A Whole Wheat Treat

2010!

Well, ladies and gentleman. You did it. You made it to the tens. The holiday season has come and gone. We had so much fun being with our families and our friends this Christmas and New Years. One of the benefits of living in Huntington is getting to see all of our friends come back for New Years. People literally travel thousands of miles to get to see each other, and we hope that tradition continues.

If you have been keeping up with our blog, you have probably noticed that we are seeking better ways to consume less, produce more, and to become more mindful of the things we purchase and the things we eat. We are trying to eat more earthy, whole foods in order to be healthier and feel better! In our quest to live in a more 'monastic' way, we were blessed this Christmas with a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer! It's our hope to start making our own bread, rolls, cookies, etc.

I never thought that I would be this excited about a kitchen appliance, and definitely never thought that making bread would be blog worthy. But we are definitely both excited about this!

Here is this bad boy in all its glory. We have yet to name it. Any suggestions?


Yesterday we made our first loaves of bread! I must say, it is a very empowering experience to make your own bread. It makes you appreciate eating it so much more. It is quite a process, and it makes me wonder how people used to make bread before modern technology.

Here is the beautiful cook, getting ready!

We used the Stand Mixer to mix the milk, water, wheat flour, and yeast. For the next step, you had to hand mix 6 cups of white flour into the bowl. That's right- hand mix. I couldn't believe Kristi chose a recipe that required us (me) to HAND MIX when we had a $300 mixer! The irony.... I will say, the only time I was smiling during this 15 minute process was for the picture.


The risen dough in the stand mixer bowl from the Thompson parents!

Ready for the oven in bread pans from the Miller parents!

Finished Whole Wheat Bread!

There were lots and lots of dishes, but it was worth it.

Our first slice of bread was served with Chili!

Now as you will notice, we sort of ruined the whole eating healthy goal by having a Vanilla Coke with our meal (all that sugar and high fructose corn syrup), but we figured we should celebrate. Kristi later took that celebration too far and craved, purchased, and consumed McDonald's french fries.

We want to give a special thanks to both of our families for the Christmas gifts to make all this possible. We hope to have some good bread for you next time we see you!