Feeling fancy? What about just hungry? This bacon and cheese bread is DELICIOUS and will satisfy both urges!
Ingredients:
6 Cups of flour
3 1/4 cups warm water (my warm water is pretty hot, but not boiling)
2 TSP active-dry yeast
2 TSP salt
2 TSP sugar
2 3/4 cups grated cheese (I use mild cheddar)
10 strips of bacon (chopped, not cooked)
Black pepper to taste
Step One: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the water, yeast, salt, and sugar. Let this sit for 5-10 minutes.
Step Two: Add flour, 2 cups of cheese, half of the bacon, and some pepper. Stir until combined. (I use a baker's hook so that my regular attachments--beaters?--don't get all jammed up with dough)
Step Three: Cover with a towel and place in a warm area--I use the back of the stove so that the oven heat helps it rise--for one hour.
Step Four: Put dough on a floured board and knead for 6 minutes (roughly). Divide in 2 (or whatever amount makes you happy!) and place in or on greased pans. Top loaves with leftover cheese and bacon. Add more pepper to taste. Cover with a towel again for about 30 minutes.
Step Five: Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, cover loosely with foil and bake at 350 for 35 minutes, remove foil and bake at 350 for 10 more minutes.
SO EASY, right?! This bread is fantastic, and your friends will love it--if you let them have any!
Monday, October 14, 2013
Sunday Funday!
I had a VERY productive day yesterday!
Went early-morning shopping with my friend Amber, showed her the ins and outs of shopping at Dollar Tree. We got everything for her little girl's slumber birthday party! It was different being able to pick things based on how cute and pretty they were instead of how gross/scary they were. I've never picked so much pink stuff up off the shelf!
After I got home I was pooped and my back was too, so I backed out of plans to visit some of Justin's friends for dinner. I made brownies for them anyways, though. Then, since Justin has been whining for weeks about how I don't make bread anymore, I went on a bread RAMPAGE. I made three little loaves at first, then another set of brownies (Johnny wanted to know where the other brownies had gone!), then a big loaf for Justin. The three smaller ones are going to our friends, but I'm sure he'll demolish the big one all by himself--which is what I seem to be doing to the brownies!
I love making this bread! It's super simple (I just get lazy) and it only takes about an hour including the cook time:
Mama's White Bread:
5 Cups of flour
2 Cups of WARM water (I use hot, but not boiling, water)
1 TBSP of active-dry yeast (buy the jar of yeast, you won't regret it, and it will make you want to bake more!)
1 TBSP of vegetable/olive oil (I love to use olive oil)
1 TBSP sugar
2 TSP salt
Step One: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put the yeast and sugar into a large bowl, then pour the warm water over it all. Blend for a while until all of the clumps dissolve. It'll start foaming up, that means it's working!
Step Two: throw in the salt, oil, and three cups of flour. Beat for 2 minutes. Note: It is not necessary to literally throw the ingredients in, but if it makes you feel like Emeril, do what makes you happy!
Step Three: Stir in 2 more cups of flour. Use a baker's hook attachment if you have one, because this stuff is going to jam up your regular mixer attachments. If you don't have one, you might as well mix it by hand.
Step Four: Knead until smooth and elastic. Get your hands dirty! I like to put some extra flour on the counter so the dough doesn't stick to every square inch of me. Just remember that more flour = thicker bread.
Step Five: Put your ball of dough into a well-oiled bowl (I just spray PAM cooking spray all over the inside of it) and roll it around until the ball is oiled up. Put a towel over it and set it next to the back of your stove so the heat will help it rise. Wait til it doubles (maybe 10-15 minutes).
Step Six: Punch down the dough and divide however you see fit, or don't divide it at all, it's your bread!
Step Seven: Put the dough on a greased cookie sheet/baker's pan or in a greased bread pan. Cut diagonal lines on the top, I use scissors for this. OPTIONAL: sprinkle cornmeal on the pan.
