Making Bread - Mixer & Oven vs. Bread Machine

Two years ago I posted about my experiences baking bread in a bread machine. I liked the convenience, but I've found over the years that when I make bread in the bread machine, it is too dense and dry. Maybe there is a way to mess with the settings more, but I don't care much for it. I don't think it kneads well enough, or lets it rise well. Plus, if you're not setting it up the night before, for the morning, it takes 5.5 hours for it to make the whole cycle.

Now, I make bread using a Kitchen Aid mixer. I tried it by hand, I'm terrible at it. I can't get the dough to stop sticking to everything without adding a bunch of flour, which makes the dough stiff. I mix the yeast and warm water with the first two cups of whole wheat flour in the mixer until mixed just enough (using the paddle). Then I let rise in a slightly warmed oven for fifteen minutes in the mixer bowl, then put it back on the mixer and mix it on low as I slowly add in the rest of the flour, stopping when it just starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Then I take out the dough and place it on an oiled suface. I scrape out the sides of the bowl and the paddle, then exchange the paddle for the dough hook. I oil the mixer's bowl and the dough hook, put the dough back in, and mix it for 7 minutes. After that, I put it in a pan to rise in a slightly warmed oven, then take it out and preheat the oven, and proceed to bake as directed. This produces a much more satisfactory loaf, to me, than the bread machine variety. Of course, I'm still new to this, having only made bread a handful of times.

The recipe I've been using is Marilyn's Famous Whole Wheat Bread Recipe. It's okay, but I'm on the lookout for a better one. I don't use the "dough enhancer" it calls for, which is sold on her site, and which I suspect is probably just vital wheat gluten. Some people like a lighter loaf, more sandwich-like. When making whole wheat bread, I like it to be truly 100% whole wheat, no added white flour or gluten. I like it dense and filling, making it a nutritious way to stretch your grocery dollar. My children eat 50% less for dinner when given a slice of this bread. It's good for them, and for our budget.

That recipe also calls for oil. I don't know what most whole foods bread makers use for oil. I tried olive oil...eeew. Mine was good, raw olive oil too, not the rancid processed stuff. Yuck. I don't use most oils that others would use, as most of them are processed and rancid, too. I'd use melted coconut oil, but that would give a slight coconut flavor. I did try melted butter. That batch didn't come out right, as I used the wrong grain accidentally, so I don't know if the problem was just the grain, or the butter too. I'm open to suggestions from more experienced bakers! I'm also open to new recipes, if they are using NT-friendly, whole food ingredients.

Next time I may replace the honey with raw agave nectar. Can't say enough good stuff about agave!!

Mr. Clean "Menace" Eraser

If you or someone you know use Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, please check out this post about a child who received chemical burns after rubbing them on his skin.

I use these on rare occasions. I plan to lock these up with other household chemicals. I'm trying to transition to natural cleaners based on vinegar or baking soda recipes, but I will keep my Magic Erasers for emergency permanent marker clean up. Just one more example about how dangerous products are marketed to unsuspecting consumers with no warning of deadly side effects.

Labelmaker!!!

Yes, my friends, I have finally joined the ranks of the organized! Okay, you've got me, I'm still not organized...but I'm working on it! This week I have been in an organizing frenzy (okay, okay, a "frenzy" for ME). I bought new toy tubs, reorganized the small toys in little boxes, and actually labeled them this time with...(da da da DA)...my new labelmaker!

After coveting labelmakers I've seen for my entire life, I finally decided it was a justifiable expense, and purchased the Dymo Letratag handheld labelmaker. I got it for $20 at Walmart. It looks similar to the labelmaker pictured above, but is a darker color and a appears to be slightly different from that model. Looking back, I wish I'd spent the extra money on the P-touch I saw at Sam's club for $30 that came with extra tape and could do a variety of sizes of labels. *sigh* But I like my label maker anyway.

I had so much fun labeling every thing in site. I labeled most of the lightswitches in my house (this house is a wiring nightmare, and there are switches everywhere...and not where they make sense), some of the new Lock & Lock containers I bought to organize my baking cabinet, all the plastic shoeboxes I'm using for toy storage, and a few drawers and shelves. Last night I was sitting in my chair, labeling to my my heart's content, when suddenly, the unthinkable happened....


I RAN OUT OF LABEL TAPE !!!!!!!

It was horrible. It was unexpected. My heart sank. No more labeling? I was desperately trying to come up with a way to afford to buy more label tape, but alas, it will have to wait til Friday. Apparently, 13 feet of label tape doesn't go that far. I think my husband is worried that this will become an expensive hobby. But I assured him that once I had the entire house labeled (yes, I will label my whole house, lol) then my label tape "habit" should slow down.

So despite the current hold on my labeling activities, I'm still really excited to have a labeler. It just looks so neat and tidy and organized when things are properly labeled. :-)

Recording Online Radio Programs

There is a website online that some of you may be interested in. It is WFTS Radio. The programming consists of radio talk shows with priests on various traditional Roman Catholic topics, Gregorian chants, hymns, Sunday sermons, and a talk show with Dr. Donsbach on natural health. They also play an audio recording on Sundays of the Latin Mass, and talks given by a Mother Superior to ladies (but are often enjoyable to men as well).

There is a programming schedule every day. I think it plays 24/7, I'm not sure...but I think the programming repeats itself at night. You can download the programs for about $5. I think it's a little steep for 30 minutes of programming that most of the shows are, but I understand it is necessary to help with the tremendous costs.

