Friday, March 13, 2009

Baking Day


It is time to restock our freezer. With all my kids home on Spring Break for the next 10 days we are starting off today with a baking day. Every so often I like to stock up our freezer. Since we just used our last loaf of homemade bread I thought today would be a good day to do this. Plus I have some extra hands to help. On our list of things to make is:

White bread x 6
Chocolate Cookies per son's request
Sugar Cookie dough (to make our St. Patricks cookies)
Banana bread x 2
Cinnamon bread x 2
Waffles
Pancakes

7 comments:

  1. when i hung my ziploc bag to dry and reuse yesterday, i thought of your round up. things just get to be a habit.

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  2. Hi Sara - I just came across your blog and added myself as a follower, hope you don't mind. I'm loving what I'm reading but have a few questions if you don't mind. I want to start making my own bread but don't have a bread maker or recipes - was your bread maker expensive?? I don't want to spend a ton of money to get started. Also where did you find your recipes, the idea of homemade white bread, banana bread and cinnamon bread is making my mouth water. Thanks - Leene

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  3. Thanks Leene for following!

    Actually I don't use a bread maker to make my bread. I have one, but I never use it! It was given to me from my grandparents a while ago. I am not sure what it cost.

    I make my bread from scratch. For the banana bread I use just the banana bread recipe in the Betty Crocker cookbook. I just don't add the nuts. I love this recipe and so does my family. I couldn't find the one I use online (my cookbook is from 1989) so here is the recipe:

    1 3/4 cup flour
    2/3 coup sugar
    2 tsp baking powder
    1/2 tsp baking soda
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 cup ripe mashed banana
    1/3 cup shortening, margarine or butter
    2 T of milk
    2 eggs
    1/4 chopped nuts (optional)

    In lg bowl combine 1 cup of the flour and all other dry ingredients. Add mashed banana, milk and butter. Mix well with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add remaining flour and eggs. Mix till blended.

    Pour into greased loaf pan and bake 350 for 55 minutes.

    For the white bread I have 2 recipes I use. The first one is called Peasant Bread. It is very easy, no kneading! Here is the recipe.

    2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (1 package)
    2 T. Honey or sugar
    1 tsp salt
    2 cups warm water
    2 cups all purpose flour
    2 cups wheat flour

    Combine the yeast, water, sugar or honey, and salt and let sit for 10 minutes. Add in the flours and stir until mixed well. Dough will be very sticky. Place dough into well greased bowl and let rise 1 1/2 hours.

    Shape into 2 loaves and place on greased cookie sheet. Cook for 30min at 375

    The other white bread recipe I use which I love you can find here:

    http://greekfood.about.com/od/greekbreadspitas/r/aspro_psomi.htm

    I use method #2

    It is really cheap to make bread! And it makes your whole house smell wonderful! Hope this helps!

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  4. Hi! Sounds like you're going to be busy today. Do you like the way your bread is after it's frozen?

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  5. I know lots of people freeze pancakes and waffles and such to eat at a later date, but I've never done it. How do you reheat them? The microwave seems to make pancakes rubbery...

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  6. Hey Julie~
    I know about things becoming habit. I use to always have to remember to do certain things like through the milk jug in the recycle bin instead of the trash, but after awhile they all become standard.

    Hi Autumn!
    I like my bread just fine after freezing. Nothing beats a fresh warm slice of bread out of the oven, but thawing it out is ok too. I don't think it changes the flavor or texture. At least not this recipe. I know some bread seems to get harder but this already has a hard crust so it doesn't seem to matter.

    Stef~
    Actually this will be the first attempt at trying to make ahead and freeze my pancakes and waffles. I usually make a larger batch and keep them in the fridge because they seem to go pretty fast. This time I am going to freeze them and then thaw them out in the fridge and then microwave them. I will let you know how they turn out.

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  7. I always make a lot of extra pancakes and french toast to freeze when we have them, but we all agree they don't taste as good as fresh. They're still nice to have and easier to grab and heat rather than make fresh all the time but we think there is a noticable difference in taste. We just add more toppings to make up the difference. Try fresh fruit, applesauce, powdered sugar, or jam for something different besides syrup and butter, that helps.

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