Step eight: Cover and let the dough double again. Approximately 10-15 more minutes, or until you're satisfied; if you let it go too far, though, it will collapse as soon as you remove the towel.
Step Nine: Bake for 30 minutes at 375.
FOR A CRUNCHY CRUST: Use an egg white with a splash of water mixed in to baste the top of the bread. I take the bread out at 15 minutes, then 25 to do this. It'll also give the bread a beautiful golden-brown top to it.
FOR A NON-CRUNCHY CRUST: Don't do the above step.
NOTE: if you do the three baby loaves, they do cook more quickly (I THINK it was about 25 minutes altogether), so baste at 15 and 20, check frequently to make sure everything's good to go! As with cookies, the longer you cook it the dryer it gets.
So during all of this, I got Johnny addicted to "Alphablocks" on Youtube, and he was content watching that for the next 5 hours (he doesn't go to sleep until 2-3 A.M most nights...sigh). I think it's great, and he might just be learning his letter sounds!
Went early-morning shopping with my friend Amber, showed her the ins and outs of shopping at Dollar Tree. We got everything for her little girl's slumber birthday party! It was different being able to pick things based on how cute and pretty they were instead of how gross/scary they were. I've never picked so much pink stuff up off the shelf!
After I got home I was pooped and my back was too, so I backed out of plans to visit some of Justin's friends for dinner. I made brownies for them anyways, though. Then, since Justin has been whining for weeks about how I don't make bread anymore, I went on a bread RAMPAGE. I made three little loaves at first, then another set of brownies (Johnny wanted to know where the other brownies had gone!), then a big loaf for Justin. The three smaller ones are going to our friends, but I'm sure he'll demolish the big one all by himself--which is what I seem to be doing to the brownies!
 |
| My 3 baby loaves! |
I love making this bread! It's super simple (I just get lazy) and it only takes about an hour including the cook time:
Mama's White Bread:
5 Cups of flour
2 Cups of WARM water (I use hot, but not boiling, water)
1 TBSP of active-dry yeast (buy the jar of yeast, you won't regret it, and it will make you want to bake more!)
1 TBSP of vegetable/olive oil (I love to use olive oil)
1 TBSP sugar
2 TSP salt
Step One: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Put the yeast and sugar into a large bowl, then pour the warm water over it all. Blend for a while until all of the clumps dissolve. It'll start foaming up, that means it's working!
 |
| The "Foaming" --Sorry it's blurry, it was a quick phone shot! |
Step Two: throw in the salt, oil, and three cups of flour. Beat for 2 minutes. Note: It is not necessary to literally throw the ingredients in, but if it makes you feel like Emeril, do what makes you happy!
Step Three: Stir in 2 more cups of flour. Use a baker's hook attachment if you have one, because this stuff is going to jam up your regular mixer attachments. If you don't have one, you might as well mix it by hand.
Step Four: Knead until smooth and elastic. Get your hands dirty! I like to put some extra flour on the counter so the dough doesn't stick to every square inch of me. Just remember that more flour = thicker bread.
Step Five: Put your ball of dough into a well-oiled bowl (I just spray PAM cooking spray all over the inside of it) and roll it around until the ball is oiled up. Put a towel over it and set it next to the back of your stove so the heat will help it rise. Wait til it doubles (maybe 10-15 minutes).
Step Six: Punch down the dough and divide however you see fit, or don't divide it at all, it's your bread!
Step Seven: Put the dough on a greased cookie sheet/baker's pan or in a greased bread pan. Cut diagonal lines on the top, I use scissors for this. OPTIONAL: sprinkle cornmeal on the pan.
Step eight: Cover and let the dough double again. Approximately 10-15 more minutes, or until you're satisfied; if you let it go too far, though, it will collapse as soon as you remove the towel.
Step Nine: Bake for 30 minutes at 375.
