favorite blogs, The Frugal Girl, which came complete with photos. A sort of bread-baking for dummies.
With Frugal Girl's high-tech hand holding, along with a lot of serious hand-wringing over whether the bread would rise, I was able to produce two tasty golden brown loaves.
But it was a lot of work. And it took a lot of time.
I kept thinking how easy it is to pluck a loaf of bread off the store shelf.
And yet....it did give me that self-sufficiency high, knowing I had made something as basic as bread.
And it tasted so good, all warm and yeasty when it came out of the oven and paired with stuffed Italian shells. And later when used to make our postponed grilled cheese and tomato soup.
But guess what? Just four days after my triumphant bread-baking for dummies session, we've only got one third of one loaf left.
If sandwiches are in the plan for the waning days of February, I'll have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN.
This extreme-frugal-living business, while rewarding, can be exhausting.
Comments
Beer Bread, you may be surprised!
Mon, 03/28/2011 - 17:33 — imdebbieI have a recipe for Beer Bread that makes 1 loaf of bread is super easy to make and does not need to rise or be kneaded. It makes a very dense and heavy loaf that is perfect with soups, stews and chili. It's wonderful in the morning as toast, and could be used for grilled sandwiches as well. The alcohol evaporates as it cooks so it does not taste like beer and is safe to eat (it won't make you feel drunk). And best of all you can use inexpensive beer and even flat beer......no more wasted beer! I always make at least 2 loaves at a time.
Beer Bread
3 cups self rising flour
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 12 ounce can of beer
Mix ingredients together, grease loaf pan, bake at 325 for 40-60 minutes, use toothpick to test doneness, cool on wire rack. Makes 1 loaf.
No self rising flour? Mix 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt for EACH cup of regular flour.
I also made a garlic variety by mixing in 6 finely chopped cloves of garlic, before baking the bread. Less garlic could be used based on your own tastes.
artisan bread
Tue, 02/22/2011 - 14:59 — DisappointedI highly recommend artisan bread in 5 minutes cookbook also. If bulk cooking, why not make dough in bulk?
Its really easy. I have not invested in a pizza stone or a peel and still cook bread this way. I store the bulk dough in my kitchenaid mixing bowl with lid so theres no storage step. You could get the book or perhaps, in the spirit of thriftiness, download the 1 basic boule recipe from the internet, I think it is out there.
Seconded
Sun, 02/20/2011 - 19:03 — Oxymoron02While I do not own a copy of the book, Mother Earth News has an article about it online which includes a couple of recipes. My point .... it's free. :)
Good to know! Thanks!
Mon, 02/21/2011 - 12:36 — AmyDunn (author)Good to know! Thanks!
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
Fri, 02/18/2011 - 16:37 — synthasticI recently got this book after rave reviews from friends. It's quicker and simpler than most bread making processes. Plus you make enough dough initially to make up to 4 loaves over the course of two weeks. http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/
have you thought of freezing?
Fri, 02/18/2011 - 14:03 — RaleighMommyI agree, it can be labor-intensive and tiring to make bread. I've found that it freezes well though. So if you do end up doing another bread-making session, might be worth it to make a couple extra batches (while you're at it) and freeze the extra loaves. Just a thought. Good luck!
Great idea to bake extra
Fri, 02/18/2011 - 16:29 — AmyDunn (author)Great idea to bake extra loaves and freeze while the kitchen's already a floury mess. I may try it this weekend.