Jennifer Garner Thinks So!

I know. I know. It is only mid-October and you have probably not even finished buying your trick or treat candy, but yes, it is possible to get a head start on Thanksgiving NOW.

I have been in ‘holiday’ mode since late September, ever since I was lucky enough to be invited by Frigidaire and Jennifer Garner (LOVE HER!) to a small blogger roundtable to talk about Thanksgiving ideas, recipes and tips. The event took place in Southern California (not exactly the hub of Fall weather) but even on that warm 80+ degree day, I left there ready to dive in and start organizing my holiday.

As soon as I got home, I started a list of all of the things I needed to do to get ready for Thanksgiving. Once I had my main laundry list, I got to thinking about what things I could get done now. If I can cross it off early, why wait, right?

Here is my punch list:

1. Get ready for Dessert Night – We are going to be celebrating our 9th Annual Dessert Night this year. We started it when we realized everyone was just too full on Thanksgiving to really enjoy dessert, and being huge dessert fans, that just wouldn’t do! So now, on the night before Thanksgiving, we host a gathering for friends and family where only dessert is served. It is a party that gets bigger each year (last year around 70 people attended) and everyone starts planning early what desert they are going to bring to the bash. To get ready for this event now, I made a list of the 5 to 10 desserts we are going to be making and buying (Apple Pan pies and homemade peanut butter balls are favorites). I am now starting to reach out to people who annually bring things to confirm their dishes and make sure we have all of the important dessert categories well represented at the event.

2. Plan The Menu & Try At Least 2 New Dishes – I made a list of the dishes we served last year as a first step. While I have yet to eliminate any of them, I did add 2 additional dishes that I think we should try this year. There was an amazing Carrot Soufflé my friend Carrie made the other day that needs to be served and Adam really wants Brussels sprouts with bacon on the list. Now that the list is complete, I am going to send out to everyone to sign up for what they are bringing.

3. Send The Evite – This may sound formal to some of you but since I am hosting a Thanksgiving with over 30 people this year, this is important. I have a draft one done and I have included things like what time you can show up (to snack, watch football,etc…), what time dinner will be served, and what the dress code is. The thing I also love about evite is that they will send reminders to my relatives so I don’t have to.

4. Think About Tablescape – I find that we almost always leave the table decorations to the last minute. Jennifer Garner had this great idea about having the kids at Thanksgiving draw their handprints with a Sharpee on an inexpensive tablecloth and then using that same tablecloth each year to see how the kids have grown. I want to adopt this for us this year and give it a try.

So these are the things I am doing now, but the women I was with (along with Jennifer) had some amazing ideas as well that you can view at Frigidaire.com. Even better for each day you visit Frigidaire between now and the end of the year, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children as part of its $500,000 commitment to helping children living in poverty in the U.S. You can also enter to win a Frigidaire Gallery Range with Double Symmetry Double Ovens.

Ahhh, September. There’s nothing like the return of ‘normal schedules’ to overwhelm even the most well-intentioned cooks come 5pm. Already busy families face an onslaught of extracurricular activities and workers of all stripes lose those precious extra “summer hours” that make the days seem much longer.

Unfortunately, when you’re stressed and feeling pulled in a million different directions, healthy dinners are often the first thing to fall by the wayside (right after your morning exercise routine). Fortunately there are literally hundreds of smart made-from-scratch dinner shortcuts out there. We’ve put a few of our favorites together in this article so you can protect yourself from take-out temptation in the months ahead.

7 Meal Planning & Prep Ideas You Can Use

Build around the basics. Getting a well-balanced meal on the table does not have to be a complicated affair. Rather than reinventing the components of a meal each night, pick one or two protein/starch combinations and rotate them as the basis for all of your dinners in a week. For example, pick chicken and rice, or rice and beans, or fish and couscous. Alter the sauce and change-up the vegetable option each time you make it and the same basic dish becomes new each night. (If you’re looking for a delicious chicken & rice recipe, this one from Campbell’s Kitchen is delicious – pictured above)

Broil and bake as much as possible. It’s usually much easier than sautéing, and is healthier than frying your dinner foods. Instead of standing over the stove, put together a roster of five or ten recipes for all-in-one baked dishes (or croc pot dishes). Then on a busy weeknight, all you have to do is just pop the dish in and move on to the next task.

Cheat healthily. Buying frozen, mixed veggies is a very simple way to make sure you always have a quick, healthy side dish on hand. They take less than five minutes to go from freezer to the table.

