Hearty Sausage and Red Lentil Soup

With the temperatures beginning to cool off, the warmth of a good hearty soup fills the need for dinner. Serve with some hot biscuits or homemade bread along with a green salad and you've got a full meal.

Bubbling Hot Lava Chocolate Fudge Cake

Who can resist a warm chocolate cake that bubbles up with it's own hot fudge sauce? No one at our house! This is a recipe that tastes fabulous, but is very easy to make. Don't we all want a few more recipes like that?

Holiday Baking has Begun

With Christmas just a week and a half away, I am knee deep into holiday baking. My all-purpose cookie dough makes it so easy to get a festive tray of cookies baked in no time. The picture above shows my pinwheel cookies.

Green Tomato Muffins

We enjoyed these delicious muffins for breakfast. I was trying to come up with one more thing to do with my remaining green tomatoes. My kids devoured these and wanted the leftovers for their snack when they came home from school. I can add a new recipe to my success list! They are very similar in taste and texture to zucchini bread. Hopefully, your family will enjoy them too. The tomatoes hide even better than zucchini so even your little picky eaters won't mind.

Apple Orchard Pancake Mix

I just developed a new mix to store in my pantry that allows us to enjoy the tastes of Fall. If you are lucky enough to have fresh apples on hand, you can leave the dry apples out of the mix and just add 1 large chopped apple to your pancake batter. 

Pantry mixes add convenience to my life, but they also work great as gifts. Add a cute tag and enjoy sharing the healthy goodness!

Apple Orchard Pancake Mix

For the mix, place the following dry ingredients in a ziplock bag or layer in a quart jar.

1 cup whole wheat flour (I used white wheat flour)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup milk powder

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup chopped dried apples

Add:

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

To make: Pour your mix into a bowl and add the wet ingredients. Mix well. Allow to sit about 5 minuets to allow the apples to re-hydrate a little. Add some more water if batter appears too thick. Cook on a hot griddle just as you do regular pancakes.

Best Ever Cheesy Squash Burger Bake

Summer brings lots of zucchini and squash to those of us who plant a garden or to those of us who have neighbors who plant a garden. The first few weeks the kids and I search each day, eager to find new ones to pick. After a few weeks, the novelty wears off and the kids are tired of all the ways I try and hide zucchini in everything I make. 

Knowing I had a basket full of squash on the counter and another ten growing in the garden, I decided to get creative. I came up with this recipe that doesn't hide the squash at all. The squash is the main ingredient! My husband and kids sat down to the dinner table quite sure they would want peanut butter sandwiches for a snack real soon since they wouldn't like dinner. They were skeptical to say the least. Little did they know. . . dinner was delicious! They all asked for seconds and emptied the entire 9x13 pan.

Cheesy Squash Burger Bake
4-5 summer squash
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 lb hamburger, browned
Nacho Cheese Sauce - double recipe
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup bread crumbs

Use zucchini, yellow squash or patty pan. If your squash are larger, slice in half and scoop out the seeds before slicing. You want enough to cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Cook sliced squash, onion, and green pepper in boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain. Place in 9x13 pan. Top with browned hamburger. Make a double batch of the nacho cheese sauce recipe and pour over the squash. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes or cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until heated through and squash is tender. Mix bread crumbs with melted butter and spread on top of casserole. Place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes to brown. Serve and enjoy!

Nachos
5 Tbsp white sauce mix	1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup hot water	1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
⅛ tsp pepper	½ cup Mozzarella cheese, grated
1 tsp dried, minced onion reconstituted
In a saucepan, whisk white sauce mix and water together and cook until smooth. As sauce begins to thicken, add remaining ingredients. Serve over tortilla chips. Top with chili, spiced hamburger, sliced black olives, salsa, etc. You can use pepper jack cheese for a more spicy sauce.

White Sauce Mix
Mix up a large batch—believe me, you'll find a million uses for it. It will become a great time saver.
3 cups non-instant dry milk powder	2 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
Mix together and store in an airtight container. Use in any recipe that calls for making a white sauce using milk, butter and flour. It is a completely fat free alternative and tastes great! It will store for up to 5 years on the pantry shelf.

