Bread Recipes - Some of my Favorites

I had a request to post my bread recipes.  I have included some additional favorite recipes of mine.  Yeast breads are not that hard to make and if you haven't tried, you should.  Start with the hamburger bun recipe and work your way up to something else.  There is nothing like the smell of bread baking in an oven or even better, homemade cinnamon rolls warm from the oven.

So, here are my favorites:  I posted my wheat bread recipe here. 

My hamburger/hot dog bun recipe is posted here.    I use this recipe to make cinnamon rolls.  After you let the dough rest for 10 minutes, roll it out, spread it with butter or margarine and then sprinkle some sugar on it.  I use a mixture of brown and white granulated sugar.  Then I shake cinnamon over the sugar.  Roll it up and cut the dough into 1 inch portions and place in a greased pan.  Let this rise until double.  It will take longer than the hamburger buns.  Then bake for about 20 minutes at the same temp as the buns.

You know those cinnamon crispie rolls you get at a bakery?  Those are just cinnamon rolls in a different form.  My mom made them all the time.  You cut the cinnamon roll dough.  Then you take a mixture of some granulated sugar and brown sugar and some chopped nuts and you sprinkle it on your pastry sheet.  Then you place a roll on top of this with the flat side facing you (you can see the circles of cinnamon).  Take your rolling pin and roll it flat, turn it over and roll it again until the cinnamon roll has been flattened out and has the sugar and nuts crushed into it on both sides.  Flatten it thin.  May need to do this a couple of times.  Then you bake it at the same temp as the cinnamon rolls, but not for as long.  I'm sorry I don't know how long, just put the crispies on some parchment paper on a baking sheet and watch them.  These are lightly browned and crispie when done.  I don't think they take any longer than 8 or 10 minutes. 

Now for another cinnamon roll recipe.  This recipe is an overnight recipe.  You can mix this dough up and form the rolls the night before you need them.  The next morning you take them out of the fridge and bake them in a preheated oven.  This is the best recipe for holidays or any day you want cinnamon rolls in the morning.  I was given this recipe some 29 years ago from a dear lady.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs. yeast or the equivalent
1/2 cup warm water – (105 to 115 degrees)
2 cups lukewarm milk (scalded then cooled)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
6 1/2 to 7 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dissolve yeast in warm water in large mixing bowl. Stir in milk, 1/3 cup sugar, the oil, baking powder, salt, egg and 3 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto well floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 1 ½ hours.

Grease 2 rectangular pans, 9 x 13 inches. Punch down dough; divide into halves. Roll 1half into rectangle, 12 x 10 inches. Spread with half of the margarine. Mix 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon; sprinkle half of the sugar-cinnamon mixture over the rectangle. Roll up, beginning at the 12 inch side. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Stretch roll to make even.

Cut roll in twelve 1 inch slices. Place slightly apart in 1 pan. Wrap pan tightly with foil. Repeat with remaining dough. Refrigerate at least 12 hours but no longer than 48 hours. (To bake immediately, do not wrap. Let rise in warm place until double, about 30 minutes. Bake as directed below).

In the morning, heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove foil from pans. Bake until golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Frost with powdered sugar frosting while warm. Makes 2 dozen rolls.

Powdered sugar frosting: Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until smooth ad of spreading consistency. Frosts 1 pan of rolls.

Here is the recipe for Cuban Bread from Amy Dacycyzn's second Tightwad Gazette book.  I have made one change to the recipe in that I reduced the amount of salt used in Amy's recipe.

Cuban Bread

5 to 6 cups all purpose flour (you can substitute whole wheat flour for 1 or 2 cups)
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups hot water (120 to 130 degrees)
1 Tablespoon sesame or poppy seeds

Mix 4 ups of the flour with the yast, sugar, and salt.  Pour i hot water and beat 100 strokes, or 3 minutes with a mixer.  Stir in the remaining flour until the dough is no longer sticky.  Knead 8 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, and cover with a damp towel.  Let rise 15 minutes.  Punch down.  Divide into 2 pieces.  Shape into two round loaves, and place on a lightly greased baking sheet (I use parchment paper instead of greasing my baking sheets).  Cut an "X"  1/2 inch deep on top of eah loaf with a sharp knife.  Brush with water, and spinkle with seeds.  Place ont eh middle shelf of a COLD oven.  Place a cake pan of hot water on the lowest rack.  Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Bake 40 to 50 minutes until deep golden brown.  (I only bake the loaves for 30 minutes and that is perfect).

