Sandwiched In
I’d like to see how many things I can blame on Michael Pollan today. Because Homeboy is making my already busy life a little bit busier. But obviously not busy with hand lotion application or manicures. Yipes.
It’s not his fault that I am now the backstage “Class Coordinator” for Gigi’s ballet class.
And the “Snack Mom” for Lulu’s class.
And in charge of supervising the Pre-Ballet classes at all-day, all-cast rehearsals for three Saturdays in a row in June.
With a book promoting trip to New York, Gigi’s 6th Birthday Party and a Baptism-For-Three ceremony and celebration sandwiched in there. Oh yes, you’ll have a front row seat to all of it.
I should have just sat on my over-sized iguana hands and kept my mouth shut at class instead of agreeing to everything short of getting attached to cables and floated around the stage as Peter Pan myself. Although Gigi is now a fairy and not a pirate. Hmm, coincidence?
It’s not Michael Pollan’s fault I agreed, after two hours of ballet, a rushed lunch and delivery to school, to go to the park and the book fair and Target today. I’m stupid. Again, not his fault.
It’s also not his fault that my family wants toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and plain slices of bread straight out of the cupboard for a snack. Or is that just a new plan Lulu’s concocted to get closer to the Easter candy that is located in the same cupboard? Hmm. Coincidence again?
But it is his fault that I couldn’t just pick up a loaf of bread at Target today. As I steered Gigi away from the Little Debbie Easter cakes and Lulu away from the eye-level pickle jars, I picked up the healthiest looking loaf of whole wheat bread on the shelf and found about twenty ingredients on the package.
I remembered dear Mr. Pollan recalling how he toured a local bread manufacturing plant and that a baker there told him that the calcium that is added to enriched breads is literally “like adding rocks,” so they have to add all sorts of chemicals to help the bread stay soft and rise. And his voice echoed in my brain:
Don’t buy anything with more than five ingredients!
More than the number of ingredients, though, were the actual ingredients themselves: MONOGLYCERIDES, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM SULFATE, CLACIUM PROPIONATE (PRESERVATIVE), ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, ASCORBIC ACID (DOUGH CONDITIONER), SOY LECITHIN, AZODICARBONAMIDE.
I’m pretty sure I don’t have any of those things in my cupboard. But I do have spelt flour. And yeast. And sugar. And salt. And oil.
And a bread machine. Sigh.
This one’s all your fault, Michael Pollan.
Spelt Sandwich Bread
Makes 1 bread machine loaf or two standard loaves
- 1 c. warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 2 T. organic sugar
- 2 t. yeast
- 2 T. canola oil
- 2 T. unsweetened applesauce
- 2 c. spelt flour
- 1 c. bread flour
- 1 t. vital wheat gluten
- 1 t. salt
Ironic that there are nine ingredients, no? But they are all food.
Place water, sugar and yeast in your machine and allow yeast to get foamy, for about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and set bread machine according to your model’s instructions.
(If you want to make this bread without a bread machine, you are a show-off and making me look bad. But here’s what you do:
In a small mixing bowl, combine the water, sugar and yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the oil, applesauce, 1 c. of the spelt flour and 1 cup of the bread flour, gluten and the salt; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Grease two loaf pans. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces and form into loaves and place in pans. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake loaves for 30 minutes, or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.)
If you are making this in a bread machine: press start.
Okay, admittedly, that’s pretty easy and I have no right to complain. Especially when the result is so incredible.
And makes your average rushed lunch anything but average.
So I guess instead of blaming Michael Pollan, I should probably be thanking him.
For reminding me that some things in life are totally worth sandwiching in.
I don’t know what a bread machine is but I think I need one. My biceps said so. I’m so happy for Gigi that she is a fairy!
You don’t know what a bread machine is?! Yes, if you like homemade bread, you need one!
Yum, I love homemade bread! I just had to read In Defense of Food for class and it was really interesting. The whole don’t eat anything you can’t pronounce thing went out the window for me because I’ve taken organic chemistry, I can pronounce all sorts of fun things. Good luck with your busy month!
