Budgeting and grocery shopping is one of the best ways to trim down your monthly expenses and daily spending- but there are dozens of challenges out there- especially the advice that is ultimately unrealistic. Here is a list of budgeting and grocery shopping challenges and how you can make them realistic strategies to save on grocery shopping! Challenges about Budgeting and Grocery Shopping Challenge #1- Unrealistic Research I've spent a lot of time scouring Pinterest and have not felt entirely satisfied with the results. Some articles seem too unreasonable to be applicable. More often than not, it comes down to unrealistic costs of groceries . For example, I cannot find 1 gallon of milk at my local Walmart for $1. And our Dollar Tree out in Montana doesn't have a grocery section- we do have a freezer section, but it is only 2-3 doors of frozen dinners. And our bread and produce is not as cheap as the other articles. What I have done to get around this challeng...
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French Bread - The Prepared Pantry Recipe
I ordered French Bread from The Prepared Pantry and now it is time for my review! I am very excited to share with you that this French Bread was delicious. It was chewy on the outside, incredibly soft on the inside and quite frankly, it took forever for it to dry out before I made my homemade stuffing!
One of the few downsides to purchasing bread mixes from The Prepared Pantry is that the instructions on the back of their labels don't include instructions for someone who doesn't have a bread machine. So I usually need to create my own recipes- as you may know from the other products I have reviewed from The Prepared Pantry. Nonetheless! I love my purchases from The Prepared Pantry and plan to continue to support their business in the future.
Last year I made my first order with The Prepared Pantry- and I have been very happy. So happy that I have shared my thoughts on nearly every product from my order- my Full Review is HERE. It explains how much I spent on the order, a review for each product (except for the French bread because that is here!), and links to try their recipes with my instructions- for those of you who do know have a bread machine or bread proofing machine...
My Recipe for French Bread from The Prepared Pantry
Open the French Bread Mix packet and empty its contents into a large bowl
Heat 1 1/2 cups of water to 110 degrees and combine the yeast packet with the hot water inside your kitchen mixing bowl. Give it a little stir and let sit for a short while.
When the yeast has gotten a little bubbly, pour about half of the French Bread Mix into the kitchen mixer bowl. Use a dough hook and turn your mixer on slow. That is roughly Speed 4.
When the dough is better incorporated with the water, slowly add the remaining amount of the bread mix. I usually add my flour or dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time.
When the mix is better incorporated, you can turn the speed up to a 6. You can also use a dish towel to cover the top of the kitchen mixer- this helps keep the flour from spraying all over your kitchen counters.
Turn the kitchen mixer speed up to a 6 or 8 and knead the dough with the dough hook for roughly 2 minutes. Add flour less than 1/4 cup at a time to get the dough to keep from sticking to the edges.
Turn the kitchen mixer off and let the dough sit for about 2 minutes. At this time, you may want to use floured hands to pull the dough off the column of the dough hook- sometimes when the mixer is on, the dough will "climb" up the dough hook.
Move the ball over a little bit and turn the kitchen mixer on 6 (Or high) for another 2 minutes. Add flour less than 1/4 cup at a time if you need to.
Transfer the ball of dough to a floured surface and knead into a smooth ball. The dough should feel a little sticky and elastic.
Use a napkin and spread vegetable oil on the inside of a medium sized bowl (see photo below)
Cover with a towel and let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled. The warmer your kitchen, the faster this can rise.
After rising for 1 hour, punch it down and dump it onto a floured surface again
Form into a loaf of bread and score the loaf with a knife
To make an egg-wash: take 2 TBS of lukewarm water and 1 egg and blend well
Use a silicone brush and brush it over the dough
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the center is thoroughly cooked
Notes
If you have a warmer kitchen, your bread will rise more quickly and you will use fewer cups of flour.
You can also set your bread near the oven- if you've been using it for something else. The heat helps it rise faster.
This makes great homemade stuffing!
Final Recommendation for French Bread from The Prepared Pantry
I most definitely recommend buying the French Bread from The Prepared Pantry! Like I said above, it is chewy and delicious. It also made for fabulous homemade stuffing- especially when you use my homemade chicken broth to get it done! It is usually around $4 to buy, you can also buy a 5-pack for $16.99. If you're budget is tighter than justifying a $4 loaf of bread (which is actually the same cost at my local grocery store), try my Fresh French Bread recipe- it costs less than $1 to make.
MY French Bread Recipe- $1
Other Items from My First Order with The Prepared Pantry
Disclosure: There are affiliated links in this post. This means that if you use the link in this blog post to make a purchase at The Prepared Pantry- I receive 10% of your order at no additional cost to you. I use affiliate links to earn an income on my blog, for more information, read my Privacy Policy.
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