Fluffy White Bread

Ingredients 

1 Cup warm water

2 Tablespoons sugar

3 teaspoons yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 Cup oil (EVOO)

3 Cups Flour

Directions

Bloom yeast in bread maker pan in the warm water and sugar for 10 minutes.  The yeast should be bubbly and foamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and put the pan in the bread maker.  Use the the Basic White Bread setting.  This makes a 1.5 pound loaf so program the appropriate settings for your bread maker.  After about 3 hours let the bread cool completely before slicing and enjoy :)

This bread recipe is seriously amazing and super cheap and easy.  I've found that I'm spending almost nothing on fresh bread every day and I love it.  Surprisingly, I almost took my bread maker back after I bought it because none of my bread what turning out and it was making me very upset. I baked about 8 loaves of bread in the machine following the directions exactly.  I was using the instructional booklet that came with the machine and I couldn't figure out what the deal was.  I finally looked online and did a little research.  I found a great recipe online and a ton of people said that they tried the recipe and loved it.  They even thanked the poster for enlightening them to this recipe.  I tried it and I changed me.  SOOOO GOOOOOD :D I use this bread recipe for everything.  I through a handful of garlic cloves in during the last kneading cycle and it made fantastic garlic bread.  

So, I'm really cheap... I keep everything I can to use it later.  I freeze my peels and ends of vegetables so I can make stock from it along with all my bones and carcases from animals that I prepare.  This has turned out well for having some very rich stocks which turned into amazing soups.  Along with that frugalness I save all my bread ends.  Now that I make a loaf of bread every day, there is no way that my husband and I can eat all that bread, every though we would like to.  Also, quality bread goes stale after a day... once I realized this I vowed to never buy bread from the store again unless it's from a bakery. I digress. I have been saving the end pieces of the bread I've been baking and slicing it up into squares and toasting them in the over until they are bone dry.  Once cooled I put them in a freezer bag and pop them into the freezer for a later date.

I made an early Thanksgiving dinner about 2 weeks ago. I think the shining star of my meal was my 100% homemade dressing.  I used the leftover bread pieces, stock that I had made with leftover chicken and vegetable pieces, I chopped all the fresh vegetables and seasoned it with herbs from my garden. I guess I didn't churn my own butter, but I think that's a little over zealous. Anyway, the dressing was a hit.  I really think it was the quality of the bread I used.  

This bread really lends itself well for a variety of things.  It makes amazing french toast and tops off soup very well.  I really enjoy it and I hope you do too!