best. bread. ever.

well, from a machine, anyway.

i have to share this recipe with you because it's just that awesome. it's beautiful. i could honestly eat the entire loaf by myself. with nothing on it. just straight bread. ok, maybe some honey, or cheese, or tons and tons of butter... or lots of ham or roast beef and cheese, or as a toasted tomato sandwich or... oh, wow, i'm actually drooling. excuse me for just a moment. {wipes chin} k, i'm back now.

anyhoo, i suppose you'd like the recipe for this wonder, wouldn't you? well, brace yourselves, gentle readers, because here it is:

Honey Oat Bread

1 cup water
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp oil
3 cups bread flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast

put the ingredients into the breadmaker. i set it on "grain" with regular crust (as opposed to dark), and it turned out perfectly.

with this recipe, there is a little room for creativity. instead of using oatmeal, you can use granola. i've done this in the past, and it was lovely. however, since granola (at least the stuff i have) contains almonds, it's not school -friendly. so today, i decided to try something a little different again, and used 12-grain cereal. WOW!!!! it's so good!

and yes, i wanted to post pics, but um... yeah... the bread's all gone now. {sheepish grin} so you'll just have to take my word on this... it was wonderful!

mmm... slow cooker...

i think a slow cooker is the greatest invention ever. ever.

ever.

this morning, while making the boys' lunches for school (blithe stayed with her dad one extra night), i had asher help me with supper tonight. bram was confused by this, and kept saying, "not supper. breakfast. don't you mean breakfast, mommy?" "why, no, my young son. i mean supper."

i had already washed off some beans and dumped them into the slow cooker. so asher hopped up onto a chair and poured in the water. and then i turned it on.

and walked away.

and all day so far, i've been enjoying the smell of the beans as they cook. oooooh, supper's gonna be gooooood!!!!

• beans
• brown rice
• fried onion
• bacon (if i have any... which i think i do... but i'm not sure... i'll check later)
• fresh, homemade bread

hold on a sec. my laptop is shooting sparks at me. i think i was drooling a little too much.

ok, it's under control now.

just ignore the smell of smoke.

and focus on the smell of beans and bread.

oh, wait. you can't. because you're not here. awwww, shucks, that's too bad. don't worry, i'll eat your share. i'll sacrifice my waistline for you like that. i don't mind. 

speaking of my waistline... maybe i should go workout this afternoon, before the kidley-winks come home. yup, that's what i'm gonna do. and so, toodles! i'm off to the gym! {grabs bag and flies out the door}

jealous? you should be.

because i make

hands down

the best

grilled cheese

EVER!!!!

ever.

i won't divulge all my secrets (like the bread recipe - that's right. homemade bread. sucka.). but here are a few:

1. homemade bread. awwwww yeah...
2. shredded cheese. melts better. gets nice and oozy. mmm... oozy cheese.
3. i sing and dance while making it. (but i won't tell you the song. that's the secret. {wink})
4. ham. shaved black forest ham. beautiful.

now, i'd take a picture of it, but to be honest, well, i ate the sammy before i even thought about photographing it. besides, i wouldn't want you to be blinded by the awesomeness. because, trust me, you would be.

admit it. you're jealous now. and yes. you should be.

French Wheat Bread (for the breadmaker)

if you're looking for a FANTASTIC bread recipe, without anything fancy, just plain ol' bread... look no further, gentle reader! here it is, my favourite bread EVER!! honestly, i make this bread several times a week (and those who've tried it agree... it's delicious!). so, by special request, here is the recipe:

1 1/8 c water
2 1/2 c bread flour
1/2 c whole wheat (or multigrain) flour
2 1/2 tsp white sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp butter (or margarine)
3 tsp yeast

throw it all into the breadmaker in that order, and turn on the breadmaker. walk away.

when it's done, take it out.

while still warm, slice a piece for yourself and SMOTHER it in butter, jam, honey... whatever your little heart desires, but seriously, you absolutely must try this bread when it's warm. and then, try it once it has cooled. truly delicious!! LURV IT!!!!!

know what i love?

finding good stuff in my freezer.

this morning, while pondering supper for tonight, i went digging through my freezer. and oh, the treasures i found!!!!

treasure #1:
a casserole a friend had given me a while back (probably a couple months, by now), all frozen and with promises of deliciousness. so i took it out, threw it in the oven, and we enjoyed it for lunch.

oh, guess i should tell you what it was, eh? teehee it was a chicken and potato casserole, with veggies. it was soooo good. chunks of potato, lots of chicken, yummy veggies. it was comfort on a plate. so, thank-you, deb, you're wonderful! <3

treasure #2:
a bag of chicken thighs. actually i found two bags, though i only used one. i took it out, threw it into my big crock-pot, smothered it with bbq sauce, and it was ready in time for supper. i also chopped up a couple carrots this afternoon while making carrot soup (recipe to be posted in a few minutes), and it was absolutely delicious!!! the boys liked it, i loved it, and charlie seemed happy there were leftovers on asher's plate.

there are other things i love, too. like my freezer. and not just because of today. i just generally love my freezer.

my crock-pots. love them. i can't even describe how much!! they please me. i have a big one and a smaller one, and they're perfect. there used to be a blog called "A Year of Crockpotting" and every day there was another recipe for something in the crock-pot. it was awesome. i put the link on here at one point, but her year is up, so i doubt if there's anything new posted. but back in the day, i enjoyed that blog. especially her post about crockpot haggis. honestly, that had to be one of the funniest things i'd read in AGES - and the picture of the box the meat came in, marked "not for human consumption" made me laugh out loud!!

