How about a slightly embarrassing story to brighten your day?
Before I share I want to thank my brother for his service. I know he has friends he is missing and remembering this Memorial Day. Love you brother, thank you for protecting our country and its freedoms.
**
I spent my day cleaning the heck out of our house. I washed windows
cleaned blinds, swept, mopped, organized and alphabetized the spice cabinet.
I AM SO STRESSED AND ANXIOUS I just had to do something besides fret. J handled B most of the day so I could work out my issues via cleaning and scrubbing.
On top of cleaning and organizing most of the house (the upstairs is still a disaster) I baked bread.
A few days ago I discovered that the bread I've been eating has high fructose corn syrup. When J came home from work I told him about it.
His response?
"I know."
"You know?"
"It's cheap bread, what do you expect?"
"I don't know, no high fructose corn syrup?"
He shrugged. "Why do you think I haven't been eating it?"
"I thought you didn't like 8 grain bread!"
"I don't like high fructose corn syrup."
"I had no idea, why didn't you tell me?"
"I assumed you read the label."
"Of course I didn't."
Silence.
"J, I've been poisoning myself!!"
He laughed. "No you haven't. It's not good for you, but you haven't been poisoning yourself."
"I am going to die!"
"No you're not."
"I can't feed this to B! That's it, I'm making bread from scratch."
J's eyes lit up. He's been hoping for this.
"Great! I'll mill flour for you."
"What? Why do we need to mill flour? Can't we buy it at the store?"
"It will be SO good if we mill our own flour, trust me. And if the world ends we'll have flour."
"But, so, um, how? Won't we need wheat? Like, stalks of wheat? How does this work?"
"We'll order it online, and then store it in the basement."
"Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously!"
And then he disappeared for a while. He was probably looking up flour mills and bulk wheat prices online. I didn't ask; I didn't want to know.
I finished off the evil bread a few days ago. I can't believe I didn't know it had high fructose corn syrup. Yes, I'm reading labels
This afternoon I whipped up my first two loaves of homemade bread.
And tonight I'll make french toast for dinner from this bread, because when life gets hard, when I feel overwhelmed I take control of what I can and find joy in the small things, like cooking, cleaning, baking, organizing and eating food that brings me comfort and warmth.
*Bread recipe from four minus one makes five*
*Cut salt to 3t, 3T way too much*
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10 comments:
You're bread looks delicious. Also, don't feel bad about not knowing the "evil bread"....you didn't think of it because it shouldn't have it in it...
I like that Jon's justification for milling your own flour is being prepared for the end of the world....but if the end of the world happens you better have grain so you can plant your own...because you won't be able to buy it online, there will be no online!
YUM.... your bread looks amazing :) I'm not very good at reading labels... don't be hard on yourself - It's so hard to keep up with everything that's in everything. Love that your husband is willing to mill flour... bet your bread tastes amazing :)) xoox
Dude, if you ever want to talk bread, drop me a line! We've been mostly making our own for a good 12 months now. SO. GOOD. We have a sour dough starter so we mostly make yeast free bread. It is honestly pretty easy and we make two loaves at a time so it lasts longer and we don't have to make it as often. Who am I kidding, it is mostly Simon's job but I distract the kids so he can get it done, so I am helping!
xo
Corn syrup is the same as sugar.. your body doesn't know any different. I had to stop eating anything associated with corn because I developed an allergy to it when I was pregnant with my son in 2010 so I had do some research and everything I saw (and was told by my doctor) is that it's not bad for you. So really, your not poisoning yourself. lol
Oh, I'll go you one better! We have already plotted out which neighbor's yard we're going to use to plant our wheat once the Zombie Apocalypse takes out all our neighbors. Seriously, these are conversations we have - lol! But we haven't found time to bake bread - two full time jobs and two full-time kids = store-bought bread (no, I am NOT getting up at 4am to bake bread, tyvm). I have found "cheap" brands that don't have high fructose corn syrup. There is one that is whole grain white w/o HFCS that's name is escaping me right now but we get them 2 at a time from Costco. Sorry, even with 2 FT-jobs we still can't afford Whole Paycheck! We do have our own chickens and eat veggies from our own organic garden, so I figure it probably balances out somehow. Once my youngest is about 5 or 6 maybe I'll get into baking my own bread. :)
If you even of a slightly 'hippy' nature can I recommend a bread book? I know lots of people who wouldnt go back to another recipe after this one, myself included. We have been making our own bread (with shop bought flour lol), for about a year. When I do have shop bread I am always shocked at how sweet it tastes.
Here is the book linky
http://www.amazon.com/Tassajara-Bread-Book-Edward-Brown/dp/1590308360/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338273950&sr=1-1
Valerie
It has what in it?
Clearly I am a far worse mother than you. I have no idea what high fructose corn syrup is.
But I'm prepared to bet he won't still be milling flour for you in three months ;)
That is exactly how I handle my grief/angst/nervousness/stress.
I've been experimenting with bread baking for the last few months and I'm loving it. And heck, it's better than baking cookies and eating chocolate when stressed!
This is great. I love that your husband decided that naturally he should mill flour for your bread breaking!
I used to love to bake and cook. Since losing our little one, I haven't cooked a meal. I miss the peace that baking in particular used to bring to me, but just haven't had the energy. This is inspiring me, though. One day soon, I'm getting back in that kitchen!
This is great. I love that your husband decided that naturally he should mill flour for your bread breaking!
I used to love to bake and cook. Since losing our little one, I haven't cooked a meal. I miss the peace that baking in particular used to bring to me, but just haven't had the energy. This is inspiring me, though. One day soon, I'm getting back in that kitchen!
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