Bake Your Own Bread

I've been making all our bread for a while now, but the latest,
and by faaaaaaar the easiest bread I have tried is Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day.

This is a no-knead bread, which is why it is so quick and easy.
You quickly mix the dough in one bowl, then keep it in the fridge, taking a chunk out and cooking it whenever you need some bread.

And just LOOK at the results...mmmmmmm...
It looks tasty,

It slices well,
(well, it would if you could wait until it cooled to start hacking it up...)

And the whole family liked it.

Ticks all boxes.

There are a few benefits to making your own bread, and cost savings is only one of them.

Although you can often get fairly cheap bread, sometimes day old at the store or corner bakery, you'll find it's nowhere near as fresh (obviously, right?), or healthy, as your own home made bread.

For example, if you live in Australia, nearly all bread you can buy in the store has been fortified with various things, the latest being folate. (See my rant on that here)
And the long-term effects of extra folate on people who do not need it.....meaning anyone who's NOT pregnant.....are unknown.

So, making your own makes sense all round.

Buy your flour in bulk, either in the store (though check if it's had folate added) or online to keep costs minimal.
To store it, a bayleaf in the bag will keep bugs away, but try and find a lidded container for storing large amounts. Sometimes you can scrounge these sort of containers from delis or bakeries, where they may have stored yoghurt, pickles, jams or something similar.
Ask around.

Try out some of the different types of flours available. I use spelt flour, spelt being an ancient grain, higher in protein and lower in gluten than wheat flour. You could also try kamut flour, or experiment with gluten free bread. Or buy and grind your wheat, maybe sprouting it first.

The possibilities are endless.

And it makes the house smell so good!


11 comments:

  1. I found your blog through Penniless Parenting. I'll be back, I really enjoy it!

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  2. Wonderful blog! Visiting from Friday Follow! I'm your newest follower! Love for you to come visit me!

    Have a great weekend!

    ~Shelley @ Shelley's Swag

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  3. Great bread. here from FF I'm #239.will follow you, I love to cook and save $$$. Have a great day.

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  4. Hi, happy Follow Friday! I'm your newest follower!

    http://dustinnikki.blogspot.com/

    Nicole

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  5. Hi, I am following your blog from Friday Follow, You can also follow mine at www.safehomehappymom.com

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  6. Hi there!!

    We found you through the FF and are now following your blog. Come on over and visit us when you get a free moment. Have a fantastic weekend! ((hugs)) <3

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  7. Visiting from FF. I'm now a follower.

    Have a GREAT day!

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  8. Oooh, so many visitors! Thanks everyone, I'll be sure to look you all up!

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  9. The bread looks really good, I will have to give it a try.
    You are entitled to your opinion on folate but in it's defence I've met a few people who have had babies with severe neural tube defects - totally preventable. And folate is thought to help prevent breast cancer.
    But making your own bread is a good and tasty option for people to know what is in the food their eating.

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  10. Yes, I agree folate is necessary in preventing neural tube defects, though I haven't heard the breast cancer one. But still, to dose the entire bread-eating population to unknown effect, for the good of a few is stretching it far in my opinion. A pregnant woman would need to eat a great deal of bread to receive the correct amount of folate from it, and there are far easier ways of getting folate into her diet. So in my humble opinion, the amount of folate a pregnant woman will probably receive by getting it from bread is fairly negligible, yet the effects of that little bit of extra folate on the general population are not known. Not a gamble I want to take with my family.

    This is tasty bread though, a great reason for making your own, if nothing else! Thanks for stopping by, I'll look you up!

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