Homemade Sandwich Bread *** Updated

How many of us want to buy bread when it's over $3 a loaf? Not me! So, I've found a recipe that has SUPER delicious and is sturdy enough to have our all our favorites spread onto it. My favorite is Nutella. Peanut butter and Nutella to be exact. (It's like a giant Reece's peanut butter cup, but better!)

I've made three batches of this now and each time it's gotten better and better. The flavor is always tasty, and it's fluffy. I've also improved my technique. I found this recipe on Pinterest. I also followed her link to learn a bit more on the technique. I've gone into more depth to explain the steps and what I've learned. This recipe is amazing, I'm never buying store bought bread again! (Click here for original recipe.)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons of yeast
- 1 cup of milk (Whole or 2% are best, I think.)
- 2 tablespoons of white sugar
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 2 table spoons of butter
- 5 1/2 - 6 1/2 cups of flour

Instructions:
1. In your mix master, put in yeast and warm water. I like to do yeast first, because that way I know all the yeast is activated by the water. Let it sit for 5 minutes

2. Meanwhile, melt butter. Measure out milk, and set aside sugar and salt.

3. After the 5 minutes is up, pour in sugar and salt. (These help the yeast). Then pour in the butter. I like to then turn on the mix master while I slowly pour in milk. You don't want the butter to solidify again. (This did happen to me once, not the best thing). Right now, I'm using my whisk like attachment.

4. Turn on mix master and pour in 3 cups of flour. Do it gradually. I found it took me 3 cups of flour before the dough clumped together. We will be mixing the dough for about 8-10 minutes. During this time, keep adding in flour. Do what's best for you. Climate and elevation can have an effect on bread. You want your dough to be sticky, but manageable. If you pull the dough out and it sticks to your entire hand, better add a bit more flour. I speak from experience. I try to add in as little flour as possible. But, go with your gut feeling.

5. After you've mixed your dough, and have it in a nice ball, put it in a bowl that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking oil. Let the dough rise for 1 hour in a warm area.

6. After it's risen, dump the dough onto a cutting board, or counter top with a bit of flour nearby. Cut the dough into 2. (I used a pizza cutter, that way my two balls were more even sized). Form dough gently into a ball and let it rest for another 10 minutes.

7. After the dough has rested for 10 minutes, it's time to form the dough into our loafs. It is important that you do this. I didn't do it on my first batch and my loaves were tiny.
     A. With the palm of your hand, gently push the dough into a rectangle or square. There will be little bubbles in the dough. Don't purposely try to pop them all. :) I believe that these help your dough rise.
     B. After the dough is in a square/rectangle, fold in thirds. Yes, fold this hot dog style.
     C. Next, pinch the edges together so it creates a seam.

8. Gently put dough into a greased bread tin. (I use stone cookware. I only have 1 bread tin, but I have similar shaped casserole dishes. I find that these work better then the bread tin.)

9. Cover the dough and let it rise for another 45 minutes to an hour. The dough doesn't rise very much once it's in the oven. So, make sure you let it get nice and big. I usually let it sit for an hour. Sometime during the second rise, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

10. After it's risen, you can slash the top of it, from one end to the next, very gently with a knife. The original author of this recipe claims it helps. I haven't found much of a difference personally. Your choice!

11. When you go to put your loafs in, turn the oven down to 375 and pop them in! Let the dough cook for about 30-45 minutes, depending on your preference. Mine is usually 35 minutes. Once the dough is pulled out, dump it out of the tins and tap the top and bottom. It should sound hollow. Now, let the bread cool. I know we all are looking forward to that warm slice of bread, but give it a few minutes. Do this because, first, you'll burn yourself. And second, you'll squish and deflate the bread. I speak from experience. The bread will get a dough like feeling at the bottom of the loaf if you try to cut into it to early, plus it'll separate the top of the bread from the bottom when you cut it. I'd recommend maybe 15 minutes to cool down.

12. Enjoy your tasty bread!

First attempt, the red dish is my stone cookware.

See, this loaf did really good, the other one didn't rise very much. 

One came out prettier than the other. The bigger one (left) is the one from the red dish.

Kinda sad looking loafs, but ohhhh sooo tasty! I cut into it too early, see my loaf is squished and has a doughy texture on the bottom of the loaf because it was compacted.

Third attempt. Much, much better. 