FOR A CRUNCHY CRUST: Use an egg white with a splash of water mixed in to baste the top of the bread. I take the bread out at 15 minutes, then 25 to do this. It'll also give the bread a beautiful golden-brown top to it.
FOR A NON-CRUNCHY CRUST: Don't do the above step.
 |
| The "BIG" loaf, all finished up and beautiful! |
NOTE: if you do the three baby loaves, they do cook more quickly (I THINK it was about 25 minutes altogether), so baste at 15 and 20, check frequently to make sure everything's good to go! As with cookies, the longer you cook it the dryer it gets.
So during all of this, I got Johnny addicted to "Alphablocks" on Youtube, and he was content watching that for the next 5 hours (he doesn't go to sleep until 2-3 A.M most nights...sigh). I think it's great, and he might just be learning his letter sounds!
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Museum Mischief!
What an adventure today was! My friend Amber and I decided to check out the Columbus Museum of Art here in Columbus, Georgia. Today was "Fall Festival" and they had all sorts of things for all our kiddos (she has 3) to do, they even had a costume contest! We showed up to the 0-4 year contest late, but our 4 year-olds can definitely pass for 5, so they entered that one. No winners today, but when the second place trophy goes to a store bought Scooby-Doo get-up, I'm not crying!
If they hadn't had the "festival," I don't know that I'd take my kids there, though. Not a whole lot of family-appropriate art--good stuff, great even, but definitely inappropriate for young audiences! I've heard that the basement is usually filled with interactive kid stuff, though, and since it's free, it may be worth looking into.
After Jackson decided the end of his world had come--screaming like a banshee after he'd missed nap-time at 11 or so--we left the museum and stopped for a bite to eat at mama's favorite: Cracker Barrel! I bit my lip as we passed through the sales racks (both times!); I have to force myself to keep my money in my purse in that place. I don't know what it is about all the cutesy little things they have, but it's like crack to me!
After we got home Jack was ready for a real nap and dozed off for about 3 hours, giving Mommy enough time to get a well-deserved nap. It's always a good day when I get to take a nap; but, this was one of those late-afternoon naps where you think it's morning when you wake up again...kinda freaky!
Leftover night! Time for reheat burritos!
If they hadn't had the "festival," I don't know that I'd take my kids there, though. Not a whole lot of family-appropriate art--good stuff, great even, but definitely inappropriate for young audiences! I've heard that the basement is usually filled with interactive kid stuff, though, and since it's free, it may be worth looking into.
After Jackson decided the end of his world had come--screaming like a banshee after he'd missed nap-time at 11 or so--we left the museum and stopped for a bite to eat at mama's favorite: Cracker Barrel! I bit my lip as we passed through the sales racks (both times!); I have to force myself to keep my money in my purse in that place. I don't know what it is about all the cutesy little things they have, but it's like crack to me!
After we got home Jack was ready for a real nap and dozed off for about 3 hours, giving Mommy enough time to get a well-deserved nap. It's always a good day when I get to take a nap; but, this was one of those late-afternoon naps where you think it's morning when you wake up again...kinda freaky!
Leftover night! Time for reheat burritos!
Friday, October 11, 2013
Entering the Blogosphere...
Welcome to my life! I've decided to keep a blog rather than post random bits and pieces of my life all over my Facebook page to people I barely know outside of their blurred family photos and vague rants about their lives.
Who am I? My name is Jolenta, I'm the mother of two adorable boys--Johnny, age 4, and Jackson, who's 18 months now--and the wife of Justin, a very patient man who's stuck with me for the past 14 years. I'm a medic in the Army, and have been for about three years now. We're all stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia for the last two and a half years.
My kids are the light of my life, though from time to time they push me to the brink of insanity. Johnny is in his first year of school; though he does very well, I can tell he suffers from the same crippling shyness that I did as a kid. I don't think it helps that we keep him inside most times instead of letting him roam free amongst the hoodlums in the cul-de-sac. He gets better about it every day, though, and hopefully it will wear off before High School. Jackson (Jack) is walking and nearly talking. He is a wild man, and loves to act like a baby daredevil. He can be found standing on the seat of his power-wheel while it's rolling down the driveway. Jack is a lot happier of a baby than Johnny ever was, he spends 99% of his day in smiles and only cries when he's tired or hurt.