my breadmaker. i use it at least 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes more. it's wonderful. and so easy. and i don't think i need to tell you how nice it is to come home to the smell of freshly-baked bread. mmmm... carbs...

i think that's about it. oh, no, wait. there's one more thing i love.

my giant pot. i've been a soup-making fiend lately, and that's the pot i use. 'nuff said.

that's it now. well, probably not, but i'll stop here. i'll post more when i think of them. ;)

zucchini bread recipe, as promised

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). grease two 9x5 loaf pans.
2. beat together eggs, sugar and oil. blend in the grated zucchini, and then the sour cream. mix in the flour, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon. pour batter into prepared pans.
3. bake for 80 minutes. cool on wire rack.

the original recipe called for 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips as well, but i think that's disgusting, so i'm leaving it out. call me crazy, but i just don't think chocolate and zucchini quite mesh. so, yeah, i'll post my review tomorrow, and let you know how it all turned out. and i'll post some pics of us all cooking and baking, as well as a list of all the things we made.

ps - here's the link to the recipe on allrecipes.com

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Zucchini-Bread/Detail.aspx

check it out and read the reviews. sounds like a good one to me. i'll let you know.

so, i woke up this morning...

and all i wanted was banana bread. truly, banana bread. so... i came downstairs, and looked in the cupboard for a mix. but, alas, no mix in sight. what to do, what to do?! well, i did what any woman with an irrational craving does: i looked up a recipe on the internet.

and eureka! i found one! and i had all the ingredients! even better!

and then... i followed the recipe, and it's in the oven right now. the banana bread, that is, not the recipe. i'm not that inept when it comes to baking.

here's the link, if you're interested:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grandmas-Homemade-Banana-Bread/Detail.aspx

so, yeah, the bread's in the oven, baking away, and i am hungrily anticipating my breakfast. i'll update when it's done, and let you know how it all turned out.

Grandma's Banana Bread

my grandmother's recipe. the best ever!!!!!!!

1/2 cup butter, margarine or shortening (Grandma uses hard margarine)
1-2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp sour cream
4 cups mashed bananas (approx 2-3 bananas)
2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla

cream together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.
add eggs and salt. mix well.
dissolve baking powder and baking soda in sour cream and add to mixture.
stir in banana pulp.
gradually add flour and vanilla.
spray the inside of soup cans (like Campbell's soup) with cooking spray (spray works best b/c it gets into all the ridges). fill cans about 2/3 full.
bake at 350F for about 1 hour. check after 45 minutes.
yields 4 "cans" of banana bread.

you can also make it in a loaf pan. bake at 350F for about 1.5 hours. check just after 1 hour.

i don't bake...

but i'd like to change that. minor problem, though: no recipes. and when you don't make a habit of baking, you can't really wing it right off the bat.

see, here's the thing. it's not so much the baking i mind. it's the measuring. never tell a formerly messed-up pastor's kid what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and for how long. which is why the rebel in me refused to bake for, um oh, ever!

until now, my friends! but again, you see my problem. i don't bake, so i lack recipes. what to do, what to do?

i want to start with some old-fashioned things that just about everyone i know can bake (ok, so maybe i'm caving in to peer pressure or something, or maybe i want to give my children what i was deprived of: memories of baking with mom. sorry, mom, but i don't remember doing that with you.) anyhoo...

i love the smell of baking bread. at least, i want to love it. i think i've honestly only smelled it a couple of times in my life, but in my soul, i love it. so, i did what any SAHM who spends too much time online does: search the net. stupid, naive me, entered "bread recipes." don't know what i was thinking; there's THOUSANDS of sites out there with bread recipes! yikes! well, i'll admit, i don't scan them all and choose the best. maybe i should, but i don't. i just pick the first one on the list. if it doesn't "speak to me" i move to the second. i don't remember the last time i got to the third link on the list. well, i found this website (allrecipes.com) and it has a whole section on bread! (can you tell i'm new at this? the bread section was a surprise for me! i mean, who knew there were so many recipes for bread? lol) so i printed off 3 recipes:

1. traditional white bread
2. amish white bread
3. simple whole wheat bread

i can't wait to give them a whirl. maybe tomorrow with the kids. we'll learn together. :) (and a quick note about printing the recipes: you can choose the format: full page, 4x6 or 3x5. i chose 3x5, seems like a nice traditional recipe card size [am i wrong? i hope not, i want to do this right, and that means down to these seemingly stupid details. yes, i'm a nerd, but i can't help it. lol] it prints off in 2 small boxes, surrounded by dotted lines which are your guides for cutting it out for real-life recipe cards. can you believe it? i have recipe cards! woohoo! lol)

ok, sorry about that little outburst. i'm just a little excited here. maybe a little too excited. that could be. i'll take a sedative later (ah, the simple life. lol). but wait! it gets better! i found other recipes, and printed them off, too!

1. banana banana bread
2. BASIC PASTA!!!!!!!

oh, i am just too excited about the pasta recipe! i can't wait to try it out! i feel like asher sitting in the grass or bram playing with his trains or blithe looking at anything pink! ok, i should stop writing now, otherwise i'll go on and on and never get any sleep tonight and then tomorrow i'll be tired when i deal with the kiddies and that's no good. i get cranky when i'm tired. but i also have to do a quick sample for my scrappin challenge blog and give asher his meds, so i just need to stop now.