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.

Baking Day -- Part One

Baking Day got off to a wonderful start this morning. Truthfully, I had not really been looking forward to it, even though I saw it as a necessary means to catching up. I am nearing the end of my second trimester with this pregnancy and have been feeling tired lately.

However, my heart was lifted as I read the Scriptures this morning. I read Proverbs 15:15: "All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast." I realized that if I approached the day with a defeated attitude, I would surely find trouble. Yet, if I embraced a merry heart, that cheerful perspective would redefine the day with all its "trouble."

Encouraged by these thoughts, I jumped right into my baking plans. I wanted to get things started first thing in the morning so that my grains would have time to "soak." (Soaking grains with yogurt breaks down the phytates, which are difficult to digest and prevent the absorption of grain's bountiful nutrients. For more on that, read here.)

My plans are to make yogurt, Love Muffins (which are wheat-free and do not need to be soaked), Flatbreads, Sweet Potato Muffins, Power Bars (also wheat-free), and Granola.

• First, I started the half gallon of yogurt.
• Then, I washed and started the sweet potatoes baking.
• I milled my wheat for the day.
• I started two batches of granola soaking.
• Then I got a double recipe of flatbread soaking (recipe for this coming tomorrow).

That all took me about an hour. It was not a solid hour though, since my children were waking up and doing their chores and required some help from me from time to time.

A normal day for us means I give my children my undivided attention until about 1:30 or 2:00 when we have a Quiet Hour. In that time, I am online, my older two finish up their schoolwork, Witzy plays quietly in her room, and Tickle naps.

I plan on jumping back into my baking day when everyone starts bustling about again around 3:00. That should give me enough time to make everything. I'll start with the items that didn't need soaking and finish with the granola and flatbreads around supper time.

One note: I got started really early so that things could soak all day long. If I were unable to do this, I would have things soaking overnight.

More on Baking Day later!