Homesteaders

[rancher hicks]

I busted my hump yesterday to get the leaves/grass mowed and things mulched and covered. Didn't get the climbing roses all covered but the bottoms. Will wrap the tops soon as I can. I didn't cover the runs with plastic cuz I expect there will be warm weather again and it gets to humid if I do it too early.

I am tired as DW can do little these days so I have to pick up the slack.

Snow on the ground. We went for groceries and Lord have mercy was the Wegmans packed. Then went to the bookstore and to get feed.
Country Max was busy with dog people coming to wash their dogs.

Not little dogs either. Not dog friendly dogs either.

They're super nice to me at CM. I like to go there.

 

[Raech]

sounds like a busy day. all i did was rehome a dog and do dishes. Baked some zuchinni bread for a friend, did up some cookies that didn't turn out well and a loaf of bread that took the last of my yeast. anybody make bread without yeast in the bread machine, i bake it in a bread pan but i hate to kneed it.

 

[rancher hicks]

sounds like a busy day. all i did was rehome a dog and do dishes. Baked some zuchinni bread for a friend, did up some cookies that didn't turn out well and a loaf of bread that took the last of my yeast. anybody make bread without yeast in the bread machine, i bake it in a bread pan but i hate to kneed it.

Mother Earth News has some "No Knead" bread recipes. You might find it online. They're run that story a few times in the magazine. I did make bread once but couldn't really get into it. Sometimes it's getting all the ingredients that's the real work. Then you've got to store them and that takes up more space. Plus I'm just too old.

Wouldn't it be nice if recipe books were like Clothing patterns. You know had the recipe in "servings".
Flour, 2cps (per serving)
Sugar 1 tsp (per serving) etc. etc.

There is just the two of us and I told DW not to give out the leftovers because we don't get the tupperware back from the kids. I said tell the kids to bring their own tupperware. Well not tupperware but that grocery store stuff. Lord have mercy we just had to replace all the big containers!

Still snowing but it's that light flaky stuff. The ground is still wet so the wagon and snowblower bog down some. Makes it hard to pull the wagon with the weight of the water and feed jugs.

 

[Molpet]

Mother Earth News has some "No Knead" bread recipes. You might find it online. They're run that story a few times in the magazine. I did make bread once but couldn't really get into it. Sometimes it's getting all the ingredients that's the real work. Then you've got to store them and that takes up more space. Plus I'm just too old.

Wouldn't it be nice if recipe books were like Clothing patterns. You know had the recipe in "servings".
Flour, 2cps (per serving)
Sugar 1 tsp (per serving) etc. etc.

There is just the two of us and I told DW not to give out the leftovers because we don't get the tupperware back from the kids. I said tell the kids to bring their own tupperware. Well not tupperware but that grocery store stuff. Lord have mercy we just had to replace all the big containers!

Still snowing but it's that light flaky stuff. The ground is still wet so the wagon and snowblower bog down some. Makes it hard to pull the wagon with the weight of the water and feed jugs.

some stuff you can put in ziplock type bags..some will stick to the sides but it is better than losing the tupperware or wasting leftovers

 

[Woodsdweller]

I don't have any recipes that don't use yeast, but the following is my go to no knead bread.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Artisan free-form French boule is a basic model for most breads. The dough is made with white flour, yeast, salt, and water; it's the easiest to handle and most reliable to bake successfully.

Keep your dough damp - wetter doughs create an environment that favors the development of sourdough character over the week or so of storage. By omitting kneading, by mixing dough in bulk, then storing and using it as it's needed over time, you'll be able to make this bread in 5 minutes a day (excluding rest and oven time).

The Master Recipe: Boule (Artisan Free-Form Loaf)

Makes 4 - 1 pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.

3 cups lukewarm water (under 115 degrees)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 tablespoons course salt (not table salt)
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour, measured with the scoop-and-sweep method (explained below)

Mixing and storing the dough.
1. Warm the water slightly: It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature, about 100ºF. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hrs. You can use cold tap water and get an identical final result, it just takes 3 - 4 hours. Either way you will only be doing this once per batch.

2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5 quart bowl or preferably in the lidded, resealable food container used for storage. Don't worry about getting it all to disolve.

3. Mix in the flour - kneading is unnecessary: Add all the flour as you scoop it, measuring it with a 1-cup dry ingredient measuring cup, no larger. Use a knife in a figure 8 pattern to loosen the flour in it's container, then gently scoop up flour, then sweep the top level with a knife or spatula; don't press down into the flour as you scoop or you'll throw off the measurement by compressing the flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients with a wooden spoon, 14 cup or larger food processor w/dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer w/dough hook until the mixture is uniform. If you are hand mixing and the dough becomes too hard to mix all the flour with the spoon, reach into the mixing bowl with very wet hands and press the dough together. DON'T mix like you would meatloaf!! Don't knead, it isn't necessary. You're finished when everything is uniformly moist with no dry patches. This step should take a couple of minutes.