Whole Grain Waffle Mix

When strawberries are in season, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream are always a request at our house. We have a few waffle recipes I use. One is an oatmeal waffle and one is for pumpkin waffles. Here is our other favorite - just a classic whole grain waffle. To make it go quickly in the morning or at night for dinner, I always keep a few mixes on hand.

Combine the dry mix with the wet ingredients right in the blender. Process until smooth. Add a little more water if it appears too thick. (Only do a single size batch in your blender - a double batch is just a little too big - trust me on this one.)

Pour into a heated waffle iron and cook until done (3-4 minutes).

Allow to cool on a wire rack - this keeps the bottom waffle from getting soggy before you have enough made for everyone. You can also freeze any leftovers once they have completely cooled. Then they are ready to pop in the toaster another time.

Whole Grain Waffle Mix

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp sugar

5 Tbsp dry milk powder

Add:

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups water

Pour the mix into your blender and add the wet ingredients. Blend until smooth. Add a little more water if the batter is too thick. Cook on a hot waffle iron. Feel free to sneak in a little more nutrition, by substituting 2-3 Tbsp ground flax seed in place of some of the all purpose flour.

(You can make a large batch of the basic mix. Then just measure out 2 1/2 cups of mix to make one batch of waffles.)

There you have it - go grab some of those fresh strawberries and enjoy! The waffles are also great with maple syrup or homemade freezer jam. Yesterday we enjoyed them with homemade blueberry syrup - that is a post for another day. I'm sure your mouth is already watering and you have your own ideas of what you will put on top of these wonderful waffles!

Cornbread on the Grill

Part of emergency preparedness is having a plan for cooking your meals when the traditional methods are unavailable. There are multiple "alternative cooking" options. One is the back yard grill - it can be used for many more items than hamburgers and hot dogs. Our kitchen remodel has dragged on long enough and definitely made my traditional ways of cooking unavailable. We were in the mood for something besides a crock pot meal so I got a little creative. I used my cornbread mix recipe and baked up something simple yet scrumptious. 

Preheat the grill to 350 degrees. Mix up the cornbread. It took 1 1/2 times the batch to fill a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Spray the skillet with vegetable oil and pour the batter in. Adjust the burners on the grill to create indirect heat and maintain the 350-375 degree range. I turned off the center burners and turned the upper and lower burners to low. Place the skillet in the center of the grill and close the lid.

Resist the urge to open the grill and check on it until at least 15 minutes has passed. It took me about 25 minutes to have it pass the toothpick test and be golden brown on top. Depending on the size batch you are baking and how warm you keep the temperature, it can take anywhere from 15-30 minutes.

It was perfectly done with a slightly thicker crust than when I bake it in the oven. We loved it with a crock pot full of chili and enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast the following morning.

Griddle Biscuits

I got creative the other day and attempted biscuits without an oven. We were ready for something different for breakfast than what I had pre-baked and had in the freezer. I used my biscuit mix which I had all put together. You can find the recipe for this mix here.

I heated up the electric griddle to between 325-350 degrees. You don't want it too hot or the biscuits will burn. (I learned that with my first batch.) I spooned biscuit batter onto the griddle just like you do for drop biscuits on a baking sheet. (You could go to the work of rolling the dough out and using a biscuit cutter to give you perfectly round shapes, but I didn't want to deal with the added mess since I was baking in a makeshift kitchen in the basement.) Allow them to cook for 8-10 minutes before flipping to allow the bottoms to brown nicely. Flip over and mash slightly with the back of the spatula to make then all about an even thickness. Allow to cook anther 8-10 minutes to brown the other side and to allow the centers to be done.

We served them up with sausage gravy cooked on a hotplate. Delicious!

Holiday Oatmeal Mix

Oatmeal is a breakfast we eat often during the cold, winter months. It is so convenient to have it all prepared in a mix so breakfast can be done in 5 minutes! I prefer using the regular, old-fashioned oats as compared to the quick oats. They take a bit longer to cook, but give me the texture I want. Nutritionally, old-fashioned oats and instant oats offer the same benefits so it truly is a texture thing for me. I packaged a few of these mixes up for family and friends this holiday. I used a sharpie marker to write the instructions on the lid of the snowmen buckets I found to pack them in. You can also package the mix into a ziplock bag or ice cream bucket to store in your pantry.