Honey Graham Bread

4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose or bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 envelopes rapid rise yeast
2 tsp. salt
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter

In a large bowl, combine 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, cracker crumbs, wheat germ, undissolved yeast, and salt. Heat water, milk, honey, and butter until very warm (120 to 130 degrees). Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

Uncover dough; divide in half. Roll each half to 12 x 8 inch rectangle. Beginning at short end, roll up tightly as for jellyroll. Pinch seam ends to seal. Place seam sides down in 2 greased 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. Cover; let rise in warm place for about 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or til done. Remove from pans; cool on wire rack.

PLEASE NOTE:  If you don't use the rapid rise yeast, the bread will take a little longer to rise.  No big deal as I usually don't use rapid rise yeast but the regular yeast.

Amish White Bread

1 cups warm water
1 cup milk (mix with water and heat to 110 degrees)
1 egg
2/3 cups white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons. yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
6 c. bread flour (I have used all purpose flour with no problem)

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast the mixture becomes foamy. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Shape into loaves, and place into well oil 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Beef Vegetable Burgers - A World War II Recipe

I found this recipe in the above cookbook and it is delicious.  Of course meat was rationed during World War II so a smaller amount of meat is used in this recipe.  If you can find any recipes that were used during the war, you will find that although they cut back on meat, these meals were very nutritious.  During the war there was a lot of information given out about proper nutrition and how to provide nutritious food when many food items were scarce or rationed.

Beef Vegetable Burgers

3/4 lb. ground beef
1 cup finely grated potato
1/2 cup finely grated carrot
1/4 cup finely chopped red or green bell pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons shortening
6 sandwich buns

Combine beef, potato, carrot, onion, bell pepper, egg ketchup, chili powder, salt and ground pepper in a bowl.  Shape into 6 burgers.  Heat 1 teaspoon shortening over mediumheat in a large heavy skillet.  Add burgers and cook 10 minutes.  Add remaining shortening; turn and cook until both meat and potato are cooked.   Serve on sandwich buns, if desired

Tightwad Gazette I Refresher - Day 22 - March 25

Well, I spent time yesterday and today priming the walls in my living room. I was ready to get back to reading in the Tightwad Gazette.

Today we will be discussing parties, weddings and saving money on baking supplies.  Let’s get started with a Pirate themed Birthday party.

PAGE 193 – The Pirate Birthday

Amy goes into detail to explain how she put on a frugal pirate birthday party for her son.

She looked at what she had on hand and advised that you need to be prepared to abandon ideas that do not work or cost too much.

1. She had a treasure hunt around their property.

2. She baked a sheet cake and frosted it off white and brown to look like a pirate ship map. It also had her son’s name on it with candles.

3. She was going to make pirate hats out of newspaper and spray painted black. But Amy was out of black spray paint, so she abandoned the idea.

4. Party Decorations – They constructed a “pirate ship” made out of materials they had on hand. The ship was located in the open area of their barn and that is where they ate their cake and ice cream.

5. The take home gift was chocolate gold coins.

6. The party cost under $10. They spent $6 on the chocolate gold coins, and the remainder on ice cream, store brand soda, and confectionary sugar. Amy has put together other parties for $25 including presents.

This is an example of birthday parties in my mind the way they should be. Some of the best birthdays our kids ever had were ones where we made the pizzas and the cake. We decorated the dining room with crepe paper and homemade decorations. Then if the weather was warm we played games in our backyard. Our youngest son has a birthday in January so we took the kids sled riding on a hill here in our town one birthday.

While other parents go out and spent a lot of money on parties to be held in restaurants or other venues, you can put on a fabulous, fun party at your house. And since it is for kids, you don’t have to do a lot of cleaning before the party.

PAGE 195 – WHAT TO DO WITH THE STUFF THAT YOU SAVE

Amy was getting a lot of questions from new tightwads as to what to do with the egg cartons, Styrofoam meat trays, juice can lids and other things they were saving. Amy makes a comment that I think is really interesting “It’s easy to get the basics of hoarding turned around. We don’t save things for the purpose of throwing away less. We save things so that we buy less.”

You can take a juice lid and paste a child’s picture on one side and a magnet on the other. These are perfect for the fridge and better yet, for grandma’s fridge.

Other uses for juice lids: poke holes in a juice lid and put it in the bottom of a flower pot to keep pebbles in. As it rusts, the iron nourishes the plant.

