The older I get the more and more I appreciate things like the changing seasons, the new year, the blessing of a new day. It’s a fresh start. To be better, live better, and love better.
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day
with no mistakes in it yet?”
– LM Montgomery
Something many of you may not know is after the birth of my second son. I really struggled with my self esteem and body image. I wasn’t living the healthiest of lifestyles. I was eating unhealthy and aside from taking care of two kiddos I didn’t exercise or make much time for myself. I knew that something had to change. In the beginning of 2015 I made a promise to myself to take time to take care of me. I try to take time every day to workout and be active (aside from chasing around a two year old) and eat well.
Since then I was able to get my health back on track and I truly feel better than I ever have. I’ve learned over the past couple of years that life is all about balance. When we make time for things like prayer and reflection, cooking and preparing good wholesome foods. When we spend time together with those we love. When we are active and take care of our bodies all of those things come together and balance everything out, it makes everything feel whole and it makes us happier people.
All of that to say with the holidays my family and I fell a little off track. So I’m so looking forward to getting back in the swing of things and starting fresh this new year. And that means getting my butt back in the kitchen, haha. I really do enjoy cooking and baking for my family. Trying new recipes and exploring new ideas. Especially learning new ways to make foods healthier and of course make the occasional indulgent meals and desserts too…remember it’s all about balance , haha.
Speaking of recipes, my family doesn’t eat a whole lot of bread and it’s been awhile since I’ve made my own from scratch. But I saw this simple recipe on Pinterest awhile back that I’ve been wanting to try. And try I did! You guys, it’s delicious!!! So of course I’m going to share it with all of you! You can find the original recipe here at Girl versus Dough.
Here is the recipe:
No-Knead Dutch Oven Bread
3 cups of flour – I used all purpose King Arthur Flour.
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp red start dry active yeast
1.5 cups of warm water.
I mixed my dry ingredients then slowly mixed in my water. Your dough is going to be very sticky.
Cover your dough for 8-18 hours. I mixed mine in a glass bowl, covered the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter overnight.
After your dough has had time to rise lay out a piece of parchment paper. Flour generously and lay your dough in a ball on the paper. Your dough will be very sticky.
I kneaded mine just a little bit to get covered in flour. Cover your dough on the parchment paper with plastic wrap again to let it rest for 30 minutes.
In the meantime preheat your oven at 450 degrees. Put your Dutch oven in the oven for 30 minutes so that it’s well heated.
After your Dutch oven is heated and your dough has rested – be careful when pulling your Dutch oven out the whole thing will be very hot. Remove the plastic wrap and place bread in the Dutch oven (parchment paper and all) cover and put back in the oven for 45 minutes.
Just like meat it’s recommend to let your bread rest for 10-15 after baking for optimum flavor. It allows your bread time to cool just a little and lock in all the moisture. Enjoy 🙂
I’d really like to try a recipe similar to this but with whole wheat flour and maybe some seeds and other grains. I love simple and easy and I try to keep things as healthy as I can. So if you have a whole grain bread recipe I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to leave me some comments below.
Blessings Friends and Happy New Year ❤
