crafting food: oatmeal bread (yum)

I spent part of my weekend making one of my favorite things: oatmeal bread! It had cooled down a bit outside and so I thought it'd be a perfect time to use the oven and bake up some delicious homemade bread...I guess i'm on a roll in the kitchen as of late.

My doctor told me a while back I have high blood sugar and with a history of diabetes in the family, it's become important to me to try and vanquish all the nasty chemicals, preservatives, and refined sugars found in the things we buy at the grocery store that make it so difficult to maintain a healthy weight. It's a seemingly uphill battle but investing in some whole wheat flour has helped me to make a lot of things at home as I'd much rather be baking and cooking than standing in the grocery aisle attempting to disseminate misleading food labels.

Here is the family recipe for this very tasty bread:

(makes two loaves)

Combine in a large bowl:
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter/margarine

Mix together dry ingredients and then add 2 cups of boiling water.

In seperate small bowl, mix together until dissolved:
1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water

When oatmeal batter is cooled down to room temperature, add in yeast mixture.
Stir in:
5 cups whole wheat flour

Once dough is stiff enough to handle, turn onto floured board and knead for 5–10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and cover with damp cloth. Place this in a draft free area and let rise once until doubled, punch down, then let rise again. Shape into two loaves and place in greased 9x5x3 pans to bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Before popping them into the oven you can brush them with a bit of melted butter and sprinkle oatmeal on top.

Tada, homemade bread! Yum.