School teachers can use some of the things that are saved and you can always call an elementary school to see if they could use any items.

If you do have quite a stash, you should develop the habit of looking to it first for a solution. If you have a wobbly table, you could put three or four juice lids underneath the table leg. Also, if you are short on space, limit yourself to a certain amount of what you save. For example, the maximum amount of glass jars you will keep is 5, juice lids you will save no more than 25 at a time.

I keep all of the glass jars that I can. I find them so useful in storing some dry goods such as rice, storing leftover soups, using to shake up a batch of salad dressings, as drinking glasses (this is quite trendy to re-use spaghetti sauce jars for drinking) and one of my favorites is to use chili sauce bottles for a vase. I also save margarine cups to use to pour fudge into to give as a gift at Christmas and I also use margarine cups to pour paint into when I am painting. It is the perfect size to hold in my hand.

Here is a picture of what I save. Note that the plastic tray underneath the dish soap and the hand soap held some Roma tomatoes. It is perfect for my sink. Also I store all of my baking chips in coffee canisters, the green berry baskets are used at Christmas to put homemade candies in to give away.

I don’t re-use any meat trays, but I reuse the trays that vegetables such as fresh broccoli come in. These are perfect for craft projects and also as cookie trays for giveaways. I keep the parmesan containers to store dry bread crumbs and to put baking soda in for cleaning. The lid has holes on one side and is open on the other side so it makes it perfect for these two items.

And of course, there is the chili sauce bottle that I save to use to put a few flowers in. I have several of these and I plan to set these around different tables with a flower in them for our son’s graduation party. I’m crossing my fingers that it won’t rain that day as the party will be in our backyard.

If you haven’t ever saved items like the above, start saving a few and see how you can reuse them. I’m always amazed when I am in need of some kind of storage item that I can go to my basement shelf that holds these items and I can usually find a solution.

PAGE 197 – BUDGET WEDDINGS

Before we get into this article, I am going to express my opinion on weddings today. They are out of hand as far as the cost. It is almost sad at the money that is spent on weddings. When I got married 30 years ago we had a nice ceremony and then it was the custom to go to the reception hall of the church for cake and punch. Now it is the custom to have a big party after the wedding, which has more than 5 or 6 attendants, to which the guests are invited to a sit down dinner, dance and alcohol. But, it is their choice to have what they want to have and I shouldn’t judge. It’s just that with the cost of these weddings, one could easily have used the money for a down payment on a house or to pay off debt. Oh and I almost forgot, most of these couples are putting the expense of their dream wedding on credit cards.

I say save the money, have a beautiful wedding without all the bells and whistles and invest some of that money into good pre-marital counseling. That is money better spent.

Okay, so I will get off my soap box and now let’s turn to Amy Dacyczyn and budget weddings.

Obviously the cheapest way to get married is to go to the Justice of the Peace or in our area a Judge or Magistrate. The objective of a wedding is to not spend as little as possible or enough to impress royalty. “Rather it is to spend enough to satisfy your reasonable expectations while not going into debt.”

Now you can print beautiful invitations on your computer complete with the picture of the couple on it. The same is true of programs. For my son’s rehearsal dinner, I made the food. It was a very good turkey casserole, coleslaw, fruit salad, assorted quick breads such as pumpkin, banana and applesauce. For dessert I baked my DIL’s favorite sugar cookies and my son’s favorite oatmeal scotchie cookies. The cookies were served with ice cream.

I had help making the food and the casseroles were made ahead of time and frozen. I provided the supplies and gave the recipes to several ladies who had volunteered so I had quite a lot of help. The rehearsal dinner was held at our church and it was enjoyable as we didn’t have to worry about getting to a restaurant too early or too late and it was quite conducive to conversation.

1. The Contribution Gift. Different family members contribute different items toward the wedding. Amy gave the example that at her Uncle’s wedding a friend donated a vintage car for transportation, Amy made the invitations, a relative made a professional wedding cake and friends played music at the wedding and during the reception. Now an IPod and speakers with a great play list is all you need.

Other weddings have had centerpieces made of winter greens and table linens and dishes lent out. If people know you are on a limited budget, they will rise to the occasion to help you out.

