Baking and Housewifery
It finally clicked this week that I have been a complete lazy bum when it comes to baking. I know how to bake. I have been baking for years. My mom taught me faithfully while I was living at home. Yet why do I not bake often in my own home? Is it because I like to be healthy and avoid all those carbs? Hahahahaha…no. It comes down to the fact that I am lazy.
Yes, yes, I am saying that all mothers who don’t bake are lazy. That is exactly what I am saying, so shame on all of you who don’t bake.
Wait, I take that back… that’s not what I’m saying. I just had this realization that I was being lazy. Me. Myself. And here are the reasons why:
- As stated above, I know how to bake. Bread for instance. I used to sell homemade bread. So yeah, it’s not like it’s a struggle and takes me a long time.
- We are tight with money right now. So why am I going out to the store and buying bread, cookies, etc. when I know it is cheaper to make them?
- I have time. I stay at home. I only work 7 hours a week. From home. Bread in the oven while tutoring? Not a problem.
- My kids like it when I bake. They let me bake. I know this isn’t the case with a lot of moms, it just makes things more chaotic and disastrous if they try and add baking to the mix of the day. But not here. Elijah likes to help. Elena likes to eat. It all works out well.
- I don’t have a car. So, really, going to the store is more complicated right now then just baking what I need.
So you see my friends, I have no excuse. I was being a lazy housewife. The good news is, I have resolved to change all that. I baked some bread this week, and made my family some cookies. They love me for it. (And the cookies are already gone). It feels good to know I am being productive, saving my family money, and serving them carbs that are healthier than some of that store bought crap I was buying.
Let’s see how long this lasts. Hopefully I can keep it up for a while.
Filed under Krista, Random |17 Responses to “Baking and Housewifery”
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I like to cook and I like to eat what people bake. So I’ll cook, you bake and we’ll both be happy and filled
You go, girl! Take pictures and show us the grains of your labors.
I’ve always been “into” baking I guess (like you said, our moms trained us well) - but it was during my nesting phase with Gabriel that I got addicted. I haven’t been able to give it up ever since. Mostly for the reasons you have listed, of course!
When Ryle was a baby I stopped baking, since sleeping and disciplining a 1 1/2 year old were way more important–and I’ve just recently gotten back into it (and Ryle just turned 4, so I really have no excuse either)! One thing that helps me is to do a lot of it during the days I am free, and then freeze a bunch to last the next week or so.
So, can you figure out how much a loaf of bread costs you to make? I try to buy it when it is under $1.75 a loaf. However, I am ALL for fresh home baked bread! I try NOT to make it too often because I usually eat it all my self, unless I invite the kids to have some!!
I once did this, Sara and realized it cost more to make it, when you factor in running the oven or bread machine, along with time and everything else. But to each his own. Maybe Krista found a secret we don’t know about!
Our bread is very cheap, but I know its not that cheap at every store.
Okay so this week I made just plain old white bread, no fancy ingredients. This would go for french bread, pizza dough, etc as well. One loaf of homemade bread cost me 85 cents to make. This is with buying yeast at Costco. Otherwise the cost goes up significantly.
The cost for using the oven for 35 min is a little tricky to figure out, but depending on how good your oven is and when you are doing your baking it can be as cheap as 12 cents.
So, total I would be spending about $1 to make a loaf of bread. And if I buy in bulk from Costco, it would be even cheaper. This is with me buying sugar, salt, flour, etc from the normal grocery store.
Of course, I factored my time as no cost to myself. Since really, the time I am working WITH the bread actively is about 10 minutes. Time rising, and in the oven is not taking up my time.
So for us here in Santa Cruz, it is definitely cheaper to bake bread!
I love that you did the math, Krista! Sometimes the reason I bake is to simply warm up the front half of the house. It just makes things cozy.
So key to get your Yeast at Costco! This is just from my faulty memory (maybe you know, Krista), but is the 3 pack yeast from the grocery store over $5? And, the huge sack at Costco (it should last you for months & months & months) is $3?
The math will keep me motivated!
And you gave me another thought Tina… it is probably more cost effective to bake to warm your house than run the heater. Getting 2 things done at once!
And I am not quite sure on the prices, but online at least you can get the 2 lb bag for under $7 (I seem to remember it being even cheaper at Costco) while the 3 pack online costs close to $3. Kind of insane the difference in price just for yeast!
Awesome!
Tina, I do the same thing… even when whatever I’m cooking is done in the over, I leave the door hanging open as the oven cools, so it can warm up the kitchen. I love it! And then the house smells really good
Okay, I’m not trying to be a stinker, but how much are you buying flour for? I think it’s about $2.79 at TJ, and occasionally it is on sale at Safeway for a little under that price (stock up when it is!). So, maybe about 3 loaves of bread in a 5 lb. bag is going to be about $.93, just in flour? I’ll definitely start getting my yeast at Costco, that makes sense, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to commit to buying flour at Costco??!! I’ll have to see if Matt will give me some space in the garage!
Wait, the recipe I was looking at made 2 loaves, so maybe about 5 loaves per 5 lb. bag of flour, which is better than before. Although, whole wheat bread will be more costly. Now, with all this “talking,” some homemade bread with butter sounds really good!
I was figuring $3 for a 5 pound bag, which has about 18 cups of flour. The recipe I made took 4 cups for 1 loaf. Flour really is the most expensive ingredient just because that is mostly what bread is! Since you are only using tablespoons/teaspoons of everything else, the cost is literally pennies for the other ingredients (only if you get costco yeast that is).
You’re right though, whole wheat would increase the price. I didn’t calculate using anything but white flour. It looks like it would bump the cost up about 30-50 cents per loaf if you use whole wheat instead (the prices for whole wheat flour vary greatly). I wonder what the cost difference is for grinding your own whole wheat flour? My mom does that.
Get the Costco flour, Sara. If, Matt can spare you a little spot!
I don’t know the exact price. But, I hate how fast the little bags run out. Flour is something I always want “on hand”. If you are baking bread, the 5 lb. bags run out so fast!
It is only cost effective if you buy in bulk bags. The only place I can find it lately is at Whole Foods, but I’m still looking for a better place. I’m still using a 50# bag of ww flour that I bought at an Amish community last summer in Montana. It was only $20!
My dad helped me figure out how much my bread loaves cost last year when I started making 99% of our own bread. Because I *always* buy all my ingredients in bulk (from flour to honey to oats to yeast to oil to salt…) and because I use about 70% whole wheat flour that we grind ourselves (in the largest bulk you can imagine — the wheat is in enormous barrels in my parents’ basement)… my whole wheat loaves end up being about 30 cents a loaf, plus electricity/gas.
Love it.
Yeah. Thirty cents.
Plus, the experience. My son *adores* the KitchenAid mixer.
And while the heat is nice in the summer, it’s counterproductive in the winter, right?
But yeah… so totally cost effective in my book.
As for other breads — I tend to add an egg for white bread/rolls, and for sweet rolls I use a little Crisco instead of oil and sugar instead of honey — so the cost does add up a little. You know, like thirty more cents or something, lol.
This is when it really, truly gets to be pinching *pennies*, huh?
lol…. I love that I got summer and winter backwards in my last comment. lol. you knew what I meant, right?