You probably better understand what a lot of those additives are, though, so you can discern between the scary things and the benign. But I’m not taking chemistry so that I can do the same. I’ll just press “start” instead.
i think you just convinced me to get a bread machine. Press start…what can beat that??
I bet you could find one for pretty cheap off of Craigslist. Mine is my parents’ old machine.
I love making fresh bread in the bread machine it makes my house smell amazing!
Oh yes. It masks steamed broccoli beautifully.
aw, I LOVE this. totally worth sandwiching in.
So crazy thing happened, I was just saying earlier that all I want right now is a peanut butter sandwich. And spelt flour is the best thing since, er, sliced bread.
Also, update on the Tootsie-Rolls-are-my-favesie thing: they’re totally not anymore. I just looked up the ingredients again and I’m now glad I have veganism to step in the way of me eating them. The closest thing to real food in them is orange extract, but even that doesn’t sound very real at all.
Well, I’ve got Tootsie Rolls and sliced spelt bread, so hop on over here!
This is funny actually because the other week I was totally out of bread(+ it was too late to go to Great Harvest)…shucks…So, I attempted to find the best loaf of bread at a nearby Safeway. I couldn’t find ANYTHING without crazy ingredients like the one listed above.
My solution? I grabbed an EXTRA loaf of bread from Great Harvest this week and froze it for “emergencies”. I am glad to hear I am not the only one who is VERY picky about my bread.
Yes, Great Harvest is amazing. And Pea Daddy has a Groupon, so I’m all over that “freeze a loaf” suggestion. Thank you!
I admit, working with yeast, gluten, bread making, dough rising…it all scares me and it’s like a foreign language to me…seriously, NOT things I am familiar with. But if my 95 year old blind grandmother could bake bread up til she died, I think I need to try!
And your recipe and bread making is inspiring me to do just that. You and Michael, too, of course
The bread looks phenomenal! WOW!
I can’t do it without a breadmaker. Your grandma would be so ashamed.
This is perfect. I love that it was worth the real bread to keep your family healthy. Some ingredient lists are scary.
Another flour I need to add to my “to try” list. Your bread looks great!
I usually stick with the whole “don’t buy anything with more than 5 ingredients” rule, myself. Unless they’re all recognizable foods. =)
Spelt is really great to work with! It’s whole grain, but it’s softer than most whole grain flours. You’d love it!
Good post! My number one complaint about mainstream grocery stores starts with their bread. If I can’t get a loaf of bread with less than 10 ingredients and all of them foods I know, chances are I don’t want to be buying my food there. That being said, I am pretty much a failure most of the time with yeast. Some baker I am. Luckily I have many local and well made breads in the stores I shop at!
There are quite a few places I can get great bread around here too, I was just tired (no idea why…) and didn’t want to go to another store.
My best friend made a “No-Knead” bread for me when I visited her last month; I felt so spoiled, and also so deprived. How was I supposed to recreate this without her perfection?! I haven’t mastered the high-altitude tricks yet, but I have thought twice about every loaf of bread I’ve bought since. Luckily that fresh-local-bakery-made bread is totally worth it, since, you know, my own doesn’t taste that good
I have had the makings for bread for over a year & just can’t bring myself to use the yeast (& wash that extra bowl). I would love to find someone who will weekly bake it, slice it, clean up the crumbs, do the dishes, & make it look just like yours (AHEM). Also, congrats to Gigi!!!! I’m so glad the instructor saw the error in her ways.
You have no idea how many crumbs I have cleaned up in the last 24 hours. Grrr….
Awww, loved the story in this post and the “sandwiching in” line at the end. The photo of the girls walking is a framer!! I recognize that yeast!! Did it get crazy frothy for you?? I’m excited about this bread and hope to try it soon…although no bread machine here! I’m hoping my stomach can tolerate spelt. Bread was one of the first things I started to pay more attention to, ingredient list wise!
