My newest obsession: bread making

I started baking my own bread last month and have yet to buy a loaf of store bought in several weeks.  I am a little freaked out by all the high fructose corn syrup in the regular breads at the market and am not always super impressed by the selection at Trader Joe’s so I decided to make my own.  It is actually pretty easy if you have a kitchen aide with a dough hook.  This bread made with oats, flax, seeds and whole grains is the perfect breakfast toasted with hummus or peanut butter.  You can find the recipe at: www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutrtionsource/recipes/heart-whole-grain-bread/  You can completely adjust the recipe to fit your taste.  My kids are not a huge fan of this bread, way too healthy, so I actually ordered a sourdough starter from www.sourdoughbreads.com and started making them sourdough bread with half whole wheat flour and half bread flour.  All the kids and teenagers love it, including my hubby.  Growing a starter was super interesting and fun like a fourth grade science experiment.  Once you grow the starter you keep it in the fridge and feed it regularly so you never have to buy it again. Today I am going to make the girls French bread for the President’s Day holiday, as a treat.  Happy Monday and hopefully happy baking…..