Back to the Basics---How one loaf of bread dough can make SO MANY things...

Good Morning, Everyone!

Part of me is really glad to be wrapping up this short series on Back to the Basics and how to save money on your grocery bill....but part of me is sad...

And that is why I have decided to do this as a regular feature one time a month, including guest speakers who are going to teach us how THEY have saved money and put it back in their pockets by doing little (or big) things in their own lives. I think we can all need a little extra cash once in a while, so through November, you can look forward to this series with new additions the first week of every month. I don't know about you, but that always seems like a good time to get my ideas and priorities in order for the following three weeks...and if I have some inspiration on what to do, it sure seems to help! 

What do you think?

Today, however, we are going to wrap the August Back to the Basics series with some amazing recipes and ideas on how to take a single loaf of bread dough and turn it into the base for an awful lot of meals. Now I can hear a few of you groaning already, because you are gluten-free and concerned that you wont be able to use these recipes. Here is a hint for you: use a good gluten-free recipe for bread dough, and alter the ingredients to suit your needs. Not having any gluten allergies in my family, but instead sensitivity to milk products, we simply substitute almond milk for regular milk, and go on our merry way. Hopefully you will be able to do some of the same things.

We eat a lot of bread. I mean, not so much that is different than any other family, and we vary it by changing up what we eat (from wheat bread to cornbread to biscuits, to rolls, to scones, etc etc etc), but my family are very happy and hearty bread eaters.

Since I make every single loaf of bread that is eaten in our house, 

I am okay with that,

 because I know it is good for them, and I also know what is in it.

Have you LOOKED at the ingredients on your loaves of bread that you get from the store? In all honesty, it is kind of scary. Having worked in a couple different bakeries over the years, and also in a Walmart Bakery (in name only), I have to tell you, there is a lot of yuck in that bread that looks like a bread loaf but really isn't. I know also that some loaves of bread are really

cheap, but hey, so are McDonald's dollar burgers, and you get what you pay for. Fake food.

So, at the end of this post, I am going to share with you not only the link to my every day, twice weekly bread recipe that I rely on, but I am also going to share with you the links or ideas that we use it for ALL THE TIME to make into other meals. Some of the ideas may not appeal to you, and some may be something you have not heard of. Just remember, you should always try new things...just for fun!

But I also want to leave this open-ended. I have heard some great ideas over this last week from many of you on how YOU use certain things, or how YOU like certain recipes and not others. The Welcoming House Blog is not just me writing, it is also an amazing community of really neat folks helping one another out 

and sharing their ideas.

So, at the end of this series, I want YOU to share something you use bread dough for. What are some recipes in your family that you would substitute this idea for, or how can you see it being used? Feel free to add in your links, because I want people to be able to read the comments and bop on over there to see your idea.

It has been a fun week, and I wanted to say thank you for all the help and love I have seen this week from all of you. I am really REALLY looking forward to seeing what the first week in September brings us in our next Back to the Basics session. If you have ideas of what you might want to see covered, please contact me via the tab at the top of the blog.

The many MANY ways you can use a loaf of 

bread dough for a meal.

1. Pizza crust, rolled out and topped with favorite toppings

2. Pizza crust, using in a Bundt Pan Pizza

3.Rolls for Sandwiches

4. Rolls for Papa Bear Burgers

 5. As the rolls in Pepperoni Rolls

6.Hot Ham and Cheese Roll

7. Tuna or Chicken Melts

8. Fry Bread and Hearty Meat and Bean Dip

9. Pigs in a Blanket

10. Calzones

11 Stuffed bread sticks

 (add in thin deli sliced meat wrapped around a cheese stick and pinch the dough shut around it)

12. Cinnamon rolls/Caramel rolls/Orange rolls (hey we HAVE to add these for breakfast)

I really CAN think of a lot more, but I have had the privilege of writing this whole thing so far. its your turn. What is one way you would use a loaf of frozen bread dough to complete or base a meal?

Looking forward to your answers....

Blessings to you and yours, 

Heather

Farmer's Hearty Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

( I use my WonderMill to grind Hard White Spring Wheat for this recipe because I find it makes a much lighter bread with good loft, and taste)

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 Tbs yeast

(let this proof for five minutes while you gather other ingredients)

add to this 3/4 cup coconut oil, butter or soft shortening

2 eggs, room temp

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

(mix these in until all blended with the yeast and water mixture)

To this add 7 cups Whole wheat flour, blend until mixed very well, then cover, and let sit for ten minutes for the whole wheat flour to absorb the liquid. When the timer goes off, add 2 tsp yeast, and another cup of whole wheat flour, and begin kneading. 

Knead on low for ten minutes, adding up to 1/2 cup more of flour, and until the dough is smooth and elastic. Whole wheat dough will be more tacky than white dough, and not have the silkiness that you expect if you make white bread very often.

Cover and let rise until double. Punch down, and then you can do one of two things with this:

1. You can place the bowl in the fridge as long as it has a tight cover, and pull from this bread to make rolls or buns, or cinnamon rolls until it is gone (up to four days)

or 2. you can split this into the equivalent of three loaves of bread and use them as you want---either shaping them into bread loaves, rolls, hamburger buns..or go ahead and substitute for anything on the list.

The longer this recipe of bread sits in the fridge, it will develop an almost sourdough taste and smell to it. It makes a great mock sourdough loaf of bread for toast if you get to the fourth day and need to use it up. :) And that same bread is fabulous toasted and then topped with homemade strawberry jam. You're welcome. I know you wanted to know that. 

*wink wink*