Yes!!!! I am so glad I finally got to use that yeast…it’s been in my fridge since you gave it to me. It made the bread so POOFY! I love it.
That pictures is so perfect. You’ll be using that one for years to come
I have been making home made bread and buns for about a month now – same thinking as you. All of those chemicals and ingredients, and the homemade stuff tastes so much better! Made ciabatta bread last night….to die for. I will be trying your bread tomorrow – I always make the dough in the machine, and bake it in the oven. Doesn’t have that thick, hard crusty layer, but still dont’ have to do the hard bread making work 
Good idea! Now I just need to figure out when to take it out of the machine and put it in the loaf pans.
Use the dough cycle instead of the regular cycle. Take it out, put it under a bowl to rest for about 15 minutes, then shape it into a loaf by pulling the sides underneath the loaf and pinching them closed. Cover with a cloth and let rise until doubled, then bake at 350 until the loaf sounds hollow when you tap it! I make a LOT of bread this way
Perfect! Thank you!
“Iguana hands” haha! It’s okay, I have iguana hands too. Thank you for including the instructions for us non-bread-machine-owning people. I want to make this asap!
It’s my favorite bread recipe now. And thanks for making me look bad by making it in the oven
Yummm—bread is one of my favorite things to make, bread machine or no bread machine. The whole “press start” thing though is very tempting. One of my favorite books is Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, love it!
Bread ingredient lists have bugged me for so long, I’ve always been extremely picky about bread. Especially bread with 4-5 grams of sugar per slice–no thank you! Now I only get sprouted bread–TJ’s has some cheap alternatives to the more expensive kinds out there.
We also buy the TJ’s bread…I am not sure why we went through this loaf so quickly!
Yep, another iguana hands girl over here! And that last phot is perfect – show that to Lulu and Gigi if they ever start fighting in their teens!
I can personally attest that my strict and high standards for what kind of bread I eat is completely Michael Pollan’s fault.
You and me both
You have a bread machine? I’m jealous! I’ve always kind of wanted one, but couldn’t justify spending the money on one, as the bread you can find around here (here = Germany) is pretty good, no (or very little) funky ingredients and crazy cheap.
I made spelt bread once by hand and it turned out great, but kneading the dough for 10 min made my arms burn! Who knows, I might want to do it again someday redardless.
Yay for fairies!
Now I have to go buy a bread machine…
Homemade bread. Is there anything more satisfying in life? I think not!
I’m in love with that last picture of the girls!
I heard they only hire THE BEST for the back stage coordinator. wink wink….and i agree!
Can I just say, you are a great writer! (And i’m not sucking up in hopes you’ll send me some of that yummy looking bread) Always enjoy reading your posts. Need to find that bread maker of mine though……
Thank you, Jen!
My bread machine bread never comes out good! I’m an oven kind of girl.
I do not own a bread machine! I think it would be great to have one, but I am not a bread eater anyways ; )
You have a very busy June! I am so excited for your trip to NY to promote the book!!! How cool!
Have a great day : )
xoxo <3
can i use whole wheat flour instead of spelt flour?? And what excalty is vital wheat gluten and can i omit it?
Yes, whole wheat would sub fine. I use the wheat gluten because whole wheat and spelt flour do not have the gluten content of other flours, so in order to get a good rise, the gluten helps. You could omit it, but your loaf probably wouldn’t be as big as mine.
Yum! Homemade bread is the best!
question: where did you buy your bread machine? i’ve looked all over for a reasonably priced one and have found NOTHING! and i am pretty sure that i always need more homemade bread in my life
This is my parents’ old one, but I bet you could check Craigslist, Goodwill, maybe even Kmart or Walmart (gasp).
I don’t have a bread machine, but I’ve always wanted to try making bread with yeast (which kind of scares me because it could turn out like a rock….) Do you think this would work if you kneaded it by hand? That’s crazy how many added ingredients there are in a loaf of bread, just to keep it soft. Next time I hesitate to buy a loaf, I’ll blame you and Michael Pollan!