The Potluck Reception: Amy said that “before you gasp at this tacky suggestion, let me make a case.” Most catered meals tend to be poor. The potluck food can be superior. Pot luck does not mean tuna casserole or Jell-o in Tupperware. Guests will bring their specialty. Also the potluck dish is done in lieu of a gift. Amy suggested that on the RSVP card you can print “We are planning a potluck reception. If you would like to bring a contribution as your wedding gift, please specify.” Include a place for them to write in something. Also include a blank next to “I will call for a suggestion.” Provide your phone number.

Other Receptions: Summer outdoor receptions, at home receptions and church hall receptions are other possibilities. Hey, isn’t this what people did years ago? Why not go retro and have your reception at home?

The Attire: Consider buying a wedding dress at a reduced price from a store when they are selling discontinued dresses or borrow a dress. For the guys, suits can be worn and for the bridesmaids, be sure to consider a dress they can wear again.

The Rings: Shop around but true Tightwads would buy rings at a pawn shop. With the price of gold today, shopping around is a definite. If you can’t afford a huge diamond ring for an engagement ring, then buy what you can afford, but do shop around. My husband bought me anniversary rings over the years – 10th and 25th. My 25th anniversary ring is more expensive and bigger than my wedding and engagement ring set so I wear this now as my primary ring. It is the ring that he would have bought me when we were engaged, but he couldn’t afford at the time.

Don’t go into a lot of debt for the rings. I think there is this growing trend to purchase these huge diamond engagement rings that cost thousands and then the couple finances the rings and ends up paying for them for a few years. That is ridiculous especially when they may be going into a lot of debt for the wedding. Just my opinion.

The invitations: Make your own.

Flowers: Choose fresh flowers in season. Do simple corsages and bouquets or have the attendants carry 1 single rose. I was invited to December wedding one time. The colors were deep green and plum. The attendants carried evergreens that had colorful gold accents. It was very elegant and since this couple got married at Christmastime, the church was already decorated.

The cake: Have a smaller bridal cake to cut and then have sheet cakes.

Photography: You can choose a professional or an amateur. If you go with an amateur, make sure they take plenty of pictures for you to choose from. I would never go with an amateur for myself as these pictures are the ones that will be in your photo album to look at for a very long time. Instead I would work with a professional photographer and also have an “amateur” take pictures of what the professional photographer doesn’t take. For example the amateur can take a lot of candid pictures. But, you need to let the professional photographer know ahead of time about the friend that will be taking the candid pictures. Also you can have another friend record the ceremony for you.

PAGE 201 – CUTTING THE COST OF BAKING

“As a general rule home-baked foods cost 1/4 to 1/3 of the store bought price.

Flour – At the time, Amy was able to buy 25 lb. bags of flour for $2.88 or 57 cents for 5 lbs. When staples go on sale, they stocked up. I do the same thing. In the fall as it gets closer to the holidays, baking supplies go on sale. It is at that time that I do my best to purchase as much flour as I will need to get me through to the next holiday season.

I take the 5 lb. bags of flour and put them in the freezer for 24 hours. This prevents bugs. Then I store these bags in big Rubbermaid bins into which I have sprinkled a lot of bay leaves to also prevent bugs.

Whole Grains – Whole grain flour, oatmeal and cornmeal cost more than white flour. But because whole grains combine with other foods to make a protein, they are a good value.

Wheat flour Substitute – Add 1 tablespoon of wheat germ to a cup of white flour as a substitute for wheat flour.

Milk – Use powdered milk in baking. When a recipe calls for cream or condensed milk, mix powdered milk with half the water. You can also buy buttermilk in powdered form. A reader sent in the following recipe for Sweetened Condensed Milk:

1 cup instant nonfat dry milk solids
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup boiling water
3 tablespoons melted margarine

Combine all ingredients in the container of an electric blender (or pour in a bowl and use electric mixer). Process until smooth. Store in refrigerator until ready to use. Yields: about 1 ¼ cups.

The price of powdered milk goes up and down just like regular milk, so watch the prices. I try to use powdered milk in my baking as it is a convenience. Just like everything I price it and if it is cheaper than regular milk, I buy it. If it is the same price, I still buy it for the convenience.

Eggs and Oil: Here is an egg substitute for baking. Take 1 tablespoon of soy flour (or powder) and 1 tablespoon water for an egg in baking. This is cheaper than eggs and is cholesterol free. If you are going to make your own convenience mixes you could use powdered milk along with the soy flour concoction and you would only need to add water to your mixes. I have never tried this but since the egg scare last year and with the price of eggs, I may have to give this a try,

If you are doubling or tripling a recipe in baking (such as muffins), you can eliminate one egg.

