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.

English Muffin Bread

English Muffin bread is great to try as your first experience with bread making. It is especially fun to get kids involved! No kneading or big mixer is required, although you can use one if you'd like. 

You end up with a stiff dough after mixing all your ingredients. Just plop it in the pan - the kids love to "plop" it.

Flatten out a little to help it fill the pan.

Bake until golden brown. Delicious, old-fashioned and rustic looking - doesn't it look great! We love it with a meal or as toast with strawberry freezer jam. It also makes great PBJ sandwiches for lunch. Since no kneading is required, it works out perfectly every time. Freeze any that you won't use in a day or two. I always use 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 white bread flour.

English Muffin Bread
5 ½–6 cups bread flour	¼ tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp yeast	6 Tbsp dry milk powder
1 Tbsp sugar	2 ½ cups hot water
2 tsp salt	Cornmeal
Combine the dry ingredients, only using 3 cups of flour. Add hot water and beat well. Stir in enough additional flour to make a stiff batter. Grease two loaf pans and sprinkle with cornmeal. Pour batter into pans, dividing it evenly. Sprinkle tops with cornmeal. Allow to rise until nearly double (about 45 min.) Bake at 400° F for 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack.

Nachos

This is by far my family's favorite "fast food" food storage meal. It is so quick and easy, uses powdered milk, and is much more healthy than any canned cheese version you can buy.

It all begins with my famous white sauce mix.

Whisk together white sauce mix and hot tap water.

Stir constantly while cooking until it begins to boil and thicken.

Add remaining ingredients. To rehydrate the onion, put it in a small bowl with a little water and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds. Do this before you begin cooking the meal since you have to be stirring the white sauce mix and you won't have a free hand.

This is a motion shot when I am stirring in the cheese. You really can play with the flavors of cheese that you add. If you like a spicy cheese, use pepper jack or stir in a little hot sauce. We go for the mild version most often at our house since that is what the kids prefer.

Continue to stir over the heat until it is the thickness you desire. It usually takes 1-2 minutes of boiling time to thicken up.

This is still a little too thin.

Serve over chips and top with your favorite nacho toppings. It is also delicious over broccoli or as a dip for bread. The leftovers will thicken quite a bit in the fridge. Just add a bit of milk, heat up, and mix for another round another day.

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.