Holiday Oatmeal Mix
6 cups regular oats	¾ cup dried cranberries
1 cup brown sugar, packed	¾ cup slivered almonds
1 Tbsp cinnamon	¾ cup coconut
¾ tsp salt
For 1 serving, bring 1 cup water to a boil. Add ¾ cup oatmeal mix. For a larger batch, boil 2 ½ cups water and add 2 ½ cups oatmeal mix. Cook for about 5 minutes until all the water is absorbed and the oats are tender, stirring occasionally. Every now and then, I need to stir in just a little more water because the water is absorbed before the oats are tender. You can also substitute other fruits such as raisins, blueberries, etc. It is always delicious! To make it gluten free, be sure to use gluten-free oats.

Holiday Cranberry Relish

I always make this relish ahead of Thanksgiving and then use it throughout the holiday season. It keeps for 6 weeks in the refrigerator. I've labeled it a pantry mix, but technically it is a "refrigerator mix." Making a large batch at Thanksgiving time gives me the freedom to use it in many ways between then and New Year's.

The recipe was shared with me soon after I was married by a good friend from church. It was her "neighbor" gift for the year and we loved it!

I always put a bit into a few jars to share with family at Thanksgiving and then I get creative with the rest of the batch. It is good with turkey or ham, just as a relish served alongside the meat. We also love to mix it with cream cheese, cool whip, and pineapple chunks for a delicious holiday salad. (Sometimes I add a little more sugar, to taste.) Mixed with cream cheese, it is also delicious as a cracker spread. You really can try it in lots of ways. My husband has been known to spread it on his toast like jam. It's good any way you want to try it. You won't have trouble using up the large batch it makes.

Watch for fresh cranberries to be marked down after Christmas. Buy a few packages and store in your freezer until next year. All you do is throw the bag in the freezer - it is that simple. They have always lasted just fine for me this way. Hope your family enjoys it as much as we do.

Holiday Cranberry Relish

1 lb fresh or frozen cranberries, finely diced

1/2 cup orange marmalade

1 cup sugar

2 tart green apples, peeled and finely chopped

10 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed and drained

1 tsp lemon juice

I chop the cranberries and apples in the food processor and then mix everything together. It makes about 6 cups.

This year, I replaced the orange marmalade with the zest from one orange and a little more sugar. The orange marmalade I had in the fridge had corn syrup in it and one of my relatives cannot eat corn. The taste was just a good.

Here's my latest and greatest attempt at a whole grain pancake that doesn't require eggs. The battery is dead on my camera so you'll just get to imagine how good they look. I'd wait until I could take pictures again, but that could be forever with as crazy as my summer has been. I decided you would probably rather get the recipe now and not wait on photos. Enjoy! Whole Grain Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat flour	1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup rolled oats	1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup corn meal	5 Tbsp dry milk powder
1/4 cup sugar	Approx. 1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp cinnamon	2 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the water and mix well. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes to soften the oats. Stir in the vinegar just before baking and add more water if needed to give you the right consistency. Cook on a hot griddle. This recipe can easily be turned into a large mix. Just multiply the recipe of the dry ingredients by 6 or more and store in an air tight container. To use: Measure out 3 cups of mix and then add the water and vinegar as in the recipe above.

Drop Sugar Cookie Mix

I love the convenience of a mix but the health benefits of homemade. I'm sure many of you are right there with me. Here is a new recipe to add to your list for pantry mixes you can make from scratch. They go together so quickly when you have the mix all ready to go.

Mix all the ingredients together.  I have made these cookies lots of times over the years for my extended family members that cannot have milk. This is the first time I am trying this recipe with bean puree instead of oil though.

Drop them onto a baking sheet.

Flatten slightly with a glass that you have dipped in sugar to keep it from sticking. Sometimes I spray the bottom of the glass with Pam instead of dipping in sugar.

Top with sprinkles or colored sugar. This is always the kids favorite part about helping. You can also sprinkle with jello powder to add some fun color and flavor.

Bake and enjoy! The beans made these cookies a bit more cake-like in texture. They still taste great, they just don't have the crispy texture or light brown color that the oil gives them. They are more like a pumpkin cookie in texture. The kids devoured them so they didn't seem to care at all - Hooray - a new, more healthy snack I can keep as a mix in the pantry!