Focus on just getting to Wednesday. Rather than stressing out about a detailed menu plan for the entire week, plan the meals for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday ahead of time. Then on Thursday, you can enjoy leftovers and Friday can be a “get out of dinner free” night, where you turn to a frozen casserole or pizza. Use our free meal planning printable to help you get yourself organized.

Go green. You can make incredible salads in 10 minutes or less. Just chop up any vegetables you have in the fridge. Got picky eaters on your hands? Don’t underestimate the power of tasty dressing. If you’re at a loss, follow Pioneer Woman’s recipe for a Spinach salad (pictured above). It’s so good my husband forgets he “doesn’t eat salads.”

Take a knife skills class. Being able to slice and dice like an iron chef is not only fun but it will save you literally hours in the kitchen over the long-haul. Prepping the veggies can be a time-consuming affair if you aren’t confident when wielding a knife. But good knife skills don’t just save you in prep time, they’ll also help you eat healthier too. The faster you can prep veggies, the more likely you are to include them in meals. If you don’t live near a cooking school, the book Knives Cooks Love: Selection. Care. Techniques. Recipes from Sur La Table is a must-read: .

Marinade en-masse once a week. Every Sunday, marinate an entire package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. That same night (or within 3 days), grill up the entire lot. Then cut it into strips and keep in the refrigerator to create healthy quick meals. The rosemary lemon marinade from Real Simple (shown in the picture above) is to die for

Invest in a pressure cooker. Steaming your food reduces the amount of vitamins lost in the cooking process, shortens cooking time, and uses less water and energy.

{feature photo via Food Network}

I’m always looking for more shortcuts in this area! I’d love to hear what YOU do to get healthy meals on the table on weeknights.

When was the last time you entertained? If it’s been more than a few months since you hosted a gathering, whether a dinner for a few good friends or a bigger party, now is the time to get back on the bandwagon. People are settled back in their regular routines by now and are likely to be around rather than on vacation. In fact, Columbus Day weekend offers an ideal opportunity for you to open your doors to some good friends for some fun fall festivities.
Here are some simple tips for organizing a gathering.

Setting the scene

The good news about a fall gathering is that you can transform your home with a few very simple flourishes that won’t break the bank.

• Add bursts of color with inexpensive zinnias & mums.

Brightly colored zinnias make fabulous table arrangements. We love cutting the stems short and putting a few, say 3, in a glass mason jar along with either some greens or some white mums. Add a little raffia ribbon to the neck of the jar and it will look fantastic in the middle of the table. (Hint: buy raffia in bulk from Uline.com in natural and a color like green or red and you will a perfect combo for holiday gift wrapping too).

The only other flowers you will need: a basket or two of bright yellow mums by the front door. Why? Because nothing says “welcome!” like they do. {image via: HGTV}

• Use small pumpkins & gourds to transform spaces.

Head over to your local farmers market or garden store and dig through the bins of gourds that are usually available for pennies this time of year. Scatter a few around the house, by your front door, and on the dining table. They’re colorful, festive, and just about the easiest way to give you entertaining space a little fall makeover. {image via: Turkey Feathers}

Food & Drinks

The beauty of fall food is that comfort reigns supreme. Think one pot, slow cooked dishes and fuss-free finger foods. Here are some ideas for a menu that would work well.

• Start with cheese.

Almost nothing is easier to do than a simple cheese plate. Invest in a slate one, like this one from Crate & Barrel for $19.95 and you can add flair by naming each cheese using chalk on the slate board. Put it out a half hour before guests arrive. {image via: Cupcakes & Cashmere}

• Pair with a fun fall beer or red wine.

Keep things simple and serve a nice amber lager or festive pumpkin brew. No need for glasses to clean up if you place bottles out in an ice bucket for people to grab. If you’re more inclined to wine, there are lots of great cabernets or syrahs for under $10. Their flavors will go well with heavier fall foods.

• Put on some chili.

This rich, hearty dish is easy to make and always a crowd pleaser. Our (non-vegetarian) favorite chili recipe comes from Mothers Who Think, but there are literally thousands of chili recipes online, from vegan to low-cal and mild to spicy.

• Bake some potatoes.

Whether you bake them, mash them, or whip up some potatoes au gratin, your guests will be happy to see these on the table. If you’re looking for a slightly more elegant, but easy, twist on the basic mashed potato, try sprinkling them with a bit of cheddar cheese and bacon and baking them until they’re golden on top (about 30 minutes).

