Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's Ma'am

I doubt there is any smell more delicious than the smell of freshly baked bread.  Countless loaves are bought each day from bakeries purely due to the smell that wafts out of the store and onto the street.  Today, my home was a baking heaven.  Today, I baked bread.

Throughout the last 3 weeks, my home has been ripe with delicious smells and not so delicious smells.  Bean Soup, Bacon, Oven-dried tomatoes, Roasting Chicken, Beef Stew-all good smells, SPAM-not so good.  But today, I experienced olfactory nirvana.  I've made cinnamon bread before, but today I made plain, white bread.  I can't recall the last time my bread didn't contain enough fiber to regulate a horse, so white bread is an unfamiliar luxury.  And, I easily found a recipe for bread using all-purpose flour in the booklet that came with my stand mixer.  So far, that booklet is 2 for 2 in recipe greatness.  Thanks Kitchenaid!!

Our bread leftovers.

Bread is remarkably easy to make.  All baking involves following directions perfectly.  I am really great at following minute directions and that's why I'm a pretty accomplished baker.  But I am a cookie baker, and bread always seemed more difficult.  Bread baking doesn't have the same instant gratification as cookie baking (and the raw dough isn't nearly as tasty).  My recipe yielded 2 delicious loaves, one of which I took over to my kind and supportive neighbor.  It made me happy to give something that I'd made to a friend; she regularly shares her baking prowess with my family and it felt good to return the favor.

My neighbor really bailed me out today.  For a few days, Connor has been asking for chocolate and yesterday, he started asking for chocolate cake or brownies.  This is a simple request; I know that I have several boxes of brownie and cake mix in my pantry, but they were bought before January 3, so they're "off limits."  The next time I will grocery shop is tomorrow, but my neighbor mentioned that she was going to bake brownies for tonight’s book club and that she'd figure out how much each brownie cost so I could eat one.  I asked her if I could buy the brownie mix from her, bake it up, bring brownies to her family, save some for Connor, and take the rest of the brownies to book club.  It made the process very complicated, but it ensured that I keep to our rule of paying for every bite that we eat.  She agreed and I was so relieved that I could accommodate Connor’s simple request so quickly while making sure that I wasn't taking dessert away from my neighbors.

At book club tonight (I hosted a different book club last week), our host made an amazing trifle that I simply had to try.  But, I'm a stickler for rules, so after I had my taste (SO worth it) I gave her 50 cents.  I wanted to make sure that I'd paid for what I ate.  I know it's weird, and my friend prepared food as a sign of hospitality, but I've followed the rules that Scott and I established for over 3 weeks and I don't want to start "fudging" with a little over a week to go.  Once the month is over, I'll return to being a gracious guest.

Last night marked 3 weeks into our 31 day budget change and thankfully, Scott's weight has stabilized.  I'm glad he's making sure that he's eating enough.  Connor and Grant’s weights have remained unchanged.  We have spent $313.72 on food (again, including all beverages, alcohol and entertainment) and consumed $262.41.   With 9 days left, we’re poised for the home stretch. 

Here’s what we ate today.

Breakfast
- S Cereal and Milk
- KC&G Oatmeal with Brown Sugar
- C&G Milk
Total $0.59

Lunch
- SKC&G Chicken Nuggets, with Carrots, Ranch Dressing, and Apples
- C&G Milk
Total  $2.17

Snack
- G Banana and Milk
Total $0.18

Dinner
- SKC&G Homemade Chicken Soup (with homemade broth, leftover chicken and carrots, celery, scallion and pasta)  Homemeade white bread with Margarine
- C&G Milk
- G Yogurt
Total $2.73

Dessert
- SKC&G Brownie
- K Chocolate Toffee Trifle
Total $2.35

Total Spend $8.02  

Tomorrow, Boats of Oats