Best Bread Machine Recipe Ever

It is easy.
It has 7 ingredients.
It is delish.

Take bread machine bowl with paddle inserted. Fill it with following ingredients.
-1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
-1.5 Tablespoons white sugar
-1 Tablespoon Honey
-1 package bread machine yeast or regular yeast (if you have the jar it is 2-1/4 tsp equal a package)
-1/4 cup softened butter
-1 teaspoon salt
-3 cups flour(sifted or not doesn't seem to matter)

Return bread machine bowl to bread machine.
Close lid.
My settings are: Basic or White Bread, 1.5lb, crust color light

In 3 hours and 18 minutes I have a perfect loaf of bread. It is delectable!

I also use this recipe for rolls. Only small difference are My settings: DOUGH. Remove after timer goes (mine is finished in about 1 hour and 38 mins).
Dump dough on lightly floured cutting board.
Use either pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut small stripes and then section it again.
Immediately place cut portions onto ungreased cookie sheet or glass pan.
 Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 mins. yields 12 rolls.

Only other variation I've tried to original recipe on setting: RAPID BAKE.
In 1 hour 18 mins, I have a smaller more dense loaf. It is still delicious, just doesn't rise like the original.
My 5 yr old prefers this loaf.

Happy Bread Baking!

Pantry Living Lessons Learned

 It is over! I am through, for now.

Pantry Living Before

Pantry Living After

I began with 31 unopened boxes of cereal.
I ended with  4 unopened boxes of cereal.

I had the pleasure of grocery shopping with just the baby. I spent an hour going aisle by aisle picking and choosing things we may need, things that we might like. It was nice. I may have gone a bit overboard with on sale cereals though. I bought 13 boxes :)

Anyway, I've learned much during this experiment. Here are a few:

1. I can't do it alone. Without the help of my mom and dad I would've struggled tons. They are so good to me. 
2. My husband and children are super supportive. My family rocks! David even helped with the cooking. He makes amazing crepes, homemade pancakes, stuffed manicotti, and pizza.
3. We don't eat as much BBQ sauce as I thought. 
4. We eat oodles and gobs of peanut butter. 
5. We eat approx 3 boxes of cereal a week. 
6. We eat more canned green beans than canned corn. 
7. Keeping extra loaves of bread in the freezer is a must for us. 
8. Sam's has the best and cheapest toilet paper. And it lasted all summer! 
9. We  make a lot of pancakes and syrup...I think in efforts to use less cereal.
10. If you cheat a rule once (which I did) its so tempting to cheat again (which I did NOT). Hold strong to your principles.
11. WANTS vs NEEDS This is the ultimate lesson for me. If we didn't have it I had to figure out a way to make it work. Most of the time I could do it. This lesson was demonstrated best with my goal of Cash Only, and credit cards just for gas and perishable foods.
12. I am a good shopper and saver. During the winter and spring months I was able to put away cash here and there for my summer spending. Yesterday I pulled out the last $20 from it. I believe I started in June with about $400. Yeah, I'm that good.
13. SUCCESS! I label the experiment a success. I loved it so much I may make it a summer tradition. Its a great way to work through food storage to ensure no food is being left too long on the shelf as well as to test our preparedness and resourcefulness. I would love to compare my current results with future results. If Max eats 2 bowls of cereal now....how much will he eat at age 15????

Thanks for following my progress! May this inspire you to be prepared, test your limits, and pinch your pennies! Happy Pantry Living!

Pantry Living: Week 9 and beyond

Okay. So week 9 ended two weeks ago. Here is the update.

I didn't shop for food. I actually did the opposite. I was taking my leftovers from the fridge to my mother's house and giving her food for a change. I needed to clean house and try to not leave anything sweet and sticky out for my neighborhood ants. We were preparing to leave on vacation.

At the end of week 9 my pantry looked like this

Unopened boxes of cereal: 7

I am dangerously low on many items and I've already started my shopping list for my first trip come Sept. I'm so excited to grocery shop again, but at the same time I've gotten such a thrill out of this experiment. I just might try it again next summer and see if I can improve my results.


WEEKS 10 & 11 UPDATE:

Okay, so the Pantry Living Experiment really only lasted 9 weeks because weeks 10 and 11 were spent enjoying life with my in-laws. They provided all the meals and groceries. I still stuck to my rules of no grocery shopping but that's cause they are so nice to us :)

We returned late last night. The pantry looks much as it does above minus one box of cereal my son opened this morning.

Unopened boxes of cereal: 6

I will refrain from grocery shopping until Sept 3rd when my husband officially returns to work. The end is in sight.


Happy Labor Day!

Pantry Living Weeks 7 & 8

I'm still here, avoiding the grocery store as much as possible. Summer company arrived and I cheated once to buy syrup for waffles at 8am. A friend sent me a recipe for homemade syrup, which I plan on trying but that also requires an ingredient I need to buy.

Pantry after 8 weeks

Unopened cereal box count: 10

 I'm on the home stretch of Pantry Living. It will last only 3 more weeks, 2 of which we'll be visiting family on vacation! In anticipation of our family vaca I set aside snacks for the plane ride weeks ago. So glad I did. The plane snacks include: 4 granola bars, 1 bag swedish fish, 4 fruit snacks, and 2 notebooks (not for consumption). 