• Whip up a spinach salad.

You don’t have to go to great lengths to make a great spinach salad. Add a little feta cheese, some raisins or dried cranberries, and a nut – like walnuts or pecans, top with your favorite dressing, and voila, you’ve got a delicious salad that will disappear (we promise).

For Dessert

There are some sweets that are just tailor-made to accompany crisp fall air. These two desserts will ensure you end the evening on a high note as they encourage your guests to have fun with their food. Pick whichever one you think would be more fun for you to do.

• Make a caramel apple buffet.

We found this brilliant idea on the lovely bridal site With This Ring. Just wash as many apples as you have guests, remove the stems and press a craft stick (otherwise known as a popsicle stick) into the top of each one. Put those on a tray for your guests. Behind the apples, put a bowl of caramel with a ladle. Next to that, put out 3-6 glass bowls with fun toppings, like red hots, rainbow sprinkles, or heath bar crunch) so that guests can “customize” their caramel apple.

• Set up a s’mores bar.

Who doesn’t love s’mores? Use a 3-tiered cake platter as the command center for ingredients, like they did so stylishly on Accidental Chic. Place graham cracker squares on the top tier, chocolate squares on the middle tier, and marshmallows on the bottom tier. Put skewers in a tall glass next to the marshmallows. Guests can either eat the s’more cold, or cook their marshmallow over a fire pit (or grill) and then assemble the rest.

{feature photo credit}

Are you inspired to entertain this fall? What kind of things would you want to do for your gathering? Have you ever attended a fall party that just blew your socks off? What were some of the things that made it so special?

While working frantically online yesterday morning before racing off to jury duty (that’s a post for next week), I had a brief exchange with Jen Schmidt, creator of the neat blog Balancing Beauty & Bedlam, on twitter (@beautyandbedlam). She joked that she was feeling the need to step away from the computer and all the neat ideas she was coming across – and just DO something.

I concurred. Sometimes when you’re heads-down researching something online, it’s easy to get so lost in the possibilities that you become sort of paralyzed. (This is an especially dangerous occupational hazard for bloggers now that Pinterest exists!)

We attempted to spur each other into action with a promise to go DO something.

At first I thought I would tackle the mess on my desk. But my jury duty responsibility caught up to me before I could get to it. And I’m glad it did, actually. Because somehow in the intervening moments I got clear on the project I really wanted to do: make raspberry jam. There was a farmer’s market adjacent to the court house today, and I just couldn’t resist those bright red berries.

As soon as the gasbag lawyers were done and we were dismissed from court, I raced home and arrived with exactly 1 hour to make dinner AND turn half of the berries I had purchased into raspberry jam.

A brief background on my obsession with raspberry jam. You see, I literally grew up on it. My mom made it from scratch every summer for as long as I can remember. Our family would enjoy it throughout the long, dark days of winter; it was like getting a dose of summer sunshine right in the mouth.

Last year, on the day mom died in that awful plane crash, guess what was the very last thing she did before walking out the door for the airport? You guessed it: she whipped up a batch of raspberry jam. It’s like she knew we’d need fortification to get through that first, wretched winter without her (or Mike or Theresa).

The 2 jars my family got lasted exactly 1 year. I was pretty miserly with it, but as you can see below, I was running on empty.

I grabbed mom’s recipe box and found the tattered old slip with her handwritten recipe. It was so simple I doubt she had turned to it much in the past 20 or so years.

Recipe & Instructions

4 cups raspberries (rinsed)

Place berries in a pot over high heat.

Mash them up (I used a wooden spoon, but a potato masher would work well too).

And bring the soupy contents to a rolling boil.

Add 4 Cups sugar to the berries and continue to boil for 5 minutes.

Ladle the contents into sterilized jars (I put those on to boil at the same time I rinsed the berries).

I had received a Home Canning Discovery Kit a few weeks earlier from the kind folks at Ball — yet another sign from mom that it was time for me to learn the fine art of making jam. The kit contained three of the classic Ball jars, lids, and a plastic basket.

At first I thought the basket was for containing the jars in the pot, but I quickly realized it served a far more important role: it made it easy to lift those hot jars from the boiling water quickly when the jam processing was complete (a very good thing since I don’t own any tongs).

