Imagine the Impossibilities - Me Making Bread

After reviewing a few blogs, I found a blog about imagining the impossibilities and giving yourself a challenge to overcome. Well I wanted to learn to make bread, so I went for it!

It was quite fun actually. I decided to make french bread first, since I love it the most and rarely have any at home. I used active yeast and placed it in warm water. My supportive husband even bought me flour specifically for bread since I sent him to the store on a grocery run. I didn't even know there was flour like that! How sweet of him huh! Any way - I digress. After I mixed the active yeast in the water, I added the bread flour, some sugar, salt, and canola oil. I mixed all these ingredients together until I had a nice dough. Then I took it out and placed it on a floured pastry mat and kneaded it. This was the really fun part. I got to release all my tension into the dough hehe! Next, it was time to let it rise. I placed it into an oil coated bowl and covered it with plastic wrap. Then left it in the oven (I didn't turn the oven on - it just needed to sit in a warm dark place) for about an hour to rise. Then, I punched it down. Literally punched it, another fun task. I reshaped it placed it back in the bowl and let it rise again for another 30 minutes. This time my daughter punched it down lol, and we took it out. We placed it on a floured surface again and shaped it into a french loaf. I then lined my cooking sheet with parchment paper, since I didn't have cornmeal, which the recipe recommended and I placed my loaf on top of the parchment paper. I let it rise again, then brushed it with an egg white and water mixture. Finally, I cut slits into it, like the ones you normally see on french bread in stores and placed it in the oven to bake. I baked my french bread for about 20 - 25 minutes. It was fabulous, even without the cornmeal! My family loved it and ate it all up quickly. As a result, I ended up making another loaf later on in the week. I don't think I'll ever buy french bread again because my homemade batch was so delicious. I'll post pictures soon. I'm so glad I took this challenge! Are there any challenges that you've been putting off, that maybe now you realize you should try?

Who needs a gym to work out?

That is my mantra for 2012 - who really needs to pay some expensive gym membership to get a good work out. I recall when I had a gym member all I did was let them draft my checking account every month, but I never attended. Then I'd see my bank statement and think, I need to go work out and get my monies worth. So I'd go for a few classes, then maybe hit the treadmill. I'd do good for a couple of weeks, but then back to nothing. Membership cancelled because I knew I was wasting money, but I still needed to work out - well after baby.

I am now 7 months post pregnancy - yes I know I should have been working out before now but any who, I've decided I needed to tone up. What is a stay at home mom to do without a gym membership? Well another luxury of being home is TV shows, and I'm really learning a lot from them. One day I was watching live with Kelly Ripa and they were actually working out to a work out video on the show. It was the new Brooke Burke video. The exercises looked doable, so I thought I'd go get it and give them a try. I went to go ole Best Buy and bought Transform Your Body with Brooke Burke Tone and Tighten since that is what I really needed to do as I've lost most of my baby weight. I have a few pounds that have taken up residence and have been refusing to vacate so I figured toning up would be best for me. Best part - the video only cost me $7.99, so who needs that old stinking gym membership, right!

I must say this workout video is a true workout! I've only been able to make it through the warm up and lower body exercises,but I could still feel the burn days after. I plan to work out to the video three times a week and of course make it through the whole video. One major plus for the video is if you are short on time you can choose which work outs you'd like to focus on from the menu. Brooke also must have known there would be other new moms out there like me completing this video, because she gives modified exercises for those of us that are "vacationers" to working out. I don't thinking I've ever been to a class at a gym where they give instruction on how to modify the exercises. This definitely makes exercising to this video three times a week doable. So once again who needs a gym! Check out the videos and tell me what you think. Brooke Burke has other videos, there's also Jillian Michaels, and my personal favorite Zumba (but Zumba is for the Wii or xBox Kinect). Happy getting in shape! 

Small Victories

As a mother to a seven month old, I've found that you have to celebrate these. Actually as a mother period you have to celebrate small victories, or you just may lose hope in your parenting abilities. My small victory is regarding my son's sleeping habits. Many times I want to kick myself, (especially) when I hear people say, "Oh my child sleeps straight through the night." Although, I'm usually thinking to myself, "Uh, so do you want a cookie?" I mean, must you rub it in while the other 90% of babies aren't sleeping through the night.

