Bread Machines Can Be Your Friend

I make homemade bread every four days at our house. It is easy because I have a bread machine. I have a 15 year old model (Breadman Ultimate). It does not matter what brand you have as long as you follow a few rules. If you have one on a shelf collecting dust, you will not believe how easy it is to serve your family bread without any preservatives. I will admit that if you love homemade bread.....you will need to purchase a wooden slicer and bread box. Even a fourth grader and a kindergarten child can do this recipe. I have proof....

These are my grandchildren. They love to make bread. The first time we made bread one of those cuties ask "How can you put ingredients into a printer and get bread?" I then realized how much my bread machine looks like a printer. 

I promise that this white, sandwich bread takes 5 minutes to mix up and pop into the machine. Look at the ingredients....IT IS CHEAP! You leave it alone and in 3 hours you have hot bread. It beeps when it is done....your model may get the bread done a little faster or slower. Get the bread pan and pop out the bread.....use a sharp knife to remove the mixing blade from the bottom of the bread. Then you have a loaf of scrumptious hot bread.

My Favorite 1.5 lb. White Bread (great for toast and sandwiches)
1 cup of water heated to 100 to 110 degrees (instant read thermometer works....15 seconds in microwave works for my microwave) 
3 tablespoons of white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil (NOT olive)
3 cups of BREAD flour (all grocery carry bread flour....King Arthur Bread Flour is best)
2 and 1/4 teaspoon of yeast for bread machines (keep in fridge)

HERE IS HOW YOU MAKE BREAD THE EASY WAY

Measure your cup of water and heat it in the microwave around 15 seconds... just do not get it hotter than 110 degrees. I use an instant read thermometer. Dump the water into the bread pan. Do NOT grease the bread pan. 

Add  3 tablespoons of sugar into the pan. Add 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt into the pan. Pour your 3 tablespoons of oil into the pan. Put 3 cups of bread flour into the pan. Then make a line with a spoon across the flour. Add 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast for bread machine (keep yeast in the fridge) across the line on top of the flour. 

Pop this pan into your bread machine. Make sure the setting are WHITE BREAD, 1.5 LB LOAF SIZE, AND LIGHT CRUST SETTING. Hit start. Now flour is a funny thing. You never know exactly how much water you need. Once you hear the machine mixing your dough, check on it. My dough needed a couple more tablespoons of water. I added two extra tablespoons of water from the tap.  I used a spatula to get the flour out of the corners (while the machine was running)....be careful but it is easy. Then I had a lovely big ball of dough without flour sitting in the corners. Done. Now all you have to do is wait. If you do this at dinner time when you come home, you can pop it out before you go to bed. 

Once the bread is done. Use some mitts and turn the bread pan over. Then put the bread sideways on a board and use a sharp paring knife to cut out the paddle from the bottom of the bread. Be careful it is hot. Then you can cool the bread on a wire rack. If you cut it hot....and I always do....it will not be as pretty. I got this great Amish inspired bread slicer from Amazon. I also have a bread box that glides so that it can fit a changing size loaf of bread. These bread slices fit in the toaster and makes great sandwich bread. 

The right tools make slicing bread simple.

Easy Spaghetti That Tastes Homemade

Spaghetti That Tastes Homemade

You will need.....
1 box of thin spaghetti noodles. (16 ounces)
1 jar of your favorite sauce (24 ounce medium size jar...NO sauce with meat in it)
1 pound of lean hamburger (85% or higher lean) or use three frozen hamburger patties from Costco defrosted
1 can of diced Italian style tomatoes or 1 can of stewed Italian style tomatoes broke up with your fingers
Italian Seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar

