“She looketh well to the ways of her household
and eateth not the bread of idleness.”
Proverbs 31:27
I have to admit … there is something so therapeutic in making my family loaves of homemade bread.
The wonder of yeast causing the warm dough to rise,
the sweet smell of the loaves baking in the oven,
the delicious taste of the homemade bread full of healthy nutrients, hot with melted butter …
Once upon a time, we owned a bread maker. I loved it. Until one day, my husband accidentally tossed it.
I missed our homemade bread, but never managed to work up the courage to master the task without the bread machine.
Up until we purchased our grain mill, my husband was the new bread baker of the family.
And there no going back – homemade bread is much better than using a bread maker!
However, with the introduction of the flour mill, the idea of mastering bread-making very much intrigued me. I knew it just had to be done.
No more wasting time and it was unfair to ask my husband to bake bread after coming home from work all day long.
So, I enthusiastically took up the task of bread making.
But, loaf after loaf, I failed.
I found it discouraging to spend the morning baking and not have it turn out.
Sometimes the loaves would be hollow (I allowed it to rise too long) or the loaf would sink when it came out of the oven (perhaps I cut it too soon before it was cooled)…
whatever it was, I was making mistakes and it was frustrating. {I also hated to waste the flour and the money involved in the process.}
Until … suddenly, my bread making life changed!
I came across an incredible recipe {which I will share at the bottom of the post} …
and it worked for me! It truly, honestly worked.
I love making bread now – especially when it is a successful and delicious!
Add in the fact that we mill our own flour and it makes the bread a million times healthier!
Did you know with 72 hours of milling your flour, the nutrients are lost and it will go rancid?
Makes you wonder what is missing from the flour that sits on the grocery store shelves for weeks and weeks? You can (and should!) read more here.
You cannot store fresh milled flour, so I grind what I need when I need it.
You will need to mill it on demand or at least use it within a day of milling {some people freeze their flour but it still loses some nutrients this way.}
I recently read this article and loved what Nancy had to say about baking bread, feeding your family and staying healthy.
“
“Our willingness to be free of the responsibility of preparing daily bread
has now put the control of what we feed our families into the hands of huge food companies who have one goal in mind – money.
As we have delegated the responsibility of milling grain and baking bread to others,
it has freed us up to do ‘other things’.
These ‘other things’ unfortunately, have taken us more and more out of the home.
Many don’t have time to cook any more.
Many of the foods we now eat for convenience are literally making us sick
because they are devoid of the fiber and the nutrients that are essential to our health.”
– Above Rubies
If you have tried and failed with your bread making, maybe this recipe {thank you, Lockwood family!!} will help you out as it helped me …
Amish Bread
2 cups of warm water
1/4 cup of sugar
(the original recipe calls for more sugar
but we found it too sweet so we reduced the sugar. Do as you please!)
1.5 tablespoons of yeast
1.5 teaspoons of salt
1/4 cup of oil
6 cups of {home milled} flour
Combine all ingredients together.
I usually let the yeast sit in the warm water while I gather the rest of the supplies.
After mixing, let your dough rise until it is doubled in size.
Punch it down and shape it into loaves.
Let it rise again and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
Gather your family and enjoy your labour of love
with some melted butter and homemade strawberry jam!
by Gigi
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