My first "Homestead Blessings" Review--Bread-making!

(See my post HERE for more info on my new "Homestead Blessings" collection!)

The only DVD I have watched so far is "The Art of Bread-Making" and I loved it!!!  Just seeing how simple the whole process really is and how the West girls explain each step so clearly, was wonderful.  Plus, they threw in lots of tips and extra info just so you know why you use what you use and why you do things a certain way..and why each food has a different bread recipe!  And I don't know about you, but I like knowing the reasoning behind the methods!

They show you how to make both basic breads and quick breads...

So the video includes the following bread recipes:

Basic Bread
Sourdough Bread

Cinnamon Rolls

Hamburger Buns (I'm sure this would be handy for my hometown friend, Candace, who makes a different burger every Friday!)

Pizza Dough

Stuffed Bread Sticks

A "Loaf Meal" (more below)

Corn Bread

I was so excited about all of them, I didn't know where to start!  But I finally decided to be a bit daring and give the "Meal Loaf" a try.  In the video, they show you how to make a breakfast loaf (eggs, sausage, zucchini and squash) but I decided to branch out and make it in what I'm calling a "Pizza Loaf".

I made the bread first...

 Then I started working on some homemade pizza sauce (I wanted the WHOLE meal to be from scratch!)...

My hubby LOVED it!  He wants me to keep it around as marinara to dip in! 

My Pizza Sauce:

Tomato Sauce

Olive Oil
Garlic

Basil

Rosemary

Oregano

After the bread had it's second rise, I rolled out my dough and added my Pizza mixture to it...

My Pizza Mixture:

Pizza Sauce

Hamburger

Onion

Green Peppers

Cheese

Garlic

Butter

Salt

(and I think I threw in some other stuff as I went along!)

Then I did a little decorating (the video shows you how to do this)...

Then

came

the

reward

of 

all

that
hard
work...

I was

SO

excited 

to 

see 

the finished

product!

VOILA!!!

I brushed on some garlic butter and topped it with mozzarella cheese and IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!

The thing I loved about this recipe, is that I was able to make TWO "meal loafs", PLUS an extra loaf of just plain "Basic Bread"!!!  So three food items for the work of one!

I took the extra Pizza Loaf to a recent widow (the mom of one of my most precious friends, Morgan- she lost her dad unexpectedly just weeks ago-Please pray for the "Ward" family!)

So all in all, my first baking experience was fast, smooth and without any mistakes...I attribute that to the thorough tutorial I got from my "Homestead Blessings"!  (I am NOT very homemaker-minded or talented!!)

And guess what?  There's more to come--I've already made the cinnamon rolls and the stuffed bread sticks!!!  (I told ya I was feeling better!)