Bread Recipe

Well I have had a heap of people ask about the bread that I make and some people on facebook have asked for the recipe. We use this one because it doesn't use any fat or artificial products (no oil, no powedered milk etc). The only thing we have found is that it doesn't last as long as conventional bread maker recipes or pre-mixes. To combat this we actually make a half batch every two days instead of a full loaf that would last us nearly a week but go a bit hard after a few days.

The recipe is actually Jamie Oliver's Basic Bread Recipe. He obviously makes it from scratch but I just put the ingredients in the Bread Machine, in the following order. (I will write the full amounts - as I said we halve the amounts):

625ml (2 & 1/2C) of Tepid Water
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Fine Sea Salt
1kg Strong Bread Flour
3 x 7g Sachets of Dried Yeast (or 30g of Fresh Yeast)

The main thing I try to do is that the yeast only touches the flour before mixing (and I only do that because that's what other bread machine recipes say to do).

Here are the instructions from Jamie Oliver on how to make it by hand:
Stage 1: making a well
Pile the flour on to a clean surface and make a large well in the centre. Pour half your water into the well, then add your yeast, sugar and salt and stir with a fork.

Stage 2: getting it together
Slowly, but confidently, bring in the flour from the inside of the well. (You don't want to break the walls of the well, or the water will go everywhere.) Continue to bring the flour in to the centre until you get a stodgy, porridgey consistency – then add the remaining water. Continue to mix until it's stodgy again, then you can be more aggressive, bringing in all the flour, making the mix less sticky. Flour your hands and pat and push the dough together with all the remaining flour. (Certain flours need a little more or less water, so feel free to adjust.)

Stage 3: kneading!
This is where you get stuck in. With a bit of elbow grease, simply push, fold, slap and roll the dough around, over and over, for 4 or 5 minutes until you have a silky and elastic dough.

Stage 4: first prove
Flour the top of your dough. Put it in a bowl, cover with clingfilm, and allow it to prove for about half an hour until doubled in size – ideally in a warm, moist, draught-free place. This will improve the flavour and texture of your dough and it's always exciting to know that the old yeast has kicked into action.

Stage 5: second prove, flavouring and shaping
Once the dough has doubled in size, knock the air out for 30 seconds by bashing it and squashing it. You can now shape it or flavour it as required – folded, filled, tray-baked, whatever – and leave it to prove for a second time for 30 minutes to an hour until it has doubled in size once more. This is the most important part, as the second prove will give it the air that finally ends up being cooked into your bread, giving you the really light, soft texture that we all love in fresh bread. So remember – don't fiddle with it, just let it do its thing.

Stage 6: cooking your bread
Very gently place your bread dough on to a flour-dusted baking tray and into a preheated oven. Don't slam the door or you'll lose the air that you need. Bake according to the time and temperature given with your chosen recipe. You can tell if it's cooked by tapping its bottom – if it sounds hollow it's done, if it doesn't then pop it back in for a little longer. Once cooked, place on a rack and allow it to cool for at least 30 minutes – fandabidozi. Feel free to freeze any leftover bread.

My Natural Life

So I realised it has been forever since I have done a blog and so much is going on around here.

Lilli starts kindy in two & a half weeks, Judah is nearly four months old, & my vegie patch is finally built, now to just add in all the dirt/soil/mulch/straw/poo so that I can plant something by late february-early march. I am relatively new to this whole vegie growing thing. I have pretty good memories of my Mum's massive vegies patch on the farm, but I don't really recall much about when we planted stuff and what we did to nuture all that wonderful produce. So with a bit of help from the Father-in-law, my Dad, Brother and "Better Homes & Gardens" I plan to become a bit of an expert.

I am not sure if I have ever really explained some stuff to anyone, but I have a bit of a philosophy on living on this earth, which has really become more of a lifestyle since having kids. Basically what I try to do is use produce as close to how God put it on this earth. So pretty much all our cooking comes from using fresh produce. So an example would be that we don't buy jars of pasta sauce, or curry sauce. My thinkiing is that if I can do this then I cut out as much processed food and goods as possible, therefore I am not eating as many preservatives or fake flavour, and there is less energy used in the food getting to my table. Food wise this also means that I prefer not to eat diet or low fat products. In general if my Nanna couldn't have made what I am making then it doesn't get made.

Of course there are exceptions and I do have some vices left: Pepsi-Max or Coke Zero, and rice crackers are pretty much what I love! and of course at parties or special occassions there is the need for a few chips/lollies to be had.

But I am hoping with the inclusion of a vegie patch into our lives some things will get improved on even more. At the moment we buy products like Tomato paste. I have made my own before and it is really quite simple but you need a lot of tomatoes. When I made it before I bought a massive 2kg bag of old tomatoes from the farmer's markets and it worked perfectly, but I find it hard to get there as it is only open on Sundays (which is quite often our busiest day). But hopefully I can work out a way of getting there purchase that old bag of Tommys and save our nice home grown ones for salads and other cooking.

Well here is a list of the produce we buy that we are endeavouring to make homemade versions of:
Curry Paste, Tomatoe Paste, Salad Dressings, Mayonnaise, Custard.

This is a list of the staples & other stuff we make homemade versions of:
All sweet biscuits, cakes and some savoury biscuits, Bread (including Naan and Flat Breads), Pasta, Cooked Tomatoes (for pasta sauces etc), dried fruit (for cakes and snacks), Ginger beer and citrus cordials. Oh and we also make our own clothes detergent and household cleaners.

Some of you may ask why. Well for me it is simple. I believe that God made all of this earth and our bodies, the plants and animals around us, for us to care for and sustain us. How he made it is irrelavant for me; whether by a big bang or a literal six days of fascinating creation I don't really care. What is important for is me is that I believe God made it and I am sure that he made it for us to live in and with. I believe that over the years whether by neglect or ignorance we have treated all of creation badly and that as a consequence we are faced with pollution and illnesses of all kinds altering the beauty of this natural world. We have been bad stewards of what was entrusted to us,

This is just my little way of trying to neutralise my negative impact on the world. It's my way of being a good example to my little girl, who I hope grows up with a far better opinion of herself than I had, and who understands so much more about how her actions impact on herself, others and all of creation.

Genesis 1

27 So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

29 Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground — everything that has life.” And that is what happened.