However, you can also download Replay Radio for $30-40, which can record audio and/or video streams online. Then you can listen to the programs through your computer, or download them to your iPod or MP3 player. We just got Replay Radio, and so far we like it. It's pretty easy to use, it's kind of like TiVo (sort of) for your computer

If you do regularly record WFTS, I would suggest sending what donations you can to help them out. I really enjoy it, and their listening audience is growing by leaps and bounds. According to the radio host, people all over the world are now listening. It's very clean, extremely traditional, and enjoyable

Vision Forum Contest at Life in a Shoe!

Vision Forum is sponsoring a contest in connection with Life in a Shoe blog, for two prize packages of Vision Forum materials worth $700, plus a drawing for a couple of smaller prizes. Check it out. What homeschoolers couldn't use some free stuff from Vision Forum! I haven't gotten any Vision Forum stuff yet myself, as I just started homeschooling YESTERDAY, but I've seen some cool stuff there. They have a lot of things great for the whole family, not just for homeschooling. Check it out!

Cool baby "bed"

Journey to Homemaker

I found the coolest baby bed. It's a hammock style bed, called the Amby Baby Hammock. I questioned at first the design, but upon researching it, I decided it's a great idea. I like to co-sleep, but sometimes my back hurts because I can't roll over. If I can scrape together the money, I plan to use it next to the bed for baby's naps and for when mommy needs to sleep alone. It's a really great looking product!

Comment on Fascinating Womanhood and Marital Intimacy

Journey to Homemaker

A reader asked me in a comment if I knew the writer of Fascinating Womanhood was a Mormon. I'm glad she asked. I do know the writer is a Mormon. I am not. But I personally didn't notice much in the book that I considered to be religion-specific. (Unless I missed something!)

However there was one chapter in the book that I personally didn't agree with. That was the chapter on sex. She said that our bodies are our own, not our husbands. I disagree, based on my religious beliefs. I thought I would let my readers know this, although they may not agree with my beliefs, so they can be aware in case they read it.

My opinion on marital intimacy is that my body DOES belong to my husband as well as me, just as his body belongs both to him and me. We are united in Christ, and the two have become one. I believe that I do not have the right to deny my husband marital intimacy (Wait, read the whole thing before you freak out!) unless I have a serious reason, which I will address further below.

Marital intimacy is also referred to as "the marital debt", because it is a right of marriage and not a priviledge. It is a beautiful and sacred thing, not simply a reward to be trivialized and used for manipulation or withheld as punishment. This applies to both spouses, although I think it is especially important for wives to keep this in mind, because the husband's drive is naturally stronger than hers is. A woman finds happiness primarily through affection, whereas men find it primarily through intimacy. And when a woman feels love and affection from her husband, she is more likely to show her love through intimacy...and vice-versa, a man who is feeling loved through intimacy will be more likely to show his wife more love and affection. So if one spouse denies the other spouses needs, it starts a terrible cycle of witholding what the other spouse needs most, and can be very destructive.

As I said, there are times where I believe a spouse does have the right of refusal. For example, if feeling very ill, if it will adversely affect their health (such as in a particularly fragile pregnancy), if the spouse is being mistreated (truly mistreated, not just being made mad), etc. I'm sure there are many other examples, but those are what comes to mind. Being upset, being just tired (not completely physically exhausted), and wanting to manipulate your spouse are not serious reasons. Let's face it, as parents, aren't we ALWAYS tired?!

Now, if you aren't in the mood, you certainly have a right to let your husband know how you feel. There's nothing wrong with saying "honey, I'm really tired tonight, do you mind taking a raincheck?" If your husband is feeling "frustrated" and feels a strong need, he can always let you know. My husband knows I will always be there if he needs me...although he knows on those occassions that he won't be getting any "frills". Sometimes he feels bad asking again if he knows I'm not in the mood, but I'd rather he let me know than to get cranky. I don't know about you, but after a certain amount of days, my husband gets really cranky. He's not even aware of it, but I can count on my fingers how many days it's been and think "yep, I was right, it's been too long." I'm sure every man is different, but I try to make sure that he doesn't have to go that long. It makes us both happier in the long run.

These rules go both ways. There are times he lets me know he's too tired or not in the mood. I've found that as a woman, I often don't realize my own "needs" until after they've been met, and I chastise myself when I've allowed too much time to pass without intimacy with my husband, because it takes its toll on me too, I just don't realize it as easily as he does.

It surprises me to hear on Dr. Phil how many women there are out there witholding from their husbands...then they're mystified as to what's wrong with their marriage! Often it's because they had a baby and got so tired that they just stopped thinking about their husbands' needs. Sometimes it's because of stress in the marriage, and they are stubbornly holding out until the husband "shapes up". I'm sure the husbands are often in the dark about the whole thing! I mean, do these women want to be right, or do they want to be happy? Some of these poor men have gone a year, even multiple years, and the wives admit that they're "just not interested". Well heck, how about making a sacrifice once a week to show their husbands that they love them?

I thank God for my faith. Because of my beliefs, I think we have a much stronger marriage than most people. We've had some major struggles with things like money, etc. and a lot of couples break up over these things, or at least damage their marriage.

Anyway, this is just what I believe. I just wanted to post about it because I recommended the book, but that one particular section is not something that I personally believe will help a marriage. The rest of the book is great though, and has really helped motivate me as a wife and mother, and is improving our marriage. My husband is a fabulous husband and father, but even he is making improvements in himself because he is so appreciative of my own efforts to improve.