(Third attempt). SEE how large it is! I also can slice the bread pretty thin, which is nice! This bread is sturdy enough for thinner slices. See how full it is? :) With each attempt they get better. 

I've been enjoying having fresh homemade bread. With more practice, I'm totally independent from the grocery store and their pricey breads!  No preservatives, no prepackaged or processed bread. Homemade, fresh, warm delicious bread from now on!

- SamiMae

Potato Chips - A Work in Progress

Today, I wanted to try making potato chips. I am trying to become less dependent on the grocery store and save money. We don't need potato chips, but they are fun to eat. So I decided to give it a try.

For a first shot, they turned out pretty good! I used this recipe as a guide.

Ingredients:
- Potatoes
- A clove of garlic
- Olive Oil
- Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut potatoes thin, about 1/16th of an inch. This is key. I don't think they'll turn out good if you don't do this. I have this handy little slicer that I got as a wedding gift. The first time I tried using it, I couldn't figure it out. But, I tried it again and it was like magic. It's one of the best kitchen tools around. My potatoes got super thin!

After I sliced them, I put them in a bowl of cold water to wash off the starch and keep them from going yellow. A few days ago, I tried making hash browns by shredding them, and they didn't turn out well, they got soggy and yellow really quick. I was afraid that'd happen here, but luckily it was different! Anyway, after I had them all cut up and in the cold water, I strained them and then rinsed them to get any remaining starch off. Then I patted them dry with a paper towel.

Sometime during this process, we need to pour some olive oil on the pan we are going to be using and then take a garlic clove, slice it in half and rub it all over the pan. Squeeze the garlic's oil onto the pan, it'll help give it flavor.  

I put them in a bowl and poured in some olive oil, salt and pepper. I then used a plate to cover the bowl and I shook it up. Don't be afraid to go a bit heavy on the pepper. I could have done more. I should have put the garlic cloves in the bowl while I shook it up. That might have helped give it more of a garlic flavor.

Afterwards, put the potato slices on the pan. The original recipe said have them about 1/4th an inch apart. I only wanted to use one pan, so I just covered the whole thing. Still turned out good.

They tasted good, but are a work in progress! You can see my oven gets hot on the sides of the pan...hahaha. Weird! Those burnt ones were good. Most were crispy and had a crunch. There were a few soggy ones, but there was quite a bit of oil by the time you consider the pan being covered and the potatoes soaked with it. 

These little guys were good, and I'm going to perfect my recipe and try new ideas and recipes. I don't want to have to buy potato chips at the store again. They aren't healthy and it costs a bit of money. The picture above doesn't look like a lot, because I had already eaten a few. But, I only used 2 smaller sized russet potatoes. So really, this didn't cost me much at all! 

If you try this, let me know how yours turned out!

- SamiMae

Lick the Bowl - Chicken Enchilada Pasta

This was an AMAZING meal. So good, that I didn't manage to get pictures of the final product. Hahaha. This one is a MUST. It was super easy, and it tasted so good! I got the idea off of Pinterest, but did mine quite a bit different. View the original recipe here.

This is better then hamburger helper, and probably quicker. I'm so excited about this meal, I was worried, and experimented. I also had to feed this to my mother-in-law. I was hoping it'd turn out edible, but it is probably one of my new favorite. I'm a huge fan of enchilada's and this just took it to a whole new level.  Are you ready?

Ingredients:
- 2 chicken breasts (or a can of chicken. I did 2 breasts, and the flavor and texture were great.)
- 1 can of enchilada sauce
- Noodles. (I used bowtie)
- Sour Cream
- Cream cheese
- Diced onion, or minced (Optional.)
- Crushed garlic, or garlic powder. (Optional.)
- 1-2 tablespoons of veggie oil.
- Shredded cheese. (Optional.)
- Green onions. (Optional.)


Yup, that's it. You can add any seasonings you'd like. I really like the enchilada sauce that I use. I don't put amount sizes because it differs for everyone.  Now, I'll explain my process.

1. Cook the chicken breasts in some vegetable oil. Add in some diced onion and garlic while it cooks. It adds great flavor! If you are using a can, you can skip this step.

2. Boil your water, and begin cooking your noodles.

3. Warm up enchilada sauce. When I make my enchilada I use this:

This stuff is a small brand I've never heard of, but this is liquid gold in a can. Amazing heavenly goodness. I found this at Winco I believe. I need to pick up some more, because we use it so much.

