super-duper
I made a huge pot of chicken soup on Saturday. It is really good. I was going to make it a week ago, but the weather turned warmer, and it just didn't feel right to have chicken soup. So Saturday I woke up and it was 21 degrees, and 17 with the wind chill factored in. Brrrr. So I started chopping onions, carrots, celery, zuchini....and then we figured out the chicken wasn't any good. Josh went and bought a new one. So my chicken soup was saved. I super-duper love soup. I have a husband that super-duper hates it. Not fun, because now I actually live someplace that has a huge reason for soup - very cold winters. He does like home made bread though! So maybe I will have to practice my breadmaking skills to woo him into loving soup.
I decided to make a loaf of bread because we don't have any money and we didn't want to spend the money we do have on a loaf of yummy bread for soup. But good bread is just a must-have with good soup. So I used the Betty Crocker Egg Bread recipe. My Betty Crocker is seriously my favorite cookbook. I use it more than any other, probably because of it's simplicity. I whipped up that loaf of bread, and we ate soup and warm fresh bread from the oven, and we all wish I had made two loaves. So now, there are two loaves of bread in the oven baking, as I type this. Since we have a huge amount of leftover soup, I decided to make two more loaves. Plus, now we are out of bread, and I really don't want to have to buy anything until Friday (payday). Since I have plenty of flour, why not just make the bread. I am not a very frugal wife. But I am trying.
I am super-picky about what kind of bread we do eat though. I rarely buy white bread, maybe a french, and definitely sourdough types for soup or italian food. But I have not purchased a loaf of plain white bread in ages.....years...and years. Not that I don't eat it ever. Heck, I ate McDonalds last Wednesday (it was gross too). And the bread that is in the oven I made with white flour (unbleached at least!). Although, I usually do use whole-wheat flour.......the white was calling to me for the soup..... plus, there aren't a million extra preservatives and sugars in it anyway, so it is just healthier for us anyway.
We don't buy bread that has high-fructose corn syrup in it, regardless of the nifty-neato commercials. Which is a pain, because most bread has it. There are two brands of breads at the stores we shop at that don't have it. Maybe more, but as soon as I find one or two I just stop reading the labels - it is tedious with 4 kids in tow. It is expensive though. I usually pay $3.50, or more, for one loaf of bread. I can pay $1.99 for a 5 pound bag of flour. I would love to make all of our bread. I would love to own a breadmaker. It is something I have wanted for a long time, but have always talked myself out of. I can't decide if I would actually use it solely for making bread, enough to make up the money it cost in the first place. I think I would use it..... but i don't know. I need to just get a hand-me-down one from someone in my family.... I think my mom has had a few, and my grandma too.....
Ahhhh, I can smell the bread now. So fresh. It is baking now, and will be done within a half an hour. Jenna has ballet tonight. We'll pick Josh up from work and then come home for soup and fresh bread. It is cold and rainy today.
I ran this morning, because I am too afraid to run at night, in the dark, after Josh gets home (and it is getting dark at around 5:30 now, and even earlier when it is cloudy). It was about 40 degrees this morning. It is only cold for about the first mile, maybe a little less. Fingers take longer to warm, but they do eventually. I don't think I'll be able to run much longer (outdoors). I slipped really bad in a pile of mud today. Scared me a lot. I thought I was going to fall. I didn't, but then I had to stop for a minute and a half or so to scrape the mound of mud off my shoe. There was a lot, and it was hard to get off, and every time I ran my foot continued to slip because there was so much mud on it. I am afraid of slipping when it starts to freeze and snow. But I really can't stop running through the winter....it takes so long to get the mileage back up, and I am already lazy enough to begin with. I have the hugest love/hate relationship with running. I pray I'll get over the hate part of it, and I think I am more and more. Something keeps bringing me back....maybe there is more love than hate.
So about halfway through my run, one of my toes starting hurting...pinching. I tried adjusting how I was running, but it kept hurting. So I just ignored it, thinking it was a blister and I'd have to take care of it when I got home. I soon forgot about it and when I got home I squatted, untied my shoes and took them off at the door (remember the mud?). I stepped into the house and as I did I glanced down and saw my right sock full of blood, like super-duper (okay, just couldn't resist) amount of blood. My middle toenail was too sharp and it poked into the toe next to it and cause it to bleed, and bleed, and, evidently...bleed. And now it hurts. Yes, I cut that toenail. We'll see how my run goes tomorrow I suppose.