Consequently, my baby obviously doesn't sleep through the night, but I'm remind that we still have lots of small victories in this area to be thankful for. For example, at least he doesn't require a late night bottle anymore. Whoa hoo! No more standing at the bottle warmer at 2, 3, or 4am for us. He is happy with a last daily bottle around 11pm and doesn't desire another until he wakes in the morning around 7 or 8am. I've also finally broke him of being rocked to sleep. So yes, he still wakes up but for the most part if I put him on my shoulder or lay him next to me, he goes right back to sleep; and to top it off, he may only wake up once or twice a night. Yes, I'm aware that this is NOT sleeping through the night. Trust me, the bags under my eyes and lack of memory remind me of this mere fact daily. But I'm also very aware it could ALWAYS be worse and more than anything we ARE making progress! So to all the other moms out there, don't kick yourself when that other mom is bragging about her child sleeping through the night, potty training in days, eating cereal with a spoon on the first try, or whatever it may be. Focus on where you and your child were and where you are now, and I'm sure you'll find there is something to celebrate! What are your small parenting victories? 

Trying to save $$ with my love of baking

Hello,

How has everyone been? Hope the new year has been treating you great. I've been sitting here thinking about my weekly grocery list, because you know there are those few things that you have to buy often like milk, oj, bread, etc. So I'm thinking, why buy bread every week at almost $3.00 a loaf when I could make it. I love baking, and I've always wanted to make bread so why not go for it now. I'm home all day.....ah the joys of the new SAHM.
Any who, I'm thinking of actually giving it a try. I found recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=6773&origin=detail&&Servings=36 and if this works I hope to continue doing this. My only thought though, is would it be easier just to make it from scratch or get a bread maker. Would anyone like to share their thoughts on a bread maker? I'd love a kitchen aid mixer with a bread kneading attachment, but not an option right now. So what are your experiences with a bread maker, or is it better to just make it from scratch?

New Year New Post

Long time no see. Isn't it funny that when I make a post about posting more, I drop the ball and vanish into thin air. Well I'm back and really this year I'm going to make a go of this blog and post often, so be on the look out for savings posts, mommy posts, everyday life posts, and so on. Oh yes and happy New Year!!

The topic for today's post relates to New Years resolutions. It's interesting because what I have been thinking about  recently was discussed at today's worship service - boy am I so glad that I made it to church today! I figured the best way to start off the new year would be at church, since January the 1st is on a Sunday. Ok, let me stop ranting and get to the topic, which is putting yourself first! What? Be selfish..... well not really.

Basically, I believe as mothers we put EVERYONE before ourselves, especially if we have little babies at home because we want to cater to their needs first. I know personally as a stay at home mom there are many times when I don't eat breakfast or lunch because I've been running behind my six month old son all day(unfortunately he can be a cat napper on many occasions - so don't think I haven't tried to take care of my needs during his naps), then I've got a fifth grader to cater to when she gets home from school (basketball practice, choir, birthday parties, and so on, the list goes on. Not to mention the constant care of a home, pets (although those that know me know I don't put much care into my pet lol - I've kids that can do that), and other wifely duties. All that every day is exhausting, and as mothers we need to take time out to say it's time for me. Now to all the so so moms out there - that does not mean dump your kids off every chance you get j/k actually I'm not, but for us hard working moms it means setting time out once a week or 10 minutes a day to focus on something you enjoy - a good book, a good album on your iPod, blogging, or just quiet time in the Word. Anything that helps you to recharge and be a better you, better mom, and better wife.

Consequently that is one of my new years resolutions, to be sure each month I've done something for myself where someone is catering to me for a change, like getting my nails or my hair done - for most new moms this doesn't happen often. Then weekly, I hope to exercise consistently, and daily I hope to work on either my blog, scrap book, and/or read for at least 10 - 15 minutes! What will you do to recharge as a mom?