You can cut back on eggs and oil in a recipe without significantly changing the final product. I have done this with oil in that if a recipe calls for ½ cup of oil, I will take out 1 tablespoon. BTW – 4 tablespoons equals ¼ cup. So for ½ cup you will need 8 tablespoons of oil, so decreasing it by 1 tablespoon is still a good amount to decrease and if you continue to do this, you will save money on oil.

You can substitute unsweetened applesauce for oil in some baking recipes. “Substituting applesauce for fat works well when the taste might not compete with other flavors (such as cocoa) or where the fat content might not be critical.”

Sugars – You can make brown sugar by taking 1 cup of sugar and adding 1 tablespoon molasses. You would need to do the pricing to see if this would be cheaper, but it is good in a pinch if you are out of brown sugar. You can cut back on sugar in a recipe. I have cut back on sugar but not by a whole lot. It depends on the recipe. If a cookie recipe calls for ¾ cup granulated sugar, then I will take out 1 tablespoon.

Here’s an interesting tip that a Reader sent to Amy:

“When shopping for sugar be sure to purchase baking soda. One can save half or more on sugar usage and cost when making pies, cobblers, fruit cakes and fruit salads by using baking soda to neutralize the acid content in these types of dishes. For instance, if one used 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in a fruit pie, only about half the usual amount of sugar is needed to get the desired sweetness.” Hmmm – I am going to try this the next time I bake a blueberry pie.

Nuts – Amy rarely bought them because of the expense. At Christmas last year I was able to get 1 lb. of Fisher pecans for $3.00. They went on sale for $4.00 and I had a $1.00 coupon. They are stored in my freezer.

Yeast – Find a source of bulk yeast. If you use the envelopes of yeast or the little jars, you may not be saving as much as you think by baking your own bread. I recently purchased a 2 lb. container of Red Star yeast for $4.99. I consider this a really, really good deal. I keep the yeast stored in two spaghetti sauce jars in my freezer. When I am ready to bake, I take out the amount of yeast I need for the recipe and I let it come to room temperature before using.

Years ago (about 20) I was able to purchase 1 lb. of cake yeast from a local bakery. I would cut it and measure out 1 tablespoon portions, wrap them in little pieces of plastic wrap, put in a container and freeze until I was ready to use them. I just thawed the yeast to room temperature. Each portion was equal to an envelope of yeast.

Herbs and Spices – Buy in bulk at a Natural food store. You can also look for the Spice Time label (still being produced) that are sold at discount stores. I am able to get a large container of cinnamon at a really good price. Everything else I buy on sale with a coupon. I am limited in my community to where I can purchase bulk herbs and spices. If I am near a larger town that has a big grocery store, I will stop by to see if they sell herbs and spices in bulk.

Baking Powder- Make your own by mixing 1 part baking soda and 2 parts cream of tartar. This eliminates the aluminum found in commercial brands. Now you can purchase aluminum free baking powder for about the same price as the regular baking powder. Do not make up this recipe ahead of time as the homemade version doesn’t have a long shelf life.

For March 26th, let’s read page 207 through page 215. Amy gives advice on taking a casserole recipe and changing it so that it is cheaper. There are also numerous ideas of how to reuse certain items and she even talks about dog food.

Grocery Spending for the week of March 21 - March 27

I shop two grocery stores in our town.  One is Hy-Vee and here is the store's website.  I also shop at Fareway and here is the store's website 

 Last week I spent $21.69 for groceries.  I increased my budget from $20 to $25.  I carried over the surplus money to this week.  So for this week I have $28.31. 

Here is what I have spent so far this week:

4 blocks of 8 oz. Kraft Sharp Cheddar Cheese on sale @ $1.50 = $6.00; Onion Soup Mix - Box of 2 envelopes @ .69; Lettuce $1.49; 2 Sweet Red Peppers @ .77 cents = $1.54 and 5 Bananas @ .54 lb. = .92

Total Spent So far for Week 2 = $10.64

I still have quite a few apples on hand but my favorite apples, Pink Lady, are on sale this week at only 88 cents a lb. Tomorrow I will stop by the store to pick up fresh carrots, bananas, apples and milk.  Strawberries are on sale for $1.19 a lb. so if they look fresh, I will pick up a lb.  This is what I have been spending my money on - dairy and produce. 