The kids had a four-day weekend because Josh had Thursday/Friday off for Veterans' Day. The kids did not want to do school today. I told them they could take naps or do school. That worked, for a while. Then they all got tired and cranky and I made them lay down anyway. Not much done today, but better than nothing.
Ahhhh, the bread...................
I decided to make a loaf of bread because we don't have any money and we didn't want to spend the money we do have on a loaf of yummy bread for soup. But good bread is just a must-have with good soup. So I used the Betty Crocker Egg Bread recipe. My Betty Crocker is seriously my favorite cookbook. I use it more than any other, probably because of it's simplicity. I whipped up that loaf of bread, and we ate soup and warm fresh bread from the oven, and we all wish I had made two loaves. So now, there are two loaves of bread in the oven baking, as I type this. Since we have a huge amount of leftover soup, I decided to make two more loaves. Plus, now we are out of bread, and I really don't want to have to buy anything until Friday (payday). Since I have plenty of flour, why not just make the bread. I am not a very frugal wife. But I am trying.
I am super-picky about what kind of bread we do eat though. I rarely buy white bread, maybe a french, and definitely sourdough types for soup or italian food. But I have not purchased a loaf of plain white bread in ages.....years...and years. Not that I don't eat it ever. Heck, I ate McDonalds last Wednesday (it was gross too). And the bread that is in the oven I made with white flour (unbleached at least!). Although, I usually do use whole-wheat flour.......the white was calling to me for the soup..... plus, there aren't a million extra preservatives and sugars in it anyway, so it is just healthier for us anyway.
We don't buy bread that has high-fructose corn syrup in it, regardless of the nifty-neato commercials. Which is a pain, because most bread has it. There are two brands of breads at the stores we shop at that don't have it. Maybe more, but as soon as I find one or two I just stop reading the labels - it is tedious with 4 kids in tow. It is expensive though. I usually pay $3.50, or more, for one loaf of bread. I can pay $1.99 for a 5 pound bag of flour. I would love to make all of our bread. I would love to own a breadmaker. It is something I have wanted for a long time, but have always talked myself out of. I can't decide if I would actually use it solely for making bread, enough to make up the money it cost in the first place. I think I would use it..... but i don't know. I need to just get a hand-me-down one from someone in my family.... I think my mom has had a few, and my grandma too.....
Ahhhh, I can smell the bread now. So fresh. It is baking now, and will be done within a half an hour. Jenna has ballet tonight. We'll pick Josh up from work and then come home for soup and fresh bread. It is cold and rainy today.
I ran this morning, because I am too afraid to run at night, in the dark, after Josh gets home (and it is getting dark at around 5:30 now, and even earlier when it is cloudy). It was about 40 degrees this morning. It is only cold for about the first mile, maybe a little less. Fingers take longer to warm, but they do eventually. I don't think I'll be able to run much longer (outdoors). I slipped really bad in a pile of mud today. Scared me a lot. I thought I was going to fall. I didn't, but then I had to stop for a minute and a half or so to scrape the mound of mud off my shoe. There was a lot, and it was hard to get off, and every time I ran my foot continued to slip because there was so much mud on it. I am afraid of slipping when it starts to freeze and snow. But I really can't stop running through the winter....it takes so long to get the mileage back up, and I am already lazy enough to begin with. I have the hugest love/hate relationship with running. I pray I'll get over the hate part of it, and I think I am more and more. Something keeps bringing me back....maybe there is more love than hate.
So about halfway through my run, one of my toes starting hurting...pinching. I tried adjusting how I was running, but it kept hurting. So I just ignored it, thinking it was a blister and I'd have to take care of it when I got home. I soon forgot about it and when I got home I squatted, untied my shoes and took them off at the door (remember the mud?). I stepped into the house and as I did I glanced down and saw my right sock full of blood, like super-duper (okay, just couldn't resist) amount of blood. My middle toenail was too sharp and it poked into the toe next to it and cause it to bleed, and bleed, and, evidently...bleed. And now it hurts. Yes, I cut that toenail. We'll see how my run goes tomorrow I suppose.
The kids had a four-day weekend because Josh had Thursday/Friday off for Veterans' Day. The kids did not want to do school today. I told them they could take naps or do school. That worked, for a while. Then they all got tired and cranky and I made them lay down anyway. Not much done today, but better than nothing.
Ahhhh, the bread...................