Fresh Homemade Bread

**I like this recipe because it is really simple and the bread turns out great.

2 T yeast in 1/2 cup warm water
5 cups hot water from tap
7 cups unsifted whole wheat flour (I just buy it from the store - no wheat grinder here)
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup cooking oil
2 T salt (I don't put that much in...I do about 2 half tablespoons...I don't know why)
5-6 cups more whole wheat flour (I actually put in white flour here)

1. sprinkle yeast in 1/2 cup warm water
2. combine the 5 cups hot tap water and 7 cups of flour in your mixer (with the paddle) on low speed while you combine the oil, honey, and salt (in that order) in a separate bowl.
3. add the oil, honey, salt mixture into your mixer and continue to mix until everything is well blended.
4. by this time the yeast should have had plenty of time to brew. It should be bubbly and on the top of the water. Add it to the ingredients in your mixer and blend thoroughly.
5. this is where I swap to the bread kneader attachment. Add 5-6 cups of wheat (or white) flour. Let the dough knead on low speed for 10 minutes.
6. during this time, grease 4 bread pans and flour the counter top. Remove dough from the mixer and divide into 4 pieces. It will be kinda sticky, but will easily form into loaves with a little flour. Place dough in pans and let it rise for about 45 minutes. Don't let it rise to much.
7. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. (**I start the oven and put the bread in while the oven heats up, and let it bake for 45 minutes)

Don't let anything stand in the way of eating it fresh from the oven.

Acorn Squash Bread

I got an acorn squash in my bountiful basket this weekend. I made a face when I got it. I don't like acorn squash. Someone on their facebook page suggested to google acorn squash bread and that's what I did. I thought I could trick my kids into eating it. But I wanted to try it too- I LOVE bread.

I found this recipe:

http://simmerboston.com/2010/11/acorn-squash-bread/

I made two small loaves. For my boys loaf, I added 1/4 cup chocolate chips. They will eat anything with a bite of chocolate in it.

To change it to something I would eat, I used applesauce in place of the oil and egg beaters in place of the eggs. I didn't add the nuts- but I don't like nuts in bread anyways. I used 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice in place of the nutmeg and ground cloves. I made the cream cheese sauce using fat-free cream cheese.... pure heaven!!! I can not wait to get another acorn squash!

**tip for cutting it**

Place squash in the microwave for 1-2 minutes to soften then cut. It will save your hand.