4. Allow the dough to rise: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or the container with it's lid. DO NOT use screw type bottles like mason jars... they may EXPLODE!! Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse or flattens on the top, approximately 2 hours depending on the room temp. and the initial water temp. Longer rising times will not harm the end result. You can use a portion of the dough at any time after this period. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work with than dough at room temps. It's best to refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours or overnight before shaping a loaf. RELAX!! You don't need to monitor the rise as in "normal" recipes.

When you are ready to bake

5. Prepare a pizza peel or a cookie sheet by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking. Sprinkle the surface of the dough in the container w/flour. Dust your hands with flour and pull up and cut off a grapefruit size piece of dough (about 1lb.) with a serrated knife. Hold the mass of dough in your hands adding a little more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough into a ball tucking the ends towards the bottom, rotating the ball a 1/4 turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off. Forget about it. The bottom of the ball will be bunched ends, but it will flatten out. The final shaped ball should be a smooth ball. This process should take about 1 minute or less.

6. Put the ball on the pizza peel or cookie sheet with the cornmeal. Allow the loaf to rest for about 40 minutes. It doesn't have to be covered. You won't see much of a rise. The bread will rise some during baking.

7. 20 minutes before you are ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 450º F. If using a pizza stone, place it on the lowest rack. Use an empty broiler tray or an oven proof dish for holding water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread. I usually use the top rack.

8. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour (it allows a knife to make slashes without sticking). Slash a 1/4" deep cross, scallop or tic tac toe pattern into the top, using a serrated knife. Be creative! I like smiley faces.

9. After the 20 minute preheat, it's baking time even though your oven won't be up to full temp yet. Get 1 cup of hot water ready. If using a pizza peel and pizza stone, with a quick forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the stone. If not, put the cookie sheet onto the low rack. QUICKLY, pour the hot water into the broiler tray or oven proof dish and close the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch. BE CAREFUL -- HOT LOAF!! When you take the loaf out of the oven you will hear it crackle when exposed to room temp air. Allow to cool preferably on a wire cake rack. The crust may soften, but will firm up when cooled.

10. Store the unused dough in the refrigerator in the lidded (not airtight) container and use within 14 days. Even after one day in storage you will notice an improvement to the flavor and texture of the bread. Cut off and shape more loaves as you need them. The dough can also be frozen in 1 lb. portions in an airtight container or freezer bag an defrosted overnigh in the refrigerator. Frozen dough should keep for 3-4 months.

Each 1 lb. loaf is enough bread for 1 person for 2-3 meals (it won't last that long, at least not for me) or 3 people for 1 meal. If you want bread for 1 person for 1 meal cut a glob the size of an orange instead of a grapefruit. Cooking time/temps remain the same.

AMAZE your friends!!! Just remember 6-3-3-13!!

If you want to store enough for 8 - 1 lb. loaves, use 6 cups water, 3 tablespoons salt, 3 tablespoons yeast and add 13 cups of flour. Store in a 10 quart lidded container. That's it. You can do this in their home without a recipe! You'll look really smart.

 

[Chicken girl 15]

sounds like a busy day. all i did was rehome a dog and do dishes. Baked some zuchinni bread for a friend, did up some cookies that didn't turn out well and a loaf of bread that took the last of my yeast. anybody make bread without yeast in the bread machine, i bake it in a bread pan but i hate to kneed it.

yum...zucchini bread. I want to bake but by the time I finish around the farm I'm to exhausted. Maybe today I take a day off and bake, or at least make lots of stuff up to the point of bake and freeze it. Then all I have to do is thaw and bake..

 

[lazy gardener]

When ever I make banana bread, or cookies, or pancakes... or what ever, I mix up a triple batch of the dry ingredients. Then, I proceed with 1/3 of the dry for my baking for the day, and put the rest in a gallon bag, and label it with what it's for, and mark on the bag how much dry mix to use, and what to add for the finished product. I know there are master mix recipes out there, but, I've not bothered to do the homework regarding them.

 

[Raech]

When ever I make banana bread, or cookies, or pancakes... or what ever, I mix up a triple batch of the dry ingredients. Then, I proceed with 1/3 of the dry for my baking for the day, and put the rest in a gallon bag, and label it with what it's for, and mark on the bag how much dry mix to use, and what to add for the finished product. I know there are master mix recipes out there, but, I've not bothered to do the homework regarding them.

that is so smart!!!!! i find bulk recipes for my brownies and cornbread but never thought about tripling my cookie recipes dry ingredients...

 

[lazy gardener]

I also use instant milk powder in the master mix, so it's just add water at baking time.

 

[chantels1]

I don't have any recipes that don't use yeast, but the following is my go to no knead bread.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Artisan free-form French boule is a basic model for most breads. The dough is made with white flour, yeast, salt, and water; it's the easiest to handle and most reliable to bake successfully.

