About to have another go at baking bread, 100% whole wheat of course. I tried it for the first time last week and it turned out great, and it was pretty easy too. Only took about an hour of my time, including cleanup, although total time elapsed was about five hours because a lot of time was spent waiting for it to rise, bake, etc. I've been eating it everyday and my kids have as well. No more store bought for us...

My wife's response to the situation was pretty funny. She came home from work to find me barefoot in the kitchen, wearing an apron and baking, and said "If I could just get you pregnant!".

Just (off to start) bakin'...

^^^Oops, forgot to include the recipe. I used this Simple-Whole-Wheat-Bread recipe I found on the web. I substituted 100% whole wheat flour in place of the bread flour and it still comes out great. Also, I only use two loaf pans (they suggest three) so the bread is more of a store-bought size.

My kids have even started eating it for breakfast most mornings so I'm really happy; it's quite an improvement over their usual breakfast of sugary cereal.

Just postin'...

Get a bread machine, my time making/baking bread is about 5 minutes

You rock... I am inspired to go bake something.

Perhaps some naan... I love naan

Well I got it down to about 30 min this time, but it takes me >5 min just to measure out and mix the initial ingredients, plus another 5-7 min kneading the dough after the first rise, so I'm not sure how the bread machine could speed this part up unless you just pour the stuff in and it does everything for you?

Also, it would be tough getting my wife to part with the money, my being a SAHD with no income and all. Not to mention I would actually rather spend that same money on a coffee roaster. I already showed her how that would pay for itself in <1 year based on how much we drink and the cost of green vs roasted beans (I even made a powerpoint presentation ), but still no dice.


Actually my wife has already outlined my next bread tasks: sourdough baguettes and pita bread. I like naan, but her not so much.

Oh well...

You are swiftly becoming my hero. I wanted to do the coffee roasting thing but the wife put the kibosh on that... perhaps if I had a snazy power point presentation to outline the savings though...

With my machine, you just add the ingredients, shut the lid, and set the bread type and wait for the finished product. It does all the kneading.

My grandmother made bread all the time by hand, it was delicious, but I have to say, my machine bread tastes as good as hers........now if only they would make a grandmother's chicken n dumpling machine.

Rowman!! you're a SAHD too....that's awesome!! I find it to be little tough to be an at home parent and a guy....mom's have their clicks, but you don't see that many SAHD's around....I would feel weird trying to hang out with a bunch of moms....
I just started watching a neighbor girl a couple of weeks ago....she gets along great with my girls and the extra pocket money is nice...not a whole lot, but it covers my smoothies at the gym and our lunches when we go out....

good to hear from a fellow SAHD

Right back at'cha Schnellvaggio. Been a SAHD since my company was shut down about 2.5 years ago, with currently no end in sight. I like being with my kids, but I do miss having my own source of income. My wife is pretty good about giving me a little spending money, but you've got to admit you're in a pretty pitiful state when your teenage sons start giving you money because they feel sorry for you!

Just whingin'...

YAY FOR THE SAHD!!

That's great, rowman! When I unpack my recipes, I'll post some of my mom's bread ones.

Do you have a stand mixer, like a Kitchenaid? We don't have that brand, but ours came with dough hooks, so it kneads the bread for you. Still, I like the feel of the dough in my hands.


What kind do you have? I've been really wanting one.


I love that!

You have to watch The Bread, My Sweet. It's a nice little indie flick that was made here in The 'Burgh.

I am a SAHD - Stay at Home Daughter. I care for my elderly parents (mom has dementia) and I am disabled as well. I miss my job, especially the income.

Hey Veebs, it would be great to see some of your Mom's bread recipes. After two successful bread-making attempts I'm starting to feel a bit more adventurous. I've seem the Kitchenaid stuff before and it does look nice, but boy is it pricey; no way could I ever get something like that approved. And actually, like you, I also like the feel of the dough in my hands.


My wife is very big on thorough financial analyses of our expenditures, both upfront and recurring costs. I though my pp presentation for the coffee roaster was inspired and was almost as disappointed by her nonplussed reaction to the animated graphs of our coffee savings over time as I was to the fact that she did not approve the purchase.

Although I'm not really a fan of Scott Baio, I do like food movies so I've added The Bread, My Sweet to my Netflix queue. My favorite food-themed movies of all time are Babette's Feast and Tampopo. Have you seen them?


Our parents are not living with us, but I can empathize with you. Fortunately my dad is doing okay at an assisted living facility and my wife's mom is in great shape and cares for her father at their home.