Drop Sugar Cookie Mix

Combine the following ingredients in a ziplock bag:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

To make cookies add:
2 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil (or bean puree)
2 tsp vanilla

Mix well. Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten with the bottom of a glass you have dipped in sugar. Sprinkle with colored sugar or other sprinkles. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool for a couple of minutes on baking sheet before moving to wire rack. Enjoy! Makes 2-3 dozen.

Note: I am just beginning to experiment with bean puree in this recipe. Using vegetable oil gives you a nice, crispy cookie. When I replaced the oil with bean puree, the cookie rose more and was softer, more cake-like in texture - more like a pumpkin cookie. The cookies were still very good, just be aware that they are more cake-like and not too sweet. I will update this post as I experiment a little more.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

Remember these Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins?  I had some pumpkin thawed out that I needed to use so I put it in this recipe in place of the applesauce and then substituted pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon. It was delicious! A bonus for those families with allergies is that they are egg and diary free. 

I'm sure any mashed winter squash such as acorn or butternut would be fine in these muffins. You could even used mashed sweet potatoes. They all have a similar texture to applesauce so they work similarly in recipes. Depending on how moist your pumpkin or squash puree is, you may need to add  a Tablespoon or two of additional water to the batter before spooning it into muffin pans. You'll know if the batter seems too thick.

I will definitely be making up some pantry mixes of this versatile recipe! In my mixes, I will just put cinnamon in as the spice, knowing I can add a little nutmeg if I end up using pumpkin or squash instead of  applesauce. Muffins freeze well so don't hesitate to make a double or triple batch. When I am baking multiple batches of muffins, I re-spray my muffin tins between batches, but I don't wash them until all the muffins are baked. It saves quite a bit of time in the kitchen to do it this way.

Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 cup water

½ cup applesauce

½ cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt         

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp white vinegar

1 Tbsp oil (optional)

Soak the oats in the water for 10-15 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fill muffin cups ⅔ full. Bake at 400° F for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. If you choose to leave the oil out, the muffins just won't brown as nicely. They will still taste great.

All Purpose Christmas Cookie Dough

This time of year it is helpful to have shortcuts that still turn out fabulous. Last year, I tried just making one dough and using it in many ways. I reviewed the recipes to some of our favorite Christmas cookies and saw how similar they were. Using the recipes as a guide, I came up with this recipe that has been wonderful! Now I start making multiple batches of this same dough in November and freeze it. As Christmas approaches, I turn it into all these different cookies. I've included it in the pantry mix section, it really is a freezer mix though. It does save so much time during the holidays!

Pumpkin Waffle Mix

We have a new favorite mix - inspired by the change in the weather and our family's love of anything pumpkin. I created this recipe the other morning and we loved them! Even reheated this morning from the freezer, they were great. I will be making a few mixes of these to keep in the pantry with my other muffin and waffle mixes.

In our waffle iron, it took 4 minutes to have them come out nice and golden. I used frozen pumpkin which doesn't have as orange of a color as the canned pumpkin so yours my be more of a pumpkin color. When cooking them, allow them to cool on a wire rack, this helps the bottom ones not get soggy. I cooked up a bunch when my older daughter was ready for breakfast. She leaves an hour ahead of my younger boys. I just left them cooling on the counter.

When my boys were ready to eat, we just warmed them in the toaster - delicious!

I bagged up the 4 that were left to freeze for my husband to eat for breakfast another day. He leaves way early for work and usually takes breakfast with him. He popped them in the toaster this morning and shared with me how much he loved them - he agreed I should keep mixes for them in the pantry. 

Give them a try - they just may become a new family favorite for you too.

Pumpkin Waffle Mix

For the mix, place the following dry ingredients in a ziplock bag.
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used hard white wheat flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
4 1/2 Tbsp dry milk powder
Use a sharpie pen to write the wet ingredients on the bag so you can quickly add them when you are ready to make.
Add:
1 1/2 cups water
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup canned or frozen pumpkin

To make: Pour your mix into a bowl and add the wet ingredients. Mix until all lumps are gone. I used a wire whisk to help it go faster. Cook in a heated waffle iron that you have greased well. You may need to add a little more water depending on how thick your pumpkin is. This made about 10 waffle squares. With the whole wheat flour they are very filling so this was enough for my crew.

Enjoy!

Variations: I haven't actually tried any of these yet (I didn't want to wait to share the recipe though since it is so good!) but from experience with other recipes these should all work.

