Feel Good Meal...

I am not going to lie to you, I have been really stressed out lately. I am working through it, but my brain needs a serious vacation. I am not a stress eater either. I am kind of the polar opposite. So, when this happens, I actually turn to baking wholesome foods. I know, just add that to my list of strange things. I decided to make a loaf of bread since the younger boys were out. I am always on the search for making the perfect loaf even though I know this is difficult from a home kitchen, but I am trying.

I don’t know if it is the smartest thing to try something new when you are stressed, but I did it anyway. I am a glutton for punishment. Luckily, the bread turned out better than I thought it would! I ended up mixing some of my bread recipes together since I was running low on yeast, or at least I thought I was. I knew I had bought some a few weeks ago and when I went to make the gigantic caramel cinnamon roll, I could only find one pack. That was irritating...   

Wouldn't you know, after I put everything together I found the other packs of yeast. Yep, that is how things are going lately! Although, on the bright side, look at the crumb on this bread! It has a nice crusty outside and a chewy inside. I sliced a piece this morning for toast and the texture is the same as yesterday! I am so surprised it is not all crumbly. Now I want to play with it. You know I can't leave anything alone!

As you can tell from this shot...this is not gluten free. You can actually see the gluten strands. Since I didn't have much yeast, I decided to use some beer that has been hanging around for a while. Now that the illustrator can't have Guinness anymore, I thought it would give the bread a great flavor and help with the rise. I hate baking what he can't have and I tried to put this together quickly so he would not see the beer, but he could smell it. That man knows his beer (poor thing). Even though he can't drink it, he did not want me to use it in bread. He said to save it for when people (Matt or Wayne) come over. I think it is just a tease to have it here anyway. Besides, it makes a great bread!

We wanted comfort food last night, so I made Split Pea Soup (in the pressure cooker) since we have been craving it from a few weeks ago!  I cooked it on the stove last time, but with everything going on here yesterday, I ran out of time to make it slow. Have I mentioned how much I love my pressure cooker?! This little cup was Jay's (11) who swore he would not like it. He was licking the cup by the end!

In the pressure cooker, it cooked the peas down a lot and the carrots still stayed chunky, but very soft. We agreed that it was the perfect consistency! I know, it's summer and we ate soup, but the illustrator keeps the house pretty chilly and it was extremely overcast here, so it was the perfect comfort meal.

This is for my grandmother - Don't get me wrong, things are not horrible, just a lot going on at once. So don't worry about me. Hopefully for the best though...keep your fingers crossed! I have to add that because Little Granny worries when she reads this! 

Also, I was not punishing the illustrator by making bread...he got a new loaf of Udi's Whole Grain Bread to try and he loved it! The texture on the outside is crusty with a chewy, light inside. He liked that it didn't "need" to be toasted either. That is a huge bonus with gluten free breads!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!