Life. Love. Family. Our Perfect Imperfection. Living life as a Catholic, homeschooling family with three amazing, unique boys, a too-oft serious, frustrated and anxious but also loving momma, and a fun-loving, hardworking dad.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Homemade with love



For Christmas, I got a bread machine from Jason and the boys. Well, truthfully, I didn't ask for anything and just ordered it for myself because I knew what I wanted. But Jason totally would have bought it if he had known and so it was from them.

Ever since we started following the Feingold diet, we have had a hard time finding approved bread. In fact, only two stores near us - one of the Walmarts and Winn-Dixie - carried an brand we could have and liked and their inventory was inconsistent at best. There was one other brand but none of us really liked it and it was expensive. Whole Foods is a bit too far to drive every week, sometimes twice a week, for bread and a few other staples. So the homemade bread journey would start just after Christmas.

Searching through recipes my mom had given me years ago and after having tried several I found online, I chose one from my mom's pile. I made it a few times as read but it wasn't quite right for sandwiches. After making an adjustment, we have found the best ever homemade white bread and it's amazing for sandwiches.

Here's the recipe:

White Sandwich Bread (for a bread machine)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup water
3 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons salted butter
4 cups bread flour (I use King Arthur's brand but any BREAD flour should be fine)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 teaspoons instant dry or bread machine yeast

Place all ingredients in bread machine in the order listed.
This makes a large or 2lb loaf so choose the correct setting on your machine.
We have found it best to adjust the crust setting to light.
The bread type is basic/white bread.
Press start and wait until it's finished baking.  If your machine lets you know when you can remove the paddle, I highly recommend it as it makes a much nicer looking loaf/slices. Let cool slightly before slicing. Or save it for the next day or two even!