Justin is a stay-at-home Dad right now, as we decided together that we'd never put the kids in day-care. It's been rough at times, between associated money issues and his manly pride. He does a spectacular job of raising the boys while I'm away at work, which can be anywhere from eight to twelve hours per day. Justin loves riding his motorcycles--that's right, plural--and has three of them down here in Georgia (the rest were left in Michigan, for lack of room). He is a whiz when it comes to vehicle repairs, and can fix any bike in a matter of hours. He is also great at cooking (my own personal Chef!) and general house repair. When we bought our first home in Michigan, we were naive and didn't think to check into the electrical and plumbing of the house. Well, Justin was savvy enough about both to redo the entire electrical and plumbing system, as well as fixing every square foot of drywall in the house! He wasn't too keen on my joining the military, especially with Johnny only being 16 months old at the time, but agreed to it on the basis of establishing a secure income for our family and my furthering my medical career. There have definitely been ups and downs over the past three years--especially through my 25 weeks of training, through most of which he was basically a single Dad for Johnny--but he has never faltered in his support and love for me and our son.
As for me, I'm on the wrong end of my 20's, but have led a life of adventure and intrigue, almost from birth. My parents were both career Marines, so we moved around a lot. I was born in Camp LeJeune, North Carolina and from there moved to Okinawa, Japan, Camp Pendleton, California, then back to Okinawa for the last part of my childhood. When they retired, we moved to Quincy, Michigan. Quincy is the quintessential rural American town, complete with its 3,000 person population, one stop-light, and overflowing racism. Being a military brat, I'd grown up around people of all sorts, so ignorance was something new to me. After high school was over, I dove right into college; I bounced around from one major to the next before finally setting my sights on an Associate's Degree in business management. This, unfortunately, got me nowhere. I was still working entry-level jobs at or below the poverty level. I didn't care too much back then, all I had to worry about was rent and where the next bag of weed was going to come from. After I got pregnant with Johnny, I rethought my lackadaisical view of money and got my certification as a Nurse Aide. It wasn't much, but it put more food on the table and we were able to buy the house. Shortly after I had Johnny, we got married (10 years of dating and it took a baby to get a ring!). I couldn't stop wondering if I was going to live in small-town USA forever, and I didn't like the idea of it. After 6 months of thinking, and a lot of convincing Justin, I rose my right hand and gave my life to the Army.
I love being a medic, knowing that I can help save someone is one of the biggest points of pride that I have. It is somewhat odd that I almost want people to get injured around me, just so that I can see if I'm up to the task. I've been accepted to the Army's Physician Assistant Program, and am waiting patiently on my orders to go to Texas for schooling. There have been set-backs to my plan, though. I've recently learned that I have bilateral pars interarticularis fractures along with grade II anterolisthesis. Basically what all that medical jargon means is that my back is trying to make me a paraplegic. Two of the bones that keep the spine connected to the pelvis have fractured apart, and now my spine (from the pelvis up) is slipping forward and pinching the spinal cord in the process. I'm waiting for word from a neurosurgeon, so I can find out more about what comes next, but it looks like surgery is the only option.
Whew! What an intro! Well, feel free to leave any comments, questions, or anything inbetween--I'll do my best to respond in a respectable amount of time. I'm brand new to the blogging world, but we'll get there together!
Who am I? My name is Jolenta, I'm the mother of two adorable boys--Johnny, age 4, and Jackson, who's 18 months now--and the wife of Justin, a very patient man who's stuck with me for the past 14 years. I'm a medic in the Army, and have been for about three years now. We're all stationed in Fort Benning, Georgia for the last two and a half years.
