Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

I love having homemade bread! However, I am a busy, pregnant mom. I have enough cleaning to do when I don't spend all day in the kitchen. So, making traditional bread just doesn't seem very practical right now.

A few months ago, one of my friends introduced me to Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and I absolutely love it! I'll give you a quick overview to show you how you can have fresh bread every day with your meal...or at least every other day. The basic recipe makes four 1 lb loaves.

You start with these ingredients. The basic recipe doesn't call for wheat flour or vital wheat gluten, but I decided to try to make healthier bread this week:

Then you mix it all together. They say you can mix it with a spoon in your storage container, but I prefer using my mixer...much faster and easier. Just mix it up until all the flour is mixed in...no kneading!!

Here comes my favorite part...you put it in a storage container. I have just been using an ice cream bucket because that is what I have. You let it rise for a couple of hours.

Then you can either use the dough immediately, or put it in the fridge to use over the next 14 days! (Be sure you don't seal the lid completely)

When you are ready to bake it, you cut off a chunk. Let it rest on your counter for a while. Preheat your oven and baking stone. And bake the bread. Be sure to let the bread cool before cutting or eating -- the texture is much better that way.

TaDa! You have fresh homemade bread! And the best part...It took me 15 minutes from the time I started getting out the ingredients to the time my KitchenAid was clean and put away! When you bake the bread you can get it out and preheat the oven while you are starting the rest of your meal. Super easy!!

You can find the basic recipe here. However, I highly recommend reading the book. They have lots of great tips and recipe variations.

We Love our Kitchen

One of my favorite rooms in our new house is the kitchen! I love having some counter space to prepare food (one thing that my apartment was definitely lacking). I think my favorite part is the openness. I love being able to watch Adysen play while I am cooking dinner. However, she generally likes to be right next to me cooking. As you can see the bottom pictures she is pretending to mix something in a cup for her baby. She then started spoon feeding her doll--what a cutie!

Where are the Chocolate Chips?

I love making cookies...and eating them (so I try not to do it very often). However, I really struggle making chocolate chip cookies. They should be easy, but for some reason mine never turn out. Other cookies work great...but chocolate chip...I just don't get it.

Last week I was looking at cooking blogs, and I found a post where Joy the Baker talked about using a wooden spoon to mix her chocolate chip cookies because it is easy to over mix them with the mixer. "Ah Ha" I thought---maybe that is my problem.

Then I pulled up the chocolate chip cookie recipe I have been wanting to make from Deals to Meals. According to the site it is a "fabulous, no fail, chocolate chip recipe." I decided that is the one I was going to try.

So, I pulled out my mixing bowl and wooden spoon. I also got out another bowl and spoon for Adysen so she could help me cook (since she showed me that she can make enchiladas on Sunday...see my earlier post). And we mixed up some cookies.

I gave Adysen one chocolate chip to try. She must have liked it because while I was trying to take a picture...this is what I found (notice the cookie in the corner):




The cookies turned out pretty good. I think the spoon definitely helped...but maybe next time I will use my Kitchen Aid and just not mix them for very long. :)

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. We enjoyed having Alton's brother Ben stay with us and it was fun to see Calene and Eric over the weekend. We watched General Conference and enjoyed being taught by our Prophet and other General Authorities. We are grateful for the Savior and the sacrifice He made so that we can use His Atonement and someday have eternal life. We know that He lives!

The Easter Bunny left a few eggs for Adysen to find (filled with some hair clips -- better than candy and just as exciting for Adysen).

Adysen also got her first baby doll. Adysen is teaching her how to drink the bottle.

Daddy is showing Adysen how to make a "baby burrito" as Adysen's pediatrician said and demonstrated to us when she was born.

Adysen enjoyed coloring while listening to the talks.

A great cook!

Adysen decided she was going to cook the enchiladas for us last Sunday afternoon. I pulled out the ingredients and started working on the chicken. Pretty soon Adysen had pulled the chair over, climbed up, got the whisks out of the drawer, and started cooking dinner. She even knew to dump in the cans and the mix. I am amazed at what learns by watching us. I haven't ever cooked with her before (besides dying Easter eggs). What a smartie!

Random Pictures

Just a couple of pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Adysen is growing up so fast! I can't believe how big she is getting. She likes to sit on the couch with me and play.

Adysen loves playing with socks and putting them on. One day she found a pair of my socks and put them on herself. She also likes to play with my shoes. She will often bring me my shoes during the day and try to put them on my feet. What a great helper.

Easter Eggs

For Family Night we dyed Easter eggs. It was a lot of fun. Adysen especially liked standing on the chair. However, afterwards she realized that she could drag the chair across the room and climb up on it on her own. One more thing to "baby proof."

We had to tickle her to get her to smile. She is so serious when we get out the camera lately.

Not the greatest picture of me...but I guess I've been hiding from the camera...I haven't been in a picture in a long time. :)

Grandpa and Grandma's 50th

A couple of weeks ago we went to Idaho for my Grandpa and Grandma Leyshon's 50th Anniversary party. Unfortunately, we didn't get very many pictures with our camera. (I would love to get some digital pictures emailed to me from those of you who had your cameras there).

Alton also made some awesome "50" card holders for the tables. (Actually we have a new website we are just starting up if you want to check it out: http://www.wirecardholders.com.)

I did get a picture of Adysen with my Dad. All of the other pictures were too blurry to post. :(

Discovery Gateway

Adysen and I went to Discovery Gateway on St. Patrick's Day. It was a free day and there were tons of kids! Adysen found a nice quiet place with a chair just her size and a baby to hold. She also enjoyed playing with the balls and shopping for groceries.

Swiffer Ad Auditions

Adysen loves to help us clean around the house! She grabs the swiffer on her own and starts to sweep.

**disclaimer...we didn't really do a swiffer audition, but isn't she adorable?!**

Visiting the Farm

At the beginning of March, Adysen and I went to Wheeler Farm with some friends. Adysen enjoyed looking at the animals.