Basic sweet bread (without a bread machine!)

This bread is sweeter than regular white bread and shaped like an Italian loaf. It is the basis for many of my other recipes, including garlic bread, pizza bread and bread pudding.

Prep time: 4 hours
Servings: 6 loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 packages of active dry yeast
• 3 cups of warm water
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 10-11 cups (yes, you read that right!) all purpose flour

First, in a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. I usually use about a teaspoon of the sugar here as well. I start mixing in a bowl by placing about 5 cups of flour in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add in the yeast/water mixture. Make sure to mix this very well. When you have a very sticky ball of dough, turn it out onto a floured counter. I continue adding in cups of flour as I knead the dough until it forms a soft ball that no longer sticks to my fingers. This will take at least another 5 cups of flour, but make take 6 cups.

Once I have a dough that can be formed into a smooth ball, I knead it for another 10 minutes. Spray a bowl with non-stick cooking spray. Place dough in bowl and turn to coat the dough. You can either cover the bowl with a towel to let it rise, or do what I do. Place a casserole dish on the bottom rack of your oven. Put the bowl with the dough on the middle rack (make sure you leave enough room for the dough to rise without sticking to the top of your oven) and pour boiling water into the casserole dish. This helps proof the dough. It will need to rise for at least 2 hours.

Punch down the dough, turn in bowl and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Turn dough onto counter. Cut into 6 equal portions. Shape into loaves and let rise, covered with a towel, for 10 minutes. After this, flatten the dough, pressing out any air bubbles and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Let rise for yet another 60 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the loaves for about 20-25 minutes. Tops will be brown and the bottom will make a "thunk" sound when you flick it with your finger.

The majority of the prep time for this recipe is for the rising, although with the oven proofing method, you may be able to shave some time off. This bread is yummy with just about any Italian dish or to make pizza bread. The best way to eat it though is fresh out of the oven with a dab of butter!

Kitchen Staples

As an introduction to my blog, I thought it would be helpful to describe myself a bit. When I was 18, I was a new mom. I couldn't even boil water without burning something. Anything I made had to be from a box or can and I had to follow the directions to the letter. It has taken me 10 years to relax and trust myself to cook. I have used both an electric and gas stove and have gone without a stove for a couple of years to.

I can cook on nearly every kitchen gadget known to man and most likely have at some point. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was dirt poor and still have to watch my pennies. An expensive meal was one that included any type of meat. You will find that I do have a great deal of recipes that are meat free. This is partly because of the economy and partly because I simply don't care for meat that much.


The majority of meals that I post here will be made completely (or as close) from scratch as possible. Once you get the hang of making certain basics, like pasta dough or pie crust, you will find that you can make just about anything for much cheaper than you can buy it. For example, a loaf of bread here can cost anywhere from $1.00 to $3.00 or more, I can make at home for about $0.40 if not less. That is because the basic ingredients are staples that most people already have in their kitchen.

Here are a few of the staples that I always try to have on hand. As long as I have these, I can come up with some type of meal.

• All purpose flour
• eggs
• active dry yeast (It's more economical if you buy it in the jar instead of the little packets, but most recipes will say packets. The conversion is usually on the jar. )
• baking soda
• baking powder
• sugar
• salt

That's it. You can make a variety of things from just these few items. Anything from bread to quick quiche.

One of the things you will learn from my blog is that I am a bargain shopper at all times, but just because I like to pay less for food does not mean I have to give up quality.

So stick with me, and let's see what kind of things we can cook up!

Welcome to my food blog!

This blog is intended to act similar to a recipe box. I am constantly on the lookout for new recipes to try out on my guinea pigs (aka, the kids) and try to take pictures whenever I can. If I use a recipe I found somewhere online, I will always try to credit the original writer. If you happen to see a recipe on here that is yours and you did not get credit, please write me and let me know so that I can see you do so.