Update on making my own bread....

A few weeks ago, I posted my review concerning making my own bread.  At the time, I had not made the "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day".  Last Thursday, I made my first batch of this bread.  It was so simple.  And it tastes fabulous.  I made a full batch of the light whole wheat bread which can make four 1-pound loaves.  My first loaf was actually probably closer to a 2-pounder due to the company I was having that night.  Being my first loaf, it didn't look as great as the pictures in this book, but it was scrumptious.  My kids asked for more.  So, the next night, I made a pizza.  It was the best pizza I've ever made.  And it took all of 10 minutes to pull it out of the fridge, roll it out, put my toppings on and put it in the oven.  I did not use my pizza stone for this since I wasn't sure how I could roll it out, put all the toppings on it and try to put it on a very hot pizza stone.  I still need a pizza peel, but for now what I have will work.   This bread had a total of 5 ingredients - unbleached flour, whole wheat flour, kosher salt, yeast, and water.  And the great part was no kneeding!  I've still got enough in the fridge for one more loaf. 

The next part will be to figure out the exact cost for 1 loaf to see whether it's helping my budget.  I use unbleached flour and that is not as cheap as regular flour.  And of course the wheat flour is more expensive too.  The salt and yeast are very inexpensive considering it will take me awhile to use it up if I make one batch a week.  And I've been spending around $1.97 for Mrs Baird Honey Wheat Bread and I purchase 3 loaves bi-weekly.

The one thing about making items from scratch is that I must think ahead.  I can't throw something together at the last moment.   Making out a two-week menu helps in this area since I can look ahead and see what I'll need to prepare in advance.  But sometimes, I forget to look ahead and then I'm left scrambling.  But at least I keep trying. 

This bread is definitely tastier than store-bought and it's fat free.  I will probably still buy store-bought bread, but I will be making this more often.