Sorry...

Sorry I haven't posted any yummies. Kyle and I have both been sick. It's hard to tell if something that I made is any good when you can't taste any thing. I'm starting to feel better, so stay tuned!

Bread, without the fancy kitchen appliances

I wanted to make bread this week. I put it off because I thought, I don't have a bread machine and I don't have one of those giant stand mixers. It's going to be too much trouble. Well I googled around and found out that I was WRONG! Here is what I found. This recipe makes the yummiest yummiest bread, and it is so super easy.

2 Loaves of Bread

1/2 C. Milk
3 T. Sugar
2 t. Salt
3 T. Butter, just barely melted, not boiling hot
2 packets or 4 1/2 t. Active Dry Yeast
2 C. Warm Water
5-7 C. Flour, the amount of flour you use depends on what sort of flour you have

First heat the bowl by filling it with hot water and then dumping it out. Mix the warm water and yeast until there is an even consistency. It should look like this...

Now add the butter, milk, sugar, and salt. Mix until well blended. It should look like this...

Then add 4 C. of flour to begin, then slowly add flour 1/4 C. at a time until the dough no longer has the consistency of glue and is more dough like. A little stickiness is ok, but it shouldn't be capable of being a glue alternative. It should look a little like this...


Next you will kneed the dough for 10 minutes. I have limited kitchen space so I just kneed right in the bowl. It's easier and less messy that way. You could clear a work space and dust it with flour and kneed your bread there. After you are done kneading place the dough back in the bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Your dough should look a little like this...


I use this time to clean up my mess so that I have a work space for the next step.

After the dough has risen for an hour it should be roughly double the original size. Take it out of the bowl, divide it in half, give it a few punches to deflate it back down to sized. 1 loaf at a time shape the dough into a rectangular size with one side being roughly the length of the bread pan and the other side being about a bread pan and a half long.

Now you just roll it up just like a giant cigar. Tuck the ends underneath with the seam. Place it in your bread pan (spray pan with a non stick spray first), cover and let rise for another hour. I start my oven to preheat to 400 towards the end of this hour.




Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Immediately remove from the pans and allow the bread to cool before slicing. TaDa! You have a bread that is tasty and you can easily spell all the ingredients! I don't know how to spell or pronounce half of the ingredients on the store bought bread label.

Chicken Ramen Salad

I'm not sure if that is what this is really called, but it's something that my MIL (mother-in-law) makes every so often. I have been craving it for a couple weeks now. I finally called her and asked how to make it. Well, actually first I called my SIL (sister-in-law) and she just told me to google it, I found a ton of recipes, none that seemed just right. So here it is:

Chicken Ramen Salad
Rotisserie Deli Chicken, pulled to pieces
1 Head of Cabbage, shredded or finely chopped
1 Medium Onion or a few Green Onions, chopped
Sesame Seeds to taste
1/2 C. Slivered Almonds
2 packages Top Ramen Chicken Flavored Noodles, raw and crushed

2/3 C. Vinegar
2/3 C. Sugar
2/3 C. Oil
Seasoning packets from the Top Ramen

Mix together the chicken, cabbage, onion, sesame seeds, almonds, and noodles.

Blend vinegar, sugar, oil and seasoning packets.

Pour vinegar mixture over salad.

Refrigerate. Eat. Yum.

**For a healthier version try using baked chicken instead of the deli chicken.**



So now you and I don't have to google the recipe anymore! Yay!

Welcome

So I realized how many of my blog posts have a food theme. So I thought I would make another blog devoted to something that I've learned that I really love. I love to cook. That doesn't mean I want to spend all my time in the kitchen preparing complicated meals, get real. I am always with 2 kiddos at my feet. I need food that is tasty and good for us. So here's my attempt. We will see how it works. We will also see if I can get my kiddos in the kitchen and helpful. Wish me luck!