My kids are the light of my life, though from time to time they push me to the brink of insanity. Johnny is in his first year of school; though he does very well, I can tell he suffers from the same crippling shyness that I did as a kid. I don't think it helps that we keep him inside most times instead of letting him roam free amongst the hoodlums in the cul-de-sac. He gets better about it every day, though, and hopefully it will wear off before High School. Jackson (Jack) is walking and nearly talking. He is a wild man, and loves to act like a baby daredevil. He can be found standing on the seat of his power-wheel while it's rolling down the driveway. Jack is a lot happier of a baby than Johnny ever was, he spends 99% of his day in smiles and only cries when he's tired or hurt.
Justin is a stay-at-home Dad right now, as we decided together that we'd never put the kids in day-care. It's been rough at times, between associated money issues and his manly pride. He does a spectacular job of raising the boys while I'm away at work, which can be anywhere from eight to twelve hours per day. Justin loves riding his motorcycles--that's right, plural--and has three of them down here in Georgia (the rest were left in Michigan, for lack of room). He is a whiz when it comes to vehicle repairs, and can fix any bike in a matter of hours. He is also great at cooking (my own personal Chef!) and general house repair. When we bought our first home in Michigan, we were naive and didn't think to check into the electrical and plumbing of the house. Well, Justin was savvy enough about both to redo the entire electrical and plumbing system, as well as fixing every square foot of drywall in the house! He wasn't too keen on my joining the military, especially with Johnny only being 16 months old at the time, but agreed to it on the basis of establishing a secure income for our family and my furthering my medical career. There have definitely been ups and downs over the past three years--especially through my 25 weeks of training, through most of which he was basically a single Dad for Johnny--but he has never faltered in his support and love for me and our son.
As for me, I'm on the wrong end of my 20's, but have led a life of adventure and intrigue, almost from birth. My parents were both career Marines, so we moved around a lot. I was born in Camp LeJeune, North Carolina and from there moved to Okinawa, Japan, Camp Pendleton, California, then back to Okinawa for the last part of my childhood. When they retired, we moved to Quincy, Michigan. Quincy is the quintessential rural American town, complete with its 3,000 person population, one stop-light, and overflowing racism. Being a military brat, I'd grown up around people of all sorts, so ignorance was something new to me. After high school was over, I dove right into college; I bounced around from one major to the next before finally setting my sights on an Associate's Degree in business management. This, unfortunately, got me nowhere. I was still working entry-level jobs at or below the poverty level. I didn't care too much back then, all I had to worry about was rent and where the next bag of weed was going to come from. After I got pregnant with Johnny, I rethought my lackadaisical view of money and got my certification as a Nurse Aide. It wasn't much, but it put more food on the table and we were able to buy the house. Shortly after I had Johnny, we got married (10 years of dating and it took a baby to get a ring!). I couldn't stop wondering if I was going to live in small-town USA forever, and I didn't like the idea of it. After 6 months of thinking, and a lot of convincing Justin, I rose my right hand and gave my life to the Army.
I love being a medic, knowing that I can help save someone is one of the biggest points of pride that I have. It is somewhat odd that I almost want people to get injured around me, just so that I can see if I'm up to the task. I've been accepted to the Army's Physician Assistant Program, and am waiting patiently on my orders to go to Texas for schooling. There have been set-backs to my plan, though. I've recently learned that I have bilateral pars interarticularis fractures along with grade II anterolisthesis. Basically what all that medical jargon means is that my back is trying to make me a paraplegic. Two of the bones that keep the spine connected to the pelvis have fractured apart, and now my spine (from the pelvis up) is slipping forward and pinching the spinal cord in the process. I'm waiting for word from a neurosurgeon, so I can find out more about what comes next, but it looks like surgery is the only option.
Whew! What an intro! Well, feel free to leave any comments, questions, or anything inbetween--I'll do my best to respond in a respectable amount of time. I'm brand new to the blogging world, but we'll get there together!
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