Bahhh never mind that question! I took a look at the word ‘bread machine’, then assumed the rest would all involve one – but just saw your instructions now. OK, this is going on my list of things to try!!
I use my bread machine often, but have never tried a loaf with spelt flour. I’ll have to add that ingredient to my Whole Foods shopping list.
I do have to say, though, that sometimes my daughter asks if we can get ‘store bread’ instead of mom’s bread. Sigh.
Good luck with all the craziness that is coming up for you!
I know what you mean about blaming things on michael pollen, or on just caring about what I eat. i haven’t bought a loaf of bread in the store for over a year now, I just can’t bring myself to do it. The one thing that I have not been able to find a recipe for that is light and fluffy is sandwich rolls, like hotdog and hamburger. Do you have any recipes up your sleeve for good rolls?
I think that this dough would work amazing for hamburger/hot dog buns. It’s super soft!
Great Harvest bread has only 5 ingredients and is made for you!
Pretty photos today!
You know we love the GH. I’m having Pea D pick up some Honey Wheat today!
I love my bread machine! It’s the easiest thing in the world to use and the loaves are always so great!
Sometimes I don’t like the shape the loaves come out in the bread machine, so I put them in a regular loaf pan bake them in the oven after the bread machine kneads them! We loved out first bread machine so much that we bought another one! We got them for super cheap at Goodwill.
that reminds me – I have my in-laws old bread machine waiting for me at their house! i need to bring it back home this time.
It’s definitely more work than just throwing a loaf in the cart, but homemade is SO much tastier and you do know exactly what’s in it.
it looks great
I’m bringing bread machines back, baby!!!
Michael Pollan is a wise man. He has inspired me to make cereal instead of buy it, but bread – I haven’t ventured there yet. Well actually I have and it never turns out. All that kneading and resting and I never seem to do enough of either. Your bread looks pretty stellar – Target’s got nothing on you!
Well I’m glad Gigi is no longer a pirate! She was born to be a fairy in a play!
I felt the same way after reading one of Pollan’s books — and I did try baking bread and failed miserably, maybe I should try again!
My mom has made homemade whole wheat bread most of my life. One time she didn’t have time to make more so she ran to the store and bought some whole grain stuff. No one ate it. It sat on the counter til it went bad. Call us bread snobs…but homemade bread cannot be beat!
I hope my family becomes the same way!
HEY, WHERE’D YOU GET A PICTURE OF MY HAND?
Hey, where’d you get my bread?
I have to giggle a bit because you have described a typical day for me…..I want to sometimes just be normal and buy what everyone else is buying and even attempt to sometimes and then my conscious gets the best of me or I read the ingredients and think, “OMG, I cannot give this to my children!” It is crazy to think how things are packaged and worded to appear healthy but if one has any knowledge at all they can clearly see it is false advertising!!! I am actually teaching my kids on how companies do this!!! Such an important lesson!!!
Gigi now picks packages up and says, “Does this have High Fructose Corn Syrup in it?” We’re doing something right
I just decided that a bread machine is totally the one appliance I am missing in my life!!!! I’m off to add that to my bridal registry now (Oh, the perks of getting married in few weeks!!!)
That bread looks delish! It’s now on my list of breads to make. I’ve been using my breadmaker a lot more lately (and it’s because of Michael Pollan as well!). Just a question (actually two) – what kind of knife do you use to cut your bread to get such a perfect slice? Also, what do you store your bread in to keep it fresh?
I use a serrated bread knife. I let the bread cool completely, wrap it in plastic wrap, then foil and then a ziploc bag. But it never lasts long enough to go stale.
Sandwiches! Bread! Yay! Now THERE’s a Pea Recipe I could get behind. And hummus. And carrots. I may or may not have eaten a soup size bowl of carrots and hummus the other day. And 5 oranges. Think my preggo body is craving Vitamin C or something?? Your life is always hella-busy but I’m sending the girls an invite to Ryan’s bday party on 5/14. Hope yall can come! Heart you as always.
