Recently I re-discovered the joys of baking. If you don't live locally you might not have noticed, but I've seriously revamped my food habits in an attempt to live healthier. I'm actually amazed at how little changes can really add up. I don't like to talk about it, but I've actually lost a substantial amount of weight just by packing smarter lunches and snacks for work, and cutting out most of my carbs (which used to be about 80% of my diet, sigh). I also stopped buying coffee and I guess those couple tablespoons of soy milk I used to get at starbucks make a difference.
Anyways, where was I...oh yeah, so, I haven't been eating many carbs lately, but I've really been craving good bread. I don't want to buy it at the store, because I either have to shell out the big bucks for fancy bread, or buy bread that's more air and cardboard than bread...so I've been baking! I made challah the other day, and I was super impressed at how easy it is to braid the bread. It was also pretty relaxing kneading the dough by hand. In the past I've done it with my mixer, but there isn't really anything quite like kneading dough by hand. (If you're wondering, this is the recipe I used with the addition of an egg wash and 3T of wheat gluten added to the dough http://www.thechallahblog.com/2011/04/eggless-challah.html). I gave away half of the bread I made and plan on feeding Stephen my remaining loaf when he finally gets back from work (more on that later) so today I'm trying out a braided white bread recipe (http://breadbaking.about.com/od/yeastbreads/r/Braided-White-Bread.htm). It's currently rising so I'll let you know how it turns out another time, but so far it smells good and was easy to throw together. I plan on braiding this into small loaves (like dinner roll size) so that I can take them to work this week with my mexican chicken soup (loosely based on this recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-taco-soup-40022, but made with chicken and cutting back on the canned items since I just need to feed myself and maybe Stephen). Anyways, that's my cooking adventures summed up in a paragraph.
It's really starting to look like spring out here. (Sorry to all of you trapped in Snow-England.) Things are already starting to bud and bloom. It's pretty cool watching the season change early. It's like a little reward for moving away from the North East (ouch, sorry again guys! I'm just super happy to not be dealing with all the snow you guys are getting!)
As great as the weather has been though, I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Various things are going on which I can't really get into on this blog, but they've just been annoying. Nothing super terrible, just little things that make you go "Really?!". I'll also selfishly throw it out there that Stephen has been working long hours all week, and basically hasn't even been in the same town as me since Thursday AM. He's been staying out by work and doing long hours. Now, I should be happy. He's working, his boss is great, he enjoys it...but honestly I just miss him. We haven't even really been able to talk on the phone because he goes to bed pretty much as soon as he gets off of work because he's exhausted. I feel like I'm being whiny about this, but whatever. This blog is for me and I just want to get this out there. I don't know how people handle long distance or military partners/spouses. Maybe those people are just better equipped for this kind of thing than I am. Whatever it is, it just kind of stinks. Hopefully he'll be able to come home tonight though, and that makes me happy. My bread also just finished it's first rise. Time to punch and knead and braid away my self-pity. Put on your big girl pants, Molly. It's just a little while in the long run. Forever is a pretty long time.
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