Think about the consistency of canned pumpkin, anything with that consistency will work fine in this recipe.
Applesauce
Mashed sweet potato
Mashed butternut, acorn, hubbard, or banana squash
Mashed bananas

Just substitute it straight across for the pumpkin or do 1/2 and 1/2 if you want to. They will all taste great!

Surprise Pancakes

We play a game at our home every time I make pancakes. The kids have to guess the "secret" ingredient. I often use the Krusteaz just add water mix, but it also works with any of my homemade mixes. 

Pour into your bowl the amount of mix you will need.

Add 1/2 - 1 cup pureed peaches, pears, bananas, pumpkin, applesauce, etc. (Yogurt even works) and then add enough water to make it the right consistency.

Sprinkle in a bit of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice and mix one last time.

Cook on a hot griddle and serve with your favorite jam or syrup.

The addition of pureed fruit gives us one more serving that we wouldn't normally have. I feel good about getting vitamin rich fruits and vegetables into our diet wherever I can. The kids also love trying to guess what I've put in the pancakes for the day.

Soft Garlic Breadsticks

Our family loves these breadsticks and so does everyone who has ever tried them! My son is famous at school for taking these for snack when he has the assignment. We are asked to bring them to all of the room parties as a healthy snack. This dough is also the base for many other recipes I will be sharing here on the blog. So go ahead, make up a batch for tonight and make it a pizza night to remember!    Soft Garlic Breadstick/Pizza Dough
2 ½–3 cups bread flour	1 ½ tsp salt
¼ cup gluten flour	½ tsp dried basil
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese	1 Tbsp yeast
¼ cup dry milk powder	2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp sugar	1 ¼ cups hot water
1 Tbsp garlic powder
Mix according to basic bread making instructions. Once dough has completed the first rise, shape into breadsticks or roll out as pizza dough. Put on greased pans and let rise slightly. For breadsticks, bake at 425° F for 10–12 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter. For pizza, bake for 8–10 minutes or just until dough is beginning to turn light brown. Put toppings on and then bake an additional 5–10 minutes or until cheese bubbles. Makes 10–12 breadsticks or 1 large pizza crust. You can use 1/2 whole wheat four and 1/2 white bread flour. You can also freeze any leftovers once they have cooled so don't hesitate to double or even triple the batch. I often wrap pizza dough in plastic wrap and freeze it after the first cooking time and before adding toppings. Then it makes for quick pizza another night. You may find that you love it enough that you want to make up a few mixes and keep it ready to go in the pantry.

Homemade Biscuits

I love having biscuit mix in the pantry. This one is so inexpensive to make and we've decided we like it with 1/2 whole wheat flour so it's lots more nutritious. Don't be afraid of making a large batch. Pair these with sausage gravy for a fast and delicious breakfast. They also go great in place of rolls for dinner.

To make biscuits, just add 1 cup water to 3 cups of mix and combine in a bowl.

Drop onto a greased baking sheet or roll out and cut into perfect biscuit shapes. (I'm usually in too much of a hurry to worry about perfect shapes - they get devoured either way and drop biscuits make less of a mess to clean up.)

Biscuit Mix
12 cups flour	2 cups shortening
2 Tbsp salt	1 ½ cup dry milk powder
4 Tbsp baking powder
Use a hand mixer to blend the ingredients. The shortening just disappears into the mix. We like it using 6 cups whole wheat flour and 6 cups white flour. Use as a substitute in any recipe that calls for Bisquick. To make biscuits: Combine 3 cups mix with 1 cup water. (Dough will be a little sticky.) Drop onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 400° F for 10–12 minutes. Or, roll out to ½-inch thickness using more biscuit mix on the counter instead of flour so you keep your ratio of fat to flour like you need for a fluffy biscuit. Bake as directed. To make cheddar garlic biscuits: Stir in 1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese and 1 ½ tsp garlic powder to the above biscuit dough. Shape and bake as above. Brush with additional melted butter and sprinkle with more garlic powder before serving, if desired. To make pancakes: Combine 2 cups of mix with 1 cup of water and 2 eggs. If you do not have eggs available, you can substitute ½ cup of mashed bananas, applesauce, or pumpkin. It's great with a little cinnamon sprinkled in as well.

