I don’t expect this to be a long post. It is just an encouragement to YOU! I get the feeling that people want to start bread baking and feel overwhelmed or intimidated or out of time. I am hoping this little post helps.

One step. It all begins there. Are you wanting to make your own bread at home? That’s a good goal! Almost anything we make at home will be healthier than what we’d buy in the store. YOU get to choose what goes into your bread and when it gets eaten.

Choose your ingredients, select a recipe, and get started! We’re all given the same 24 hours in a day- where can you find a few minutes to make your own bread? We each make time for what we find important!

Here’s the thing: you probably want to be in a habit of making your own bread at home before going out and buying expensive equipment toward what you may want to be the next step. Do I grind my own wheat for bread making? Yes! Did I begin that way? NO! I made my own bread for YEARS… over a decade! before I received a grain mill. And I’m still no expert.

You want to get into a habit first! Commit to making a loaf of bread per week. Memorize a favorite (simple!) recipe. Keep those basic ingredients on hand (and you can choose very healthy basic ingredients to start on a better foot). After you have that mastered, make the next goal a loaf of bread and rolls /buns per week. After that is mastered, tell yourself no more store bought bread. With each new goal, master it! Know your dough! Know the process and the time commitment. Get the family involved! Does your spouse like to cook? Do you want the kids to learn this new skill? Make it happen! Now you can instruct them and continue to learn more yourself.

Please only hear me say ‘begin’! Let this be an encouragement, not more overwhelm. What is the reason you want to bake your bread at home? Make a list! Is it worth it? Take steps! It won’t taste like the grocery store loaves. And, if I may say so, all the better! We are so used to the packaging ingredients that we don’t know that bread isn’t really supposed to be like that. Not real bread. Our family usually makes sandwiches with rolls because ‘sandwich bread’ doesn’t quite cut it for us. And that’s ok too!

Feel a bit intimidated by loaf bread? Try a non-yeast bread. Biscuits. Cornbread. Quick sweet breads or muffins. These recipes don’t require yeast. Their leavening comes from baking powder usually. Which one do you want to try today? My grandparents would usually eat cornbread or biscuits as their breads growing up. They tend that way even now! A staple in their homes, cornbread was not made sweet where I’m from. But the sweet version is also good and has its place. Try both!

Here are a couple of basic recipes you can begin with. Know your ingredients- making homemade won’t be helpful if you fill it full of yuck! You know what I’m going to say… use real fats, not seed oils etc. Use whole ingredients, not enriched. Use food… real food. And even then, it’ll be delicious and most likely less expensive than the store bought equivalent. I haven’t tried these (below) but I was a picky when looking for recipes to post here, making sure they would work for ya. *wink*

• cornbread
• biscuits
• one hour rolls (yeast)
• banana bread
• sandwich loaf bread

Let me know what YOU dive into! Happy baking!

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