Real Recipes with Real Food

In my last blog post I talked about miserly mom tip #2....never buy anything you can make yourself.  

I have recently been practicing that tip and discovered that home-made food, while being cheaper and healthier is far, far tastier than store-bought food.  

To begin with, I've started making all my own bread.  This is regular whole-wheat bread.  The Social-Butterfly is gluten-free so in the future I post about gluten-free breads!

Ingredients


3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

1/3 cup honey

5 cups whole wheat flour  (I find that using white-whole wheat provides a lighter, airier loaf that rises better.  Using all whole-wheat makes a denser loaf. The picture above was baked using typical whole-wheat flour.  I generally prefer to use white-whole wheat when I can find it on sale).

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/3 cup honey

1 tablespoon salt

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1.In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

2.Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.

3.Punch down, and divide into 2 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.

4.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely
 
** Estimated Cost Comparision:
 
In my area, a loaf of "good, quality" whole-wheat bread...the "natural" kind without ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup runs between 3.79-4.19/loaf.
 
Home-made bread:
 
flour:  10 cups is approximately 2 1/2 lbs.  I can get 5 lbs for 3.55 for 5 lbs...so approximately: $1.76
honey:  2/3 cup honey is approximately. $1.68
butter:  6 tablepsoons is approximately 0.62
salt:  negligible cost
yeast:  approximately 0.23
 
Total:  4.29 for TWO loaves.   These loaves can be cut into around 16 slices...so a bit smaller than store-bought loaf....but still cheaper and healthier and definitely tastier! 
 
It seems like a lot of work, but it really isn't.  Most of the time is rising time, and once you get the hang of making your own bread, it's pretty easy to mix it up in the morning and then just let it rise.
 
My next foray into making my own food was homemade tortillas.  They are SO much yummier than the store ones. They aren't as pretty (well as least mine aren't...they are never perfect circles...always kinda odd-shaped)..but making them is actually pretty fun and relaxing.   The torillas cook really fast, so once you get the hang of it, it moves along quite nicely.  Here they are pictured in a chicken enchillada recipe.
 
 

Home-made Flour Tortillas

Ingredients

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons shortening (still looking for a healthier substitute....if anyone has any)

1 1/2 cups water

Directions

1.Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Mix in the shortening with your fingers until the flour resembles cornmeal. Add the water and mix until the dough comes together; place on a lightly floured surface and knead a few minutes until smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.

2.Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Use a well-floured rolling pin to roll a dough ball into a thin, round tortilla. Place into the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly and golden; flip and continue cooking until golden on the other side. Place the cooked tortilla in a tortilla warmer; continue rolling and cooking the remaining dough.
 
**Approximate Price Compasion: 
 
Store-bought tortillas:  approximately $7.95/24
 
Home-made version:
 
Flour:  approximately  $0.71
Shortening: complete guess here...maybe $.10
Baking powder:  again..compete guess..perhaps $.10
 
Total:  $0.91 for 16 tortillas.  Wow...what a great saving!!

 

 

 

These are absolutely delicious!!!!  Absolutely!!!  We had a few left-over so I ate them with just lettuce and spinach rolled-up inside.  Just plain lettuce and spinach....no cheese, no mayo, no mustard.  It was surprisingly good!!    I've also made them with white-whole wheat flour before and they are still super good.

 

 

Both the bread and the tortillas can be made in larger batches and frozen....making the work involved really not much at all. I generally make two batches of bread at a time (so 4 loaves) and freeze them.....just pulling a loaf out when we need one.

 

It does take a little bit of organizing and advance planning, but the great thing is, the more you do it, the easier it becomes!

 

Stay tuned for more real-food recipe's in the future!

 

***When possible, in my price comparisons I use prices from items I find on http://www.amazon.com/.