The Beginning.....A Breadmaker

A few years back, it began with a breadmaker.  I was on a mission to save money, simplify our life, and cut back on processed foods.  I decided that bread was a great place to start since it needed very few ingredients(all of which were cheap) and we consumed alot of bread as a family.  Most store bought bread has high fructose corn syrup and a number of other unnecessary add-ins, and its relatively expensive compared to the cost of it's componenets. Being a very busy small business owner, I decided that if I really wanted to be serious about not buying bread from the store, I would need an easy solution. The breadmaker.  This initial investment of about $50 has paid for itself many times over since we bought it. I now make everything from our regular loaf of sandwich bread, to cinnamon rolls, to pita bread dough in it. 

Little did I know that this one small change of eliminating store bought bread would lead to so many more. Over the years our pantry and refridgerator have gone from being full of ready made and processed foods to simple ingredients and fresh produce.  Our family has doubled in size, while our grocery  bill has shrunk even though we are now buying far healthier, fresher and just plain BETTER food.

Making all these changes at once would have been hard, inconvenient and very unlikely to stick.  My method was to implement one thing, like bread. When that one change became routine, and all the kinks were worked out, i moved onto another challenge, until that one became routine and so on.  Some changes are incredible, save us so much money, are far healthier, and are just as convenient as going to the store.  Some aren't as easy, but for the money we save or the quality we get, are worth the trouble.  And some things....well.....I'm glad I tried, but they definitely don't make the cut. 

Now, I'm on a mission.  Going back to simple ingerdients.  As few and as natural as possible.  Teaching my children that food doesnt have to be expensive, but it should be wholesome.  Starting from scratch.  Back to basics.  Flour, yeast, sugar, salt and water.  And maybe a breadmaker.