This meal will feed 6 to 8 or 4 with leftovers

1. Take out your pound of thawed hamburger meat OR take out three frozen patties of the Costco hamburger meat. You can get them apart... frozen ...with a can opener. Put the frozen patties on a plate and cover with a paper towel. Put in the microwave and hit defrost, hit 1, hit 0, hit start. That should defrost a pound of hamburger without cooking it in about 4 minutes.
2. Put a big pot half-filled with water on the stove. Heat it on high.
3. Put meat in a pan on medium high heat with a teaspoon of olive oil. Brown it. Then open the can of tomatoes. If you have stewed Italian tomatoes you need to break them up with your fingers before putting them in the pan.
4. Sprinkle ( two seconds a sprinkle) the pan with Italian Seasoning, Garlic Powder, Onion powder, and add one half teaspoon of sugar (reduces acid). Now stir and add your jar of sauce.
5. I hate cleaning lids. I always just put a piece of foil to cover instead. Turn it down to low once it bubbles. Cover with lid or foil. Stir every few minutes.
6. Add two teaspoons of salt to the boiling water. (It will make the pasta tender and tasty)
7. Add noodles to the boiling water and set timer for 10 minutes once it comes back to a boil. Stir.
8. Drain noodles in colander. Put the noodles in a bowl. Pour sauce over the top. Put shaved Parmesan cheese on top or the Parmesan in the green can if that is all you have.
9. Serve with a salad out of a bag with your favorite dressing.

Frozen hamburger patties

Pop apart patties with this

Brown your hamburger

I cannot find the lid

Salt your water 

You need spices (glass of wine helpful)

Pour sauce on top and stir

Plated spaghetti

Welcome to my blog....

This is the blog for those raised on fast food and take-out food. The people who have huge, beautiful kitchens but are afraid to use those great kitchens. This is the blog for those who need to eat out less for their health and their budgets. Let us get started.......

You are going to need a few things. Every kitchen needs to have.....

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Decent priced medium sized)
• Butter ( used sparingly it adds flavor and few calories)
• Lemons (3)
• Garlic
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Italian Seasoning
• Salt and Pepper
• Mustard (yellow and brown)
• Sugar
• All purpose flour
• Raw carrots
• Celery
• Ketchup
• Texas Pete hot sauce
• Salsa (medium or mild)
• Chicken broth in a box
• Flour tortillas

Let's make something easy.....
You just got home and you need something for dinner fast. You need something cheap to eat too.  How about black beans and rice with a tortilla filled with chicken, salsa, lettuce, tomato and cheese.

Chicken Tortillas with Black Beans and Rice
10 Flour Tortillas (medium sized)
8 Raw Chicken Tenders (no coatings...plain boneless and skinless) (frozen is fine)
1 cup of long grain rice (NOT converted...plain, cheap rice)
Box of chicken broth
Tomato
Lettuce (any kind)
Shredded Sharp or Mild Cheese (1 package)
onion powder
garlic powder
Can of black beans

What I Need To Do....

1. Rice from scratch is easy. Heat twice as much chicken broth as dry rice and you are good. Four people eating? This will give you enough rice and enough for left overs for lunch. Boil 2 cups of chicken broth....then add one cup of dry, long grain rice (not converted or precooked rice). Stir, cover, and turn down the heat to low and set the timer for 20 minutes.
2. Open a can of seasoned black beans and sprinkle with some onion powder and garlic powder.  Heat in the microwave in a bowl that is covered. Take it out of the microwave.
3. Heat four cups of salted water to a boil on the stove....drop in 8 raw chicken tender strips. Boil ten minutes....15 they are frozen.  ( I buy a big bag of resealable frozen chicken tenders)
4. Chop a tomato or two and some lettuce. Chop the chicken. (Good job for husbands and older children)
5. When the rice is done....timer goes off after 20 minutes....add the black beans you heated in the microwave. Mix.
6. Heat your flour tortillas in the microwave wrapped in paper towels for three minutes or you can heat them one at a time on a hot nonstick skillet without any oil. (30 seconds per side)
7. Fill tortilla with chicken, salsa, chopped lettuce and tomato, and sprinkle with bagged shredded sharp cheese.
8. Put one on four plates. Add some rice and beans. Put extra salsa on the table.
9. Make sure that everyone is at the table with the television off and all phones in a basket on the table. (If someone answers their phone, they must wash the dishes right after dinner)
10. Eat and enjoy. 

Variation: My kids wrap the rice, black beans, chicken, lettuce and tomato, cheese, and salsa in one tortilla and call it dinner.