So, I cooked this, it was a little spicy, and my husband and mother in law are a bit sensitive to heat. So that's where a couple scoops of sour cream come in handy. Well, that wasn't quite enough. So I added in a few tablespoons of cream cheese. Feel free to get creative and try adding different spices to yours. I continued to heat this on the stove. Then, this mixture did something awesome! It began to thicken and...kind of enlarge in size. I could just tell by looking at it, that it was ready to get dumped on my noodles!

4. Dump over noodles, stir. Top with cheese and green onions. I love green onions, so for me, those really made the dish. This dinner had so much flavor! It was gobbled down and almost gone by the time dinner was over. Everybody had a nice helping of seconds.

Top with some green onions and cheese.

Again, this dish was so good, I didn't get a final picture because it was so good and I didn't have leftovers. I was so excited about this meal that I forgot to take a picture before I began eating!

I served this dish with a salad and a side of veggies. Super quick and cheap meal to make. I'm doing this again!

- SamiMae

Easy Caramel Popcorn - Great for FHE

Last night was family home evening. Trevor decided to put off his homework so we could do something together. :) He cleaned up dinner, and I started making this recipe for caramel, do drizzle on our popcorn. I found this recipe on Pinterest. Grab the original recipe here. I actually didn't make any modifications to this recipe. I didn't really dare, because I haven't had any practice or experience with making caramels. But, I'm sure going to get into it after this! This was a DELICIOUS recipe.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup karo
- 2 cups of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp water
- Dash of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp of baking soda
- Air popped popcorn.

Combine karo, brown sugar, butter, water, and salt together and bring to a rolling boil. After it's brought to a boil, take off heat, mix in vanilla and baking soda. It should get to almost a foam. At least, mine did. Once it got to that point, I knew it was ready to dump over the popcorn.

YUM! 

We mixed it in with the popcorn. My goodness! It was SOOOO GOOD! We had warm popcorn with caramel to eat while we watched the Emperors New Groove.

It was great. Who doesn't love the Emperors New Groove?! Fun family night. This show came out in 2000, even 14 years later, we still quote this show.

Spend time with your families. Do something fun!

- SamiMae

Mr. Yoshida's Beef Fajitas

Last night, I wanted to make some more tortillas. They were just so tasty the first time. I didn't want to cook any chicken, and I realized I hadn't cooked any beef for a while. So, I pulled out 2 of my "beef slabs" from when I previously cooked my 5 lb. roast. All it is, is 2 thick slices of that roast, with the juices it cooked it. It has quite a bit of flavor on it's own.

I pulled the 2 slabs out and cooked them in my wok. I love using my wok, I love stir-frys and love Asian flavoring and food. I'm trying to expand my cooking abilities to include Asian food. Last night, I had to come up with it on my own, based on the ingredients I had. Pinterest was of no help to me, but that's ok. So this, as simple as it is, I do believe I can call an original. :)

I thawed the beef in the wok, it had some nice juices it was cooking in. I have a little grate that sits on top and I put some veggies on it to thaw. I keep bags of frozen veggies in my freezer. When I go grocery shopping, I'll pick up an extra pepper or onion. Then I'll come home and slice it up and freeze it. I usually rotate these out pretty quick. So, I got everything cooking/thawing.

After that was done then I had to decide what seasonings to put in it. I poured in a bit of Mr. Yoshida's seasoning. You can find it at Costco. It's my favorite. :) This seasoning gives it a sweet taste. I also added in a bit of cumin, and an extra onion seasoning, let it all mix together and simmer. I must say, I was impressed with the flavor. This was quite a great meal. :)

Ingredients:
- Beef
- Red bell pepper, sliced
- Green bell pepper, sliced
- Onion, sliced
- Cumin
- Mr. Yoshida's
- Optional: minced onion. I used this because I didn't put enough onion in it to give it much flavor.
- Tortillas
- Toppings, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, cilantro

I found that the meat had a lot of flavor when I dipped it in the sauce and then put it on my tortilla. I also made some rice-a-roni "fried rice". Pretty bland, but it was nice to have a side dish.

I love the color that the red and green peppers add. The sauce, is where a lot of the flavor is. 

Not too great of a picture, but man...this was SO GOOD! 