My current concern is my baby and her food supply. She likes to feed herself, but she has only the beginnings of a first tooth. I struggle to find a variety of foods she can feed herself that are healthy. That search continues.

One more thing. I am out of bagged long grain rice. I do have a 20yr long term can of rice in my emergency food supply. Do I really save it for the next 20yrs waiting for a disaster? or do I rotate it through? Not gonna open it this summer but still not sure what to do.

I've begun my shopping list for the beginning of Sept. That will be fun!

Pantry Living Week 6

Once again, the deal is no grocery shopping except for perishables.
Well, as mentioned last week I cheated. And wow did that change my attitude. I suddenly stopped caring. I fell off the bandwagon and into a shopping frenzy. I desperately wanted more. Perhaps its an addiction. Now I truly understand why there needs to be black and white when it comes to goals. No grey area!

No real harm done. But one more confession. Another small trip was made to the store on Monday. The real reason was to support my hubby in his newest life lesson....cooking! He teaches at a summer enrichment program in public school. He helps the chef 3 days a week.I am taking advantage of this experience.
He shares his talent with us = mom's night off!  Monday was pizza. We needed cheese (allowable purchase) and a few toppings (don't really qualify). So while I was breaking the rules buying pepperoni I also bought some soda (cause who really eats pizza without it) and a box of Trix cereal (I will explain later).

Pizza was fabulous! The kiddos helped "decorate" it, and there was much rejoicing!

Now about the Trix. Cereal is an item we go through quickly. But I didn't buy it cause we were out (you know the weekly count). General Mills has an amazing movie promotion, but few boxes can still be found.
Buy 2 specially marked boxes, go to a website and enter the codes and receive a FREE movie ticket to a participating theater. Recently, I discovered a lone specially marked box in my pantry. As fate would have it, ShopRite had a handful of boxes left. I had to do it, for the sake of free cinema. This will be the 6th free movie ticket I've earned through this promotion. Seriously, its rad!

I'm half way to my goal of 11 weeks of Pantry Living. I'm climbing aboard the bandwagon again and repenting of my evil ways ; )

Cereal Count: 16 unopened boxes

Journaling

Facebook is different for everyone. I love that I can stay connected with my college roommates. I love seeing the new babies from high school friends. New messages and status comments boost me up. Those reactions make me want to update my status with more funny kid quotes, special moments and family details. Facebook in its twisted way has taught me to enjoy journaling, documenting my life and family history. 

I never did the "Dear Diary, no one at school likes me." Not my thing. In high school I took creative writing just so I could drop calculus. And all I really accomplished in that class was some great convos with my friend Jackie.

But I love to buy notebooks and journals. The crisp untouched page is exciting and clean, fully of possibility. I literally have a drawer with 8 unused journals. Some were gifts; others were just so pretty.

While prego with my first I was advised to document my dr. visits and my reactions to the ultrasounds and even write letters to my unborn child. I thought it sounded feasible, not too time consuming, a good way to prepare for motherhood. I did it. I even enjoyed it. I also updated fb on a regular basis.

My angel arrived and along with many photographs, I updated her achievements "holds a rattle", "hates baby food", "slept in crib last night". But even better I journaled about each dr. visit she had, her weight gain, her sicknesses, her likes and dislikes, funny stories about getting ahold of the cat and trying to lick him. Usually I would write in prose format giving details. Every few months I would write "Lilia Lately" and do bullet points, cute habits, silly phrases, favorite foods and shows, new knowledge.

Each stage felt like it would never end. And then I'd pick up the journal and see my last entry was 3 months ago and she didn't know her colors, she was biting and cried before nursery every week. Wow, she had already moved on, said a million new words, was a happy child all day and wanted her independence.

Long story short (too late) that piece of advice was worth its weight in gold. Tonight I filled in the last page of her 1st journal. It began with my first prenatal visit in Sept 2007. She is now 5 1/2 years old.

This journal is sacred to me. What began as simple bound pages has become a testimony of a tender life's beginnings. A life filled with love, laughter, joy and oweies. Yes, I even wrote her medical history.

Many adventures still lay ahead for my sweetheart. Journal #2 is ready to record her first day of Kindergarten, Halloween costumes, Christmas gifts, best friends, tummy aches and silly sayings.

Non-food items

A full pantry is a lovely thing, and so is a full bathroom cupboard. Here is a list of the non-food items that I've tried to avoid buying during my Pantry Living.

1. toilet paper
2. paper towels
3. napkins
4. paper plates
5. dish soap
6. dishwasher soap
7. tin foil
8. plastic wrap
9. plastic bags (snack, sandwich, quart, gallon)
10. shampoo
11. conditioner
12. bars of soap
13. body wash
14. razor blades
15. tooth paste
16. tooth brushes
17. fem. products
18. hair products (gel, spray, putty etc)
19. hair dye
20. laundry detergent
21. dryer sheets
22. diapers
23. wipes
24. disposable diaper bags
25. lotion
26. baby care items (diaper cream, lotion, etc)
27. bathroom cleaners
28. household cleaners
29. furniture polish
30. batteries

There you have it. I've loaded us up on essentials. We're working our way through them. But I'm proud to say we're doing great! I'm especially excited to report about the diapers. That makes me happy to never run out :)