Adventures in Bread

So, earlier in February, I was sifting through all the healthy living stuff online (boy, is there a lot of it) and just seeing what I could do that was a small start.  One small statement on one page kind of stuck in my head.  The person writing the blog, and gosh I can't remember which one, made a single statement about bread.  His take was that sure, whole wheat bread is healthy....but did you ever think about what they put in it to keep it on the shelf so long?  Fresh baked bread doesn't stay fresh for too long, so how is it that the bread we buy at the grocery store is able to last so long....hmm...
So, I headed over to Amazon.com and checked out the reviews for bread machines...I mean, I am trying to be more "home made", but I don't have that kind of time or skill.  I found one I liked - Emerilware Bread Machine and I ordered it.

The big bread machine arrived along with a cookbook I ordered and after a few days, I worked up the courage to try it out.

I started with a wheat bread since that is the goal..healthy, homemade bread.  Well, it was good when it first came out of the machine, but after a little while it got pretty dried out....not so good then.

Yesterday, I tried again with a simple white sandwich loaf.  Success!!  It is yummy!  It is a little bit dry too, so I will probably need to add some more moisture in the future, but otherwise, it tastes great!  My kids ate it right up and today I made grilled cheese sandwiches with it and it was really good.  The loaf was really tall though...much bigger than a typical sandwich slice, so I had to improvise and cut it down a little.  Next time, I might try taking it out and baking it in the oven in two smaller pans to get more of a sandwich size loaf.

Either way, it was good and I feel much better about eating it, even though it is white bread, than I do about eating the store bought kind.  Now, does this mean I will never buy another loaf of bread...probably not.  However, if I plan ahead, I do have the option to make a healthy bread for my family now!