Keep your dough damp - wetter doughs create an environment that favors the development of sourdough character over the week or so of storage. By omitting kneading, by mixing dough in bulk, then storing and using it as it's needed over time, you'll be able to make this bread in 5 minutes a day (excluding rest and oven time).

The Master Recipe: Boule (Artisan Free-Form Loaf)

Makes 4 - 1 pound loaves. The recipe is easily doubled or halved.

3 cups lukewarm water (under 115 degrees)
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 tablespoons course salt (not table salt)
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour, measured with the scoop-and-sweep method (explained below)

Mixing and storing the dough.
1. Warm the water slightly: It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature, about 100ºF. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hrs. You can use cold tap water and get an identical final result, it just takes 3 - 4 hours. Either way you will only be doing this once per batch.

2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5 quart bowl or preferably in the lidded, resealable food container used for storage. Don't worry about getting it all to disolve.

3. Mix in the flour - kneading is unnecessary: Add all the flour as you scoop it, measuring it with a 1-cup dry ingredient measuring cup, no larger. Use a knife in a figure 8 pattern to loosen the flour in it's container, then gently scoop up flour, then sweep the top level with a knife or spatula; don't press down into the flour as you scoop or you'll throw off the measurement by compressing the flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients with a wooden spoon, 14 cup or larger food processor w/dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer w/dough hook until the mixture is uniform. If you are hand mixing and the dough becomes too hard to mix all the flour with the spoon, reach into the mixing bowl with very wet hands and press the dough together. DON'T mix like you would meatloaf!! Don't knead, it isn't necessary. You're finished when everything is uniformly moist with no dry patches. This step should take a couple of minutes.

4. Allow the dough to rise: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or the container with it's lid. DO NOT use screw type bottles like mason jars... they may EXPLODE!! Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse or flattens on the top, approximately 2 hours depending on the room temp. and the initial water temp. Longer rising times will not harm the end result. You can use a portion of the dough at any time after this period. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work with than dough at room temps. It's best to refrigerate the dough for at least 3 hours or overnight before shaping a loaf. RELAX!! You don't need to monitor the rise as in "normal" recipes.

When you are ready to bake

5. Prepare a pizza peel or a cookie sheet by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking. Sprinkle the surface of the dough in the container w/flour. Dust your hands with flour and pull up and cut off a grapefruit size piece of dough (about 1lb.) with a serrated knife. Hold the mass of dough in your hands adding a little more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough into a ball tucking the ends towards the bottom, rotating the ball a 1/4 turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off. Forget about it. The bottom of the ball will be bunched ends, but it will flatten out. The final shaped ball should be a smooth ball. This process should take about 1 minute or less.

6. Put the ball on the pizza peel or cookie sheet with the cornmeal. Allow the loaf to rest for about 40 minutes. It doesn't have to be covered. You won't see much of a rise. The bread will rise some during baking.

7. 20 minutes before you are ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 450º F. If using a pizza stone, place it on the lowest rack. Use an empty broiler tray or an oven proof dish for holding water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread. I usually use the top rack.

8. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour (it allows a knife to make slashes without sticking). Slash a 1/4" deep cross, scallop or tic tac toe pattern into the top, using a serrated knife. Be creative! I like smiley faces.

9. After the 20 minute preheat, it's baking time even though your oven won't be up to full temp yet. Get 1 cup of hot water ready. If using a pizza peel and pizza stone, with a quick forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the stone. If not, put the cookie sheet onto the low rack. QUICKLY, pour the hot water into the broiler tray or oven proof dish and close the oven. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch. BE CAREFUL -- HOT LOAF!! When you take the loaf out of the oven you will hear it crackle when exposed to room temp air. Allow to cool preferably on a wire cake rack. The crust may soften, but will firm up when cooled.

10. Store the unused dough in the refrigerator in the lidded (not airtight) container and use within 14 days. Even after one day in storage you will notice an improvement to the flavor and texture of the bread. Cut off and shape more loaves as you need them. The dough can also be frozen in 1 lb. portions in an airtight container or freezer bag an defrosted overnigh in the refrigerator. Frozen dough should keep for 3-4 months.

Each 1 lb. loaf is enough bread for 1 person for 2-3 meals (it won't last that long, at least not for me) or 3 people for 1 meal. If you want bread for 1 person for 1 meal cut a glob the size of an orange instead of a grapefruit. Cooking time/temps remain the same.

AMAZE your friends!!! Just remember 6-3-3-13!!

If you want to store enough for 8 - 1 lb. loaves, use 6 cups water, 3 tablespoons salt, 3 tablespoons yeast and add 13 cups of flour. Store in a 10 quart lidded container. That's it. You can do this in their home without a recipe! You'll look really smart.

this sounds awesome. I will try it