Baking day

\ 1 Comment

Today was all about baking. Well, mostly. I baked two loaves of Amish White Bread and one loaf of banana bread. I was going to make two loaves of banana bread, but then I realized that the recipe called for three bananas per loaf instead of two and I only had four total.

I really like my banana bread recipe. It’s very simple and pretty healthy in that it’s dairy free and low fat.

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Mix bananas and applesauce together. Fold in dry ingredients. Add walnuts and coconut. Bake in greased pan for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

The only disappointment today was that I realized two of my bread pans are rusted. I had to throw them out. I’m not sure how safe rust is, but I really didn’t feel like eating it. During the week, I usually hand wash all of my dishes. But over the weekend, I let dirty dishes pile up and then ran the dishwasher. Now my bread pans are ruined.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: ,

Are titles necessary? :)

\ 2 Comments

I had grandiose plans of posting pictures and links to our new favorite pizza crust! We already found a favorite sauce recipe but couldn’t find a good pizza crust. Well, that post will probably be written Sunday or Monday.

Instead, I spent a good deal of time today working around the apartment. I’m proud of myself, in a humble way of course! I made pizza, washed dishes after each meal, vacuumed the entire apartment, swept the kitchen and bathroom floors, emptied the cat boxes, cleaned the vacuum filter, and washed/folded/put away two loads of laundry.

Whew! I’m happy and tired. Now I just need to keep it up. I have ideas for implementing a housework schedule, but that is also going to be a separate post. For now, I’m going to watch Master and Commander with my hubby.

Love to all, and have a happy Sabbath!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: ,

\ 2 Comments

Today has been a fairly productive day. I’ve completed three loads of laundry and have one more in the dryer. I’ve applied for a couple freelance jobs. I caught up on all the dishes and put away most of the stuff that was on the table. And now I have bread dough rising!

I’m probably about half done getting the apartment back into pre-vacation shape. I still need to scrub both bathrooms, sweep the kitchen, and finish picking up our computer and living room areas. I can’t wait to have the apartment looking nice again. It was really clean and tidy before I left for Wyoming.

The diet/fitness goals are going as well as they can, considering it’s only the 6th of January. I’ve exercised every day except Sabbath (my one day off). I’ve also entered all of my food into nutridiary so I can analyze my calories. So far so good! I hope the scale will be friendly on Sunday and reflect some of the positive changes made this week.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: , ,

Breadmaking!

\ 2 Comments

My hubby is so sweet. 🙂 I decided that we should bake two loaves of bread. Unfortunately, I haven’t quite gotten the hang of kneading dough and I can only do one loaf a day with my present arm strength. Hubby mixed up the other loaf of dough and kneaded it for me. I am so lucky to have him!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: ,

Amish White Bread: Success!

\ Leave a Comment

I’ve only baked bread from scratch a few times. Each time, the bread doesn’t rise much and it never looks like real bread with the golden brown rounded crust.

Until today!

I used this recipe and it turned out really well! I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 2 cups of white flour like the recipe suggested.

I don’t have a bread maker, so I mixed and kneaded this loaf by hand. I’ve always wondered if my method of kneading is why the bread doesn’t rise properly. I’m still not sure if that’s why this loaf turned out fluffy versus my earlier attempts, but I watched this video to see how an “expert” does it.

Success! Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks.

“She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household…” (Proverbs 31:15). Thank you Lord for helping me bake bread today!

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: ,

Where is that recipe?

\ Leave a Comment

My Bible study group was discussing Thanksgiving plans. None of them have family locally and they can’t afford to travel this year. Someone suggested that we all go to a buffet that day.

Well… I’m from Wyoming. I’m also old fashioned. In my mind, you just don’t go out to eat on Thanksgiving! You go over to someone’s house, or have people come over to yours, and eat a really tasty homemade meal. I called the Bible study host and asked her if I could cook for everyone. Since I’m at home, I have the time to prepare a meal for 6-8 people provided I don’t have to cook a turkey! I’m vegetarian and have no idea how to cook meat. 🙂 Everyone thought that was a great idea, so now I’m looking for ideas.

I spent almost an hour going through a bag of recipes. Some of the recipes were typed on a typewriter, others torn from a magazine, but I was looking for one particular handwritten recipe – these really yummy oatmeal muffins that my mom used to make. I didn’t find the recipe. When I talked to my mom later, she suggested I search the web, that it was an old recipe from a Laurel’s Kitchen cookbook.

Silly me… I have that cookbook!

I think I’ll bake a test run this weekend, see if they taste as good as I remember.

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: