Bread

My latest "do it yourself" attempts have been at making bread.  This is slightly bonkers because I can't actually eat bread!  I am intolerant - hate that phrase I don't like to consider myself an intolerant person - to gluten.  However the rest of the family does eat bread & I am very concerned about all the nastiest in shop bought bread.  The E numbers, preservatives etc.  So I bought the cheapest bread maker on the market (Argos Cookworks if you are interested and I am experimenting with bread making.  The girls have no problem with this but my husband loves his baked goods particularly white bread (which even pre-bread machine I refused to buy).  White bread is nutritionally useless I beg you not to go near the stuff!  He is not impressed by this latest thrifty venture but has graciously consented to a trial period.

The first thing I have discovered is that bread baked in the machine is not great.  So I generally only use the dough setting.  The dough setting kneads and proves the dough you then turn it out, shape it, leave to rise & then bake.  This may sound a little silly but even using the dough setting is a serious time saver & gives better results than doing the whole thing by hand.

Having tried a few recipes from the book I am now trying a recipe I found online.  Today's adventure - currently in the oven - is a sweet bread which uses condensed milk.

If you have a bread machine gathering dust at the back of the cupboard or fancy having a go at this yourself check out bread machine 101 by blogger Paula Rhodes as I don't think I could hope to better it

I've costed it up and a loaf of home made bread is costing just short of £1 so is cheaper than bought bread and a lot healthier!  However I am starting to worry that I may have made myself a little too self sufficient in the kitchen and that I may never be able to leave my kitchen ever again.