Bread

I just had to share what I did on Saturday. I've been spring cleaning and Saturday I attacked my kitchen. I deep cleaned and organized just about everything. Now that it's clean it looks bare, I really need to paint and decorate, but that's a whole other story. While I was cleaning I pulled out my bread maker. It was acting funny the last time I used it (about 3 years ago) so I thought I would try making a loaf to see if it was still on the fritz. It is. It isn't kneading the dough. So instead of just throwing the ingredients away I thought I'd try and just make it on my own. I kneaded it for a little while and let it rise. Then I kneaded it again and let it rise again. Then I cooked it @350* for 30 min. It looked and smelled wonderful, but I was nervous to try it. It was by no means the best bread I've ever tasted, but it was still pretty good. I've really wanted to learn how to make bread for a while now and I guess this is a pretty good start.

I got the recipe from my bread maker's user manual

Homestyle White Bread

1 c. 2 Tbsp. water (75*-85* F)

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. non-fat dry milk powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 c. bread flour (I only had regular)

2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

After in sat in my bread maker doing nothing for a half an hour I pulled it out and kneaded it. Then I let it rise for about a half an hour. Then I kneaded it again and let it rise for about an hour before I baked it.

Does any one have any good bread recipes or tips?

Powdered Milk

I know this is one of the biggest issues people have with food storage, BUT if this is you, I think you would be surprised. Last night I went to my food storage support group and we taste tested instant potatoes (Walmart brand vs. the LDS Cannery's Potato Pearls) and powdered milk (Morning Moo's Alternative Milk, Morning Moo's Soy Milk, Carnation Instant, Country Cream & LDS Cannery). This is what the group thought of them

" . . . the worst was the Soy and the LDS Cannery brands. These might be just great when it comes to baking or cooking with them, but to drink like a regular glass of milk...YUCK! Now, the best we found was the Morning Moo's Alternative and the Country Cream followed close behind by the Carnation Instant. The Carnation Instant was by far the most expensive and comes in a small box (only makes 3 quarts) but the others make up to 5 gallons."

I personally really liked all three, Morning Moo's Alternative, Country Cream and the Carnation Instant. I love milk. We go through about 4 gallons a week at our house. I couldn't even tell the difference with some of these. So today I took the plunge and used some powdered milk in one of our favorite recipes.

One of our favorite cold day meals is chili and corn bread. We like Stagg's classic chili with beans with home made corn bread. I like Quaker's yellow corn meal and use the easy corn bread recipe on the back of the can with a few substitutions.

Easy Corn Bread
1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. corn meal
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder (I use 1 tsp. baking powder & 1tsp. baking soda)
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
1 c. skim milk (I use butter milk)
1/4 c. vegetable oil (I use butter and let it melt in the pan while the oven pre-heats to grease the pan)
2 egg whites or 1 egg beaten

Heat oven to 400*F. Grease 8 or 9 inch pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center come out clean. Serve warm. 9 servings.

I found a great milk conversion chart for cooking with powdered milk at Everyday Food Storage. It also includes instructions on how to make your own Sweetened Condensed Milk,
Evaporated Milk, and Buttermilk. So I pulled out my box of Carnation Instant milk and made my own buttermilk. The corn bread turned out great. I also made up quart to keep in the fridge and use. I am now a powdered milk believer. Try it. I really think you will be surprised. Then, if you are ever in the position that you have to use powered milk, you'll already know what to expect.