Okay I know my subject sounds like a stupid question, and of course you should put money away for big things and just plain emergencies but when does "saving money" go too far. Example and truly the reason for this post, I've come to a point in my cooking career that for me to have high quality food at my house I have to make it from scratch. Homemade chicken and veggy broths, homemade desserts, homemade noodles, etc. But what I'm struggling with is bread. I do great when it comes to quick breads; it's in the name they are QUICK and there is no need to buy them at the store but what about other breads, say tortillas or even your everyday loaf?
I love to cook and bake but I'm starting to see that it is taking a lot of time. The other day, I made chicken enchiladas from a whole chicken! Which took a total of four hours to make. I was exhausted, and then there are all the dishes let alone other chores and things I would like to do or accomplish. BUT I want to save money and have a delish-meal. Other than meat, bread is a hot ticketed item in our house (I'm not counting milk or coffee of course :) ) we have it with almost every meal in one form or another. Whether it be tortillas, french bread, biscuits, sandwich bread, hamburger buns...it is always there and I wonder if I can save another $2 dollars here, and $4 dollars there by making my own bread.
With my spirit troubled I looked up a "No Knead Bread" recipe (plus, this blog is super funny, I found myself giggling as they went through the steps). The theory behind the recipe is that you mix the ingredients one day and then the next day you have a dough that is ready for the oven within an hour or so. Perfect! But that only covers a portion of my bread addiction what about tortillas or buns?
I looked up a tortilla recipe, thinking "tortillas those should be easy, no yeast to speak of...easy..fast...cheap." Nope. This is what the recipe said, "Make balls the size of golf balls, about 2 ounces each. Place them on a tray, and cover with a cloth. Let stand for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours." Holy @#$%^ "8 HOURS"! Yeah, I know that I don't have to sit and watch it but still that means that I make the dough, roll it all in the chaotic morning hours so that I have tortillas in the evening!
It is starting to seem like a lost cause. Do you make your own bread? Or Even better how do you trim money from your food budget without forgoing taste and quality?
To this, I can easily respond. Some things are DEFINITELY more satisfying when you make them. French bread, pizza dough, etc. are GREAT when you make them yourself. I bake bread on a daily basis, and it has gotten sooo quick and sooo easy for me. A tip that might help you is that ALOT of the breads you will make take the exact same ingredients (with the exception of a little egg here or kosher salt there, etc). If you find a mixture that works, use it for numerous things. (Like I make french bread from my pizza dough and it's AMAZING). Also know that once your dough is done rising, you can refrigerate it for a few days (I'd say no more than 3 or 4, although that may be inaccurate). I have lots of tips for dough, so email me sometime and I'll shoot you them over.
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