Today Was Baking Day

Happy Monday friends!

If your comments are any indication, it looks like every one's coming over to my house for supper. Today would have been a good day if you like the taste of hot bread fresh out of the oven.

My husband lucked out and was able to grab a hot slice during lunch 15 minutes after they came out.

As you all know, I have been working towards making whole food meals for our family using simple grains. Part of that process includes baking our own bread. I don't think a bread maker would work in our situation since there are so many of us and we go through a loaf a day, easy. So, I have been working up to spending one day out of a two week period where I do a mass amount of cooking that involves bread making, noodle making, browning of meats that I freeze (like today I slow cooked 10 pounds of chicken quarters and then browned five pounds of hamburger meat). Later I can pull down this meat and quickly throw it into a soup or a dish.

It's a process that is taking some time. For example, I'm still trying to master the art of raising the dough to the point that it 1.) actually raises and 2.) doesn't raise too high so that the cell walls are stretched too thin and cause it to collapse. There was some collapsing going on today. But we're working on it. Around here, we get real excited when we see the bread raising high...

and then staying that way.

I didn't buy any wheat berries this week, so the whole wheat came from a 5 pound bag.

Then, we also made four loaves of white bread because my husband likes white.
As you can see, the white round loaf on the bottom right collapsed,

But then raised during baking (back left).
It's been an education for everyone to see what will cause a loaf of bread to collapse.

In this case, it got knocked when we moved things around to get all the loaves of bread to fit in the oven. I eventually want to make a twelve loaves of bread at a time. I know that sounds like a lot of bread, but think of it this way. If you already got all the ingredients out...why not make a boatload and be done with it for a few weeks?

Darling Rose is starting to roll some whole wheat dough for some more noodles.

With the four loaves of wheat bread and a few batches of whole wheat noodles, we emptied the 5 pound bag of whole wheat flour.

The two year old loves to help out with the noodles.

Tomorrow night will be "cookie baking" night.

We will be trying out a new cookie recipe.

Darling Rose snapped this picture.

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Well, I was so hot and tired out from all the baking today, that I didn't fix much for supper.

But it's nice to have all that bread in the freezer and all that food ready to be used to quickly make into a "home-made" meal.

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I did get in a 15 minute cardio work-out on the stair stepper today,

plus a 45 minute leg work-out at the gym.

How about you all?

Right now I am wishing I was in Germany where Sarah says it's already getting cooler.

It was 86 today and humid. It's suppose to be that way all week.

I've taking two cold showers today.

With this weather being so hot I average at least one cold shower a day.

I've never been so clean in my life. Ha, Ha!!
Oh, and for those of you who are waiting for this pregnant picture of me...

I picked out the outfit today!

Now I'm just waiting for that non-sweaty moment

when I can put on some make-up and go somewhere in it.

Keep it up folks, you can do it!

Sincerely,

Sunshine Mama