In dealing with a strict budget I have taken on a new habit of only buying a small amount of produce at a time.  I don't want to waste anything.  Since I walk past two grocery stores each day on my way to Curves, I can always pick up more produce as needed. 

There is $17.67 left in my grocery budget to spend for Week 2.   I am amazed that I am sticking to this $25 a week budget.  There is no special advice or secret I have for making this work, other than determination to make it work. 

Baking Bread Isn't Time Consuming

Wheat Bread and Rye Bread

Yesterday I baked 3 loaves of wheat bread and 2 loaves of rye bread.  Lately I have been able to purchase good quality bread, such as Nature Pride Multi Grain bread on sale for $2.00 to $2.50 for a 24 oz. loaf.  It has a lot of fiber in it, and I use it as my back up for when I don't have time to bake my own bread.

In the midst of all of my projects, I succumbed to store bought bread.  Yesterday I decided that I really wanted to bake up some bread and I wanted to figure out how long the hands on part of bread making took me.  Well, it really wasn't a big deal.  I have a Kitchen Aid mixer that does the mixing for me.  Then when I had to knead the dough it took 5 minutes for the wheat bread and 8 minutes for the rye bread.  The bread dough went in a greased bowl to rise until double.  Great - I finished laundry and did some pick up and started to work on my livingroom on the walls.  When the bread dough had doubled, I punched it down, divided it into three loaves and then let those rise til double.  Back I went to working in my living room.  When the loaves had risen, I baked them. 

This was the process for both types of bread.  The actual hands on time was 15 minutes for mixing and kneading, 5 minutes for forming the loaves.  So on a bad day it only takes about 20 to 25 minutes for hands on time in baking bread from scratch.     

Cuban Bread using Amy Dacyczyn's recipe

Today I baked two loaves of Cuban bread, one for us and one for a friend.  Again, it took a relatively small amount of hands on time to produce two loaves of crusty Cuban Bread.  While I was mixing and kneading the bread dough I watched something I had taped from the History channel. 

Now I have homemade loaves of bread stored in my freezer ready to be eaten.  When I freeze loaves of wheat bread, I cut the loaves in half so I don't need to take an entire loaf out of the freezer at a time.  That is why the picture shows loaves wrapped in plastic wrap.  Then I double wrap all of the bread in two ziploc bags to prevent freezer burn. 

Also those cookie sheets that the rye bread and wheat bread are resting on are old blackened from use cookie sheets.  I don't use them for baking anymore, but I find them invaluable when I need to set things on a rack for cooling.  The rack goes on the old cookie sheet, the bread goes on the rack and then I set the cookie sheet on top of my fridge so that the bread will cool and our black lab dog won't eat any of it.  Yes, it has happened before.  In fact one time the dog ate 1 loaf of bread dough and it was not pretty.

Bread making does not take much time and you get better at it the more you practice.  Also, I add things like flax seed and bran to my wheat bread to make it even healthier.  Yes, I could buy good quality store brand bread, but I think I will stick to my homemade bread.  It is just as healthy and it is so much cheaper. 

Tightwad Gazette I Refresher - Day 21 - March 23

Amy Dacyczyn is one of the most creative women that I have ever known. I really like the way she thinks the majority of the time. She’s not one to run to the grocery store when she runs out of a key ingredient. She will either find a substitute (sometimes this is quite an experiment) or she does without. When you think about, Amy puts into practice lessons learned from the Great Depression.

The Tightwad Gazette I is her first book and the one that we are reading and discussing right now. All of the following ideas come from her book and they are not mine. However, I have made some comments and they are underlined.

Be sure to leave a comment especially if you have tried something from this book that you have never done before.

Well, let’s get started with today’s reading.

PAGE 183 – MY TEENAGER PLAN

A reporter wrote an article on Amy and he said that he doubted that once her children hit the teenage years that she would be able to continue her tightwad ways.

As to food and how much a teenager can increase a food bill, Amy counteracts this by avoiding purchasing any junk food and they rely on their garden produce and other healthy foods for their meals. Therefore, she is now already limiting their options to cheaper and healthier food which should continue

Because Amy and her husband live in a rural area with few close neighbors, the pressures are far less than in an affluent community. If their children see something they want when they are in a store, Amy asks if they have money. Usually they have none. But that isn’t because they haven’t had opportunities to earn money.

In their household they pay their children 25 cents to do a chore – usually a 10 minute job, instead of getting an allowance. They start this process when their children reach the age of 5. Amy does expect her children to do certain daily chores, without getting paid. The 25 cent chores are above and beyond type of chores. When their children get older they can get jobs in a nearby community, but there will still be chores to be done at their homestead.