Making Bread

Basic Instructions That Work with All Recipes:

Mix all dry ingredients only adding half of the flour in your mixer bowl.

Add wet ingredients and begin mixing using the dough hook following the suggested speed in your mixer 

instruction book for bread. (Water should be about 115°–120° F to allow the yeast to rise.)

If using a Kitchen-aid mixer, set it on 2 for the entire bread mixing and kneading process

Gradually add additional flour until dough cleans the sides of the bowl. The exact amount of flour you will add will depend on the humidity in the air and whether you are using all whole wheat flour. Be patient as you add the flour. Only add ¼–½ cup at a time and watch to see if the dough pulls together and leaves the sides of the bowl basically clean. Remember that when making bread by hand, you are to knead the dough for 6–8 minutes. The mixer doesn't necessarily do it any faster, it just does the work for you. The mistake that often 

makes bread too heavy is adding too much flour.

There is not enough flour yet - the sides of the bowl are not clean.

This is good - stop adding flour and allow the mixer to knead 2-3 minutes.

Once the dough is pulling together and leaving the sides of the bowl clean, stop adding flour and just allow the 

mixer to knead the dough until smooth, elastic, and resistant. (About 2–3 minutes.)

Lightly oil top of dough (or spray with cooking spray), cover with a cloth and let rise until double in size. You can speed this step up by turning your oven to 150° F. Once it is hot, turn the oven off and set your bowl of dough into the oven. (If your mixer has a plastic bowl, you will want to transfer the dough to an oven safe bowl first.) On the counter, it usually takes an hour or more to let your dough rise. In the oven, it is double in size in about 20 minutes.

I spray the bowl before removing the bread hook so it can rise without sticking to the sides.

Remove the dough hook and spray the top of the dough as well.

Cover with a towel and allow to rise until doubled in a warm oven or on the counter.

I use the oven method most of the time.

Punch dough down and remove from bowl. (You can allow the dough to rise multiple times. Sometimes you just can't get to it when it's ready. Maybe the turkey is still in the oven or the baby needs to be fed or the phone rings. You know you have days like this. Just keep punching it down each time it is double in size. 

Letting it rise a few times actually makes for a fluffier, lighter texture.) When you punch the dough down, turn the oven on to preheat to the right baking temperature for your recipe.

My kids love to be the ones to punch it down - they always wind up a little before giving it their best punch!

Pour it out on the counter - it should leave your bowl pretty clean.

Shape into loaves or rolls on an oiled countertop and place in greased pans.

I oil the counter tops by just spraying them. You can spread a little oil with your hands if you want to. I love my solid surface counter for bread making, but we had laminate counters at our other homes and they were good to.

Grease your pans using pan spray. I store pan spray in my food storage for bread making. It makes it much more convenient.

Divide your dough into the number of loaves you will be making.

Make them as even as possible - some people actually weigh them with a kitchen scale. I don't get that technical.

Shape by grabbing and rolling back and forth a little to lengthen it into a loaf shape and round out the top. You want to manhandle the dough a little to get the air out so you don't end up with large bubbles in your bread.

Here's what it looks like on the top.

Place into greased pans.

Spray the tops of the loaves.

Cover with a cloth and let rise until almost double, about 20 minutes.

I like to pop them in the oven when they reach the top of the pans. You can see the my third loaf was a little smaller - I didn't use a scale.

Bake according to specific recipe instructions. Bread is done when it is golden brown and sounds hollow 

when you tap it.

Take bread out of pans when done and cool on a cooling rack. Spread melted butter over the tops of the bread if you want a soft crust.

Take a step back and admire your work - go ahead feel provident today! Homemade bread costs less than $.50 a loaf to make and you can control the ingredients. Find a favorite recipe and make up a few mixes to keep in your pantry to speed up the process another time. Only put half the flour in your mix along with the other dry ingredients and then you are ready to just dump it in your mixer and begin.

I'll post some of my favorite recipes soon.

Making Bread by Hand - you don't have to have a mixer!

Follow the basic instructions as above. You are just going to do the work the mixer usually would. It will take a few times of trying bread to determine just how much flour to add. It is better to add a little less flour than a little too much. Many women who bake bread all the time for their families find that they can do a larger batch by hand than they can do in a mixer so they prefer doing it by hand all the time. Don't let not having a mixer be an excuse not to bake bread!