Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Commence my attempt at trying to revamp how my family eats.  Yep -- it's a popular thing to be doing right now, it appears.  But that's ok.  Some fads are good 'n [should be] long lasting!

I want to make us eat more vegetables, a wider variety of fruits, more whole grains, better fats, fewer processed items, and possibly even edge into the whole "grain fed, range-roamin', cage free" yadaness.  We'll see.  Hubz and I know it will cost a bit more than what we currently spend on food.  Yes, some say I might be surprised at how little the cost difference is.  But produce is expensive in our area, and I will be buying more than usual.  And tree-hugger meats and eggs cost more than what I buy now.  And I'll admit -- I would LOVE to get my hands on palm shortening to cut out veggie oil and Crisco!  But, I digress.  So back to wheat bread...

Here's a napkin.  I see a little drool on your lip.

About 18 slices.  Smaller slices than a store-bought loaf --
but I'm ok to cut down a bit on the amount of bread we consume
in order to focus more on good meats, veggies, and fruits.
Or I'll just have to make more bread than I originally thought.  ;-)

I baked my own bread today, people!  :-D  First time for everything, eh?  I've made pie crusts and pizza doughs, muffins, breakfast breads, biscuits galore, but never just bread.  Like the sandwich variety.  One of the blogs I've been doing mass amounts of reading on lately is Heavenly Homemakers because she specifically addresses things like small steps to eating healthier, how to eat healthier on a budget, homemade recipes, etc.  Her Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe looked easy enough, so I thought that would be a good place to start.  I read her article on whole wheat flour, and actually found some white whole wheat flour at Target last night (it was either buy flour and make bread or buy bread -- since Snickers became a mouse again and ate the LAST piece of bread out of the pantry...).  I read the label to make sure it was made from white wheat and not red wheat.  It totally worked!  The white whole wheat flour keeps the bread from having that dense, heavy texture and flavor of whole wheat baked items.  And my favorite part -- other than the satisfaction of having made my own bread and it's lovely taste -- is that I know EXACTLY what went into it.  No refined sugar, just honey.  No factory added ingredients.  And the cost comparison?  If I bought 4 loaves of our regular cheapest-at-Safeway bread, that would cost more than the bag of white whole wheat flour I bought (which will make 4 loaves with a little leftover).  Add in the miniscule cost of the other ingredients, and I'd say it's about even.  More work to make your own, but the satisfaction of work well done and healthier eating is a GREAT pay off!

Caught!  She even threw away the bread wrapper by herself.

The only thing I did differently than the recipe was to put the loaves in a gallon ziploc before they were completely cool.  I read a comment that gave that tip, and it makes sense.  If you let it cool completely in the air, all the moisture will escape the bread.  The bag will condensate a little, but the bread will soak the moisture back in.  I'll let you know if it gets moldy.  But I bet we'll eat it all before that can happen!

Pray with me that we can all get on this healthier eating bandwagon and learn to put foods in our bodies that are best for them...and to LIKE those foods!  And that our hubbies and kids will get on the bandwagon with us!  Hoo-rah!