Put the jars filled with jam back in the pot of boiling water for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, remove from the water and let cool on the counter for 24 hours.

I was pretty pleased with the looks of my handiwork, although it was quite runny at first. I had faith that it would firm up a little as it cooled.

I was able to make the jam AND get a warm dinner on the table within the hour. Now dinner was nothing fancy – just tacos. But still. I was pretty pleased with myself.

I couldn’t help but admire the jars on the counter as I turned out the lights in the kitchen for the night. Morning couldn’t come fast enough!

And now for the real test:

Drumroll please…

At approximately 7:08 this morning, I pulled a piping hot English Muffin out of the toaster, put a dab of butter on each slice and then smeared some of the fresh jam on.

It tasted like heaven.

It also reminded me that “big” projects sometimes are really just big in your head. If you’ve got a project in mind, pick a 30-60 minute time frame within the next week and just go DO it.

What projects do you have on your list? What’s stopping you?

Sometimes it can feel like your life is all over the place. Work is a mess, home is a mess, and your life just needs a good old-fashioned overhaul. From keeping your space neater at work to getting those darn dinners cooked, we’ve culled some of our favorite tips from over the years and put them all together in one quick and easy cheat sheet. You don’t have to tackle everything at once but sometimes it helps to see the top list of solutions listed in one place.

Three Ways to Control the Cyber Clutter:

1. Start using Dropbox. This fantastic web-based storage system is the best backup-without-thinking-about-it solution we know of. Rather than saving everything to your desktop, Dropbox saves all of your files in “the cloud,” which means you can access them from any computer, anywhere using your user name and password. Just download the app, make the dropbox your main “virtual filing cabinet” (using any filing names and conventions you want) and you never have to think about backing up again. The program will automatically update and sync files between the cloud and your computer whenever it’s online. So those vacation pictures you just uploaded to your computer, yes, they’re backed up too. We’ve used it for years, love it, and never lost a file.

2. Adopt a systematic file-naming convention. The number one virtual time-waster? Hunting for files you know you have but just can’t seem to find. Pick a simple naming convention that you use on every file you create, from spreadsheets to Word documents. Nobody is judging your file names for the next Pulitzer prize, so make it something you’ll know and understand. A format we love: “date created _file name.” But it doesn’t matter what your system is as long as you do it consistently.

3. Schedule regular digital clean outs. Just like you schedule your time to clean the gutters or plant the bulbs, you need to set aside time to regularly clean out your files. Whether it’s five minutes on Friday afternoons or twenty minutes once a month, weed through and delete folders and files that are past their prime. Trust us, if you haven’t opened it in a year, you don’t need to keep it.

Three Ways for Keeping your Desk Clutter-Free

1. Use a Pen & Notebook. This is the simplest and neatest way to keep track of to-do’s, to-call’s, and other notes. We especially love the built-in delegation component to the Do&Delegate.list ($8.95) and, if you’re working full-time, the ordered lists in the Do&Delegate.work can be a real sanity-saver. But really, any inexpensive composition notebook can be effective too. It’s not necessarily what you use, just that you get in the habit of writing things down.

2. Keep Paper Filing Basic. What matters most is that you can put your hands on the files you need, quickly. So keep your system simple – and use stacking files as they are great for file people and pile people. Pick one day a week to file papers that are taking up valuable desk space. If you come across a paper that doesn’t fit in an existing file folder, keep it in a “general” folder for a week. Once a month take 15 minutes on a Friday afternoon and clean out your folders.

3. Establish a Clean-Up Routine. Sadly, cleaning the clutter on your desk is not a one-shot deal. The key to keeping it under control is to do one or two things to organize your office on a regular enough basis so you avoid the big ordeal of having to dig out from under a massive mess.

Three Rules For Making Weeknight Meals (Less Painfully):

We have an entire chapter devoted to this important topic in our book, Pretty Neat.

1. Subscribe to the TheScramble.com. This membership-based website that delivers a comprehensive weekly menu right to your inbox every week, complete with shopping list, should seriously win an award. It’s fantastic. When you sign up, you will get a week’s worth of recipes and a shopping list for easy and quick grocery store runs. Sarah’s been a subscriber for over a year and will vouch that the recipes are yummy – and easy enough for a harried kitchen novice to whip up. Plus, if you don’t like the menus generated automatically for you, you can always search the database for alternates.