We would LOVE to come. Then I can give you your shower gift and Ryan’s birthday gift at once. I can bring carrots and hummus, if you like…
That bread looks amazing! I have never tried making my own bread yet…
I buy Dave’s Killer Bread and it is simply amazing!
http://www.daveskillerbread.com/speltseed.shtml
I love that it’s organic, has great ingredents, and I’m supporting local:) He is from Oregon! I have even seen the bread at Costco!
Oh yes, we love DKB!!! I just wasn’t going to run to Costco yesterday
But today, indeed.
I was going to recommend DKB! One of the main reasons why I love Oregon so much
Pollan’s books really do change your life and they way you think about food. It’s kind of amazing
It’s funny because I haven’t eaten any bread in weeks, and I pretty much never think about it. Funny how having to go gluten-free completely changed what I crave!
That still looks a lot better than most bread I’ve seen
Someone actually gave me an extra bread machine because I interested in making my own bread. So now I have 2 machines, an unopened bag of bread flour, and this great Pea-approved recipe…what am I waiting for? Maybe I need to borrow Gigi’s fairy wings.
I just finished In Defense With Food and found it so enlightening and challenging to my food mindset. But it is so much more natural and logical and freeing to think of foods as food instead of compartmentalizing all the individual nutrients.
I think you need to make bread, girl.
You are such an awesome writer – love it!
WOW, I think I actually got tired reading all you have to do and I am not even the one doing it ~ it’s all fun stuff though
Ohhhhh, I have a bread maker, stuffed in the back of my cupboard that I used to ALWAYS use….Thanks for reminding me to dust it off…..I think you had me at “just press start” LOL
Danica
Thank you
Yes, get that bad boy out, you won’t regret it!
I actually find using the bread machine makes better bread rather when I do everything myself. I haven’t tried spelt bread out yet but definitely will now!
LOVE. That bread looks amazing and the thought behind it is even better. Well done Mama Pea!
i almost passed out when i saw that last photo of the girls b/c gigi looks SO tall… what are you doing to her??? please make her stop growing…
i don’t have a bread machine and can hardly make a regular recipe from scratch, let alone a loaf of bread. SO obviously the only solution is to have you make a few loaves of bread today and deliver them to me… sounds good, yes???
That could probably be arranged…
That is the BEST piece of food advice ever. I am daunted when I look at ingredients lists. Some of the things I cannot even pronounce. I take that back, MOST of the things I cannot pronounce.
Gotta get me bread machine!
So I have to say that I never use ingredient search boxes online–when I have an ingredient I need to use up, I’ll rummage through a million recipes I have to try to find something. However, I thought I would try yours and looked up zucchini. OMG the muffins were DEE-lish! My husband loved them as well, even though he thought I was up to something when he saw green stuff inside them. Today I’m trying your Pho Soup b/c I have extra carrots. Love recipeas search box!
FANTASTIC! You’ll love the Pho…it’s awesome!
precious post; poetic
I SO need a bread machine. Would love to be making my own breads. It’s either pay 4 bucks for the good stuff or 2 bucks for the super long ingredient list breads… What’s a girl to do. …Dear Santa: Pls bring me a bread machine, a larger kitchen to store it in… and a new pectoral muscle…. this one is busted.
Mmmm love homemade bread! This looks like a great recipe
. There are some things totally worth the time. Very cute post 
Do you have to use the vital wheat gluten? What does it do?
I use the wheat gluten because whole wheat and spelt flour do not have the gluten content of other flours, so in order to get a good rise, the gluten helps. You could omit it, but your loaf probably wouldn’t be as big as mine.
That sounds like the best comeback: “Well, your loaf isn’t as big as mine! Take THAT!”
