Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Baking Day -- Part Two

WHEW! Yesterday's Baking Day made for a long afternoon! I am so thankful to have my freezer and pantry stocked, but it was no small effort...

You can read about the first part of my day here.

For the most part, things progressed without huge detours. My children can not be considered detours... just part of any mother's day. But one thing I did not plan for was dipping out honey. You see, we buy honey in a five gallon bucket (and save a lot of money doing so). But, every so often I use a ladle to dip it into squeeze bottles for convenience. I didn't count on running out of accessible honey yesterday.

After I took care of the honey (and washed my sticky arms since I'm down to the bottom of the bucket), I started in on the Love Muffins. No problems there... While they were baking I made the Power Bars and put them in the fridge to set.

Then I got started peeling and pureeing my sweet potatoes. I am sad to say, but I got lazy here. Instead of washing out the muffin tins from the Love Muffins, I decided to just use bread pans and make Sweet Potato Bread instead of muffins. It didn't work out so great... the loaves wouldn't bake through and they got pretty brown before the inside was done. I think I'll stick with Sweet Potato Muffins next time around, since I know the recipe works that way.

While the bread was baking, I had to do a round of dishes. Then I started on the Granola. Once I spread it onto pans, I made the flatbreads and started supper. We ate late... but I half way expected that.

Here is a snapshot of my final results:



I froze half the granola and kept the other half for us to have for breakfast for a while. I left the Power Bars to cut and individually wrap in the morning. I bagged the Love Muffins in three quart sized bags of six, since my husband takes one with him every day for lunch. Two bags went into the freezer and one into the fridge. The yogurt went straight into the fridge. I kept one Sweet Potato Bread out for this week and froze the other one. (They are edible, though I wouldn't serve them to company.) There were only half the flatbreads left after we ate 12 for supper... And the crock-pot in the back has my beans soaking for Wednesday's supper.

So, in the final analysis... a Baking Day can be tedious, but it is hugely beneficial. Perhaps you could set aside this Saturday Afternoon and get a few things put up for next week. It helps SO much to have healthy food on hand!

Coming next... my Soaked Flatbread Recipe.

6 comments:

lori said...

I was INSPIRED...baked some bread this a.m. and it smells FANTASTIC....why don't I do this everyday? Oh yeah, I'm going to...:)

I'm trying the flatbread recipe tomorrow! Thanks again for the inspiration!

lori

Tonya said...

All I can say is....SUPERWOMAN!

Katie said...

Good Job! I am thinking of doing this. I too am pregnant in my third trimester, but on a light bed rest. I am not sure if I will have the energy to do all that, but I just might try. My hubby will probably help though, he's being so good since I have to "take it easy". I love the love muffin recipe. We are doing GAPS so please post any grain free recipes you have. I haven't actually bought a cookbook yet cause the net has such a vast amount of info and recipes. Thanks again.

Jeffrey & Shannon said...

Ooh, very inspiring. I'm new to your blog and can't wait to read up on some of your posts... can you tell me - where did you get that yogurt maker with the individual cups? And Do you make your yogurt with raw milk? Ours always turns out a bit too runny.

Thanks a bunch!
shannon in Texas

Anonymous said...

I am in awe of your homemaking accomplishments! I did pretty much nada today and now I feel so guilty reading your blog. :} Thank you again for all the great recipes!

Amy Ellen said...

Hi Shannon,

Unfortunately, I bought the individual cup yogurt maker at a garage sale, so I can't give you a retailer. I bought the quart sized one through Amazon for just ten dollars.

Yes, I use raw milk. I heat it all the way to 180. If I don't, I get runny yogurt too. I have read that although the 180 degree temp kills some of the enzymes, the culturing replaces more than enough. The good deal is that we are starting with un-homogenized and not ultra-pasturized milk.

Hope this helps,
Glad to have you around!
ae