Mom-saver Mondays: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

The grocery store is quite possibly my least favorite place in the entire world.

And I don't even have kids yet.

It's just so full of stupid people doing stupid things.

• Wandering about aimlessly, like they're not sure why they're there.
• Bringing their entire extended family with them so the 8 of them can stand in the cookie aisle arguing with each other about Oreos vs. Hydrox.
• Abandoning their carts smack in the middle of the aisle while they stare glassy-eyed at the pasta selection.
• Arguing with the cashier about a $.02 price difference on a dented can of beans.

Grrrrr.

My blood pressure is going up just thinking about it.

Needless to say, I try to limit my trips to the grocery store as much as possible, and I'm sure this will be doubly true after baby arrives.

The problem with that is foods that really need to be purchased fresh. Like bread.

Mmmmm. Fresh bread.  

I could eat it for every meal.

And with a bare minimum of effort, you can too. Even with a baby!

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking 

This homemade bread method is nothing short of brilliant.

You do need a few tools, one of which is a bread stone. They can be pricey, so check the thrift store. 

Then, a pizza peel, which is like an enormous spatula, and all of $15. 

And a lidded, non-airtight dough bucket, because if you put the dough in an airtight tupperware, it will explode. Or something.

Dump your ingredients together, mix 'em up (pathetically easy if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook), and toss your dough in the bucket. Ten minutes. When it's done rising, pop it in the fridge for up to 14 days.

When you want fresh bread, you just lop off a hunk of dough, take literally 20 seconds to shape it into something resembling a loaf, and then let it sit there on your pizza peel while you feed your baby or do your 18th load of laundry of the day. Then you toss it onto the bread stone, which you've preheated along with the oven. 

You barely need to be awake to do this.

Your husband could easily be tasked with it as well, it's that easy.

I usually get 3 loaves of bread out of their standard recipe, though they claim it makes 4.

And, sure, the best loaf is the one I make right away, before refrigerating the dough. But the other 2 are still quite tasty. 

There are also recipes in here for various fancy breads which maybe you'll have time to make when your baby starts preschool, but the basic boule is versatile and easy as pie. 

It sure beats going to the grocery store. 

Note: I have not been compensated in any way for this review. I have not been given a free product, as lovely as that would be. In the future, should you want to offer me things for free to review, go for it. For now, anything I review was paid for out of my own pocket, and I offer the review out of the goodness of my heart.