Homemade Bread

These are my pre- and post-baking pictures from today (although for some weird Blogspot Reason - the post-pics ended up on top). Bread a la Jenn.

For the last three weeks, I've been making our bread for the week during the weekend - completely from scratch. I got the idea from another blog about small ways to save money. Although this probably does save a few bucks each week, I really decided to do this because I don't like all the "stuff" that goes into store-bought bread that isn't necessary. This way I can feel good about what my kids are eating because I know what's in it. (My mom always made our bread when I was young - in her case I think it was definitely to save money and also for health reasons.) After three weeks, I've gotten brave enough to be creative. The recipe I used this week (I'm slowly trying different recipes) was enough for two loaves and it also rose better than any other recipe I've tried. So I sprinked the extra part of the dough with cinnamon and brown sugar and made a braid. Today we'll have regular whole wheat bread and also a yummy sweet bread. My house smells so yummy right now. My kids have had fun with this. The first week I baked bread, they each took turns helping me knead the dough. Ten minutes of kneading is A LOT more exercise than you might expect. As is holding a fussy baby for an hour as you walk around with her (I got to work in the nursery this morning at church!) - so my arms got quite a workout before lunch!