2. Fine-tune your knife skills. Find a community college, culinary school or shop, or even a local restaurant where you can sharpen your skills with a knife. It doesn’t sound like much, but knowing how to wield a knife and properly chop can shave ten minutes off your prep time in the kitchen.

3. Have Some “Get Out of Cooking Free” Dishes in the Freezer. Whether the meeting ran late, you aren’t feeling up to snuff, or you simply don’t want to break out the sauté pan, there are going to be some days that you won’t be able to cook. Plan ahead and make double portions of certain dishes, like lasagna – or this yummy (and easy) homemade Mac & Cheese recipe from Apartment Therapy, that freeze well. That way, you (or anyone who is home before you) just need to open the freezer and defrost it without having to pick up the phone or turning to not-so-healthy frozen dinners.

Three Ways to Put Yourself on Your To Do List!

1. Make it a Judgment- and Guilt-free zone. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you need lofty goals in order to set aside time for yourself. Remember that you don’t always need to working towards something – it just needs to be a time for you to recharge.

2. Schedule it. Whether it’s one hour a week or an afternoon on the weekends, make sure that you build it into your schedule. If you don’t, you won’t do it. It’s that simple.

3. Build your Support System. Women are great at many things, but many women don’t like to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to ask others for assistance, whether it is watching the kids or providing emotional support. Get creative about asking for help. Starting a new diet? Ask your husband to shelve the family’s outings to the ice cream parlor. Need someone to watch the kids while you try a new Pilates class? Switch off with a neighbor. You’ll be surprised by how helpful people can be when you just ask. We’ve got lots of great articles about the best strategies for delegating and free printables designed to help you get things off your plate (and done well by someone else).

{feature photo via: i heart organizing}

On Monday, I was in Philadelphia with the NBC 10! team again – this time sharing some quick tips for packing lunches that won’t sap the time of already frazzled moms.

Like I mention in the video, I am super-excited about these nifty little chip/veggie and dip storage containers from Pottery Barn Kids. With these, I can pack a little ranch dressing with the carrots or veggies without any mess – and I know my boys will devour them. When I send lonely carrots on their own without dressing, they almost always come back, uneaten.

Here is the link to the free lunchbox notes printables I reference in the segment.

And finally, if you’re looking for other ways to make lunch more fun (not to mention packing it too), this article I wrote last week features five fun ideas for making adorable sandwiches for school lunches without too much trouble.

My five-year-old is very curious, excited, and maybe a little nervous about starting kindergarten in a few weeks. Last night at the dinner table we discussed the importance of shifting to the new school year routine before school starts.

After much negotiation on last night’s bedtime, he agreed that when we’re back from our week at the beach on August 14th, we’ll start heading to bed 5 minutes earlier each night. That way, it won’t come as a shock to our system when we have to go to bed at 7:30pm and wake up at 6:30am.

We also talked about lunches. Summer camp has gotten us in the habit of packing lunches every day, which we both enjoy. He especially likes to try to guess what’s going to be in the surprise bag (from Graze Organics).

His lunch bag is looking a little worse for the wear, so we went “shopping” for a new one after the dishes were done. He browsed the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and delighted in the monogrammed Spider Man lunch bag. But then I found this adorable customizable monster truck lunchbox on Etsy and he agreed it was “AWESOME!”

We placed the order then and there. Man, I love back to school shopping online!

Because I know mornings are going to be a lot more hectic in a few weeks, I thought it might be a good idea for us to come up with some lunch themes so I wouldn’t have to “wing it” every day. I asked Will for some ideas, and here’s what he came up with:

M= MONSTER TRUCK (duh!) Monday
T = TOW TRUCK (double duh!) Tuesday
W = Wacky Wednesday
T = Turkey Thursday
F = Fun Friday

He was so excited about his theme ideas that I had to document the brilliance on the chalkboard next to our fridge. He added a few squiggles for flourish.

I have to admit, when I looked at the list later that evening, I was a little nervous about my ability to pull off this theme idea of mine. What on earth was I thinking?!? Why couldn’t I just leave it at a cool lunchbox and let that be the excitement?!

Then I remembered – Pinterest! There just had to be some brilliant bloggers out there doing marvelous things with their sandwiches and taking pictures of it. I logged in and sure enough, within a few minutes, I had ideas and instructions for every, single theme my son had dreamed up. (If you want an invite to this marvelous virtual pinboard, just send me your email address to sarah at getbuttonedup dot com and I will invite you to join).

