Homemade bread: Is it worth it?
And my go-to recipes!

I used to give an absolute “no way” when asked this question. Too much work. Not worth it. Besides, I could afford whatever bread I wanted!

But, life changes… 

One morning you wake up a bougie single city girl driving a Lexus and the next thing you know, you’re a small town ranch wife with four children, a trailer home to live in while you build a barndominum, and goats to milk every morning.

No? No one else? 🙂 

 My point is, as I’ve shopped with a family budget while trying to find decent quality bread for my kiddos, I’ve found you have to spend an arm and a leg to find the best quality bread and avoid things like monoglycerides and soy lethicin: chemically modified emulsifiers that seriously mess with gut health.

When I can make 2 loafs for for less than $2, AND it freezes well, it is totally worth my time. I have control over what goes in it and can avoid the additives and chemically modified extras so many bread companies add in. 

So now I’d have to say my answer is “no way” to NOT homemake it. All I have to have on hand is flour (even just all-purpose if you’re starting out on your health journey), yeast, maybe some milk and/or eggs, and salt. My girls aren’t to the point of loving all things gluten-free yet, so I make a variety of breads for them. They do enjoy sourdough, so depending on how free my day is, I try to make either sandwich-style sourdough or a traditional sourdough bread once or twice a month.

Don’t get me wrong…I had a lot of failures and flops. But, that was because not all recipes are created equal.

What I have listed below is a way for you to avoid that annoying experimental curve. These recipes are DEFINITELY doable and work for me every time!

I haven’t created any bread recipes on my own yet, but below I have listed my favorite go-to’s. They range from sweet milk bread, to sourdough, to gluten free, and even keto bread. Some require a bread machine. They’re all tried and true on Reed Ranch.

• The most delicious milk bread. My girls just die over this! 
• The best and surprisingly easy sourdough sandwich bread. Both loaves were gone in one day when I took it to my out of town family.
• Keto bread. Back before eggs cost as much, and summer time hit our flock, this was a go-to. Hopefully in the future it can be again!
• Bread machine gluten-free bread. This is a huge loaf and suuuuper soft!
• Gluten-Free rolls that I count as bread. For some reason, this is the best GF bread recipe, but it’s made in rolls!
• Phenomenal paleo banana bread sweetened only with bananas!
• and finally… my sourdough go-to loaf. This recipe is hands-down fool-proof and phenomenal!