Bread recipes!!!

Ok, so I may have a new endeavour- an organic farm has been in talks with me yesterday and today about baking bread for them weekly to sell at their farm for people who come in, and to put in their cooperative baskets they give to their "CSA" members (will put a link to what a CSA is later). ANYWAY, I love baking bread- have a couple tried and true recipes I am going to give a whirl to today and let the family decide what I am going to sell this weekend. As honey said "this could be something, or this could be nothing" because after the farm ends this november, maybe people will be calling and asking me to make for them on the side? maybe the start of a business? As honey said "wouldn't it be cool....you would have a job you love, AND make some money at the same time!" Yes, granted right now the money from the farm isn't TONS, but eventually.....

So, here's one of my recipes..... For white bread....

Dough ingredients
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast or 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour


Heat water between 105-115°F.
I use water out of the tap, and let it run until I just can't keep my hand under any longer!
Dissolve yeast in water in a large mixing bowl.
Stir in sugar, oil and salt.
Stir in 2 cups flour until smooth.
Cover with a dish cloth and set in a warm place to rise for 15 min or until double in size.
Stir down.
Add 2 1/2 cups flour, and stir to combine.
Place 1/2 cup flour on your clean dry kneading surface.
Turn dough onto surface and knead until most of the flour is worked in, or to a nice smooth consistency, 3-8 minutes.
Cut in half and form into 2 loaves.
Place in loaf pans sprayed with oil.
Allow to rise, covered, for 20 min or until doubled in size.
Bake at 425°F, or until it is lightly browned and sounds hollow when tapped on top.
Take out of pans immediately and allow to cool.

English Muffin Bread


5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 packages active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups skim milk, warmed
1/2 cup water
cornmeal
In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda.
Add warm milk and water; beat on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl occasionally.
Beat on high for 3 minutes.
Stir in remaining flour (batter will be stiff.) DO NOT KNEAD.
Spray with cooking spray two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2" loaf pans.
Sprinkle pans with cornmeal.
Spoon batter into the pans and sprinkle cornmeal on top.
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake at 375 for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire racks.
Slice and toast.
NOTES : If desired wrap 1 loaf in foil and freeze.

How to break the blues cycle..... my 2 cents

ok, so I have been pretty glum lately (at least I hope mostly inwardly! LOL) and have been trying to find my way out of it.....I love reading books, but never seem to find the time, so when I substitute I take all kinds of books with me I haven't had time to read but really wanted to!

One I read lately was 'momma get the hammer, there's a fly on papa's head" http://www.amazon.com/Mama-Hammer-Theres-Papas-Head/dp/0849934176/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1241184967&sr=8-1 now, I am a firm believer in take what you need, discard the rest. There are things in there that don't pertain to me or my situation, but she has a lot of amazing things in there that do! She has written many books, and maybe another one would suit someone better. These are bible based books, so that is one reason i like them so much.

But I took many things out of her book and put them into a word document , each saying on a seperate page, and then hung them up around the house! I ended up with 19 sayings (I could have done more, and I am sure I will!) I printed them twice so I would have more, and I put them EVERYWHERE! LOL I put 4 on each bedroom and bathroom door, 2 on the pantry doors, 2 on some of the kitchen cabinets, I mean, everywhere I look I am confronted by these sayings!

I am going to post the ones I used below so you can use them if you like..... maybe research your own, find a book you like and pull some quotes out that speak to you! It is a small step, but after a while you get brainwashed! baby steps.....


NO
WHINING
ALLOWED

KNOW
YOUR
LIMITS

I HAVE
MET
THE ENEMY
AND
SHE IS
ME!

LOVE MAKES THE
WORLD GO ROUND
BUT LAUGHTER
KEEPS YOU FROM
GETTING DIZZY

THE SHORTEST
DISTANCE
BETWEEN 2 PEOPLE
IS
A
SMILE! :)

WE DON'T LAUGH
BECAUSE WE'RE HAPPY,
WE'RE HAPPY
BECAUSE WE
LAUGH!

ANY DAY
ABOVE
GROUND
IS A GOOD
ONE!

A SMILE IS THE
LIGHT IN THE WINDOW OF YOUR
FACE THAT TELLS
PEOPLE YOU'RE
AT HOME

SILENCE IS
DARNED HARD
TO COME BY
WHEN YOU HAVE
KIDS......

PROVERBS 15:15
WHEN A WOMAN IS GLOOMY,
EVERYTHING SEEMS TO GO WRONG;
WHEN SHE IS CHEERFUL
EVERYTHING SEEMS TO GO RIGHT.

GRIPING
NOT
TOLERATED

COME DOWN
OFF THAT CROSS!!!
WE NEED
THE WOOD!