Amy said that even if she pays her children for doing chores and they spend the money on something that Amy would consider worthless, at least the children will understand the value of money.

Amy advises that if your children want an expensive pair of shoes, then you should provide them with the money that you were willing to spend and they should come up with the balance.

When we purchased a cell phone for our youngest son, he wanted a more expensive phone. We told him that we were only willing to pay for the basic model and if he wanted something beyond that, he would have to come up with the difference. He thought about it and decided that he would be willing to give up some of his hard earned money for a better phone. That was fine with me. Also, I think he took a little better care of that phone since he had paid for the majority of it.

I know that in the You Tube video I posted HERE, Amy does talk about one of her daughters carrying on Amy’s tightwad ways, so I would guess that all of her children have continued tight wadding in some form or another.

PAGE 184 – GOOD GADGETS

The Water Heater Timer – The timer is set to turn the water heater on at certain times of the day, such as during the morning and during the evening. Amy reported a monthly electric savings of between $10 and $15 at the time.

The Battery Recharger – Rechargeable batteries equal between 65 to 150 regular batteries. The initial cost for rechargeable batteries is a lot more than disposables, but you definitely get your money’s worth by recharging batteries.

The Fuzz Away – This is the gadget that removes the “pills” especially common to synthetic fabrics. It is kind of like a shaver for knit fabrics.

Now it begs to ask this question, what do you think today’s good gadgets would be? My guess is the majority of the people would pick some kind of electronic gadget ranging between an IPod, cell phone, IPad, Kindle to a laptop computer.

PAGE 185 - “SPUDGATE” OR THE GREAT POTATO CONSPIRACY

Amy “investigates” the practice of the food industry to make inexpensive and healthful foods more expensive and less nutritious. She focused on the potato.

The potato is the perfect tightwad food. I agree. Many times I can get a 5 lb. bag of potatoes for between 99 cents and $1.25.

She compared the cost of instant potatoes (mashed, scalloped, au gratin mixes), potato chips, and frozen fries to a single potato. Of course the raw potato was cheaper and we all know what is in the raw potato. Amy did say that in a pinch they do keep instant mashed potatoes on hand, but they lack the fiber of a basic raw potato.

Amy makes a really good point and that is “within the tightwad frame of reference, grocery shopping means expending money for nutrition.”

Oven-Fried Potatoes – A recipe from Amy Dacyczyn

Wash, but do not peel, one potato per person. Slice into ¼ inch slices and soak in cold water for at least 20 minutes.

Melt four tablespoons of margarine on a cookie sheet. Drain potatoes and pat dry. Place potatoes on cookie sheet in a single layer, coating both sides with margarine. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes ( or til lightly browned) on each side.

Save the surplus margarine on the cookie sheet for other uses. To save energy, prepare this when you are using your oven to cook something else for dinner.

With my grocery budget of $25 a week right now, I cannot afford to buy convenience foods. I love homemade mashed potatoes and scalloped potatoes. I have a few boxes of the scalloped potato mix and after they are used up, I will make my own homemade scalloped potatoes. I just have to plan ahead for the baking time.

Instead of buying tater tots to top a casserole, I take leftover mashed potatoes and spread them over the casserole, sprinkle on some crushed corn flakes that have been mixed with a little melted butter. When I make mashed potatoes, I either freeze the leftovers for tater tot casserole or I make potato patties the next night. Just melt some butter in a skillet. Take the mashed potatoes and form patties. Then place in the skillet and when one side is golden brown, carefully turn it over to brown the other side. You can add a little shredded cheese or leave plain. A lot of times I make potato patties when we are having a “supper” of eggs and sausage and fruit.

PAGE 187 – THRIFT SHOP THOUGHTS

1. Amy explains that there are 4 basic sources of used clothes.

a. Someone gives them to you.

b. Garage Sales

c. Thrift Shops

d. Consignment shops.

2. In order to save money, you will need to change your method of shopping. If you are used to going to a department store and finding an assortment of clothing in your size, you will be disappointed if you bring that same attitude to a thrift shop. Instead of thinking about what a shop doesn’t have, look at what it does have.

3. Develop a notebook for your needs. Write down the sizes of all family members and possible items you need to buy for each member. Be sure to include colors.