Monster Truck Monday:

This comes courtesy of Kids on the Grand. I’ve got a round biscuit cutter, which should work for the wheels – and the body looks straightforward enough to cut by hand. The other bonus – this shape should work with virtually any kind of sandwich filling.

Tow Truck Tuesday:

This ingenious creation comes courtesy of Funky Lunch. They literally wrote the book on how to make fun sandwiches! I might need to practice a bit to nail this one though – thank goodness they have a tutorial on their blog. I just wish I could be there to see the look on his face when he opens his lunchbox!

Wacky Wednesday:

I love the wide-open angle to the Wacky Wednesday theme. In my wanderings I stumbled upon This Lunch Rox – which has literally hundreds of cool lunchbox ideas. You know which website I’ll be visiting Tuesday nights.

Turkey Thursday:

I am grateful that this basic theme has me technically off the hook for cute designs, but I couldn’t resist this little turkey sandwich I found on Meet the Dubiens. I doubt my guy will eat the peppers, but maybe if I include a little bit of ranch dressing…?

Fun Friday:

Like Wacky Wednesday, this day could bring anything from sandwich roll-ups to crazy creations like the ones below.

There’s something fun about a sandwich you get to disassemble to eat. This one sort of reminds me of a Snackables – but in a cuter package. Image via: Photo Find

And what about this little crab sandwich courtesy of Family Fun? The trick with this one will be in keeping it together in-transit. So darn cute though, I know I’ll just have to try!

After organizing along this theme, I am getting excited to actually make these sandwiches (for week #1 anyway!). Something tells me I’d better put them together the night before though – I’m not so sharp in the mornings!

What do you think – crazy fun, no? Would you ever go to great lengths to make fun sandwiches like this for your kid or do you think it sets them up for major disappointment when they encounter just a “regular” sandwich?

The smell of bread, fresh from the oven is quite something. To me, it’s the smell of comfort.

Both my mom and her sister discovered the joys of baking their own bread in the early 70s. My mom embraced bread making because, as a physician, she was increasingly concerned about the health impacts of consuming “industrial food” and wanted to decrease our family’s reliance on it. My aunt started making her own because she and her family moved to a farm in a remote part of northern Virginia and, in her words, “it was easier to make bread from scratch than to drive the 25 minutes to the supermarket [and back].”

Mom toggled back and forth between a busy medical practice and being a hands-on parent to three, so she didn’t exactly have a whole lot of room to spare in her schedule. Yet, she always found the time to bake bread on Sundays. She used to say there was something therapeutic, meditative even, about the process of rhythmically working the bread. To her, it was the perfect Sunday afternoon chore.

As a mom myself now, I’ve been feeling increasingly uneasy grabbing the pre-fab bread off the supermarket shelf once a week. But I’ve told myself for the past four years that I didn’t have the time to make it from scratch. Plus, given my propensity to mess things up in the kitchen, I was also nervous I’d waste a lot of time and energy, not to mention ingredients, making something that turned out to be a bust.

But then I took a moment to really study the ingredients of what I was buying. The list included, among other things: “preservatives (calcium propionate, sodium propionate), datem, mono- and di-glycerides, fumaric acid, lactic acid…etc.” Recognizing not one of these as items in my pantry, I decided it was high time for me to learn how to carry on the tradition my mom started.

So, this past week, I asked my Aunt Rie Adele for a little bread-baking tutorial while we were all on vacation together at my step-father’s cabin in upstate, New York.

She, her granddaughter, Cati-Adele and I whipped up enough basic whole-wheat dough for about three loaves in less than 20 minutes.

Then we went and did other things, like swim in the lake, play cards, and build a tree fort, as we waited for the bread to rise and re-rise.

At the end of the afternoon, three golden-brown loaves were greeted by shouts of glee from a pack of hungry boys and girls as they emerged steaming from the oven.

It tasted as good as I remembered.

The Recipe

Ingredients & Tools
5 Cups lukewarm water
4 Tablespoons of sugar or honey
2 Tablespoons of salt
2 Tablespoons (or packets) of yeast
5-8 Cups of whole-wheat flour
3 Cups of white all-purpose flour
1 large mixing bowl
1 large wooden spoon or spatula

Instructions
Pour 5 cups of lukewarm water into the large bowl. Add the sugar, salt and yeast. Stir until all ingredients are dissolved and there are no visible lumps.

