29 ingredients? No, thank you!

In the spirit of saving some dough {pun intended}, I recently bought a bread machine off of craigslist for $25.  It was only used a couple of times and it included The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook  {side note: when I was emailing back and forth about where to meet, etc., I thought that I was conversing with a man named Jay...we met in front of a store and it turned out to be a woman named Jay...you never can tell can you?  Truth be told, I was relieved to be dealing with a woman & not some creeper...} 

I then bought some really good bread flour and a jumbo jar of bread machine yeast.  I highly recommend King Arthur Flours (I use their bread flour and whole wheat flour)

{This is not a quote from me, but it should be!}

I read the instruction manual, read through the book and got ready to bake my first loaf of bread machine bread.  I put water, olive oil, sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast into the bread pan, put the pan into the machine, shut the lid, set the settings to a basic, medium crust, 1 pound loaf (2 hrs, 50 min) and that was it.  I watched it knead and mix the dough through the little peep window and realized that I had made the right decision. An hour later, it was the heavenly aroma of fresh baked bread that totally sold me.  While it cooled,  I looked at the bag of store bought bread that  was already opened...it was a double-fiber conventional loaf of whole wheat bread that my husband had bought a couple of days earlier.  I read the ingredient list and couldn't believe what I was reading...29 ingredients & totally ridiculous.  I usually buy an organic loaf of bread, but at $4 a loaf and we go through 2 loaves a week, it is sometimes just was just better to buy whatever was healthy & on sale.  


I sliced up the bread for dinner {good timing on my part because the very next day I was starting a new eating plan, which includes no bread} and the 2 bread lovers in the house were in heaven.  I think that my husband understood why I bought the machine and that it really would be a good way to save money after he tasted the deliciousness of the bread.

If you are thinking about getting a bread machine and especially if you have kids or go through more than 1 loaf of bread a week, you should just do it.  Peruse craigslist or amazon for a good one, mine is a Welbilt and there are several reputable brands.  You will be amazed at how easy it is to use and really, there is nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread!