We are into the new year now and that means that our “only from scratch” experiment is on! Although we started to dabble with this concept a few weeks early, we are now more committed to changing our lifestyle and that means trying not to fall back on easy, prepared foods. It’s only the third day in January are we’re already facing challenges!
- Impromptu company with very few grocery items in the house meant thinking outside the box. My gut reaction was to throw in the towel and order in pizza. Eric instead made pizza dough! It was easy and good, meaning we are done buying that particular item from the grocery store!
- I nearly had a panic attack when Eric informed me that we were going to make our own tortillas for my weeknight crockpot beef taco meal. I was so diasspointed (NOT!) to learn that the tortilla press would not arrive on time to
complicateimprove this meal. Flour tortillas get a stay of execution. We are still making our own tortillas, just not using a press. -Eric - Bread. Fresh bread doesn’t last long! We eat it very quickly! Keeping up with the demand could be a challenge.
I’m being realistic in understanding that we cannot snap our fingers and suddenly be 100% from scratch (at least not without some serious anxiety on my part). So our first goal for 2014 is to eliminate store bought breads. What I have realized, only a few days into this experiment, is that the convenience of buying bread is under appreciated.
Making bread isn’t difficult and actually is somewhat enjoyable. However, it does take time, and unless I want to be making bread products twice a week, it is going to take planning. For example, adding hamburgers to the menu plan meant that I had to cave and buy buns or make my own. Thankfully, our dinner roll recipe makes some pretty tasty buns that stood up to both hamburgers and meatball sandwiches.
So for 2014 the first order of business is to perfect the bread making and storage process. We have a good basic white bread recipe and excellent dinner rolls (which can double as buns!). This weekend, I hope to try out a wheat bread recipe. I would also like to pick up a few other loaf pans so that we can freeze the dough and bake it as needed. So far, I’ve done this once and it turned out well!
We’re on our way to converting to scratch only items!
Phase 1: Bread
How long can we go without buying a bread product? Will we succeed at making bagels or English muffins? How the heck do you make a hot dog bun?
Visit often and follow along as we continue on our Only From Scratch journey!