Add 5 cups of whole-wheat flour and 3 cups of all-purpose flour into the liquid mixture. Stir together with a wooden spoon until it becomes a single, large ball of dough. Wipe excess dough off the spoon and retire it.

The dough should still be fairly tacky. Sprinkle a fistful of whole-wheat flour on top of the dough. Knead it slowly with the heels and palms of your hands. You can knead the dough in the bowl if it is large enough, or on a smooth surface that has been covered with flour. Both my mom and my aunt always kneaded the bread in the bowls as it makes for an easier clean up.

Add more fistfuls of flour gradually until the dough is no longer sticky. A good rule of thumb: when you poke the dough and your fingers remain clean, the dough has enough flour.

Knead for at least 10-15 minutes. According to my aunt, the longer you knead, the better the bread. Well-kneaded dough looks smooth, is firm, and not at all tacky.

Put the kneaded dough back in the large bowl if you have taken it out. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 1 hour.

After one hour, punch the top of the dough in so it collapses. Knead it into a ball again and then cover it with the damp cloth and let it rise for another 45 minutes.

Again, punch the top of the dough in so that it collapses. Break it into three or four equal parts (depending on the size of your bread pans, this recipe makes either three or four loaves. I have some particularly large bread pans, so I am making three loaves).

Put a third (or fourth) of the dough in each of your bread pans. Press the dough down so that it fits the bottom of the pan. Turn under the edges.

Set the pans aside and let the dough rise again for 45 minutes.

Put the pans with the risen dough directly in the oven and bake at 375-385 for 30-35 minutes.

(p.s. I’ve made this bread on my own twice now. Halving the recipe works well if you have fewer mouths to feed.)

Have you ever had homemade bread? Are you intimidated by the though of it? Do you think it’s too much for an already a busy mom to consider adding to her list — not important enough?

NEW ALL NATURAL PROMAX LS LOWER SUGAR ENERGY BARS

I was sent 6 Promax nutrition bars to try out give my honest opinion of them. Since they are all-natural and low sugar I of course assumed that the bars would taste like cardboard, and they don’t. On the contrary, they taste like the candy bars I’ve not had in years – gave them up as not good for me. So since one of my goals this year is to get healthy, it felt as if I cheated (but it passed quickly!).

I immediately opened the Peanut Butter Chocolate bar – one of my favorite flavor combinations. I found that it was – well – rich is the only work to describe it. I barely got through the first bar – it was so filling! It was moist, not dry and crunchy.

The next day I tried the Chocolate Fudge bar – same full effect with great taste. I even liked this one more than the Peanut Butter Chocolate bar! These are seriously yummy bars! And they are not skimpy! I can easily see me downing one of these to stave off hunger or to power up during a hike or after exercise.

I learned a little about the bars and it reinforced that these won’t get me off track, but will help me stay on track. These Promax LS all-natural lower sugar protein bars are great. They have 18 grams of complete, high quality protein, only 9 grams of sugar, is an excellent source of fiber, and contains stevia, an all-natural non-nutritive sweetener. Promax LS is also gluten free, vegetarian, and contains no artificial sweeteners or animal bi-products.

So now I have another Protein Bar that fits my nutrition and health goals – and should fit yours too!

I AM THE NEXT DOER: The Promax Build Your Own Ad Contest 2011

Promax also has a contest going on called I Am The Next DOer, The Promax Build Your Own Ad Contest. The winner will be featured in the 2012 “DOer” campaign and will win a 6-day action pack adventure weekend for two to Kauai, Hawaii. The winner will also receive a year’s supply of Promax bars. Pretty cool so enter today!

TO ENTER:

Go to the Promax Facebook page www.facebook.com/promaxnutrition and Promax fans can build their own ad on “THE NEXT DOer” tab. Entries will post on the Promax website where the users are able to comment and share links with friends through Facebook/Twitter. The entries are available for public viewing here.

After June 30, 2011, Promax will have an expert panel of judges select the top 20 entries. The DOer Contest winner will be selected by an online poll that lives on the Promax website and features the top 20 entries. Voting will take place July 11-25, 2011.

To submit an ad, users must upload an action photo of them and fill in the blanks (in a mad-lib format) for their “run-on” sentence to be populated into an ad.

Disclosure: This is sponsored content and we have been paid to do this post. That being said, we do not blog about anything we do not believe in and Promax Nutrition did not edit our post or direct our content in any way.