Getting Into Baking Bread: Some Top Tips

 

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Making your own bread from scratch is a really enjoyable and fun thing to do, and a deeply satisfying one as well. There are few greater joys than filling the home with the smell of freshly baked bread, while creating an amazing loaf that you and your whole family are going to love. A lot of people are intimidated by the idea of making their own bread - you might assume that it’s very hard to do right - but in truth, it’s the kind of thing that is relatively simple to pick up. Here are some top tips on how to do so right.

Start Easy

First off, there are definitely some recipes which are easier than other ones, so it’s a good idea to start off easy and see where you go from there. Some recipes require less prep and are just generally quicker and easier to put together. A good example is this recipe for old fashioned yeast rolls, which you will find to be very easy to achieve, and yet will produce some delicious results every time. You can then progress on from there to more complex breads as your skills and confidence improve over time.

Do It By Hand

Although there are bread machines that you can buy, and these make pretty serviceable bread, you are going to create much more delicious bread by making it by hand. You will find it is more satisfying, too, and you have more control over exactly how it turns out. Plus, you will be learning the actual manual skills necessary to create great bread, and that is a really enjoyable and fun thing to learn on the whole. So do it by hand from the start, and you will develop much better skills in no time that will serve you well.

Use Dried Yeast

There are a few options when it comes to the yeast you use, and different people have different preferences. However, most newcomers to break-making will find that dried fast-action yeast is easily the best option on the whole. This comes in sachets of around 7 grams, which is normally perfect for a single loaf of bread, and all you need to do is add it straight to the bread mix. Old style yeast packets meant you had to activate the yeast first, but that is no longer the case. This kind of yeast is much easier to work with, and quicker too.

Be Patient

Bread-making and baking in general is all about patience. This is a task where there is a direct relation between how much you are able to wait and how delicious the end result turns out to be. So if you are looking for something that allows you to practice your patience, making bread is the thing to do. The longer you leave bread dough to rise, the better the result will be, and the more delicious you will find the bread to be too, so make sure that you're doing that as best as you can.

15 Unique Potato Salad Recipes

 Labor day is right around the corner, and in my opinion, that means it is time to make a great batch of potato salad to share at the family BBQ's and gatherings.

Now, I like ALL potato salad. I think it is like comfort food, and I am just generally so thankful for potatoes. They are delicious aren't they?! So, you know I will try all of the varieties that end up at a potluck; but knowing that it is a popular dish has inspired me to spread my wings and try something unique.

I gathered 15 out of this world recipes that are just a little different than the standard mustard based salad. I think you are going to like these and want to try a few of them yourself. These recipes are intended to convert people; if you sneer at potato salad now, just wait til you try ranch potato salad, or maybe even Greek lemon potato salad! They both sound awesome right?

1. Cesar Potato Salad by Sam Cooks Kindness

2. Warm Austrian Potato Salad by Cooking Gorgeous

3. Ranch Potato Salad by Spend with Pennies

4. Sweet Potato Salad by Plant Based Budget

5. Mashed Potato Salad by Feeding Your Fam

6. Instant Pot Potato Salad by Pressure Cooker Recipe

7. Vegan Southern Potato Salad by Strength and Sunshine

8. Eggless Potato Salad by Sugar and Snappeas

9. Salt and Vinegar Potato Salad by My Therapist Cooks

10. Loaded Baked Potato Salad by Centsless Meals

11. German Potato Salad by Like Mother Like Daughter

12. Classic Potato Salad with Eggs by Healthy Seasonal Recipes

13. Greek Lemon Potato Salad by The View From Great Island

14. Roasted Garlic Potato Salad by This Noshtalgic Life

15. German Dill Potato Salad by Served From Scratch

If you are looking for other fun ideas for Labor Day, you might like this Easy Labor Day Table Decor idea. These easy red, white and blue cake and berry parfaits are also perfect for the holiday.

How to Liven Up Your Craft Projects

 The chillier months will soon be with us, and that means that we’re all likely to be spending a little more time at home than we have done during the last few months. This is a great opportunity to get into some domestic hobbies, and right at the top of that list are craft projects. This is a fun way to spend a day, and you’ll also be adding some new skills to your repertoire, too. But of course, you can’t just expect your crafts to be solid gold — you’ll need to work on making them as good as possible! In this blog, we’ll run through some useful tips that’ll put you on the right path and which will ensure that you end up having fun and creating something you truly enjoy.

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Find Inspiration

One of the hardest things about starting a crafts project is…getting started. When you’ve got essentially a blank canvas staring at you, you’ll need to find a way to narrow down your focus and pick a particular project. But good news: there are plenty of options out there! If you’re struggling to find a project, then look at getting inspiration from other people. There are plenty of arts and crafts websites, videos, and magazines that’ll put some useful ideas in your head.

Work Together

There’s a lot of value in undertaking a craft project on your own, but don’t discount the idea of working with other people, such as people in your family. For one thing, it can be really enjoyable to work on something together with your loved ones. And second, you might just end up creating something of better quality than you could have on your own. We all have our own skills, and when you put all those skills together, you usually end up with something that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Give it a try!