GOD WILL NEVER
LEAD YOU
WHERE HIS
STRENGTH
CANNOT
KEEP YOU

ISIAH 49:16
SEE! I WILL NOT FORGET YOU!
I HAVE CARVED YOU
ON THE PALM
OF MY HAND!

WHEN YOU ARE
IN A JAM,
GOOD FRIENDS
WILL BRING YOU BREAD
WITH PEANUT BUTTER ON IT!

WHEN LIFE BRINGS
TOO MUCH
PRESSURE,
TEARS ARE THE
SAFETY VALVES
OF THE
HEART

HE WASHES
OUR EYES
WITH TEARS
THAT
WE MIGHT SEE!

YOU EARN
RESPECT
BY HOW YOU LIVE
NOT BY
WHAT
YOU DEMAND!

Landscaping on a budget....

Ok, so I am working in my garden this morning- first time all week I have been able to!- and it hits me! I MUST tell you all about what I have been doing! It rained last night, so it was a perfect time for me to pull weeds, by the way! ANYWAY! LOL

Landscaping is an expensive proposition, no matter what, extra dirt, rocks, plants,etc! On a budget? NO WAY you say! LOL Well, it does involve a bit of patience on your end. I started this last year, and am seeing great progress in my yard this spring! I am so excited! Here's what I did:

1. take a walk around YOUR YARD! yep, if you are like me...sometimes mowing is slow...... so this works best for people like me. If you are NOT like me, I know you know someone like me.....ask if you can walk in their yard... you will know them... their grass is the longest on the block! (no fault of our own this time..... the belt that turns the blade broke and we are trying to scrape together money to get a new one, and possibly have someone install it!)

In the spring you will find tons of "volunteers". NO, I do NOT mean your kids! ;) They are those pesky plants tht pop up all over the yard in the most in opportune places. some bushes, some flowers, some baby trees! DON'T throw them away! Start planning in your head how you want your yard to look! Where can you best use those plants? have a nasty fencerow you don't like to look at? put those bushes to use there! Need tall pretty flowering bushes? Put some some rose of sharon babies there. Don't like where someone else planted some iris bulbs? before they start growing, replant them!

The best time to replant things is early early spring before they start growing (bulbs) or right after they do ( the bushes, baby trees). I will tell you, Rose of Sharon bushes are very expensive, and I have probably replanted over a dozen or more last year, and will plant that many more this year. How much money have I saved? Ok, so not all make it (mowers, weather, etc) but who cares? they were free, and I will have more volunteers next year!

Granted most of the things you will replant will be green - but you will be able to shape them how you want to, and they can end up very ornamental. I have had the surprise this year of one bush I let grow (it was where I wanted it anyway!) looks like it just might FLOWER this year! how exciting! And I just thought it was a general run of the mill bush!

The best part about all this? Nope, not that it's free! It's that they were growing in your yard anyway, they are used to your soil, so when you replant them, it's not as much of a shock to their system, and they are more likely to thrive! last years "baby plants' that were mere inches grew into 2'-3' tall bushes! I will let them grow a bit more before I trim them this year, but how exciting , huh?

2. The other thing I did last year is take advantage of all the website deals on the internet for plants. I did NOT buy live plants if possible. I only bought bulbs, or perennials. Granted some can be boring, but hey.... THEY COME BACK EVERY YEAR!!!!

I will get some links on the side later today (after my field trip!) for my favorite sites.... but you can search some like burpee.com, gurneys.com, etc and usually they will have a buy $50, get $25 free, or some such deal going on. so, you are actually getting $75 worth of plants for $50.... don't forget to factor in tax and shipping! I have seen better deals than that, and you can sometimes find coupon codes but if you sign up for their emails, they will send you great codes as well!

don't forget to ask around on Freecycle for free dirt, plants, or anything else you are looking for (within reason please) to help your garden grow! right now we have no edging, but a good spade and time can take care of that, if we want to deal with it. start a compost pile to help you get good dirt going for your garden.

this you can do. if I can do it (and my family says I have a "black thumb") then YOU can do it!

Menu for week of 4/26/09

Ok, still working on keeping things lean around here so we can pay off bills.....who isn't.....so here's how to do it! Make sure every morsel that comes into the house has a REASON! Just like every dollar you make has a PURPOSE, if you don't have a reason for what you are buying, it will "poof" and be gone before you realize what you REALLY wanted to use it for!

