One of the ways I keep my grocery budget at around $250 a month for my family of 6 is to bake my own bread from flour I grind myself.
When my husband separated from the Air Force in 2006 and we decided to start our own business, I knew I would need money saving ideas if I wanted to continue eating as healthy as possible. My husband’s co-worker’s wife told me about grinding her own flour and I was intrigued. Once she mentioned the many health benefits of freshly ground flour, and how cheap it is, I was hooked.
My two most prized kitchen possessions are my BOSCH Universal mixer and my NUTRIMILL wheat grinder. The start up equipment cost was a bit pricey, but the reward is super healthy, homemade bread for pennies on the dollar today. I am so glad I bought them.
These two appliances allow me to whip of FIVE batches of bread, from start to finish, in under 1 1/2 hours. That includes the time it takes to find all the ingredients, grind the flour, mix, knead, rise, bake, and clean up!
The process is very simple. Dump the ingredients in the Bosch, turn it on, and let it mix for 5 minutes. Take the kneaded dough out, form it into 5 loaves, let it rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes), and then bake for 30 minutes. DONE! Spread with butter and EAT!
Here is theMaster Bread Recipe from the book I bought with my Nutrimill, called “Healthy Recipes from the Heart of Our Homes: In the Kitchen with Phyllis and Shirley.” The book, as well as the equipment and tons of kitchen goodies are available here.
About Michelle
Welcome! I'm Michelle and I'm glad you're here. Simplify, Live, Love is a blog about simple life in rural Iowa. We are a self-employed, frugal, green, mostly homeschooling family of 6 working to go off the grid on a modern day homestead in Eastern Iowa. Please subscribe for gardening tips, green living hints, recipes, fun giveaways, and frugal ideas. Thanks for stopping by.
is there anything better than warm bread from the oven? i don't think so! well, maybe once you smother it with butter
do you make the artisan bread anymore? i haven't for awhile. last night i made homemade pizza crust. we love marilyn's best pizza crust from cookus interuptus. sometimes i add a little more white flour than it calls for and a little less of the whole wheat pastry flour.
Yum! Do you ever make the artisan bread? I haven't for awhile. Do you use the same dough for your pizza crust? I like Marilyn's Best Pizza Dough recipe from Cookus Interuptus — but sometimes I fudge on the white to whole wheat ratio
Warm bread from the oven is one of the best things in life, as far as I am concerned!! My pizza crust is half white/half whole wheat – I think I finally found the right combo.
Yes, I still make the Artisan Bread and plan to blog about it too, but it's a treat, and not our everyday bread!
Thank you so much! I'm going to start watching Craigslist to see if maybe I could find the needed items on the cheap?
I love the smell of fresh bread! And would love to save the money!
Livingwiththreeboys – I don't know if you would find these on craigslist. It doesn't hurt to look! In the meantime, if you have any kind of stand mixer with a dough hook, you could go ahead and try mixing bread that way. I bought my mill first and used my small Kitchen Aid for the first year or so. I just halved the bread recipe and let it knead a little longer because my mixer was less powerful than the Bosch (300 watts vs 700 watts). There are also less expensive mills as well but I don't know much about them. Let me know if you have questions! I'm happy to try to answer.
I actually did find a set on CL and am so thankful for that provisional find. The seller was asking just $40 for each piece. I offered $100 for both and although I was not the first to respond, she gave it to me for that. SO thankful! I use the same recipe but don't always get consistent results. Always tasty, just not always very sliceable for sandwiches and such. Wheat berries in bulk at a good price are actually not so easy to find here so I'm glad I have a supply from a road trip through Montana last summer.
Rachel – I used to buy wheat berries in bulk from Phyllis Stanley. She's who I bought my Nurtrimill from (and author of the book I use most). She lives up in Rockrimmon area near that wooden church – the name is escaping me. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Big church – I think it expanded to a new location while we were living there. Anyway, do you know who I'm talking about?
And you're right about it not being the best for sandwiches – that's one reason I toast it and use it for grilled cheese etc. Thicker slices work better for me.
I would love to know how you only spend 250 for a family of six!! Could you share your meal plans?
Elizabeth, They are in there…I need to organize them a bit better. Here's one link:
http://simplifylivelove.blogspot.com/2011/01/january-meal-plan-cooking-from.html
Here's also a post I did on things I get super cheap or don't buy: http://simplifylivelove.blogspot.com/2010/11/top-10-things-i-dont-pay-for-or-pay.html
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi! I host a weekly blog hop — It's a Keeper Thursdays. I'd love for you to stop by and link up!
Thanks!
Christina @ It's a Keeper
http://www.everydaytastes.com/
http://twitter.com/itsakeeperblog
http://www.facebook.com/ItsAKeeper
Thanks, Christina. Just linked up. Love your link up process! Very easy.
http://www.everydaytastes.com/2011/02/17/it%E2%80%99s-a-keeper-thursday-show-me-what-youve-got-2/
Do you think I could just throw all the ingredients in my Kitchenaid artisan mixer with the dough hook instead of the mixer you have? Maybe medium speed?
Hi Dana, Yes – I used to use my small Kitchen-aid to make my bread, but I did halve the recipe because my mixer wasn’t big enough to accommodate the entire recipe. I’m not sure how big your mixer is, but you might want to start with half the recipe.
My kitchen aid also doesn’t have as powerful as a motor, so I kneaded it longer than 5 minutes. Maybe 7-8? I can’t quite remember. It’s been a long time ago. Good luck!