Quality Materials

You could have all the crafts skills in the world, but if you’re not using quality materials, then you could find that the end product isn’t quite as special as you hoped it would be. So don’t let your project down by using subpar materials; get the best! There’s the excellent flannel fabric that you can buy, and once you have it, you’ll find that you’re able to make a wide range of DIY products that very much look the part once you’re finished. Using the best materials you can find is a surefire way to bump up the quality level of your project. 

Just Have Fun

Finally, remember to have fun with your project! You’ll hope that your end result comes out well, but when it comes to DIY crafts, remember that it’s the journey, not the destination. The more fun you have when you’re doing your project, the more you’ll enjoy making crafts — and that probably has the biggest impact on the long-term quality of your products since you’ll want to engage in the activity more. And it’s only practice that makes perfect! 

Hungry Caterpillar Process Art

This easy Hungry Caterpillar Process art project is perfect for preschoolers and elementary aged kids. It gives them a chance to create an adorable picture to go along with story time. I don't know about you, but I love storybook crafts for kids!

This project is perfect for fall. We used fresh apples that were too bruised to eat, and painted these cuties with them. If you have an abundance of apples. maybe you will want to put one to work for this art project.

We have lots of apple crafts on site! 

These cork and button apple trees are a favorite fall craft for kids of all ages.

Corked Stamped Apples are an adorable craft for kids.

Apple Tree Window Clings are a fun budget friendly project.

3D Paper Apples are a good project for using up scrap paper.

Apple Tree Addition makes for a fun way to learn math.

Supplies:

An apple 

Green, red , yellow, black paint.

Paper Plate

A pencil

A knife

Paper

Slice an apple in half

Pour a large dallop of red, green and yellow paint onto a paper plate.

We kind of mixed a little green and yellow together to create a cool effect.

Offer a small drop of black paint.

Offer the child an apple and encourage the child to dip the apple into the paint, and stamp the apple, so that the circles touch one another, going across the page.

Have your child give the caterpillar 4 or 5 segments.

Then encourage the child to dip the other apple half into the red paint and stamp the apple to form the head.

Next, dip the pencil into the black paint and create the eyes and mouth of the caterpillar.

Next, dip the pencil into the yellow paint and finish the eyes.

Now, I know what you are thinking.

Why not use a paintbrush?

Well, we did try that, but it smeared the yellow and black together. We found that the pencil was much easier to work with; and it gave Harper the chance to paint with a non traditional object. We both enjoyed that! You can kind of see in the mouth of the caterpillar that it is a little messy; that was the paint brush. 

Next, grab the stem from the apple and dip it into the green paint.

Give the caterpillar some antennae.

 

 Allow to dry completely. 

Display and enjoy this cute Hungry Caterpillar craft!

4 Healthy Habits That Can Change Your Life

 For most people, it doesn’t take much to change an unhealthy lifestyle into a healthy one. A few tweaks here and there, and you can become fit and strong. Most of the time, it’s about ditching bad habits and replacing them with good ones. Here are some of the best habits you can have that will change your life for the better. 

 

Photo by Cats Coming

 

Drink Water Before You Eat 

Drinking more water is never a bad thing, and sipping water throughout the day is a good idea. However, drinking an extra glass of water before you eat is a great habit to get into as it makes you feel fuller. That means you won’t be tempted to keep eating – you’ll stop sooner than you might have done if you didn’t drink the water. Over time, this will make a big difference to your weight and the amount of food you eat (as a bonus, if you’re eating less, you’re saving money too). 

 

Get Healthy One Meal At A Time 

Start with just one meal a week and make that your really healthy one. Gradually, as you get more and more used to eating better and you learn how to do things like how to make a cucumber sandwich just the right way, for example, you can replace all of your unhealthy food with the good stuff and make every meal a healthy one. It might take a little while and a lot of practice, but once you get into the habit of making and eating food that is good for you, it will make you fitter and leaner and more able to be active and productive. 

 

Give Up The Poisons 

Bad habits are easy to form, and some are worse than others. Smoking, drinking too much alcohol, and taking drugs that haven’t been prescribed can all become dangerous habits that have a hugely detrimental effect on your body. It can even become fatal. So the best way that you can be healthier is to give up these habits, which are, after all, all about putting poison into your body. Breaking a habit is hard but replacing it with a new one makes things easier, as long as that new habit is not as harmful as the original.

 

If you smoke, try chewing gum instead. If you drink, why not swap your nightly glass of wine or bottle or beer for a tumbler of juice? If drugs are your worst habit, then you may need to ask for professional help to quit. It will be hard, but it will be worth it. 

 

Get Active At Lunch

No matter how long you are given for lunch, you should try to get into the habit of getting active during it. Eat, of course, and then use whatever time is left for exercise. That doesn’t (necessarily) mean going to the gym, it could be something as simple as a walk or jog around the block or walking up and down the stairs a set number of times. Just as long as you’re moving around, that is a great start. The fitter you get, the more you’ll be able to do in a short period of time. These dentists in Avon Lake OH also recommend getting regular health checkups to ensure that you're always on top of your health.