So, try to make menus for all 3 meals... Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I usually make a 2 week menu for breakfast and lunch and just use that as a guide as to what to buy for a week or two depending on our budget, what I want to do. Here's our Menu for this week (all meals). This way, we also know we have enough food in the house to feed everyone every day! Thats always a bonus! lol

Breakfast- last week was TCAPs (standardized acheivement testing) and the kids really enjoyed the breakfast sausages we got and did on the "george foreman" every morning. They are .89/box- we did one box a day, and then if they wanted to supplement with something else, they could choose from other stuff on the menu. Here's their options this week:

Cereal : we have 3 kinds
banana muffins
fried egg sandwiches
fried eggs
scrambled eggs
toad in the holes
cinnamon toast
1/2 pb sandwich
pb toast
biscuits
oatmeal (different flavors)

Lunch: Since school is still in session, it is still cheaper to send lunches than buy. because we homeschooled for so long, my kids are spoiled and prefer hot lunches..... soooo hard! LOL

Baloney sandwiches
grilled cheese sandwiches
pb sandwiches
hotdogs (with or w/o buns)
leftovers
tomato soup
3 kinds of chips
carrots/celery
apples
ham sandwiches
cream cheese and saltines crackers

Dinners- gonna just number the dinners, they can be used in any needed order, just so I have enough for this week- and if I can for next week as well. I am just brainstorming meal ideas here now.

1. corn chowder with chicken and veggies/dip
2. overnight tuna casserole and cooked asparagus from aldi
3. tacos/taco salad
4. tuna bumsteads, chips and veggies/dip
5. baked chicken, mashed potatoes, cooked broccoli with parmesan and butter
6. macaroni and cheese (boxed then add some extra cheese) with cut up hot dogs, and green beans
7. Pulled pork bbq on buns, veggies/dip Coleslaw
8. fries with pulled pork/bbq sauce or ranch dressing, salad
9. tuna salad on lettuce and potato salad
10. egg salad on lettuce
11. egg salad sandwiches on bread with veggies/dip
12. chicken veggie soup with rice
13. Spaghetti with ground turkey meat and a salad or cooked green beans
14. "cheeseburger macaroni" with ground turkey and mac and cheese and cooked asparagus from aldi (frozen)


will post recipes to any items I don't currently have on here, or any that you all ask for explanation to! :) Enjoy!

Happy Sunday Everyone!!!! Time for Menus!!!

How's everyone doing today? well, this week my focus was on FINDING A JOB!!!! We decided on monday that I MUST find a job- at least full time, but if I can find a full and part time that would be great too- even hubby is looking for a pt job.....we are really trying to do the Dave Ramsey thing and get some bills paid OFF! we are tired of this money crunch...I don't mind saving money and getting bargins don't get me wrong.... but doing it because I MUST not because I WANT to is a different thing all together! LOL So, we are working hard this month to pay off some bills, and we are REALLY tightening the belt! Including the grocery budget!

We sat down this morning (me and hubby) and brainstormed our food choices that we remember from when we were kids and our parents were in our situation! what follows is what we came up with, I will categorize by meat :

Chicken:

leg/thigh quarters are cheap, so buy those in bulk if possible
chicken salad- sandwiches or over lettuce
baked chicken or grilled chicken
Chicken veggie soup
broccoli cheese soup with chicken added
pulled chicken over a regular salad
chicken sandwiches (not chicken salad)

Ground Turkey:
Beans and turkey (dried beans)
Bean soup and turkey (dried soup mix)
Spaghetti sauce with ground turkey (our family prefers not aldi spaghetti sauce)
tacos
chili
"beef" stew
"beef" stroganoff
ground turkey patties done on the "george foreman" or in a fry pan

Hot dogs/baloney (not my fav choice due to all the additives, but for a small span of time, it is cheap):
hot dogs and mac and cheese
ramen noodles and hot dogs
baloney sandwiches (fried or not)(grilled like cheese sandwiches or not)

tuna:
Tuna bumsteads (will post recipe later0
tuna casserole (not a fav in our house, but maybe someone elses?)
tuna salad sandwiches with a dash of curry
tuna salad on lettuce

Eggs:
Fried egg sandwiches
toad in the holes
egg salad sandwiches
egg salad on lettuce

Pork, cheese
pulled pork sandwiches
pulled pork over fries with bbq sauce and cheese or over nachos
grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
cream cheese and saltines - for lunch
quesadillas (with pulled pork, chicken, etc as well!)

extras:
1.Put rice in soup to make it go farther, add more substance
2.don't forget soup is a good main course, just add a salad or veggies/dip on side
3.get creative with soups- hubby said why did no one ever think of broccoli cheese soup with chicken added?
4.look for reduced meats- aged meat usually has a better flavor, just make sure to use it w/in 2 days or put it in the freezer.
5.If you get beef, then use it for chili, beef stew or beef stroganoff because those cuts will probably be tougher and that use will make the meat tender (especially if you use it in the crockpot)
6.Getting the large (10 lb) bags of chicken leg/thigh quarters can be daunting, but when you get home, either cut up right away the thighs from the legs, or just sort them out into freezer bags, that way they are in manageable sizes and family portions.