The other day I took the girls to Goodwill because it was really hot and we were bored.  I found a new bread machine with wrapping still on it for $6!

I used to have a bread maker, but Tyler wouldn’t eat the bread out of it because he didn’t like the way it was shaped.  Yes, seriously.  So I gave it away to an older lady who had arthritic hands and could no longer knead bread.  She was super appreciative so I didn’t feel bad.

The bread machine  I found at Goodwill makes bread in the same shape as store bought loaves!  It makes up to a 2 lb. loaf, which is big.  I had to buy it!  After allergy testing I found out one source of my indigestion has been rye.  I’m severely allergic to it.  Not wheat or any other grain, just rye.  Did you know rye is in EVERYTHING?  Campbell’s soup has rye unlisted on the ingredient label under natural flavors and spices.  When I get “ryed” I have this specific horrible poop and burning in my intestines about 24 hours later, and it lasts for an entire day and night.  So I discovered the hard way that rye is in all kinds of stuff, like Cracker Barrel pancakes (omg I was so sick after).  It’s also in Nature’s Own 100% whole wheat bread. What the heck?  I keep getting sick after eating at places like Panera because they use the cutting machine to cut all kinds of bread including their rye.  Dammit.  Not cool!  Hence the need to make my own rye-free bread!!

I came home and looked for recipes online because the bread machine was missing the manual.  I finally found a dairy-free recipe–for some reason most of them contained dry milk.  (Lactose and my digestive system don’t like each other.)  I tried it with a few modifications and it’s amazing.  Even Tyler likes it!

Here’s the recipe with my modifications.  (Note: next I’m going to try more wheat flour and honey instead of white sugar…)

Put ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed for it to come out right.

1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons white sugar (or sub honey)
2 1/2 tsp of yeast
*Wait 10 minutes for the yeast to activate in the warm water and sugar. It will kind of bubble or foam. If nothing happens then your yeast is too old and your bread won’t rise.*
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cups flour (1 cup whole wheat & 2 cups white)
1 tsp. salt (plus a dash more if you use wheat flour)

Makes a 1.5 lb loaf.

The recipe calls for bread flour but I just had regular flour and it still came out fluffy with flaky crust.  It does fall a little bit on the top as it bakes, but it doesn’t seem to mess up the bread texture inside.  I used Kroger organic white flour, which for some reason makes the best textured bread out of all the white flours I’ve tried. I used King Arthur whole wheat flour, which I read has more gluten than regular flours and is probably more similar to bread flour.

If you don’t have a bread maker check Goodwill in a rich area!  Mine had several.  The one I got is Welbilt brand and it makes amazing bread, better than the one I used to have.

Only 12 days until T gets here!!!!!!

Here are my girls a few days ago…

(She makes that face ALL the time.  It’s hysterical!)