In truth, I was wondering about the gluten, too. And also thanks for posting the non-machine method; I use my bread machine to mix up the dough, and then I bake it in two pans in the oven. But I was never sure if I should let it rise again, if so how long, etc. This clears up a lot!
I have a strange fondness for the cube shape of bread machine bread. Love this!
Homemade bread is so wonderful! I definitely might have to “borrow” my moms bread machine soon…
Thanks for a really nice post. Sometimes we need to be reminded of the people for whom we squeeze those good things into our lives. Great picture of the girls walking hand in hand.
I love my bread maker and use it all the time! I haven’t bought bread in months and it is so easy. Welcome aboard the bread making wagon
Ugh; the fact that’s it’s so difficult to buy a 5 (or 9) ingredient loaf of bread is one of my biggest pet peeves. It’s definitely on the list of things I can’t bring myself to purchase after I peek at the ingredients. I may have to join the club and get a bread machine, because having to make them by hand means that I make maybe 3-5 loaves/year!
On a completely unrelated note, I think it’s super sweet how often you take the time to read and respond to people’s comments!
Thanks, Janelle. The whole reason I started doing that was that a real life friend told me that a friend of hers who is a reader was SO EXCITED that I responded to her comment. I couldn’t believe it meant that much. So now I do it all the time!!! Plus I think it makes me feel like I know you…since you all know so much about me. I like the sense of community it creates too!
love love love love love love love love love love
love this post
So you’re saying you like it?
I absolutely love the last picture of Lulu and Gigi <3 SO adorable!
So, I really NEED to make my own bread. Every time I buy it I think this. And this post only confirms it. Make up a recipe for sprouted wheat, wouldya? I mean.. please?
I saw one the other day! I just have never sprouted anything. It kind of scares me.
um, with the exception of water and possibly your salt, all of those ingredients are packaged and processed. i wouldn’t call that food. yikes. scary that this is the type of “food” that so-called experts/authorities are pushing for.
You’re right. I’m so ashamed.
i’m curious, what do you eat?
First of all, salt is a mineral. Second of all, water isn’t food. It’s ironic, you actually picked out the only two things in the ingredients that aren’t food…
Keep rockin’ Mama Pea. This bread looks delish
Do you grind your own wheat into flour before making bread?
I have to buy store bread because I’m sure if I baked it myself I’d eat the whole loaf in one day. I cannot resist fresh bread. But, now I am tempted to at least try it. Heck, I’ll call it carb loading and go for it!
wow this looks sooooooo amazing! so pretty and perfect lookin’ as well~
i for one cannot believe you feed your children this processed poison! I have a small wheat field in my backyard and I harvest and thresh my own grain each year. To bake bread I lovingly start a small fire in my hearth-stoves are a tool of industry, and therefore make your food processed. I also grow my own apples to make applesauce, going out each morning to shoo away the tiny worms who may be present. I grow rapeseed to press my oil from, and store it in my root cellar.
To sweeten our bread honey is harvested from my hive. As I don’t want to fill my honey with poison I refuse to gas the bees before opening the hive. The stings are a small price to pay for the most natural and unprocessed food possible.
I of course bake only with wild yeast-I can’t imagine any sane person *buying* yeast.
Water is collected from our rain barrel. Sometimes, in the summer, we get thirsty.
My peanut butter is ground by hand as I don’t dare use a food processor-the name of that tool of satan tells you what it’s doing right there-turning your food into PROCESSED garbage.
You should be ashamed of this abomination!
Haha! Hilarious
I love this post! I want to send it to everyone I know! I think no one in my life understands the way i eat. This simple post, about bread of all things, says it all.
I feel so guilty reading this post! I know I need to make my own bread. I know I do. Maybe I just need to bite the bullet and get a bread maker. Seriously, the calcium is like adding rocks?!! How I am supposed to feed that stuff to my child?!