Just chattin'...

OK, I have some bread questions for y'all.

I make French bread from scratch (very easy recipe, will be happy to share it if you're interested). If I used whole wheat flour instead of regular flour, would it cease to be French bread? I've also heard that wheat flour doesn't rise as well and my recipe calls for rapid rise yeast (BEST invention EVER!). And here's that last one: the last time I made French bread, it came out very dense. What would cause that?

I am not a Scott Baio fan either, but it was a cute movie. I have heard wonderful things about Babette's Feast, and nothing about Tampopo, but I'll have to check out both.

Oh, and the stand mixer I have must be a pretty inexpensive one because it was my mom's, but like I said, it came with dough hooks, beaters and whisks. It does the job well; a KitchenAid is merely my dream mixer.

I made some shortbread today, well they were really kind of like scones - a recipe I made up. I used 2 packages of lowfat cream cheese, softened, 1TBSP vanilla extract, 1TBSP almond extract, 1/2 cup sugar, then blend that all together. Here is where I use the dough hooks - I just let the mixer spin it until it is all mixed together. Then I add slowly about 2 cups of Bisquick (or however much it takes to make it like dough, about 1/4 cup at a time) add 1/4 cup almond slivers, then chill the dough for about an hour. Then I rolled it ou, and used a glass to cut it into biscuit sized rounds, then baked at 350⁰ for about 20 minutes.

For my snack tonight, I had one of the scones in a bow, covered with organic yogurt and raspberries. OMG - it was delicious!

I would have used whole wheat flour, but I don't have any, and I'm trying to use up the food in the kitchen at the old house. I've also made these with Spenda, but again, I'm using up what I had in the kitchen.


Bread is very sensitive - sometimes it gets like that if you work the dough too much, if the flour is old, if there's too much humidity, the temperature of the room, and sometimes it depends on the altitude. Also, whole wheat is more dense than white flour. I usually let bread rise until it doubles, punch it down a little, then let it rise again, and then shape into loaves, and let it rise again. It needs to be warm to rise well, so I usually set it on top of the stove with the oven on low, or while I have something else in the oven.

I hope that helps!

Has anyone ever made Paska (Easter bread)? It's sooo good!

This is a simple and absolutely yummy recipe I use for my 1 1/2 lb. Breadman bread machine:

1 ¼ cups water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¼ cup agave nectar (or honey)
3 ½ cups King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast (make slight indentation in flour for yeast)

Put all of the above ingredients into the bread pan in the order listed (important!), program machine for medium crust white loaf of bread and press start.

I have also used King Arthur Traditional (or Red) Whole Wheat Flour, but that loaf wasn’t as golden as this version. Who knew there were 2 kinds/colors of whole wheat flour? Not me!

Take a look at the dough after it's kneaded for 20 minutes or so; it should be smooth, not sticky (too little flour) or lumpy (too little liquid), forming a nice ball. If the dough looks good at this point, you're probably all set.

An added bonus to the machine version is that my 6-yr old son loves to watch it spin when it's mixing the stuff -- and then asks "where's our loaf" the next day!

"Where's our loaf" sounds like my family!!

V, sorry somehow I missed your post....this is like my bread machine

Thanks! I'm gonna see what they have at Bed, bath & Beyond - I have coupons.

Nice machine! Mine makes the funky shaped loaf but hey, it was free! I saw a machine sort of like Chazee's at WalMart yesterday for about $50, so be sure to shop around. BB&B can be pricey for the exact same item... Now I'm tempted to give away my free one and buy one like hers!!!!

From my past experience with the bread machines..........no 2 are alike....ever, even when they are the same name brand. Through trial and error, you will eventually find the right recipe for that perfect loaf of bread from a machine....trust me, it's still fun getting there when working, I can throw the ingredients in there, set the timer and come home to fresh baked bread.........the smell hoovers though out the house.....sadly....the loaf never makes it into the evening time.


Milpitas...who cares what the loaf looks like, as long as it cook wells and the bread is out of this world....cause you cannot beat free. The only problems with my bread loaf looking unusual...it was the yeast I was using.

I bought a bread machine I saw in the Pennysaver for $15. The box had never even been opened.

Lately I have been making bread in my breadmaker and losing weight!! I wonder if there is a something in preservatives that hinders weight loss? Also if I make baked goods from scratch I have a taste not going overboard give the rest away or freeze. Anybody know if Jillian discusses this in her book?