homemade spelt bread

In our quest to leave as little behind as possible, we have started making our own bread on a weekly basis. It really isn't that time consuming nore tricky. I must admit that we have an old bread machine at our disposal, but I have made countless batches sans machine.

When you think about how many loaves your family eats in a year and then think about all of those plastic bags and plastic ties, then you'll understand how much waste goes into such a simple staple. Plus, it is significantly cheaper to make your own bread. Two loaves of Organic Spelt bread costs us less then $5.00 and it is fresh and ready within 2 1/2 hours.

This is what you'll need:

4 tsp yeast or 2 envelopes

2 C warm water

1/4 C honey, agave or desired sweetener

3 tbsp melted butter (we used vegan Earth Balance, which is absolutely yummy)

1 tsp butter for coating your pans and rising bowls

1-2 tsp salt

6-7 C Spelt flour

Combine the yeast, water, sweetener and melted butter in a bowl or your bread machine pan. Let foam for 10 minutes. Add the flour and salt and knead for 10 minutes or set your bread machine on the dough setting and hit start. If making this by hand, you'll let it rise for 30 minutes in the bowl and then knead until smooth and form into 2 loaves and place in greased bread pans and let rise for another 30 minutes (or until doubled in size). If using the bread machine, your time will vary, but after it is done in the machine, remove and smooth out into 2 loaves and place in greased bread pans and let rise for another 30 minutes (or until doubled in size) Preheat your oven at 400 degrees. Once the loaves are ready and the oven is at 400 degrees, bake for 35-45 minutes. They are done when you can tap them with a butter knife and they sound hollow.

We usually freeze one loaf and keep the other in the fridge. This recipe slices well and holds up great. Enjoy with some Earth Balance spread, sunflower butter or some hummus and sprouts. We are sure that you'll find your own favorite combo.

a washing machine? yup, we finally got one!

for all of those who know us, you know that we haven't had a washing machine in many many moons. the laundromat has been our laundering refuge for a long time. i cannot say how excited i am to finally have a high energy efficient front loading washing machine. we did our homework and we came up with a Fridgidare Affinity. this mama is amazing. the clothing comes out close to dry and it only uses around 10 gallons of water, which brings me to another point.

we are going to be 'reclaiming' that gray water from each load. just think about how much water you waste with each load. i have done my homework and realized that every housewife from the 60's and back ran that gray water back out into the gardens. why pay for more water when we are paying to dipose of what we are using. only problemo is what detergent you wash your clothes in. we are using Bio-Kleen. it works great, it is biodegradeable and better yet, we can use our graywater and not kill the soil and all of the plant life.

some other tidbits:

white vinegar is a great fabric softener. just fill the fabric softener well with it and no worries of your clothing coming out smelling like a salad!

wash your clothes in cold water. why pay to heat up the water, when cold water works really well. Bio-Kleen even has a cold water formula detergent.

bleach??? hang those whites out to dry in the sun and let mother nature go to work.

so, we are just trying to relearn what all mamas have done many years ago. why it has been lost is beyond me, but i'd love to learn more if you have any pointers.

who would have thought that a washing machine would make me so happy! oh, no dryer, but we got that covered with a constant seabreeze!

a washing machine! yup, we finally got one!

for all of those who know us, you know that we haven't had a washing machine in many many moons. the laundromat has been our laundering refuge for a long time. i cannot say how excited i am to finally have a high energy efficient front loading washing machine. we did our homework and we came up with a Fridgidare Affinity. this mama is amazing. the clothing comes out close to dry and it only uses around 10 gallons of water, which brings me to another point.

we are going to be 'reclaiming' that gray water from each load. just think about how much water you waste with each load. i have done my homework and realized that every housewife from the 60's and back ran that gray water back out into the gardens. why pay for more water when we are paying to dipose of what we are using. only problemo is what detergent you wash your clothes in.

we are using Bio-Kleen. it works great, it is biodegradeable and better yet, we can use our graywater and not kill the soil and all of the plant life.

some other tidbits:

white vinegar is a great fabric softener. just fill the fabric softener well with it and no worries of your clothing coming out smelling like a salad!

wash your clothes in cold water. why pay to heat up the water, when cold water works really well. Bio-Kleen even has a cold water formula detergent.

bleach??? hang those whites out to dry in the sun and let mother nature go to work.

so, we are just trying to relearn what all mamas have done many years ago. why it has been lost is beyond me, but i'd love to learn more if you have any pointers.

who would have thought that a washing machine would make me so happy! oh, no dryer, but we got that covered with a constant seabreeze!

the beginning

today is the beginning of what i dreamt to be a sharing of not so common common knowledge. i have always wanted to share my passion of living simple, living well and lovin' life with others and here we go.

just to let you know who we are and what we are doing, we'll start with a bit about us. we are a veggie couple with a blessed little veggie baby livin' at the beach, gardening, surfing, leavin' no print, but trying to make an impression. our quest of living WITHout started 10 years ago and it is only getting better and bigger. upon the birth of our daughter we were really hit with what it means to live greener. no paper diapers, no formula and none of that commercial junk that the rest of society believes you need to raise a child. just some cloth diapers, a sling, a mama and papa and a warm home is all we need to not keep up with the jones's.

with that said, we hope to share all that we have learned over the years with those who find yourselves here. we have learned a lot from our journies, our families, our friends and those unknown strangers who passed on a valuable tidbit along the way.

so, enjoy, ask questions and keep an eye on us. who knows what we'll be up to next.