I don’t think calcium in and of itself is a bad thing, although obviously from food is better than from a supplement… BUT the problem is, just like calcium makes bones hard, it also makes bread hard. So they have to put all sorts of additives in to make the bread soft. Therein lies the problem! Don’t feel guilty, though. Just read those labels! If you can find Dave’s Killer Bread or Great Harvest or Ezekiel, I’d give those a go. They are a little more spendy, but I find they are so dense, we definitely eat less.
Since your post about hearing Michael Pollan speak, I have told everyone I know about how deceptive yogurt is! Craziness!
I love making bread! We do have a local brand sold in the regular stores here that’s pretty decent, but I prefer my own. I’ve had two bread machines over the years (both bought and sold via craigslit) and ended up selling both since I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way. Funny enough, I can’t seem to make “no knead” bread!
Dude, I just checked the ingredient list on my Morning Star “Buffalo Wings”…uh, probably more like 35 ingredients vs. 5. They were my one saving grace, as Buffalo Wings are what I miss most since giving up meat. You’ve ruined my last chance at wings Mama Pea!
But you enlightened (and entertained) me, as always, so I shall forgive.
That sounds like a Wannabe Recipea request to me…
If you create saucy, spicy, finger-lickin’ Buffalo Wings, I don’t know what I’d do. Carry your third child? Bring it Mama!
I’m on it!
I love making bread. French bread is probably my favorite to make. It goes great with all your yummy soups and stews. But when I make sandwich bread, I usually make two loaves. I leave one well enough alone, but for the other, I spread it with butter (vegan) and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over it, roll it up and stick it in. Then I get a breakfast loaf as well! I’ve never tried spelt, so that’s on the list. Thanks for broadening my horizons!
I love fresh homemade bread too, but I live at a high altitude and haven’t had great success baking any yet. Trader Joe’s has rescued me again. In my area they started carrying a Whole Wheat Tuscan Pane about a month ago with only four ingredients (whole wheat flour, water, sea salt and yeast). It’s a great alternative if you don’t have the time/energy/ability to make your own. Also, it freezes quite well, which is important to me as I live alone and can only eat so much bread at once!
Thanks Jackie. I’m actually headed to TJs this afternoon!
I love reading your posts and I love all the special care that you give to your family!
Good job to a super Mom!!
Keep doing all those special things, they do not go unnoticed : )
Happy Easter
Heather
Thanks, Heather. You are sweet…I am blessed to be able to do these things for them! Not everyone can!
Oh, nothing beats fresh, warm bread. Whether it came out of the oven or the bread machine!
My husband did a little mental math and figured out that, by making our own bread, we would save over $500 a year. Now that is serious couch-change! We had a bread machine for a while (before it went kapoot) but I wasn’t crazy about the thick, stiff crusts or the weird size (one piece was too little, two was too much). So we started just making the dough in the bread machine but baking it in the oven, in two regular loaf pans. When the aforementioned bread machine kapooted, I switched to my Kitchen Aid, using the dough arm. It’s super-easy and let’s you be super-smug when friends find out how self-sufficient and clever you are.
Good for you guys! I’m going to really see if I can stick to this…for the health and financial benefits!
Thanks for this post and everyone’s comments! I raced to a very crazy grocery store for spelt flour and things are rising now…minus the wheat gluten, couldn’t find it. My first loaf will have to suffer as smaller than yours
Can’t wait for the results, thanks for improving my health and pocketbook!
I haven’t commented as I was waiting to make this recipe. I finally procured the spelt flour late yesterday and made the bread (in the breadmaker) this morning… AMAZING! Thanks so much for this recipe… So many times better than the recipes I’ve used before
Happy husband + happy kids = happy me!
Oh, that’s great, Angie! We really enjoy this recipe too.
Hi Mama Pea!
I was so happy to find a short ingredient list for bread that includes spelt.
Going to make your bread recipe this morning for my family!
Just wanted to confirm, what kind of bread flour did you use (unbleached or whole wheat?) Thanks so much!
God bless,
Dana
I used unbleached, simply because I didn’t have whole wheat bread flour on hand, but I don’t think it will make a difference in outcome.