Homemade Wheat Bread

So in the past few weeks I have been stumbling across a few blogs and internet articles about frugal living after I was completely amazed watching "Extreme Couponing" (and saving a few episodes on my DVR). Over a $1000 worth of food and pay less than $200 for it??? It takes planning and effort that most people don't have time doing; coupon hunting in all sorts or weird places including garbage, saving and sorting the coupons, comparing them, printing them, asking about different store coupons policy, keep track on the coupons expiration date and sales for different stores... not sure how they do it and and yes they live on a tight budget but it doesn't prevent them from adopting this great positive attitude of confronting reality with whatever they have.

Anyways so back to my frugal living readings and inspiration, I realized that I could learn to make a lot more things than I do now from scratch and not only save money that way but also eat healthier.

My husband and I have decided that we were going to be more serious about healthy living in general and being African, a lot of our life's pleasant experiences is related to... EATING!! (amongst other things such as music and dancing lol).

My series of Homemade healthy foods starts with a staple in most households: Bread!! We only buy and try to stick to eating whole wheat bread so I decided to learn to make delicious wheat bread. After a few trials, I think I got it down pretty well (not mastered yet though). I have had family, friends, and co-workers taste it and they all love it! We have decided not to buy bread from the store anymore as I can make about 3 loaves at a time and I have been making bread about 2 to 3 times week. I have also learned that it keeps the freshness and the taste really well for up to 3 months if kept frozen within a day or 2 of being made.

I was actually asked by co-workers who liked a few slices of the bread to make a whole loaf. So my challenge tonight is to make 12 loaves of this bread, 10 for co-workers and 2 for ourselves. I'll let you guys know tonight or tomorrow how it goes! Stay tuned!!

So here is my delicious Homemade Wheat Bread on the 3rd try!!

 This time instead of just brushing melted butter on the bread once done, I added a teaspoon of sugar in the melted butter, let it melt and then brushed the bread with that mixture. It prevents the bread from drying, keeps it soft, gives it this beautiful gloss and gives a slightly sweet taste... Toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwich? So yummy!!! BLT?? Excellent!

 I have to give credit to the poster (Nita Crabb) of this recipe that I got (and modified a bit) from allrecipes.com. 

 Here are a few more pictures on my 1st try.

 I added some oatmeal on the bread once it was done and although I had brushed the top of the bread with some butter it did look dry and definitely not as yummy as the second try.