My favorite thing about cooking is, it's an experiment. Forget the measurments. Each time a recipe is made, it's going to be altered based on amount of people. There is only Trevor and I eating, so I have to cut back on a recipe. This usually forces me to just look and see what ingredients are in a recipe and then go from there. It's fun to go off of taste and smell. It makes it unique and not just "some recipe". It also improves a cook's skills. I've found that since Trevor and I have been married, that my cooking has improved exponentially.

And, if it does turn out horrible? Worst case scenario? Scrap it, and make mac and cheese. :) HAHAHA. (I think I only offered to do that once, when we were first married.). I learned a lot.


-SamiMae

Rotel and Cream Cheese Chili!

This recipe was amazing! This was probably a top 10 dinner. There was a punch of flavor in this dish! This is another meal that I found off of Pinterest. You can view the original recipe here.


This was a crock pot meal that I put in before church. When we got home, the house smelled WONDERFUL! This would have been a great chili to put in my bread bowls. I made last week. This meal is so easy, crack open some cans, shake a few bottles and forget about it. :)


Ingredients:
- Chicken breasts (I use 2 tenderloins)
- 1 can of Rotel
- 1 can of corn
- 1 can of black beans
- Cumin
- Chili powder
- Ranch mix packet (I only had half a packet of the spicy ranch. Still turned out great!)
- Cream Cheese
- Onion powder


In crock pot, put in chicken, rotel, corn, black beans, ranch mix packet. Sprinkle on some cumin, onion powder, and chili powder. Let it cook as long as necessary. Mine cooked on low for 5ish hours. I drained my corn and black beans, if you do that, add a bit of extra water. I added about 1/2 cup.

Once it's cooked and you're ready to eat, stir in some cream cheese. I probably used about 3 oz. Then dish up! Top this with cilantro, sour cream, and cheese. YUMMY! I had 2 big helpings of this. It's perfect for a cold day.

I only took one picture, because today was Fast Sunday, and we don't get out of church until 3:30. So I was starving. :) I could hardly top it with sour cream and cheese fast enough. I did grab out some cilantro and put it in mine as well. It added a nice dynamic to the flavor. This dish can be a bit spicy. It was warm, but not burning. The cheese and sour cream helps, for sure.

Enjoy!

-SamiMae

Asian Haystacks!

So, I have Hawaiian haystacks, I have Mexican haystacks. Now I have Asian haystacks. :) This recipe is fantastic! I'm so making this again. I found the original recipe on Pinterest, but changed it around a little bit.

Ingredients include:
- Chicken breasts (I use tenderloins)
- Mr. Yoshida's marinade sauce
- Pineapple and juice
- Brown sugar
- Garlic
- Green onions
- Water
- Rice
- Cornstarch (To thicken sauce)


This is a super simple meal. It can easily be a crock pot meal, but I just prepared mine in the oven.

1. Set oven to 350 degrees
2. Put chicken in a casserole dish, along with:
     - About 1/4 cup of Mr. Yoshida's
     - 3/4 cup water
     - Sprinkle some brown sugar over the chicken (Go easy on the brown sugar, I did about 2 tablespoons, but I only cooked 2-4 chicken tenderloins)
     - Pour some pineapple and juice on top.
     - Crush some garlic on top, (or whichever way you use garlic)
     - Cut up 2 green onions and put it in as well
3. Make sure the meat is covered with sauce.
4. Cook about 45 minutes to 1 hour


In the last few minutes that it's cooking, there are a few other things we can do to prepare. Cook any side dishes or desert that you'd like. Make sure to get some rice cooking (whether you use 5 minute rice or steam it, it doesn't matter).

During this time, you can also take about 1/4th cup of cornstarch and dissolve it in about 1/4th cup of water. I've never used cornstarch before, so it was neat to try this! Stir it and it should dissolve pretty quick.

Once the chicken is cooked, pull it out. Cut/shred chicken into small pieces. Put the chicken and the sauce in a small pot and bring to a boil. After it's boiling, then pour in cornstarch. Stir. It will quickly thicken in to a "sweet and sour" sauce thickness. Then, serve this lovely mixture over the rice and Ta-Da! Dinner is served!

Note: Mine was really sweet, almost like a dessert. I would ease up on the brown sugar, go more for the pineapple flavor. I would have added a bit more garlic in it too than what I did. This was an easy weeknight meal that could be done in the crock pot and can be adjusted for any size of crowd! Give it a try!

See the chunks of pineapple?! YUM! 

The green onions are still in there as well. 

Happy cookin!

- SamiMae