4. Examine all clothing for any defects.

5. Don’t be discouraged by poor clothing that you find. If something made it to the thrift shop and still looks respectable, it most likely will hold up well.

6. When you look at a used item, think of it as a new item that has been washed 10 times.

7. Buy classic styles.

8. When buying for kids, buy a few years in advance.

9. Know that there might not be some things that you will find at a thrift shop.

10. If you trying to find things for a picky teenager, try to look for the subtleties of current trends.

PAGE 188 – THE (NOT SO) COMPLETE GUIDE TO TRASH PICKING

Amy tells about going for a walk with an Aunt that lived near Harvard. Someone had set out an interesting looking trash pile. As they walked by, something caught Amy’s eye. Her aunt went over and picked it up for her. After all, it was out with the trash because they didn’t want it anymore, so it was for the taking. This was the first time that Amy had trash picked.

After she was married a neighbor lady had cleaned out her garage and put everything in a pile near the street for the trash pickup. Amy and her husband looked through the pile and found canning jars, toys and some other items they could use.

Many towns have a city wide clean up day. Our community used to have one. I would be placing some things outside and people would drive by and be picking the stuff up. I needed a new dish drainer, the kind that sits inside your sink. Mine had broken and I had repaired it so many times, it was beyond repair and I was unable to find one to buy.

I was walking the dog one morning and as I passed a bunch of stuff that was out by the curb, there it was – a dish drainer and it was the kind that fit inside the sink. Not only was it free for the taking, but it was new. I had been unemployed for about a month then, and I was sold on trash picking.

In one town where Amy and her husband lived in the first few years of their marriage, the town had a city wide trash pickup where you could put out large items and such. In other words, things that your garage collector wouldn’t pick up. On the days of that city wide clean up, Amy, sometimes with her husband, would go out daily to look for any good finds. If she was in doubt if she would be able to use an item, she would take it. If she couldn’t use it, she knew she could always put it out with the next city wide clean up.

However, as time went on, Amy would bring home more things and her husband was able to repair these items. After that she never had to worry about not being able to use what she brought home. People throw out many things as they don’t have the initiative or ability to repair things.

Here is a partial list of what Amy brought home from her days of trash picking in her town: a bucket of nails, 3 working radio control cars, 30 partly full quarts of paint, 2 tricycles, 3 floor lamps including 2 of 1920’s vintage, 2 director’s chairs, books, over 100 canning jars, 3 rolls of Christmas wrap, an antique crock, lumber, a large rocker, plant stands, an ironing board , a fireplace screen an antique school desk, an antique iron bed frame and more.

When our community starts doing city wide clean up again, I will be one of many driving and walking by the trash piles to see if there is anything I can use.

PAGE 192 – MAILBOX REVENGE

If you live in the country, this is a great idea for you. Kids will drive through the country, lean out the window and hit every mailbox they can find with a baseball bat. To solve this problem, Amy and her husband bought a large mail box. They set the large mail box on its end. Then they took their smaller mail box, took off the door and slid it into the large mailbox. Amy’s husband filled the cavity between the two boxes with cement. Once dried the very heavy mailbox was bolted to a heavyweight post.

Again, another day of useful, timeless information that we can still use.

I will be painting my living room tomorrow, so our next reading will be for Friday, March 25th. Be sure to read pages 193 through page 206. Highlights of our reading are giving a pirate themed birthday party, budget weddings and cutting the cost of baking.

Remember the Aldi Price List?

I was going through some of my files and I came across my price book from 1996.  I opened it up and this fell out.  Does anyone remember when Aldi printed a weekly price list?  I loved it because you could carry it with you to compare prices at other stores.  It was a great help.

Do I dare tell you what some of the prices were at Aldi in 1996?  It will make you cry. 

48 oz. of Vegetable Oil - $1.59

2 lbs. of Brown or Powdered Sugar - 79 cents

5 lbs. of All Purpose Flour - 79 cents

8 count Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns - 39 cents

6 ounce can of tomato paste - 29 cents

16 oz of Shredded Cheddar or Mozzarella Cheese - $1.99

We'll take a trip down memory lane each week, when I post some more of those 1996 prices.  Can you imagine how low our food budgets would be if we could time travel to an Aldi store in 1996?  Alright by me as long as I don't have to wear the jeans that were in style then.

How I wish they would resume this practice of printing a price list.  If I were able to compare prices, I would then be able to determine if a once every 6 week drive to the next town that has an Aldi would be worth it for stocking up purposes.