Bread {Part II}

Today I tried out one of my pre-mixed breads and it turned out great!  I was worried that since the ingredients would be mixed up and out of order it might get messed up but it turned out perfectly.

I thought I'd share my recipes in case anyone else out there is a bread machine baker like myself.

Honey Oat and Wheat Bread

1 1/2 C warm water

1 1/2 T olive oil

6 T honey

1 1/2 t salt

3/4 C quick cook oats

2 1/2 C bread flour

1 C wheat flour

1 1/2 t yeast

Rye

1 1/4 C warm water

1 1/2 T olive oil

1/4 C molasses

1 1/2 t salt

2 T dry milk

1 3/4 C rye flour

1 C wheat flour

1 1/4 C bread flour

2 1/2 t yeast

Set it on your wheat bread setting and bingo!  You've got fresh bread!

Pretty much my favorite thing in the world these days is a slice of honey oat and wheat bread toasted with butter and honey after I've put the kids to bed for the night.

Enjoy!

Oh and while you're making your batches and have to go feed the baby before you can add the bread flour, make sure you push the containers to the back of the counter so your two and a half year old son can't climb up, dump one out and dance in it.  

Just a little tip from someone who knows:)

Bread

So lately I'v been working toward changing the way I buy and cook food for the fam.  I am trying to move toward cleaner, simpler and more local food.  I'm a firm believer in planning meals and keeping things really simple in an effort to keep my sanity with three littles around the house while I'm trying to cook as well as watching the old food budget.

One of the things I've been doing is to cook my own bread.  Bread is easy but can be time consuming, unless you are me and have a bread maker. I keep my bread maker on my counter and make a new, fresh loaf most days.  I used to just use it to make the dough and then cooked the bread in my oven but then I have to be home and tend it and lets be honest, with the three little ones around here we've got a go go schedule and I forget about things like bread rising in the oven.

So I thought I'd streamline the process and premix my dry ingredients.  I'd had these old yogurt containers and they seemed like the perfect size.

So we'll see how they work!

Oil Cloth Bonanza

On Friday I went to my local Harts Fabric to check out what they had in the way of oil cloth for a custom order.  I was amazed at the beautiful selection they had!  I hadn't expected it! All the sudden my head started spinning with ideas for things I didn't even know I needed oil cloth for.  REALLY trying to not buy supplies for projects until I can actually start on those projects which is annoying since I've got a bit of a line up of things that need to be done.  Maybe its just the motivation I need to move through the queue!

afternooning

a few weeks before micah was born, asher discovered to my great dismay that he could climb out of his crib.  from that point on he felt that he had no use for naps and thus began a power struggle between him and I that ended with me throwing my hands up in the air and saying, okay.  you're done with naps. i get it. fine.  

about a month ago something started happening in the course of our regular afternoon routine.  a little quiet time on the couch in front of a show usually led to asher falling asleep for an hour or so which led to MUCH more pleasant evenings with a not as wiped out two year old.  and the added bonus of an hour of peace and quiet for mama to gather her thoughts, have a cup of tea and prepare dinner.

with the weather improving around here 

(81 today with a slight breeze and sunny!) 

we've spent our quiet time with the doors open, enjoying the breeze and smell of outside.  I looked over today from my perch in the kitchen and saw all four of my little charges together, enjoying their quiet in their own ways.

More lucky stars.  I got the file for the February block again that I accidentally deleted so I can make another one.  I think I'm definitely going to do two blocks of each star so I can have a bigger quilt.  I LOVE these blocks and I think I am now sufficiently addicted to foundation piecing.

Linking up today with:

Lucky Stars Block of the month club

I joined up with Don't Call Me Betsy's Lucky Stars block of the month club.  I've been intrigued and totally intimidated by all the foundation piecing I've seen around the quilty blogosphere in the last year or two and finally decided to just jump in and give it a whirl.  I figured a block of the month club would be a good way to try it out. And I love it!

Here is the third block I've done.  Each block seems to take me about two hours.  I'm tempted to make two of each months' blocks to finish up with a nice sized quilt at the end of it all.  I've noticed we have an abundance of lap sized quilts and a shortage of snuggle up sized ones so I've been trying to get to some larger quilt projects.  I did a custom quilting job for a friend and did a quilt that was the largest I've done on my little Bernina 440QE to date and it went really well.  So well I'm less concerned with saving up my big quilts for our yearly trip up to Washington where I can rent long arm time.